Sci-fi background

[Nightfable]

Here's the room's description in the text-based game:

You are in a living room. The floor is a smooth checkerboard of several shades of brown. A door to the north leads outside. Hallways lead off to the east and west. A trimensional viewer is here.

I was wondering if so far the background does it justice?

[Captain Lexington]

I think the text description doesn't do the background justice, myself.

[prowler]

great bg the thing that bugs me, and that andail pretty much fixed in his edit, is how the pot sticks out - the outlines are too thick and black i think.

[Daniel Thomas]

I think the pot stick out because of what you mention, but also that its around the blue-hue which is a complementary color of the red-orange you got going, and it also got high contrast if you compare to the rest(not the mist contrast though).. This is good if the pot are a "point of interest" though.

If this bothers you - try to desatureate the pot and maybe add a little lighter shadow, or make the wall behind it reflect light (bounce light) which would lit it up just a little.

Just some tips you can try, it comes down to what you want to communicate to the player "Hey! this pot I want you to look closer at" or "this pot is no more interesting then the rest of the background".
Just what I think.

[cat]

Ok, I tried to fix the problems you've mentioned. How do you find the couch now?

Yes, that's it! 

[Snarky]

The only things I would still fix is the coincident lines between the front edge of the couch and the tiling on the floor (as already pointed out), and the wall on the lower left (below the door) not being parallel to the tiles.

[Nightfable]

The only things I would still fix is the coincident lines between the front edge of the couch and the tiling on the floor (as already pointed out), and the wall on the lower left (below the door) not being parallel to the tiles.

- fixed the tiling and coincident line

I'm proud with the outcome of this background and I'm ready to move on.  I'm currently working on the right-side hallway and hopefully it turns out just as good as this one. Thanks for all the help, I couldn't have done it without you guys! ♥

[Stupot]

maybe [his] crotch should be nudged down a tad? I can't quite put my finger on it.

Haha, you rude person.

I really like this background.Ã,  Still think there could be more shadow underneath the couch.
Keep it up.... haha the good work, i mean, but the couch aswell.

[Nightfable]

Instead of starting a whole new thread, I've decided to keep posting my drawings in this one. 

Here's a robot I've worked on for the last few hours.. he's supposed to be guarding the Spare Room door and I wasn't too sure how to undertake this pixel art challenge... I know I have to add shadow, but I'm just not sure how to go at it.


My no-name robot and beside him is the humaniform robot R. Daneel Olivaw.


This gives you an idea of where my robot would be standing. I'm still working on the hallway background, so please disreguard the messy coloring.


This cover influenced me.

[auriond]

Being a huge fan of the Robots series of books, I just had to come in and say the backgrounds are coming along beautifully!

The no-name robot looks fine, but shading is definitely needed. A smooth, metallic finish is probably what you're looking for, but since I'm at work now I can't do a paintover for you.

As for Daneel - I've never played the text game, but having read the books from cover to cover several times, I can say that I never thought of him as being quite that muscular! Also, if I remember correctly, he has short bronze hair.

[Nightfable]

Being a huge fan of the Robots series of books, I just had to come in and say the backgrounds are coming along beautifully!

The no-name robot looks fine, but shading is definitely needed. A smooth, metallic finish is probably what you're looking for, but since I'm at work now I can't do a paintover for you.

As for Daneel - I've never played the text game, but having read the books from cover to cover several times, I can say that I never thought of him as being quite that muscular! Also, if I remember correctly, he has short bronze hair.

Oh my gosh, how could I have forgotten that detail? It just shows how long its been since I last read the books.

I'm on my way to bed as I write this but I'll get a shaded version posted asap tomorrow.

I've always imagined Daneel as being the muscular/perfect godly male stereotype - just thinking about him made my head spin when I was fifteen, lol. ♥

[auriond]

Oh yes. Count me in as another Daneel fan as a teen (why else would I have read the books from cover to cover?) XD And thusly I remember the detail about him having bronze hair ... as well as other details that I'm about to bring up 

I don't dispute that he's godly in looks, but I thought of him as being rather more athletic than bulky in general shape - after all, in one of the books (Robots and Empire?) he was referred to as a "sissy Spacer".

But these are all just nitpicks - I'm glad that this game is even being made! Completely agree with the comment that the text description doesn't do these backgrounds justice.

[Sparky]

maybe [his] crotch should be nudged down a tad? I can't quite put my finger on it.

Haha, you rude person.

Heh, I could stand to have phrased that more neutrally.

I like the new robot. I can't wait to see what sort of surface he gets. Maybe a brushed metal finish would look nice, with banded highlights?

[Snarky]

Is that a Moebius cover? Excellent choice of influence!

I know it's a work in progress, but I like the looser, watercolor-like style of the new screen. It could do with more detail and filling in the white spots, of course, but it you could retain the handmade feel it would establish a more distinct style for your backgrounds. Looking like BASS is no bad thing, but looking like something new is even better.

Oh, and if you want my two cents, I agree that Daneel looks too bulky (though it makes for a nice contrast to the woman standing next to him). This may be a question of aesthetic preference, but I always assumed the Spacer notion of physical perfection was more the lean, toned lines of a Greek statue than the bodybuilder bulk of an Arnold Schwartzenegger. (And yes, definitely bronze hair.) The sprite of the woman (Gladia, I suppose) looks very appropriate. The flapper style suits the decadence of the Spacers.

Re: the robot, I expect you're planning to remove the double pixels as you color it.

[Afflict]

Lovely BG definitely reminds me of BASS as mentioned above!

I am looking forward to actually wandering around this bg with those awesome looking characters!

[Nightfable]

Is that a Moebius cover? Excellent choice of influence!

I know it's a work in progress, but I like the looser, watercolor-like style of the new screen. It could do with more detail and filling in the white spots, of course, but it you could retain the handmade feel it would establish a more distinct style for your backgrounds. Looking like BASS is no bad thing, but looking like something new is even better.

Oh, and if you want my two cents, I agree that Daneel looks too bulky (though it makes for a nice contrast to the woman standing next to him). This may be a question of aesthetic preference, but I always assumed the Spacer notion of physical perfection was more the lean, toned lines of a Greek statue than the bodybuilder bulk of an Arnold Schwartzenegger. (And yes, definitely bronze hair.) The sprite of the woman (Gladia, I suppose) looks very appropriate. The flapper style suits the decadence of the Spacers.

Re: the robot, I expect you're planning to remove the double pixels as you color it.

Thanks, I'll try to keep the handmade feel incorporated within my backgrounds.

As for Daneel...


- made him look leaner and less bulky.
- changed hair color.
- shortened his arms a bit.

[markbilly]

I love Beneath a Steel Sky and really wish I had the skill to pull off the sort of backgrounds used in the game.

Your backgrounds do capture this, however BASS backgrounds seemed to have more definition. I'm not really sure how to describe it, but they were less of a watercolour painting. Still, I think if you keep this style you have going consistent throughout the game it will work very well indeed.

I like them a lot

[Nightfable]

I love Beneath a Steel Sky and really wish I had the skill to pull off the sort of backgrounds used in the game.

Your backgrounds do capture this, however BASS backgrounds seemed to have more definition. I'm not really sure how to describe it, but they were less of a watercolour painting. Still, I think if you keep this style you have going consistent throughout the game it will work very well indeed.

I like them a lot

As much as I tried, I could never even remotely pull the BASS artstyle - first off whoever made the backgrounds was incredibly good with perspective and tiny details, plus I'm sure the team had a few drawing artists experts working on the backgrounds. I, on the other hand, am still struggling with my perspective, proportions and shading - I also have to draw and color each of them one by one.

Backgrounds are the least of my problems though, I'm completely clueless with the whole programming part - I better not think too much about it because that's what discouraged me in the first place. And honestly, I'm not sure how I will accomplish drawing and coloring over 80 rooms...

I just have to repeat to myself fifty times a day, "I can do it, I can do it, I can do it!" LOL! 

You're right about the consistency, I definately want that to be my main focus point for this project. Thanks!

[Medical Waste]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure BASS had artists solely making backgrounds. Though I have studied some of the backgrounds and the perspective often seems quite off to me, yet on the whole the images somehow work out perfectly! Very annoying!!

[Andail]

Dave Gibbons painted the backgrounds in BASS in a very oldfashioned, handpainted style, pretty much based on his comicbook experiences.

They are not flawless perspective-wise, nor are they very meticulous in any other technical aspect. I think their strength lies mostly in of their wonderful atmosphere, colours and imaginative settings, which create this imaginative, slightly enigmatic retro-futuristic style.