What style for our game?

[TheMagician]

Hi everybody!

Here are two versions of a background for our upcoming game "The Draft Drifter Who Dashed Doctor Dunno".
The game is 99 Percent finished and only needs translation (German to English ... btw: everybody interested ... just PM meÃ,  ).



The upper version was painted almost 3 years agoÃ,  : when we started creating the game (no, we did not spend three years without pause working on the gameÃ,  ) All other backgrounds are done in the same style.

However, a few days ago I had the idea of repainting the backgrounds. This is the first one I did.
What do you think? Is it worth the effort (13 backgrounds in total) or should we leave it as it is?
btw: The game uses the default Roger as the main (player) character.

I am looking forward to your opinions.
Stefan

[Sam.]

its definatley worth it. the second bg is awesome. if it isn't too much work, go for it, some characters in this style would be nice to see.

[big brother]

I would definitely second the motion. The second picture looks very well done, almost painterly. However, it may look jarring to see Roger walking across that scene. I would consider redrawing the sprites also.

[TheYak]

Agreed.  I don't think it's essential to have backgrounds better than the first pic (which isn't a bad AGI-style background, very clean and retro EGA). However, if you can do backgrounds of the second's quality, it'd seem to be selling yourself short to do anything less.  It's quite good, sort of Sierra-esque but grittier.

I'd hate to see the default roger here, I think I'd rather see something almost stick-figure-like.  I hope you at least do a Roger paintover.

[Penguinx]

Unless you feel as though too much time has already been dedicated to this project, I'd opt for the latter.

[TheMagician]

Thanks for all your comments so far! However I am even more undecided nowÃ, 

From Penguinx

Unless you feel as though too much time has already been dedicated to this project, I'd opt for the latter.

Good point! As I said I started this project 3 years ago. I really fell in love with this game while creating it. Now I showed it to my friends and they said I should repaint the backgrounds.

Here are a few more pics so you can see what the game looks like right now.



I really don't know if the new style fits the funny sunny atmosphere I'd like the game to convey.

btw thanks for the nice comments on the old bg (esp. YakSpit)

As I am not that good at painting I fear that re-doing the backgrounds might ruin the overall style of the game ... and I know for sure that my re-painted version of Roger would look more like an alien than anything.

I am really in a dilemma.
--- and I don't know what I expect you to tell meÃ,  :

Well ... I am really looking forward for your further ideas!

Stefan

[Penguinx]

Why not finish the game 'as-is' and work on the backgrounds bit by bit for a future release?

[Scummbuddy]

you might be able to convince someone to make a new playable character for you, in your new style. that way you can concentrate on the new bgs, and they can make a new char for you, under your supervision, and concept for what the char should look like.

Im with Penguinx, I suppose you could release the game now, and then in a couple weeks, release an updated version, and let the players decided.

[SpacePirateCaine]

Just because three's a crowd - I agree as well. Releasing the game with the older backgrounds would be both a good way to have a product under your belt, and generate interest if you decided you wanted somebody to assist you with the sprites. Paintovers of the Roger sprite even are passable, but with the altered background you made, it'd almost seem a crime to do something sub-par. The detail is wonderful, and I would strongly suggest stylizing them all in a similar manner even after the fact in a re-release.

That said - the retro EGA backgrounds you already have are, as YakSpit pointed out, not likely to hurt interest in your game. Admittedly, the more detailed backgrounds are likely to attract players at a glance (The "Ooh! Shiney" instinct in us attracts us to pretty things first, usually). Even releasing it as a 'beta' here could garner enough interest from a sprite artist to help you out.

If I might, however, allow the Critic in me to step through before I wrap up my post, I've never been particularly fond of spraycan bushes on less-detailed backgrounds. They look awesome on the higher detail background with the shadows below, but I'd prefer to see a bit more of a bottom edge also in your EGA version, should you decide ultimately not to release it EGA-only. A shadow or something so it doesn't just look like it's floating there, and sharper edges on the foliage so it doesn't look out of place with the outlined rocks.

And now I'm done. Looks great, and I'll be looking forward to playing the game when it's ready.

[sergiocornaga]

Why not finish the game 'as-is' and work on the backgrounds bit by bit for a future release?

I agree, that sounds like a good idea to me. The 2nd bg is really great, and would definitely make the game a much funner experience, but, y'know....

[TheMagician]

Thank you very much for your comments and ideas!

Here is what we decided on:

First, we'll release "The Draft Drifter Who Dashed Doctor Dunno" orÃ,  D⁵ if you likeÃ,  as it is (with old backgrounds).
This version will contain the one new background (above) as an easter egg.

As this is only the first part of a two part game we'll start developing part II using the new background style from the very beginning.

If there is time, I will also redraw the old backgrounds and release it as "The Draft Drifter Who Dashed Doctor Dunno DELUXE" or D⁶ if you likeÃ, 

What du you think?

[UP]

Sounds good to me...

[Haddas]

Fair enough