I know I've been posting a lot about different projects but I really like working with this style and want to have some input from you guys :) (Don't worry...nothing will be posted in the GIP thread until a project is nearly finished) so...is this picture too green? Should I add/remove something? Feel free to comment on the GUI's as well (I did my own verb gui...not working with the monkey Island template) I'm thinking about adding a path between the houses, giving the idea that you can go up that hill in the distance :)
(http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q492/Alcotrash_79/house-1.png) (http://s1160.photobucket.com/user/Alcotrash_79/media/house-1.png.html)
NEW version
(http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q492/Alcotrash_79/house2.png) (http://s1160.photobucket.com/user/Alcotrash_79/media/house2.png.html)
even NEWER version (Fixed the dog house)
(http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q492/Alcotrash_79/house3.png) (http://s1160.photobucket.com/user/Alcotrash_79/media/house3.png.html)
It's lovely!
If I had to comment on anything it would be the blue flowers in the extreme foreground. I'm not sure if the model is quite detailed enough for that close a look at it. Of course this stylized effect seems to be what you are going for (this is why I didn't mention the balls-tree) so just ignore this point if so.
Also maybe the cliffs in the background need a little more rough/contrast texture. They look a little flat. Also maybe a little blue-haze on them to create more distance/depth would help.
One more thing, but it might just be my monitor/eyes...I can't tell what the two pale ovals on the tree next to the porch are. Are they the ends of cut branches?
Lastly: The sky could be a little more interesting maybe. Or this could distract from the landscape maybe. Worth a try though I think.
But yeah: I would so play a game in this style. It's very nice eye-candy
Nice background! Only thing I'd do is this:
(http://i.imgur.com/Y9bLlHB.png)
Brightness up by 15%
Contrast up by 35%
Right now it just feels too dark, and if your monitor doesn't have brightness cranked to the max, some details will just get lost. It also doesn't feel like sunny day being so dark.
EDIT: Also replace texture on dog kennel. It looks more like bad case of UV wrapping than wood/planks.
This background is excellent example of 3D not needing shadows, but I would experiment with more(?) Ambient Occlusion, if your software can do some. Some soft AO wouldn't break concept of no hard shadows nor make you need to add any to your character (which would be complicated, I guess).
Tanks for your ideas! I want more shadows actually but I use the preview renderer in my 3d software and If i use the firefly renderer which of course is much better, everything becomes too detailed...so the cartoony feel kind of disappears a little. AO is of course doable...with the firefly renderer...with the preview renderer not much happens even if I check "Enable hardware AO" I'm playing around with the settings a little. the mountain of course can have more details. I will also increase the light! Yeah those oval SHAPEs are cut offs from the branches...forgot to change textures there :)
Here is a new version. Better? :)
(http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q492/Alcotrash_79/village%202_0001.png) (http://s1160.photobucket.com/user/Alcotrash_79/media/village%202_0001.png.html)
I think the road behind the dog house is hard to see. And the far background is hard to tell apart from the rest. I wouldn't immediately understand that I could walk there.
But my main issue is that the brown colour on the various objects are so similar that they confuse the eyes for a minute.
I love the house. For example, the colour variations in the red bricks and the porch fence are very nice. That's what I'd like to see in the rest of the bg. :)
Thanks! I agree with the brown color. I added a signpost also. Better or worse? :)
(http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q492/Alcotrash_79/village%202_2_0001.png) (http://s1160.photobucket.com/user/Alcotrash_79/media/village%202_2_0001.png.html)
That sign did the trick. Well done.
Still too dark, I can't see what is happening with the house.
InCreator's advise fixes that though. ;)
Hmm maybe you have a dark monitor? I see with no problems :)
It's not about having a light or dark monitor. I'm working with a calibrated monitor and though I can see the darkest shades, the extreme contrast between the two areas masks the detail. InCreator's looks much more like natural daylight. Yours has that early 3D feel without adequate ambient lighting. Don't know how to explain it better than that.
Try using lighting to draw attention to the centre of the image / front of the house. Currently the lighting makes my attention drift off into the top corner, just because the roof is bright.
Here's an incredibly rough mockup, just to show how you can draw attention to the important parts of the scene:
(http://i.imgur.com/St9BIjb.jpg)
Yeah Ali, he should try that, my eyes are no longer straining!
I have a concern about that GU! I'm quite off on the Monkey Island interface anyway these days because I feel like it's too much moving the cursor back and forth, and that game has the interface taking up almost half the screen; that annoyance is just going to be exaggerated by it being so tiny and right down at the bottom there.