some BGs to show and free 2 use *EDITED 1 more pic*

[jaz]

Hello, I´ve just joined the community
I wrote a long post couple of minutes ago, but wasn´t able to actually post it :-(  

So let´s cut a long story short:

In 1996 or 1997 after seeing some Broken Sword screenshots that totally blew me away I made some BGs that were intended for an adventure game. Sadly, the team broke apart and the project was scraped. This year I found the BGs again on a backup CD. Meanwhile I also found the AGS website which in my opinion is for an adventure fan the best thing since sliced bread.
And since I still I´m totally useless as a programmer I give these BGs to the community and I hope somebody could use them in whichever way. I would be just plain happy to see them used in a small game/demo.

OK, here we go:
The pics are in reduced color depth (220 colors) due to filesize and that´s why they look quite dithery and faded compared to hicolor version.





If you don´t see them, here are the links:

http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/B1.png
http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/B2.png
http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/B3.png

[jaz]

Well, ummm.... at least I don´t see them.  Do you think it´s because of PNG format??

And I almost forgot to ask you about your critics and comments on pictures. I know some flaws myself but go ahead.

See ya.

[Ginny]

I couldn't see them either, you linked to b1, but the files are B1 B2 and B3.

Anyway, those are some great images, very stylish and cartoony. Good work, these'd look great as a game. I reccomend you try out AGS, the programming is much easier than "real" programming IMO, and there is always the community to help Looking at the graphics convinces me that the story you thought of for the game was also great. Please make a game!

Or write a tutorial at least

[GarageGothic]

Ah, nice to be able to see them. Thanks for figuring out the problem GinnyW.

Very nice work. I certainly see the Broken Sword influence - the locations more than the style, BS used harder dark outlines. I'd like to see what kind of character art you had in mind for these backgrounds.

I really hope that you follow GinnyW's advice and give AGS a try!

[jaz]

Thank you very much GinnyW! Yes, the old copy/paste problem. so I  fixed the links but still I can´t post visible screenies I´ve linked to  pictures like this

(img)http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/b1.png(/img)

(Of course I used the [ ] brackets for img) and they still wont display.
What´s wrong? Anybody could help?

Thank you.

[Ginny]

You're welcome

Actually, it's the capital letters problem, you named them BX and linked to bX

I was wondering, how did you draw these? Did you draw them by hand on paper or using a program? They look very artisitic

[ravenfusion]

That's some nice artwork you got there jaz! This is what I like about these boards, there's always really good art and games to check out! You deserve a white thing but I can't be bothered to type the image url...

Don't give up on developing your own game, it's much more rewarding that way. AGS is the simpliest tool to use and the programming language is relatively easy, give it a try at the least. *Double thumbs up Mick Foley-style*

[jaz]

Bingo!!!
It works!!
Thanks GinnyW, you can remove the pictures from your post (it was nice from you to "host" them for a while)

As for the technique: there is nothing special. These are 100% computer drawn (just because of the fact that i didn´t have a scanner back in 1997) and therefore no concept art was used.

I was using a technique which is similar to one some use for making grafitti.
I started with a spray tool, yellow color, to sketch rough outlines of objects. Then I was playing with these to establish tem and make them solid and colored. (also with spray tool)
With this done, I just patiently colored the picture, surprisingly with spray tool (and with some slight touches of dodge/burn)

So as you can see, there is nothing special to write a tutorial about.
I was using Fractal design Painter program, but as you see, any would do.
Yes and no tablet was used, just mouse.

However, I was planning to use a scanner for further locations (these were just test ones) and I made some concept pencil art after, but it was never used. Maybe I still have it somewhere.

[Privateer Puddin']

eh im sure youd be use to a team :O then you could do the art and some one else could do the programming

* Privateer Puddin' drools a fair bit

[Ginny]

Whoa, spray tool only? that's awesome, and a very unique technique IMO. When I look closely I can sometimes recognise the spray tool being used, but only when look for it of course Creating such a smooth look with the spray tool really requires skill! I still think a tutorial on this technique would be interesting. Not to mention that the composition and colors you used are great too

[Layabout]

Fuck me! Those are awesome! You have a great style of art. Great attention to detail...


and nice bluecup in pic 3

[jannar85]

Those are.... wow...  :o
Are you sure you're not going back on the project, just with a new staff?
It's sad to see the project getting nowhere...

Um.. So you're just bumping into here, to hand over the backgrounds to the community, and just leave? Or are you staying for good (hopefully)? Or are you looking for a new team? :o

[Eggie]

Hey! that bucket looks like a big Bluecup!

Great background. I really like artwork that uses less than 256 colours so...w00t.

[jaz]

Hello again,

nice to hear you like these...

Keiko: Sure I´m going to give the AGS a try, it´s a great engine and since i saw the number of great games made with it I´m totally amazed by possibilities it offers. One of main reasons our project had been cancelled were complications in a way to produce a powerfull bug-free engine. But still I think there is a lot of scriptwizzards around that could do the programming waaay better than me.

Jannar85: No, hopefully I´m not going to be just hit and run kind of a member. I´ve been peeking on the forums for about two months, have read all threads that seemed interesting to me. (Pretty much everything and I found out that the atmosphere in the community is great! So finally I decided to join.

As for the other question, I´m not going back on THIS project NOW. Sure it would be great to finish it since I put a great effort into it, but I think that due to lack of my spare time I would not be able to make it in size and quality I want (artwise, not to mention programing)  and that would be a pitty since I think that the story I wrote deserves it.

However, I AM working on a game!! I aim for something smaller as a test, something I could manage to do. I don´t have any backgrounds finished so far, but I´m working on plot and puzzles and I can say, that I´m about 90% done. In fact It´s a resurrection of an even older project (from 1995 ). I found the "screenplay" on the backup CD as well and I was surprised that it was almost finished, however it was meant to be just first part of an intended game. But it could IMO make a nice medium game to test skills and technique on before going on something bigger.  (Of course I would need to find somebody who could take care of technical part).

No graphics are finished so far but these will be in a little different style, since I will probably go the classic way: concept, sketch, scan, outline, color and using layers. Hopefully these will be a bit better than the present ones.

But anyway, I´m not going to announce anything before there will be something to show since I´m aware that there were heaps of promising projects going nowhere and I´ve been through a couple myself when I was younger

Eggie, Layaboogie: yes, this is an pre-AGS bluecup that was meant to serve the whole community. Then the idea was dismissed and everybody got his own nice litttle one.
And for the number of colors used: it wasn´t intentional, I just wanted to reduce the filesize since I´m currently on laptop/cellphone GPRS connection. I think that these look much better in hicolor, but every pic has about  1 Meg ant it´s a real pain in the ass to upload them in this quality not to mention displaying them on a forum.

[MrColossal]

NICE TRY!

Superman Cartoon Maker...

Honestly people can we stop this?






hehe just kidding, nice backgrounds my one suggestion for future work would be to define your lights and darks better. sometimes the shadows seem to just fuzz around on the surfaces and not really stick. the bottom one is the best of the bunch cause of the contrast between the lights and the darks, that big shadow area and the light outside, and i like the foreground stones in the first image cause of their darks playing with the lights

know what i mean?

[jaz]

That was a good point MrColossal
it´s one of flaws I was talking about in one of my previous posts.
It is clearly visible for example in the gate/entrance in the first picture and on shadows casted by those boards in the second. But my point was also to capture the lazy atmosphere of African early afternoon, when the sun is blazing the air is hot and it seems like the light is coming from everywhere and there are no shadows at all. I guess that the hicolor veersions shows it better. (But as I said, I agree that the objects should have some credible shadows anyway, because a proper shading contributes greatly to the atmosphere of ANY picture.)

[FruitTree]

heh
that first BG reminds me of a BG bitmapdude (was that his name?) once did

anyway nice BGs!

[ravenfusion]

jaz, we've always got the scripting forums for any problems to run into...that's what it's there for.

I'm gonna post some new art soon, check it out when it's up!

[12431]

these are totally awesome! if i had a printer nearby, I'd be sure to print 'em out and probably eat them (after drooling quite a lot)

[OneThinkingGal and ._.]

Very nice!

You've used dodge and burn for the shading tho and that's kind of detracting from the work. If you picked the shade colours out yourself, it'll look even better. ._.

The last one's the best IMO too. ._.