Can you criticize this background! Feedback needed.

[AGS-GD]

Note: If you are having trouble viewing the image you can find it at:

ranihasan.netfirms.com/fx-shot1.jpg

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Hi,

I've started developing a new adventure game, and I would really appreciate your feedback and criticism.

The background scene isn't really a scene in the game; it's just a sample to show off the drawing and coloring style.

What do you think? And would you consider such art of commercial quality or is it way behind that?

Don't hesitate to be hard and/or rude, after all it's me who's asking for that

Thanks a lot in advance for your criticism and feedback,
AGS-GD

[InCreator]

These stakes around the road are too blurry.
Same goes to area where door meets ground.
So, avoid this in "important" bg-s.
Actually, It's damn fine bg, I can't think of any other things to improve.

[Andail]

Overall, it's a beautiful background, with a very original style to it...

Some things keep annoying me, though...perhaps the pattern on the mushrooms are too...blurred? At one point they even seem to blend in with the cloud, in a very distracting way.

I suggest getting rid of most blurred areas, and use more defined colours, perhaps decide whether to outline all of it or not at all; the outlining works well with the edges of the mushrooms, but since it's not done consistently (the leaves and the stakes lack outlining, for instance) the picture still has this unfininshed feeling to it.

But you're certainly on the right track - it already looks great

[Darth Mandarb]

This looks pretty darn sweet!

There are three things that jumped out at me when I looked at it:
1) The blue mushroom in the background area has a strange meeting with the ground.Ã,  Needs some grass or shading or something there.
2) The clouds, while neat looking, don't seem to fit into the scene?
3) The farthest hill in the background has no outline like the other hills.

Overall, I agree with Andail:

Overall, it's a beautiful background, with a very original style to it...

Looking forward to seeing more!

[Kyle]

I think it would look better if you got rid of the outlining entirely. Also, the flatness of the stones on the path just seems to conflict too much with the rest of the background. The clouds seem a bit out of whack, even for a cartooney background - they seem to going wildly diagonal while the rest of the background is only slightly off-kilter. Might straighten that up a bit. I agree with Andail about the clouds and the blending, also - I would make the distinction more apparent.

Obviously you know how to make things stand on their own - such as the stakes and leaves and such - so the outlines just seem unneccesary and in fact detract from the picture. Anyway, all in all it's a good background.

[Phemar]

Actually I think it looks pretty sweet. The stones look a little flat, and in the law of physics, I'd say that hill is a wee bit too steep to climb...

As I said "Sweet!" and don't give up on your/a game you are going to create!

[..]

Brilliant, Cant really fault it. I do see you could have problems with the angle of the picture. If you are gonna have a character walking straight up there it may look odd.

[big brother]

It seems like some elements have this nice inked outline, while others don't. You should either outline everything or nothing, because a consistent style is important.

As it is, the foreground is much too bright. It takes attention away from the mushroom houses in the middle of the picture. Think of a foreground as a way to frame your image, while giving it depth.

Also, the horizon seems to divide the page so half of it is sky and the other half is grass. If you look at any famous painting of a landscape, you'll notice that artists avoid this 50/50 split like the plague. Either the sky tends to dominate the pic, or the land does. Pick one.

Finally, while the grass in the foreground (?) doesn't look bad, it's going to be a bitch to have the character walk behind it, since it is anti-aliased so much.

[DanClarke]

Somebody got PS7 lol. (the grass brush)

Maybe tone the colours down a little. Apart from that it looks nice.

[AGS-GD]

Thanks a lot for your feedback, I'll be considering all the suggestions you have provided.

AGS-GD