I've been thinking of doing a higher resolution game, and would love some feedback on the style of background i'm going for (which will eventually be scaled down to fit the new resolution, whichever i choose later).
Any help appreciated.
(http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs034.snc3/12139_225190354065_505089065_4125931_2000913_n.jpg)
(http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs058.snc3/14561_196283899065_505089065_3924838_2886639_n.jpg)
(http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs034.snc3/12139_225190164065_505089065_4125930_2058640_n.jpg)
(http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs034.snc3/12139_221015344065_505089065_4107311_6274041_n.jpg)
Love those. Only criticism is that the blurring looks out of place. See what you're trying to do but I don't think it works. Might work better if it didn't spill over onto the roof of the hut thing, but I think it'd just look better without.
I think you have good style, but you're showing way too much walls and floor.
Sometimes people bump the higher res but keep their characters the same small size.
I tried to compress everything together, so everything isn't so zoomed out or gymnasium sized.
edit: by cropping out extra unnecessary walls or floor, or moving that bookshelf foreground element closer.
(http://www.bryvis.com/entertainment/other/agsf/badger_cl.png)
It's still pretty zoomed out, but much better.
Both absolutely right, was a little too much in mind of 'walkable area' while drawing. Will scale them in closer. Thanks for the advice!
I like "clumsy", yet crisp lines - they are brisk, diverse and will probably fit well with the characters.
The main problem with these backgounds has already been mentioned - too much empty space.
But cropping it isn't the only solution - you can also add variety by setting a more coherent lighting (for a start - coloring opposing walls differently - ex.1), or you can use more striking, extreme colour schemes (ex.2) - right now the colours seem a bit dull and flat.
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2159609/var1.jpg) (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2159609/var2.jpg)
(quick and bad examples, but i hope they help :))
Nonetheless, these are good, and I think with a bit of work you can make them great, so keep at it and experiment! :)
As far as changing the color scheme up, I have to say I like the colors you're currently using MOST about these BGs. I don't have any great criticism for now, but I thought I should mention that.
I wonder if thicker outlines for the main objects you want to draw attention to would help as well. Right now everything seems to blend into everything else and I have trouble picking out the important areas of each background.
I've done a quick but terrible mockup - I've never been very good at smooth lines:
(http://www.agspace.ws/img/alley.png)
Edited
(http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs058.snc3/14561_196283899065_505089065_3924838_2886639_n.jpg)
Original
I like auriond's edit. Breaks out of the slightly monotonous (figuratively, like) feeling these had without ruining their tone.