Is this styled dashboard truly suitable for a game of my calibre? Especially considering it's loosely based on the one from The Wizard of Oz.
(http://www.majhost.com/gallery/EvilGuy/TWotW/001.png)
The dashboard pulls out to reveal most of the standard icons.
(http://www.majhost.com/gallery/EvilGuy/TWotW/002.png)
The shadow on the centre-right is a placemark for the inventory item. (Perhaps I ought to have retained the save/load icons....)
What does "game of my calibre" mean?
Wizard of Oz is really a wiiiiiiiide area of media, stories and atmospheres, so you'll either have to provide some other examples or give a bit more detail.
But to me the icons at least don't look like they are from a WoO universe, not that they don't belong there, but if I just looked at them I wouldn't say "that's a Wizard of Oz game".
Aren't the icons simply Sam 'n Max ones that have been recoloured to look like (caucasian) human skin?
Quote from: Babar on Wed 13/06/2012 19:17:43
Aren't the icons simply Sam 'n Max ones that have been recoloured to look like (caucasian) human skin?
I redrew them. :embarrassed:
I'm terribly sorry, I'm going to have to do them all again, aren't I?
They make good icons, easily readable and established, but they are really very close to the original S&M sprites. When I hear Wizard of Oz I think whimsical magical pun-laden stuff, maybe the icons can reflect that? (No idea how your interpretation of WoO will be).
For example, crystal ball instead of an eye, a leather pouch instead of the cardboard box... But I like the idea to pull down a set of icons- gives you more screen eastate.
Ah sorry, perhaps I haven't made myself quite clear: the dashboard shape derives somewhat from Jersey Jack's newest pinball machine dashboard. The game itself is an interpretation of Sam & Max. Ah... yes.
You should probably decide on the color palette and the actual look and style of the game (backgrounds, characters etc.), then it'll be eaiser to style the GUI.
Quote from: Anian on Thu 14/06/2012 00:50:23
You should probably decide on the color palette and the actual look and style of the game (backgrounds, characters etc.), then it'll be eaiser to style the GUI.
+1. Your screenshot combines a highly stylised background with a realistically rendered GUI frame and crisp cartoon icons. That's three styles, and the GUI frame is the odd man out- nothing wrong with the shape, but it would look better to draw all elements of the game in one style.
That's true! I'd better get rid of the gradients, then. Maybe give it a different colour.
Yeah remove gradiant and you can shade it or solid color. Also you should AA the edges.
Given the game it's for, perhaps you should try to make it look like the hood of a Desoto?
Quote from: CaptainD on Thu 14/06/2012 12:15:15
Given the game it's for, perhaps you should try to make it look like the hood of a Desoto?
Cracking idea! ...how?
Quote from: Frito Master on Thu 14/06/2012 09:40:02
Also you should AA the edges.
AGS allows that?
Not quite :P
http://gas13.ru/v3/tutorials/handmade_antialiasing.php
Your U.I. is cutout but round so aa will give it a nicer curved look.
Quote from: FrankT on Thu 14/06/2012 13:41:43
Quote from: CaptainD on Thu 14/06/2012 12:15:15
Given the game it's for, perhaps you should try to make it look like the hood of a Desoto?
Cracking idea! ...how?
Would using these as a reference help?
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3071/3075592976_b6ab50a8a6_z.jpg?zz=1)
(https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTC-s2D0fCMXabZ3i4Yf3N-2T-phvj0vRnta8yE_WJrtNZ5BBJN)
(https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTtJTYOcoSQ3UbWZy8kW3ep5Ym9dqXODdCX_w8YZnnfWqdlKXc_BA)
Quote from: Ghost on Wed 13/06/2012 21:18:46
S&M sprite
:)
That sprite below looks very S&M to me :
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_d0RKIS9Nd9E/TQLbQiR4ItI/AAAAAAAAAW0/YhO_GPzGiUI/s1600/leprechaun-13.jpg)
Quote from: Frito Master on Thu 14/06/2012 13:47:24
Not quite :P
http://gas13.ru/v3/tutorials/handmade_antialiasing.php
Your U.I. is cutout but round so aa will give it a nicer curved look.
But will AGS show anti-aliasing correctly?
Quote from: CaptainD on Thu 14/06/2012 13:55:19Would using these as a reference help?
I think so! As a matter of fact... that might mean I can add a bit extra onto it....
Quote from: Monsieur OUXX on Thu 14/06/2012 16:19:40
That sprite below looks very S&M to me :
Brr, Leprechaun. Thanks for rekindling childhood fears, sir!
Frank: AA filters are overrated when it comes to pixel art. If you want to use a blur filter you will need to use 32bit colour and an alpha channel, and alpha rendering on GUIs is buggy.
With a small palette, maybe four hues of blueish gray, you can soften edges enough to make them look convincingly smooth.
edit:
Super-crude mockup, based on your original frame shape:
(http://i.imgur.com/jc9GD.png)
Good idea! If I can implement that somehow with my new design.....
Well I gave the whole icon bar an overhaul, but I dunno.... I mean it's not that much an improvement, is it?
(http://www.majhost.com/gallery/EvilGuy/TWotW/003.png)
Well personally I like it, it's an attractive and clear layout, you win in terms or aesthetics and functionality.
My only real concern is the choice of colours - I think the main icons don't look right / stand out enough. If you're going for a light grey background they need to be darker, stronger colours (to me).
Incidentally I love the savegame icon, very stylish!
Hm? The main icons don't stand out enough? How so?
Quote from: FrankT on Tue 19/06/2012 12:24:55
Hm? The main icons don't stand out enough? How so?
I just think the contrast could be better - darker colours for the icons on the light colour of the interface background.
When you compare the first image with the second hopefully you'll be able to see what I mean - against the dark green those icons really stand out, but against the grey they don't so much. It's really only the hand icons that look a little wrong to me, the eye and mouth are a bit darker and so do stand out. The hand icons merge into the background a little.
(http://www.majhost.com/gallery/EvilGuy/TWotW/002.png)
(http://www.majhost.com/gallery/EvilGuy/TWotW/003.png)
If the icons themselves were a bit darker or even if you added a black outline around the hand icons, to me I think it would look better. I also like the graduated fill in the top version more than the plain colour of the second - but again, just my opinion.
Hm... you think a grate effect would help?
Quote from: FrankT on Tue 19/06/2012 18:42:03
Hm... you think a grate effect would help?
Might do - try it and see what it looks like.
(http://www.majhost.com/gallery/EvilGuy/TWotW/004.png)
There, now none of them stand out correctly! :undecided:
A shadow under them should help make them look apart from the grill.
Quote from: Ryan Timothy on Tue 19/06/2012 22:33:43
A shadow under them should help make them look apart from the grill.
Or a black outline round them.
Exactly my thoughts!
(http://www.majhost.com/gallery/EvilGuy/TWotW/005.png)
Nice. Will the icons also be highlighted in some way when the mouse cursor is over them?
It depends. Is that easily programmable?
Quote from: FrankT on Sat 23/06/2012 16:18:02
It depends. Is that easily programmable?
Eek! You're asking me a programming question?!?!
It should just be a case of having another image - like an outline of what's there or the same image differently coloured - to temporarily show up at the xy position when the mouse cursor is over that item. Don't ask me how to do it though!!
The "save", "open", "options" and "?" ... they need to be resized so they fit comfortably into the headlights. They look very awkward overlapping the edges as they do.
Also the inventory box and the "whatever" it is shadow thing on the left... those should be moved as they don't "fit" aesthetically in their current positions. Maybe move the inventory down to the license plate (where the score (?) currently is) and move the score to the bumper area.
All-in-all I really like the concept of this GUI ... it's just needs a lot of polishing to make it "work". Good luck!
Quote from: Darth Mandarb on Sat 23/06/2012 16:58:26Maybe move the inventory down to the license plate (where the score (?) currently is) and move the score to the bumper area.
Doesn't the score work on the license plate...?
Darth is just talking about re positioning. This will not affect the score.
Quote from: CaptainD on Sat 23/06/2012 16:30:33
Quote from: FrankT on Sat 23/06/2012 16:18:02
It depends. Is that easily programmable?
Eek! You're asking me a programming question?!?!
It should just be a case of having another image - like an outline of what's there or the same image differently coloured - to temporarily show up at the xy position when the mouse cursor is over that item. Don't ask me how to do it though!!
GUI buttons don't even need programming for this - when you select the image for your button, you can add images for mouse-over and pushed-down mode. It's all in the settings pane for the GUI elements. Easy as pie!
Quote from: Red Belly on Sun 24/06/2012 07:09:12
Darth is just talking about re positioning. This will not affect the score.
I know, I'm just saying, wouldn't the score be better left on the plate?
(http://www.twin-design.com/ags/help/frankt-help-01.png)
- resized the headlight options so they weren't over-lapping the edges of the headlights (MARGINS PEOPLE!!!)
- shifted the headlights so they "fit" better in the housings
- moved inventory to the plate area
- increased size of the ... dark grey things... on the sides of the plate and move the score to the left and the "close" option to the right one
- wasn't sure what the checkerboard pattern thingee (to the left of the walk icon) was so I left it alone and cloned it for the right side
This (to my eyes) creates MUCH better symmetry and just makes it read easier. Just some ideas.
Thanks for that! Would it be ok if I borrowed those rehashed graphics?
Looking alot better since the start of this thread :D Keep it up.
The problem with having the X on the bottom right is that when the GUI is nearly closed during gameplay it will always be sitting there at the top right staring at you. I don't like that.
Honestly, I have to say I prefer the way FrankT arranged the icons to how Darth did it. It now looks visually confusing whereas the score as a centerpiece (on the license plate) brought balance to the UI. My advice would be that the grille is more than big enough to support 5 icons, just have the current ones follow the bend of the fender and place the inventory above them in the middle. One variation you could try involves changing the inventory icon to an up arrow indicating that the inventory is 'under the hood':
[imgzoom]http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr218/ProgZmax/guiex1.gif[/imgzoom]
and then make the inventory gui actually look like the top of the desoto engine with a bunch of stuff thrown about inside (dead weasel, etc)...
I went ahead and softened the shapes in the headlights rather than just reducing them in size as I thought they otherwise fit pretty well. I also doctored up the license plate a bit but you could make it plain if you want, my main recommendation would be keeping the points arranged in a license plate number fashion like I've done. I'd also recommend removing the black circles under the fender as they are really dark and distract your attention away from the rest of the gui and serve no real purpose. You can also safely reduce the size of the main icons without sacrificing clarity or usability, which will allow you to more easily fit your inventory icon (or an alternate one like in my example). I like the gui overall even if it is a bit large so I hope this helps!
Well, how about this: I put the score back where it used to be, got rid of the X button and moved the box over to the left, where it's still easily accessible.
(http://www.majhost.com/gallery/EvilGuy/TWotW/006.png)
And yes, the icons are coloured when the mouse goes over them, and pushes inward when clicked!
Maybe you can merge the help into the ? and make the ? options.
That way its symmetrical, If not it still looks good!
That's a good point. You don't really need to make the about/help separate from the options. That would free up a headlight for your inventory.
Also I liked the idea of the icons being colored all the time, You could leave them colored and on mouse over give them a outline or (My favorite) animated them, Fingers on the hand walk, Eye Blink, Hand Close, Mouth move.
Though its got polish now and doesn't really seem much more to change :D
Meh... it's getting away from itself here. I feel like it's losing the symmetry it needs to be easily readable.
If you want to put 5 icons in the "grate" area I would suggest changing the divisions of the grate to make it fit better.
Something like this (done extremely quickly and sloppily, just to show the concept):
(http://www.twin-design.com/ags/help/frankt-help-02.png)
NOTE: the inventory box I resized to make it more of a size with the other main options so you might need/want to re-pixel it!
These are just suggestions. This just has a more "correct" feel to me. Feel free to use/not use as you sit fit.
As I mentioned in my edit, reducing the size of the main icons to fit them on there is preferable and as Darth has arranged them solves the problem of them being scattered around. I still think you could put the about information inside the options menu and use that extra light for something else. Its position in the upper corner would be good for an up arrow to hide the gui, for instance.
I don't recall there being an About button as well as a Help button? (Or vice-versa, I'm not sure what to do with it yet.) But since you recommend these changes, I'll try to put aside some time to work on them. Of course, I'm not sure where the inventory item shadow is going to go......
The cogs and the "?"
That's the Control Panel icon, and the Help or About (haven't decided which) icon.
Yeah, The suggestion was to remove the question mark and just add it into the settings menu so there would be space for your inventory.
Honestly though I like Darths version, I'd keep inventory in the center and then stick a back arrow unless you plan on having it slide out on mouse over.
Well I dunno.... I'm thinking of switching to 320x200 resolution. 800x600 is too many pixels for me to work with. This of course means the interface will need a total overhaul.
Hmm. You could always just draw stuff less detailed. You have "MORE" to work with but you don't have to utilize it.
I love low res too though... Well if you do switch keep us updated on how the new ui is going :D
So the change has been made. And I've decided to go for a simpler icon bar, more based on the older Telltale games.
(http://www.majhost.com/gallery/EvilGuy/SfSaM/000.png)
You can't see it here, but the icons do glow when they're mouseover'd, and push in when clicked, too!
And oh yes, I also remade the subway map in low-res, too.
Our character is now animated! (about time!)
(http://www.majhost.com/gallery/EvilGuy/SfSaM/richie_walkcycle.gif)
Would you say that walk-cycle is consistent enough? It looks like the collar might be a bit flappy.
Richie lives! :-D
Looks pretty good to me. There seems to be just a tiny "jerking" effect but I couldn't tell you why exactly - I'll leave that to someone with more talent!
To me there should be a tiny amount of movement in the as he walks.
Quote from: CaptainD on Thu 05/07/2012 12:22:07
To me there should be a tiny amount of movement in the as he walks.
In the...?
Oops sorry! In the hair.
Is the limp deliberate?
It might be. I used the older SCI characters as a template. They seem to limp a bit too.
Don't worry about the limp, I can write in a backstory to that! :P
No good - some might think I'm just using that as an excuse. :(
Although then again, it might be just the way I positioned some of the frames. Would you say this demonstration looks correct?
[imgzoom]http://www.majhost.com/gallery/EvilGuy/SfSaM/iceman.gif[/imgzoom]
Edit: Made animation zoomable - Snarky
It looks pretty good to me. A little hard to tell with it being so small, but the walking motion looks reasonably natural.
No, it's still uneven. Try matching each frame with the same frame for the other leg (so the one with left leg in front with the one with right leg in front, etc.). To me, the one that looks off is with the right leg (closest to us) at the very back. I think he drops a pixel on that frame that he doesn't on the other leg.
Really? I mean it's so hard to tell... ???
Well anyway, I think I've eased up Richie's movement a little. Or at least lessened the limping.
[imgzoom]http://www.majhost.com/gallery/EvilGuy/SfSaM/richie_walkcycle2.gif[/imgzoom]
I am not the one to teach, but I like to learn from those interesting threads, too :wink:
So how about this rhythm of your nice walkcycle?
[imgzoom]http://s14.directupload.net/images/user/120706/8wexneo3.gif[/imgzoom]
Of course I'll delete this one, if you mind - just tell me.
Seems to run smoother. What'd you do?
I only deleted layer 3 and "pushed the others a bit around†to be at the highest point,
when legs are together and at the lowest, when the legs are spread the most.
So there isn't really much changed (roll)
Quote from: FrankT on Fri 06/07/2012 16:30:58
Really? I mean it's so hard to tell... ???
Is it? Maybe I'm confusing you because you think "limp" means there's something wrong with the legs. Actually, a limp is most noticeable in the head movement.
Just ignore the rest of the body and watch the head. See that rhythm: it bobs a little, then it bobs a lot; it bobs a little, then a lot; a little, a lot; little, lot, little, lot...
It's the same in Tabatha's edit.
QuoteWell anyway, I think I've eased up Richie's movement a little. Or at least lessened the limping.
[imgzoom]http://www.majhost.com/gallery/EvilGuy/SfSaM/richie_walkcycle2.gif[/imgzoom]
OK, I've taken a closer look at it in an image editor. The animation has 8 frames, and the leg movement is pretty regular: frame 1 matches frame 5 (roughly) except with the other leg, 2 matches 6, 3-7, and 4-8. It's all good. (Actually, 4 and 8 don't match very well, which could be a bit of a problem in itself and the reason for this mistake in the first place, but let's focus on the more important part for now.) However, if you compare the head position between those "matching" frames, you see that they don't match at all: frame 1 is one pixel higher than frame 5, 2 is one higher than 6, 3 is one LOWER than 7 (so on the frame where his head goes down on the one leg, it actually goes UP on the other), and 4 is one lower than 8.
Unless one of his legs is longer than the other (i.e. he's limping), his head should be the same distance above ground when his legs are in the same position only switched. If you match the head/torso position between frames 1 and 5, 2-6, 3-7, and 4-8, the limp will disappear.
Thats what it was, I couldn't quite place it.
Aha! Now I see where you're getting at! Finally the limp is eliminated.
[imgzoom]http://www.majhost.com/gallery/EvilGuy/SfSaM/richie_walkcycle3.gif[/imgzoom]
Now we're getting somewhere!!
Looks good.
cool - well done changings (http://www.smileyvault.com/albums/userpics/12962/applause.gif)
Thanks very much! :)
Right, moving on... I've got two new things - first, a take on the Golden Gun, which is made of silver or possibly even platinum:
[imgzoom]http://www.majhost.com/gallery/EvilGuy/SfSaM/gun.png[/imgzoom]
There's also Richie walking downwards. But I dunno... he looks like he's sort of... floating... wouldn't you say?
[imgzoom]http://www.majhost.com/gallery/EvilGuy/SfSaM/richie_walkcycle4.gif[/imgzoom]
It's not bad, I have trouble with downwards walks. But riche needs to look like his arms are bending up and his feet prolly need a frame that looks like his foot is in the air so that he doesn't look like hes sliding. :sealed: I might be wrong though I've only been animating for like a month or so now.
Quote from: FrankT on Sat 07/07/2012 18:26:46
There's also Richie walking downwards. But I dunno... he looks like he's sort of... floating... wouldn't you say?
[imgzoom]http://www.majhost.com/gallery/EvilGuy/SfSaM/richie_walkcycle4.gif[/imgzoom]
Shouldn't his head bop twice during one cycle, that is, once for each leg?
Probably. It's quite hard to tell when the animation runs as fast as that. Don't worry, I'll have a look at it.
Well, it turns out the positioning is almost correct; I just had to tweak his head movement so he goes up on both legs in one cycle. And I made the back sprite. By now he can actually walk in an environment like this one....
[imgzoom]http://www.majhost.com/gallery/EvilGuy/SfSaM/001.png[/imgzoom]
Although perhaps I should've drawn him larger.... or maybe not.
Well, since I'm not much good with aligning scaling in multiple walkable areas, I'm going to have to overhaul the prelude house. Now this one's a rehash of a scenario from SWAT 2.
(http://www.majhost.com/gallery/EvilGuy/SfSaM/005.png)
Tell me - does the lighting look right in this overhead shot?
No.
true
the sofa on the upper left has a shadow in 2 directions and the shadow of the chair is way to huge. And give that rug a small fuzzy shadow too ;)
Additionally, the shadow from the sofa by the coffee table seems to start about a foot away from it, by the corner of the rug, and goes parallel to the wall for no reason, until it reaches the side wall, where the light suddenly curves around the corner in order to spread out into the corridor. And when the far shadow from the chair reaches the wall, the light somehow doesn't manage to go up the wall at all, but just stays on the ground.
Basically, there's hardly a single shadow in the entire picture that looks right. (The shadow of the left sofa on the ground, and the right-hand shadow in the corridor aren't too bad.)
Shadows aren't really that difficult to do, even just eyeballing them to get something "close enough". You just have to think spatially, about where in the room you wouldn't have a clear line of sight to the light source. This picture makes it seem like you have no idea how to work that out, and are just kind of taking random guesses. So maybe you're better off doing them by construction. You can start by making sure all the shadow outlines on the ground (well, the ones cast by vertical edges) point towards the foot of the lamp.
Apart from the shadows, this looks very nice and clean. Or are you using templates/sprite sets for the rooms/furniture? (You said something about SWAT 2.)
Quote from: Snarky on Mon 16/07/2012 15:58:23Apart from the shadows, this looks very nice and clean. Or are you using templates/sprite sets for the rooms/furniture? (You said something about SWAT 2.)
Both, sort of! I made up some simplified walls and floor, and recycled the furniture. Most of it, anyway.
Er, yeah, I'm really not that good at light physics; that last round really was a few shots in the dark. If I can think with circles....
I'm not the best but I drew up a quick thing with the mouse.(I think I'm a bit closer to the shading, that said I'm prolly still quite a bit wrong.)
The main problem with yours was a few wierd things and the lighting is such that the light bulb would have been on the floor.
(http://s17.postimage.org/tbscirzxr/shadow.png)
Edit:
Well after looking at it, I still see problems with mine.
I might redo it tommorow.
I really like that edit frito, very moody. Could you explain how it was done?
Umm... I just made 2 layers over his and took a default pixel brush and clicked around where the light would shine and then the other layer where it would get darker and set them to overlay(Prolly not the best option if your shading like this for a real background.)
Edit: oh and I forgot I added some shadows on the sprites too.
Very nice! I should have you on the team as consultant. Would it be alright if I used that fix?
You can if you want to... Though it has a really rough look you might want to use it as a reference and try doing the shadows again(Mine are exactly right either :P)
Aw, but I'm no good at shadows; I think we've established that. :undecided:
Well practice a bit.
What you had wasn't bad.
Well... alright. One more go.
(http://www.majhost.com/gallery/EvilGuy/SfSaM/005b.png)
Not much better, isit?
Well you use my shadows for reference.
Think of a sunset, When your standing there and your shadow is super long. Now think of noon when its not very long.
Your lamp is in the air, So the shadows it casts are not going to be super long.
Quote from: Frito Master on Wed 18/07/2012 05:07:31
Think of a sunset, When your standing there and your shadow is super long. Now think of noon when its not very long.
Your lamp is in the air, So the shadows it casts are not going to be super long.
Exactly. If the light source is higher than the object, than the shadows will get shorter, not longer. You're taking into account horizontal relations between objects and the light source but not the vertical. The bulb in the lamp is higher than any furniture in the room, so the shadows can't possibly be that long.
I mean Frito did a nice job of showing you how short the shadow of the chairs and the couches and the table is and yet you drew it with long shadows again.
Well he is still learning.
Shading isn't that bad when you get the hang of it.
What program are you using.
That's looking much better, FrankT!
The bits that are still noticeably off are the shadows into the corridor. Like I said before, the edge of the shadows should be a line pointing towards the light source (here the lamp; or more accurately the foot of the lamp - you have to project the light source down onto the plane along the normal of the plane). I don't know what the diagonal line from the top of the corner to the bottom of the doorway is even meant to be. You could certainly add light coming from the doorway as a secondary light source (if that's what you're trying to do), but I'd focus on getting the single-source shadows right first.
You could also tweak the shadow from the back of the left sofa a bit, and maybe the angle on the shadow from the front of the chair, but they're pretty good as they are.
I disagree with Frito Master and Anian about the length of the shadows. The lamp isn't that high, and given the distance to the various pieces of furniture, the light is going to come in at a pretty flat angle, so the shadows will be long. The chair, parts of the shadow of the sofa on the left, and the shadow of the coffee table are maybe a tad too long, but otherwise I think this is closer to how they'd actually fall than Frito's sketch. (Of course, Frito is also taking into account light dispersion and ambient reflected light for a much softer look. I think in this particular art style, it's just as well to discount all of that and just assuming all light is flat and even, and all the shadows crisp.)
(The way I would sanity-check stuff like this is to imagine that I'm lying on the floor and looking towards the lamp. Is anything blocking my view? In that case I'm in shadow. So behind the couch on the right, I think it's quite plausible that the shadow would go all the way to the wall.)
Quote from: Frito Master on Wed 18/07/2012 09:23:59
What program are you using.
GIMP. Why, is there a more suitable program?
Just a little tip, I used to worry about what tool I was using for the longest time, always thought the best things like Photoshop would make my stuff pretty, or GraphicsGale would be better for pixel art. Just use a tool you're comfortable with, it's not the tool, it's the artist. I myself use Gimp even though I have Photoshop. :)
Ok. A little more tweaking. Is this any better, or...?
(http://www.majhost.com/gallery/EvilGuy/SfSaM/005c.png)
Sorry, it's not. I'm not sure what you're doing (what is going on with the shadow of the chair? not to mention in the corridor?), but unless this is just trying to show both the old and the new version together in one image, I would recommend scrapping it and going back to the previous version. Just keep it simple: one single light source, one single depth of shadow, none of this half-shadow stuff.
I think or right. (See I've been drawing forever and I'm still learning.)
Here you you go frank.
The only difference between your drawing is position and shape of stuff and the fact in my render theres no ceiling or side wall so the light would bounce around more making the room brighter.(I think?)
Also like snarky said since your doing hard shading
QuoteJust keep it simple: one single light source, one single depth of shadow, none of this half-shadow stuff.
(http://s15.postimage.org/jwad8tidn/Testing.png)
Edit: Sidenote has anyone else messed with cycles in blender? Its so badass, I love having the ability to have the viewport be a real time render.
I give up. :( I'll have to get someone else to do the lighting.
Just copy the shadows from the render I did.
Pointless; I'll just mess it up again! :(
Thats how you learn my friend and I've done it thousands of times and thats just with drawing.
Well... alright, I'll have another look at it, but it's going to be a bit tricky....
Good you keep that up and you'll get much better at it.
Compare it to the picture.
Like this?
(http://www.majhost.com/gallery/EvilGuy/SfSaM/005d.png)
(http://s12.postimage.org/hd435uqm5/frant.png)
Well I'm not much of an expert on these things, but the shadows on that do look far more consistent as coming from a single light source. The only think that looks a bit wrong to me is that seemingly small light source lighting all the way down the corridor.
These lightbulbs are especially bright....!
All right, since I didn't want you to give up, I tried myself on some 'solidary shadow creation suffering'.
As the supposedly "real" shadows (according to sketchup + lightup - similar to Frito's rendering) turned out to
look rather aweful in this isometric view (as in "not real"), I went with a combination of real and stylized ones
(...after "some" try-outs). (Apparently I had too much free time this weekend :tongue:)
Unfortunately I got rather carried away, overdid it somewhat and
in the course, ended up butchering your scene kind of:
(http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/1345/trampotry.png)
As Snarky and Frito already mentioned, simple and stylized shadows are easier to do and fit nicer into
the scence (...it reminds me a bit of 'Little Big Adventure', they had 'stylized' shadows under their sprites as well)
It really doesn't matter how bright the light bulb is, and how far the light would travel in "reality", it's
really more important that it creates a coherent mood in your scene.
Playing around with your scene, I also realized that the wing chair is rather too big for those couches. Since the wing chair
looks good in this size, I'd recommend enlarging those couches & the table somewhat.
Also, in order to make those crisp & hard shadows not stand out so much, I'd recommend putting highlights where the light hits
the furnitures. Tried this with the large couch in a really quick and messy way (- not a very good example!).
If you would brighten the left side of the wing chair (from our point of view) for example, it would make the wing chairs shadow
instantly more pleasing to the eye
Other than that, lovely scene!
Quote from: Frito Master on Sat 21/07/2012 14:07:06
(http://s12.postimage.org/hd435uqm5/frant.png)
Yes, this is good. Well done!
Quote from: Tramponline on Sun 22/07/2012 13:23:44
Unfortunately I got rather carried away, overdid it somewhat and
in the course, ended up butchering your scene kind of:
(http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/1345/trampotry.png)
As Snarky and Frito already mentioned, simple and stylized shadows are easier to do and fit nicer into
the scence (...it reminds me a bit of 'Little Big Adventure', they had 'stylized' shadows under their sprites as well)
I used blender :P and it was more or less to just show the shadows. Also I figured it'd be easier for him to not have to figure out the table leg shadows too.
Nice job though if I was him I'd use yours.
Correct! After I just enlarge those sofas and table, and clean up the shadows a bit, it should be ready to go.
Just got to keep it up and stick with it!
We got there.
(http://www.majhost.com/gallery/EvilGuy/SfSaM/trampotry2.png)
I do not quite understand about this game... Are you aiming for classic Hit the Road look or something else?
It's hard to say. A bit of both, I think.
I remember reading your pitch for the game somewhere (at least I hope it was yours), where a fairly normal protagonist goes on a search for the retired and missing Sam n' Max. It struck me that there would be some interesting juxtapositions of your real cop and the world of the cartoon detectives, sort of like those found in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. It had intriguing potential to me then and continues to do so as I watch you work through your art process.
Why do you keep using antialising, stop doing that.
Sorry, force of habit. :undecided: