(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/watertowerrough.jpg)
This is just a section taken from an 'overview' of the area in part one of the game. Needed to create something that would give myself (and the players) a bearing as to where everything is, rather than some random screens. I just coloured it rough, and theres some line detailling to be added, just thought id get something up so you lot don't think i've bailed ;). Ill post the whole thing as soon as it's done, in the meantime, comments are welcome.
just a real quick thing, i hope that the coloring of the cloud, or at least its outline/depth shows it easier as a cloud, and not just a blank area of the sky. What I'm saying is that, at first, I thought there was just a void of stars, but I eventually saw the cloud. Perhaps some nice highlights, but then again, of course you know all this.
What a beautiful scene you have so far. I didn't think you had bailed from the project, but I actually was just about to send you a private message asking about the game status.
Very nice.
Love it and looking forward to play the game :)
ya, i've been drooling so long i think my saliva glands died ;D lol keep up the great work!
ok this is pretty much the final piece, bar the water and a few little bits I'm not too happy with. I need sleep now. ;)
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/mapdone.jpg)
Just a few things to clear up what this image is about. As some of you know, the game is split into parts, and this area is where you'll find yourself in part one of the game, all of the areas on the map that you can see (and 1 or two that you cant) have already been planned and visualised, ask away if you're curious to what anything is etc.
Two minor comments (both of which you can ignore)...
I'm not to fond of the huge star-thingies; which due to the clouds almost look like they're vulcanic stuff comming out of that one big rock. Ok...This is probably just my imagination, but I would like to see them just a tad smaller (or less bright/more yellow).
Secondly: I would expect a little more illumination on the floor around the stand of the guy with the carriage wheel (and the lamp in front of the whale).
Ok...Now go ahead and ignore me, for it looks great.
also, it looks like the moon floats infront of the clouds.
Looks awesome, but:
1. You should really turn down the opacity of your line drawing layer/s. Now the outlines look a bit too obvious.
2. I would add some rocks (or something adding to detail), semi-submerged, on the base of the island, the rightmost beach and into the water right side of the big tree there.
3. I would correct the sky. Right now the clouds look too vague and undefined, so:
a) erase the outline (optional).
b) make a semi-sharp fill with no dark sharp outlines, opposed to all other objects.
c) to make it work turn the fill color to a lighter purplier/pinker color (it'll make it looks even cuter).
d) shade it heavily with a very soft brush to add contour; lighter colors inside (now you have the opposite).
e) make the clouds overlap the moon.
f) make the sky a tad bluer and add some kind of gradient; maybe a slight vertical gradient with some vague other colors added in to give depth.
g) scale the stars smaller, make them a little yellower and add tiny stars behind them in separate bunches to add depth.
h) don't use such sharp glows on the stars; use slight radial gradients if anything.
Otherwise it looks great. I got another inspiration from this image. Thanks for that.
It looks wonderful! My only complaint is the stars and the clouds. I belive you should work more on them. The black outlines are perfect as they are!
Thanks for the feedback guys :)
All: I had a feeling the sky would be a sticking point, i was going for a sort of rough CMI style, but perhaps it doesn really suit the lining of the thing overall. It's not really a glow from the stars as such, more of a clustering link between some of them if that makes any sense. Probably not lol.
Misj: You're totally right there, I will add some of those details with the glows mentioned.
idlu: I wanted the beaches to be as bland as possible, but perhaps a few small shells etc wouldnt hurt ;)
The main purpose of this work for me is for a reference points when drawing BGs, so ill know exactly what is where etc. As for the buildings, ill clear a few things up for you about the game:
1. The building on the isolated island to the left is an old water tower, which is occupied by a mysterious man...
2.The glowing kioask over the bridge is in fact an old fortune telling machine which was left here when the carnival came to town.
3. the other kiosk to the right of that with the FISH ;) sign is the entrance to the fishing club in the small woods next to the house.
4. The house is something youve seen and heard me mention in previous posts, belongs to an elderly woman called 'Molly' and will be the focal point of part one of the game.
5. The sign to the right explains why you cant leave this area of the game until the morning (or conveniently, until youve solved part 1) ;)
6. The tree is the 1st thing youll see in the game, and itll feature heavily later in the game too.
Did a shoddy edit for you dan, to show what you could aim at for lighting/contrast etc.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/oversizedchicken/lottledit.jpg)
I just felt it needed a lot more contrast in the lighting.
*edit* Too much dodge ;)
Yours is pretty good Chicky, but I still prefer the original.
That's way too much. Doesn't give the eye much space to rest. But I do somewhat agree. After second-time viewing, maybe the original could do with some contrast. Anyway, whatever floats your boat, Dan. I suppose you're the only one who knows what the story is about and how it should look.
Some messy ideas:
(http://marcus.krupa.se/AGS/tlotll.gif)
The proportions/perspective was a bit strange, but might serve well in a map kind of background due to clarity. Think I overdid the shrinking of the distant house.
I felt it could use some more depth, so I cooled down the shadow areas and decreased the contrast the further away the surfaces were.
Created a difference in the color coldness of areas in shadow and those lit up by the moon. The difference is quite subtle though to maintain the warmth, since the backlight made the shadow areas dominant.
The moon placement seemed somewhat childdrawing like and out of place.
Increased the contrast between lit up areas and those in shadow, mostly to compensate for the darkening the lightsource relocation created.
Changed the moonshine, to a more subtle radial gradient type.
I added reflections of the stars, sky and mountain.
Created a subtle sky gradient where the stars faded away towards the horizon.
Some other things probably.
-
I'm afraid the clear valuetransitions were lost in the edit, something I really like about the style. The building farthest away is somewhat hard to read in this version, but in fullscreen it should be fine.
In any case a nice background as usual.
Thanks for the edit loominous, your placement of the moon is far better than where i initially placed it, ill look at changing it asap . I'll also have a play with the sky/clouds and have something that suits a little better, i guess theyre a bit too DOTT.
I understand your concern about the aspect/proportion, and i had the same concern myself, i guess its a sort of semi isometric layout.
Thanks for all the feedback everyone. :)
I like the moon placement and perspective corrections of loom's edit, but I still like the coloring of the original better. I suppose it depends upon the mood you're trying for. To me, the original had a feeling of quiet, perhaps lonely, waves lapping the shore but little movement beyond that.
The couple of things I don't like about the new lighting scheme are how harsh the moon is (it draws your attention more than anything else in the scene) and that it's too yellow. The original felt familiar (I'm normally out & about between 10 PM and 7 AM so I'm pretty used to moonlight) while the bright yellow lighting seems oppresive. The new placement of the moon and the way shadows are cast, quite frankly, rocks.
I phrased things poorly but that's because I'm hypnotized by the back & forth animation
Well ive started reworking the whole thing, i wasnt very happy with my 1st outcome tbh, and felt i could do better. Some parts were very rushed, and some of it looked quite rough, so I'm redoing the whole thing with a greater attention to detail. Ive addressed the stars and moon as most of you mentioned, and given everything a more 'blue-ish' glow.
Obviously the entire piece will take some time to finish because of the time and detail needed. However i've done a section of it already, and i think youll agree it's quite an improvement over the 1st one:
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/watertowernew2.jpg)
Please note, this isnt final, some shadowing etc is not yet present and the water still needs some details adding.
For what it's worth, I think it looks great as is. Since you won't be viewing the screen zoomed in, I'm not sure you need any more detail on the water, but it's your background to do with as you will.
Looks excellent. Nothing much to comment. The lower pole of the clothesline could have a slight indication of yellow light as the higher one has. Doesn't need to be so strong, but at least it would help in distinguishing it. The clouds are looking great, but they could be a bit stronger, i.e. with sharper and more contrasting lighting. Also, you could use some more bolder colors on the moon. And lower the transparency of the outline.
Sorry to be an arse, but is there some kind of sharpen edges effect you use? It is something I am noticing in the latests BGs and I preffer it in the old way. Sorry not to develope this more... But it is the only point I don't like! :D
Perhaps you could work in some hue changes around the grass and the water (especially on the highlights). As it is, only the value varies (except for the orange lighting).
Oh mah... :o That looks just astonishing! My only comment would have been to move the moon behind the clouds but you already took care of that. Keep up the all too good work! :D
ProgZ: Thanks for the compliments, but its just that personally i wasnt happy with it and beleived i could improve it.
ildu: As i said this isnt completely final, more of a section of a work in progress, but you are indeed right about the clothes line, and it will be added. As for the outlines, im going to have a toy with them when the whole thing is complete, as theyre currently dotted about on various layers ( i think im upto about 45 on this piece or something silly like that)
Farlander: Correct, when i enlarge pieces, i use a slight Paint Daubs photoshop filter to give it a more oily look. Its much more apparent when things are elnlarged, and doesnt really look as brash when it's at it's riginal size.
Big Brother: Again, ill be working more on the waer and ground in the finished one, im especially keen on working with some transpancy/reflective effects for the water.
vict0r: Thankyou :)
Dan Clarke I love your work and all, and I don't know if this has been asked before, but do you have a tutorial of your coloring style?
If not, could you explain in some simple steps.
And what PS ver. are you using?
This kind of things are very enlightening, thanks :).
C.
Quote from: Czar on Thu 06/10/2005 21:38:11
Dan Clarke I love your work and all, and I don't know if this has been asked before, but do you have a tutorial of your coloring style?
If not, could you explain in some simple steps.
And what PS ver. are you using?
This kind of things are very enlightening, thanks :).
C.
OK, as requested:
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/maptutorial.gif)
I use Photoshop CS, but i have to stress that it doesnt really matter what version is used, this could have been done in version 4 if i'd had it.
Quote from: DanClarke on Fri 07/10/2005 00:37:07
I use Photoshop CS, but i have to stress that it doesnt really matter what version is used, this could have been done in version 4 if i'd had it.
Hmm. What if you had photoshop 3?Then what?
:P
I really appreciate it man, and in such a short notice. I better not start the your-so-cool part you surely want to hear. :)
C.