What do you think of this background?

[multi007]

Needless to say, Im a newbie here.. 

But Im wondering - if a game was made with these kind of backgrounds, what do you think?  (PLEASE VOTE ABOVE)

Excellent?
Good?
Average?
Poor?
Horrible?

(finally upload photo success!)

https://imgur.com/a/MFfMohi

[skooperstooper]

Hey! Just a heads up, this forum seems pretty organized with what should be posted where. This one is for asking technical questions about using AGS, not feedback on images. Try a subreddit like https://www.reddit.com/r/IndieDev/ instead.

[Gilbert]

Thread now moved to appropriate forum.

[multi007]

@gilbert - thanks!  Still learning the forums here.  Appreciate it.

Hoping for more votes. Now that this post is in the right forum category, that might help.

[Indra Anagram]

Hey multi007!

But Im wondering - if a game was made with these kind of backgrounds, what do you think?

I have not seen a game in such visual style. Probably, my gaming experience is not very big.

Excellent?
Good?
Average?
Poor?
Horrible?

It is hard to say without a character/characters against that bg. Are they going to be same style? Kinda Van Gogh?

Why did you decide to choose this kind of visuals? Could you share more info on this?

[multi007]

Hey multi007!

But Im wondering - if a game was made with these kind of backgrounds, what do you think?

I have not seen a game in such visual style. Probably, my gaming experience is not very big.

Excellent?
Good?
Average?
Poor?
Horrible?

It is hard to say without a character/characters against that bg. Are they going to be same style? Kinda Van Gogh?

Why did you decide to choose this kind of visuals? Could you share more info on this?

Yes gladly.   Im learning on a photo editing program called Gimp.  It does good for my style.  I like the paint brushes look but that might not be good for everyone.  The charachters would be similar to kings quest or roger from space quest.  I am very new to AGS so I dont even know what I dont know... 

What I do know is that this "game making" thing is INCREDIBLY time consuming.  lol   Also, do people make $$ selling this games?  Not money like $50 but money like $10,000? 

I can certainly change my art style to be more accepted by everyone.  But I know you cant please all people all the time. 

What do you think?

[eri0o]

It's always best to do a playable vertical slice (like a single room) of whatever you are trying to achieve, as a single image rarely can show what it will look like in a game, since consistency with game backgrounds, cursor, characters, text, GUIs and animations all play a part in the final perceived feeling of a game - and even sounds and music.

This image in particular to me looks like it was generated by one of the old AI art generation models, and even if it isn't, it suggests for me that the rest can't be consistent with this style, so for me this doesn't look good, because of what I have internalized about this type of art style.

[multi007]

It's always best to do a playable vertical slice (like a single room) of whatever you are trying to achieve, as a single image rarely can show what it will look like in a game, since consistency with game backgrounds, cursor, characters, text, GUIs and animations all play a part in the final perceived feeling of a game - and even sounds and music.

This image in particular to me looks like it was generated by one of the old AI art generation models, and even if it isn't, it suggests for me that the rest can't be consistent with this style, so for me this doesn't look good, because of what I have internalized about this type of art style.

Yes thank you.  I am looking for feedback and I appreciate yours. 

[Indra Anagram]

Hey multi007,

I am very new to AGS so I dont even know what I dont know... 

What I do know is that this "game making" thing is INCREDIBLY time consuming.  lol   Also, do people make $$ selling this games?  Not money like $50 but money like $10,000?   

I am a newbie myself, so here are some thoughts on your questions. I wouldn't think about money making the first game. This should be an exercise, not a commercial product. It is unlikely you could produce a game worth 10K being new to the engine and gamedev.

I can certainly change my art style to be more accepted by everyone.  But I know you cant please all people all the time. 

What genre of game are you planning? Adventure, I assume? See, the thing is you search for items and hotspots in adventures, and while making your game look like it was oil-painted seems a nice idea, it will be problematic for players to see hotspots or inventory objects. While it is true you can't please everyone, player's convenience is a must, to my opinion.

I might be wrong. Good luck with learning AGS and making your games!

[multi007]

Thank you.  Im going to work on a one room game for now, just to start learning. 

[Mandle]

My own personal problem with backgrounds that look like paintings is that the illusion falls apart for me once there is a character there who stands out way too boldly against the art style. If the effect is a filter overlay that also dynamically affects the sprite then it works for me. Probably possible in AGS but will make the engine chug a bit I'd imagine.

[Matti]

Other than the picture being too bright and saturated I like it. But as others said, as it's supposed to be a game background, it really depends on how characters (and objects) will fit in there. So without any context or playability I don't see much sense in voting for the background.

I'm interested to see what your one room game will be like.

[Snarky]

If this was a freeware AGS game, I might think, "Well, it's not terribly pretty, but it sounds interesting enough, so I'll give it a go."

But I see from your other threads that you're thinking about the commercial prospects. In that case, I'm afraid that this graphic style would be a major obstacle to people buying the game.

And that's not because it's ugly, but because it looks like you just ran a filter over a photo (or something similar) rather than hire an artist. In other words, that you were cheap and lazy. (I'm not saying you are, but that that's how it would probably be perceived.)

I can't find it right now, but not too long ago someone posted a link to an article about how prospective buyers browse on Steam and other online stores (and emails for sales and other campaigns), emphasizing the importance of capsule art and other visual assets. The key point that's relevant here is that when people look at how your game is presented, they're looking for signals of quality (or lack of quality). There is so much shovelware on these stores, and way too many games to check each out in detail, so people use heuristics to filter out titles that seem low-effort. And one of the main signals of low effort is lack of custom art for the capsule presentation (for example using a screenshot from the game). Using a custom illustration shows care, and that's a signal of quality.

Even though in this case it's about the in-game graphics rather than the marketing, I think the same thing applies: prospective buyers are going to look at screenshots in this style and think it's hastily made junk, and skip right past it.

[multi007]

Thank you @Mandle, @Matti and @Snarky.

Appreciate it.

[heltenjon]

I can't find it right now, but not too long ago someone posted a link to an article about how prospective buyers browse on Steam and other online stores (and emails for sales and other campaigns), emphasizing the importance of capsule art and other visual assets.

I think maybe you're thinking of the video Babar posted (third post) in this thread?

[Snarky]

It was basically the same message, but I'm almost positive the one I saw was an article, and I remember that it showed a picture of a gallery and how it argued that one game clearly stood out because it was the only one that used an attractive custom illustration: it was a Western game, and I think the illustration showed a revolver duel. A different, "bad" example was a game that had Minecraft-like graphics and simply used a screenshot. I also think some of the examples were from emails sent out during special sales.

The thing I liked about it was how it emphasized that potential buyers give only a very cursory initial examination of each game because there are so many low-quality games out there, so that your first task is to try to make them think, in the blink of a second, that your game is not just shovelware junk.

[multi007]

Thanks -  I have abandoned this style.