Which BG Style?

[cat]

I'm currently doing some backgrounds for a game. However, I'm not sure about the style to use.
I did the same scenery with two different styles (don't care about the pink background, this is only temporary)



Which one do you think is better? The game should have a funny/cute mood with some weird characters.

[Eigen]

Definately the first one! It has a lot more style to it. Ditch the second I say

[Indie Boy]

Style number 2
Nice clean lines haven't hurt anyone (especially when your doing the walk behinds )
I think you can get alot more detail and character out of style No.2 than 1. Personally I think mood comes down to lighting and shading not style. Also DOTT was a funny game and is know for its style. Having a DOTT-like style doesn't mean your game will be any funnier
Thats why I'm with style no.2   

[vict0r]

Second one if you manage to fix the perspective on it!

[GarageGothic]

I would prefer the second one in the style of the first

No, seriously, what I mean is that the first - though very charming - seems to be trying too hard at being distorted for no special reason, whereas the second one hurts my eyes a bit with all the straight (pixelly) lines and bright colors. If you did the second one in a more painterly style, without using the line tool, with a wider range of shades and some anti-aliasing it would be just great. The highlights in the first example also work wonders, that awning just looks so inviting, almost like it's made out of candy

I should probably add that I'm no great fan of pixel art, but I really don't see the point in not using anti-aliasing just for the sake of nostalgia.

[Oliwerko]

If you manage to make a suitable character for it, I think the second one can turn out better, so my vote is No. 2.

[lo_res_man]

I like the colour style and smoothness of the first while I like the usability and and details of the second. make the first more stable and add more discerning details to it.(its almost a blob) I know[i/] its a shop of some kind but  takes me a split second to long to figure that out. On the other hand, like I said the lighting and colour is beautiful on the first. so in the  end I am going for the first one.

[Stupot]

To me the second one look too whipped-up-in-painbrush, but I like the proportions of the building and its a more functional background.  If you can keep it like that, but give it the smooth edges and colour scheme as the first then it'll be great.

I also prefe rthe window frames of the first pic.

[Sparky]

Well, there are a few things going on in each that I like and dislike. The colors, lack of outlines, and soft edges of version 1 work well with the content. There's a lot of nice funky style here. However, I dislike the warped geometry in version 1 because it lends little to the piece. Tastefully distorted buildings are wonderful, but tricky to pull off well. A lot of people here recommend not just distorting things for the sake of it. If you were to redo this drawing with less wonky geometry, I'd say it looks nicer hands down.

Version 2 is more detailed, which is nice. The sign and beaded curtain are fun. I also like the overall neatness of the drawing- I think this sort of tidiness would work well with a cartoony cute sort of game. That said version 2 has less interesting lighting than version 1, and the colors are less inviting. I agree with GarageGothic that the lack of antialiasing is iffy here. Not antialiasing can work in certain styles, for example when the characters can't be antialiased for technical reasons and the environment is painted to match them. But here it seems to be sort of arbitrary.

So my vote goes for style 1 with less wiggly geometry and the tidy feel from style 2.

[cat]

Thank you for your comments! I will try to make a background that is something inbetween the two versions as recommended.

[Dualnames]

I like the first one. F*&% the second one.

[Erwin_Br]

Image number one looks interesting. Image number two looks generic. That's how I see it. Basically.

--Erwin

[EldKatt]

Really, this is one huge invitation to commit the fallacy of false dilemma. And judging by previous responses it's very effective.

[cat]

@ EldKatt:

Sorry, I don't really understand what you are saying (although I've read the wiki article). Could you please explain it to me?

[JimmyShelter]

@ EldKatt:

Sorry, I don't really understand what you are saying (although I've read the wiki article). Could you please explain it to me?

You present your question like there are just 2 answers: style 1 or style 2., while in reality there are far more answers.

[cat]

You present your question like there are just 2 answers: style 1 or style 2., while in reality there are far more answers.

Ah, thank you, now I understand. Yes, that's right but I already try to react to all the comments. I am currently working on a new style. Please be patient, I will post it as soon as it is finished.

[EldKatt]

To clarify, it's not so much a comment about the original post as it is about the responses. You made two demo backgrounds in different styles and want comments. Nothing wrong with that. Replying "1!" or "2!" can be misleading, if the poster is lured into the named fallacy. The original poster seems to be drawing sensible conclusions from it anyway, so it matters little.

Anyway. I agree that the first is more cute and inviting than the second, but it's also less functional. However, the colours and shading (probably the key to its niceness) happen to be very effective in evoking an emotional response, compared to the sober reflection of how it would actually work in a game. Hence, I would guess, all the "screw the second" responses. I think the skewed, fisheye-lensy perspective would be hard to fit 2D sprites onto. Apply the nice colours and shading to the second image, and huzzah.

[lo_res_man]

True but he is asking which one we prefer OF THOSE TWO. Yes we are been 'forced' to make a choice. I got an apple or an orange right now, and I may get an pear later. which of the two here NOW do you want? I think for the most part we were quite helpful in this regard. we said which one we liked and why and how a hypothetical future picture might benefit from  elements of both

[cat]

Hi!

I tried to make a mixture of both styles and develop a new fitting style but I wasn't able to do anything I was satisfied with (and I almost went crazy with strange behavior of anti-aliasing).

So I decided to use the second one and pimp it with the colors of the first one.

I think this is a style I will be able to use for all my backgrounds.

[Ghost]

It looks very good indeed now, and I think you did a good job here.

One thing I'd like to add is that in the scaled-down version of your first picture, the first one seemd to be a "claymation" background; I think the smoother shading did it. You could safe some of that charm by shading the individual shapes of your (cutter-clean) house; if you take some care that the edges' colours  match, you get clean, crisp edges *and* the more natural look.