Adventure Game Studio

Creative Production => Critics' Lounge => Topic started by: Morgan on Tue 14/02/2006 00:48:13

Title: Which one looks better
Post by: Morgan on Tue 14/02/2006 00:48:13
Which one of these looks better? The original one is on the right. I put some "noise" in the other two and changed their color. The one in the middle looks cold, which is kind of what I'm going for. But I like the one on the left because it has an old rusty feel to it. What do you think?

(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/3_Vaults_3.png)
Title: Re: Which one looks better
Post by: Alun on Tue 14/02/2006 01:04:13
Depends on what you're going for.  All three have different feels; it depends on which one better fits the feel you want.  What's the story behind this area?  What kind of atmosphere are you trying to create?

You say the "one in the middle looks cold, which is kind of what [you're] going for".  Fair enough.  That's a good reason to use it, then.  But then you say you like the left one "because it has an old rusty feel".  Well...which better fits what you need, then?  Is it more important for it to look cold, or for it to look old and rusty?  In isolation, I don't think any of these "looks better" than another; the different color combinations just evoke different atmospheres.

The only thing I can say is that maybe you could try for something that looks both "cold" and "old and rusty", if both of these are qualities you want in the room.  But I'm not quite sure off the top of my head how to do that, since rust is reddish and yellowish, and red and yellow are "warm" colors.  Maybe keep the colors of the middle picture for the walls and floor, but use the more rusty colors for some of the details?  I don't know...just a thought.
Title: Re: Which one looks better
Post by: on Tue 14/02/2006 05:48:00
The middel or right one definitely :)
Title: Re: Which one looks better
Post by: Bartimaeus on Tue 14/02/2006 05:48:23
I think that the one on the left looks warm and cosy rather than cool and rusty, which I don't think is what you were going for.

I like the one on the right the most.
(Originals rule)
;)
Title: Re: Which one looks better
Post by: Afflict on Tue 14/02/2006 19:34:11
I like the one on the right...

The one on the left looks like you used a change color tool on it  :(
Title: Re: Which one looks better
Post by: Corey on Tue 14/02/2006 19:58:49
Middel or right, I can't decide lol  :D
Title: Re: Which one looks better
Post by: Morgan on Tue 14/02/2006 20:08:34
I have decided to use the original one. And I have started making characters. What do you think of them? I've been playing a lot of Fallout 2 so that's why the guy on the right looks like a vault dweller.

(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/vault_characters.png)
Title: Re: Which one looks better
Post by: Hammerite on Tue 14/02/2006 20:55:37
theyre all very small
Title: Re: Which one looks better
Post by: Morgan on Tue 14/02/2006 21:11:51
There suppose to be. It's a low-res game.
Title: Re: Which one looks better
Post by: vict0r on Tue 14/02/2006 22:08:42
Very small. What program are you using?
Title: Re: Which one looks better
Post by: Helm on Wed 15/02/2006 00:29:59
This is good small. I thought about making an 150x100 game once, even made scotch or fuzz write me a plugin so it ran fullscreen on AGS, but never persued it further. Would such a thing be of interest to you?
Title: Re: Which one looks better
Post by: Kweepa on Wed 15/02/2006 01:54:29
Quote from: vict0r on Tue 14/02/2006 22:08:42
Very small. What program are you using?

He must be using mini-paint. That's what I used for Gaby King. And I believe Zooty is using it for mini-RON.

Seriously though, the characters look awesome. Perhaps the guy on the left could do with a bit more contrast so that his skin tone stands out from the shield.
Title: Re: Which one looks better
Post by: Squinky on Wed 15/02/2006 03:18:11
Definately a cool deal you have here. I just beat Fallout about a week ago and have been playing Fallout 2 also. It's good times.
Title: Re: Which one looks better
Post by: Morgan on Wed 15/02/2006 05:09:06
I'm using GraphicsGale.
And that's not a shield (even thought it does look like it) it's an apron type thing.
I've had Fallout and Fallout 2 for a long time but it took me forever to beat Fallout because of all the bugs and I have just got to the end of Fallout 2. I can't wait until Bethesda finally releases new info about Fallout 3. I have always loved apocalyptic type games but there aren't many out there (another one I like a lot is Shadowrun for SNES) and I have always wandered why there weren't more of them. When I graduate from my local community college I hope to go on to Full Sail in Florida and get a degree in game art and design. Then I will be able to make all the cool games that no one else is making (Act raiser 3, Punch out 3, sequel to beneath the steal sky, ect.)
Title: Re: Which one looks better
Post by: Morgan on Wed 15/02/2006 05:55:14
I just started a test game to see if the characters look good with the background and I noticed that they kind of blend into the background. I wanted them to stand out so I tried making them slightly different colors then making them darker and lighter and then I thought of putting black outlines around them. Know usually when I see this look in a game I hate it. It usually looks cheaply made and just throne together but it really made the characters stand out.

This is going to be a serious game with blood and violence and such so I wanted the characters to mach the feel of the game but my characters always end up looking cartoony. But then I started to think that I have really never seen this look in a serious game before and it would be really different and in my opinion the most important thing in making a game is to have something new and different. Whew that's a lot of typing. So tell me what you think.

(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/vault_characters_outlined.png)
Title: Re: Which one looks better
Post by: DonB on Wed 15/02/2006 22:45:16
Those characters are looking very.. very good.. keep up the good work!
BTW nice idea.. a low res game like that..
Title: Re: Which one looks better
Post by: sergiocornaga on Thu 16/02/2006 04:18:00
Quote from: Morgan on Wed 15/02/2006 05:55:14This is going to be a serious game with blood and violence and such...

Heh... not what I would call serious, but I know what you mean.

I much prefer the non-outlined characters. But that's just me, and really I'd have to see them against a few backgrounds to really form an opinion.
Title: Re: Which one looks better
Post by: Morgan on Thu 16/02/2006 04:58:17
SerioCornaga: Well you get what I meant and that's all that matters. I wont put any blood or violence in the game just because. I hate it when game makers turn out these games filled with violence just because violence is "cool" and forget about the story or any kind of character development. To know what a good use of violence in games is, check out God of War (one word Awesometastic.)

Anyway here are the characters in a background. I'm still not sure about the outlines.

Enlarged to show detail - Captain Crunch 2006
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/sample_image.png)


Title: Re: Which one looks better
Post by: Gilbert on Thu 16/02/2006 05:05:47
In my opinion I'd recommend keeping the outlines, the outlined characters would stand out much better with these backgrounds having so much details.
Those sprites without outlines look great only when the backgrounds are very simple (compare to games like Super Mario Bros. and Son Son, where the sprites were only placed on plain colour areas most of the time).