Work in Progress Background

[Oddysseus]

Okay, obviously this is unfinished (no shadows on the right side, etc.)

However, I thought I'd post what I had so that I could better implement suggestions, instead of geting it all nice and spiffy, and then having to redraw large portions of it later.
Oh, and I included my player character sprite so you could see if the proportions look good, etc.




Basically, I'm asking for three things:

1. Suggestions on how to "polish" up the image to give it that "finished" look.  Style tips and redraws would be especially appreciated.
2. I want to know whether you think the character sprite looks like it "belongs" in the game world.  Obviously I do, but I need outside opinions.
most importantly: 3. Would you play a game that had this type of background?

Thanks in advance to all who take the time to help me out.

[Khris]

Aiiieee!
Never resize a bg like that! You can use the img tag's width property to resize the pic, that way we can paint over the original. I can tell from the proportions that this once was a 320x200 bg, but it's pretty much useless atm other than for general advice.

It looks like you've tried to achieve a Dott-look. Well, I don't want to sound to harsh here, but you didn't quite pull it off. It's extremely difficult to emulate that style, so my advice: redraw the bg in a "normal" way first.

[Oddysseus]

Sorry, I didn't realize that blurry pictures could make forum members scream like little girls.

It should be fixed now.  (I had to google an HTML tutorial to do it, but I'm flattered that you assumed I could use HTML fluently, even after I posted a blurry picture.)

As for your other comment, actually I started out trying to emulate the old Leisure Suit Larry games, but I got tired of the limited palette and all the 90 degree vertical lines, so I spiced it up with some crooked lines and flashy colors.  Interesting that everyone around here immediately thinks DOTT everytime they see a slanted door.

I think the problem with the picture is that it's caught in a limbo between "too crooked" and "not crooked enough."   Also, the straight horizontal lines of the bottom of the buildings are starting to bug me now.

Thanks for your criticism, though.  I'm glad I decided to post this before adding roof tiles and other textures.  I can see this is going to take some serious reworking (doesn't everything?).

[Khris]

You could've clicked that handy "How do I post images, smileys and formatting?"-link above the message text field, you know

[monkey0506]

You mean clicking on that blue text tells me how to do stuff? I thought my computer was just asking me questions I didn't know how to answer!!!

I don't think the picture is horrifically bad. Sure there's room for improvement, but I think as long as he kept it consistent it could provide a nice style. I don't have any specific suggestions for improvement; simply the comment that I for one like the style.

[Oddysseus]

KhrisMUC:
I honestly have no idea how I missed that.  Well, at least I'll know from now on.

monkey_05_06:
Thanks for commenting.  Even if you didn't have any specific suggestions, it's good to know that at least someone out there likes where my bkground is going so far.

By the way, what do you guys think of my player character?  Does she fit in with the environment well?
Also, the green thing on the right is supposed to be a garbage bin.  Is that clear?  I made it pretty cartoony, and I want to make sure it's still recognizable.

[TerranRich]

I got that the green thing was a dumpster. And the girl fits pretty well I think, but she looks like she's sticking out her tongue

[Oddysseus]

Ha!  I never thought of it like that.  It's supposed to be her lower lip.
Anyway, I'm glad you think the proportions are acceptable.

Any other observations?  Do you like the color scheme?  Do you mind that I obviously have no respect for proper perspective?  Do you think I should shut up and wait until more people have commented on the image?

Does this look infected to you?

[cobra79]

I have to say, that I for one am not particularly fond of the screwed perspective. The foreground houses look as if they were leaning to the left, while the background bungalow looks as if it was sinking into the ground, like after a mudslide.
The windows are another problem, because it is not clear to me if your houses have 1 or 2 storeys.
Your picture emits a certain suburb feeling, so I think the houses should be almost the same color. It does not necessarily have to be white but the mint-green stands out too much. This house also does not have any grass grass around it, which looks odd.
A tip for the background: increase the trunk of the 2 greatest trees. It will bring them a bit to the foreground so that they do not look as if planted on the horizon.
That said I think the sprite fits color-wise, maybe a tad small in comparison to the door handle and the garbage bin.
I also would certainly play a game with that kind of backgrounds, but I do think it would look better if drawn in proper perspective.

[Hudders]

Does this look infected to you?

Got any leeches for this?

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

I did a fairly quick edit on the sky and left side of the screen to give you some ideas.

1.  Removed the gradient for the grass.  Grass is one of the surfaces I would highly recommend against using a gradient for.

2.  Hand textured the grass in spots.

3.  Reshaded the left house taking into account the sun's position (though technically the nearest wall should be darker than the side).

4.  Reshaded the girl with easier to read colors.

5.  Reduced color count and upped the contrast.

6.  Removed the side window as it clashed with your establish perspective too much.

7.  Added some shadows.

8.  Redrew the sky with a subtle gradient and some mountains to fill it up.



These are just a few things that might help you to create a better composition.  The main issues I see are a lack of consistency with your own perspective choice (the side window was the most obvious issue), a lack of pleasing contrast between colors and some outline issues.  Hopefully this will help.

[Oddysseus]

Thanks for chipping in, everyone!

I adjusted the bottoms of the buildings so that the lines weren't so rigidly horizontal.  I personally think this really made a difference.

As per cobra's suggestion, I lowered the windows so they look like they're on the first floor instead of the, uh...  first and a half floor (thanks for catching that!).  I also followed his suggestion for the tree trunks -amazing what a few pixels will do.  Finally, I tried some atmospheric perspective near the horizon line.

Then ProgZmax showed up and blew my freaking mind.

First of all, the mountains.  I was racking my brains trying to think of what to put in that empty space, and suddenly, there it is.  Perfect.
Then we have the clouds, which completely put my dinky little pillow-shaped thing to shame.  They also inspired me to improve.  (I've kept the dinky cloud in for now, mostly because I'm too tired to erase it).
And lastly, the shading on the roof, which impressed me the most because it's basically exactly what I wanted to do but couldn't.  It's like you reached into my head and pulled out my background.  Kudos.

I also appreciate you taking the time to tweak my player character.  The finished product is impressive, and I might just use it as reference if I ever make a sequel.  However, for this first game I'm going for the old-old school of character design, like back when everyone had orange skin and one-pixel noses.  I notice most people making AGS games nowadays have moved beyond that style, but I haven't yet.  You just can't fight the nostalgia.  Oh, I did recolor two pixels because of your design, though.  So it's not a total loss.

Here's my design in all its current glory:



As you can see, I also adjusted the side wall and window of the pink building.  If anything, it's even more confusing now, but I like it better, and that's what counts.  I could always use it as a joke for a Look command: "The architecture is so bad, it's actually breaking the physical laws of the universe!" or something to that effect.

And finally, just a spur of the moment thing, I added some people talking on the other side of the window on the right.  (Oh, and cobra79, this building looks different because it's actually a bar.  Why is a bar right next to a suburban house?  Well, I only have so many rooms to stick all the locations in.  Which is why the circus tent is going to be right next to the strip club, but that's another story).