Adventure Game Studio

As some of you may know, we are making an updated Sierra Template for AGS (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=54703.0).
We already have the icon bar and nu-Roger defined.

Now it's time to have a nice background, so Roger is not floating in the darkness of space.

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/7Q5NLzR.png[/imgzoom]
Doesn't he look lonely there?

Your task is to create a nice background for our friend.

The specifications:

• The background must be done for a 320x200 resolution.
• Roger should fit in it without having to scale him up or down.
• There is no thematic restriction, but Roger should not feel too out of place.
• There is no color restriction

For reference here is one image of Roger:

[imgzoom]http://www.tulevik.eu/ags/roger_blue.png[/imgzoom]

Te deadline is July 24, so there is lots of time.
Please keep the specifications in mind, since this background will be used on the Sierra Template.

Winner: Selmiak

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/z8i22Q7.png[/imgzoom]

Nice! Can we do a scrolling background? Eg. 440x200?

as long as roger doesn't look too out of place this should be no problem.

Great idea! I plan to have a go at this.

I can't wait to see what great stuff you'll come up with guys :D

Man, that template is sooooo cool!

With a neato background added I feel this new look alone should draw more people to the AGS engine!

I'm working on a background. I don't know how it's going to turn out, since I'm not very good at drawing low resolution stuff.
I love the new template, by the way!

@ Lorenzo. Damn! I thought I might have had a chance to win this one. There goes that idea... ;)

I made two backgrounds, because I wasn't happy with the first one and... I'm not really happy with the second one, either.
I don't know if it's allowed to have two entries in the same competition; if it's not, I'll remove one.

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/OXLtqL4.png[/imgzoom]
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/zIhIJ5y.png[/imgzoom]

Nixxon: wait until you hear about my Advanced Pixel Art Techniqueâ,,¢, which consists of drawing a big picture and then resizing it to fit 320x200. Can't get any more advanced than that!
I hope you manage to make an entry, I'm curious to see what you come up with!

Jesus dude, they're gorgeous!! I particularly love the first one.

Bugger the technique... If the glove fits! Simply amazing.

I feel like scrapping my attempt altogether now lol. Well done sir.

Nice entries Lorenzo!

Come on everyone! Let's have some more before the contest closes! ;-D

Those backgrounds are beautiful, lorenzo.  Nice work!

Lorenzo... That first background... I need to play that game!

Nixxon: thanks! I wasn't sure about my backgrounds, so that's a relief. Now, go finish your entry before the 17th! ;)

CaesarCub, dactylopus: thank you! :)

Mandle: (laugh) If I ever make such a game, you'll be the first one to know! ;)

Quote from: lorenzo on Fri 14/07/2017 10:10:12
I don't know if it's allowed to have two entries in the same competition; if it's not, I'll remove one.

The more the merrier. :-D

By the way, I love that first background.
I really want to know what's behind that door as well.

@lorenzo:
these 2 backgrounds are really cool, I like the first one better. Nice vibrant colors and an interesting scene that is easy to read, me likes! ;-D


but seriously, can we have an extension please? some 1-2 weeks maybe?! we have 2 entries by one person, come on, there can be more!

well, this is how far I got with my stuff and I have no time for painting this weekend and little time at the evenings through the week :P
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/euCxM9j.png[/imgzoom]

Oh well, here goes....

Could use some pixel tidying.

[imgzoom]http://mechanicalbat.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/sierratemp005.png[/imgzoom]

Nixxon: Wow that is good! Only problem with that is there is an issue with left road. Bottom line becomes top line and it is hypnotizing!

[imgzoom]https://ericoporto.github.io/public_html/gallery/adsfdg/bg_idea.png[/imgzoom]

Hey! I decided to give a shot at drawing a background. :D

@hirusr. Thanks mate, yes I think you are correct! There are a few compositional issues that I'm not entirely happy with. I need to discipline myself in the process of thoroughly planning out my scenes before I hit the colouring stages.

I might throw up a revision if I have time between now and the cutoff.

Really nice entries  Nixxon and Eri0o :D

If no one is against it, we could extend the deadline to the 24th to help selmiak and anyone that didn't have the time to finish up their works.

I'd really like to see more works too, even though any of these four backgrounds would be great :D

Amazing entries really love that one Nixxon!

Ok, Since its the finish line couldn`t add more detail (sorry) but here its my entry, and yes missed the proportion of roger a little bit.

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/TppTsGL.png[/imgzoom]

Wow that's slick rocc. Really suits the ego too!

Quote from: CaesarCub on Sun 16/07/2017 16:09:01
If no one is against it, we could extend the deadline to the 24th to help selmiak and anyone that didn't have the time to finish up their works.

I'm all for it. We could use some more entries, and it seems like most people want to spend a bit more time working on their backgrounds. (nod)

Absolutely loving the entries here so far , dam.  Can't wait to see the full lineup!

Really nice work Rocchinator!

I'll be extending the deadline a few more days, so the contest will close the 24th now.
Hopefully this will give more time to people that didn't get to finish their backgrounds, and an opportunity for those that did to make any modifications they want.

Great entries so far!

Nixxon: fantastic background, with great colours! I love those winding roads, they give the image a nice sense of depth.

eri0o: great atmosphere there, and nice palette!

Rocchinator: lovely spaceship interior, it really fits with the theme. And that view of space... wow!

some wip just because

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/sYsKZxY.png[/imgzoom]

@selmiak. Really coming along! Great choice of colours. Mr Roger really stands out. Can we get some space waterfalls? ;)

yeah, the right island in the bg will have more vegitation because of the water and of course there will be spacewaterfalls that bring the water in.

update
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/LtRPJ6N.png[/imgzoom]

Really nice entries so far.

@selmiak
I would love to see that image with a true 255 color count. Wouldn't it be possible to turn the bg-nebular into something more in the vain of "The Dig". Otherwise I love it :)


Edit: Since I already posted here, I might as well submit this.

[imgzoom]http://shatten.sonores.de/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/default_template_contest.png[/imgzoom]

sans Roger
[imgzoom]http://shatten.sonores.de/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/default_template_contest2.png[/imgzoom]

abstauber, that looks so good.  It really fits with the style and theme, and allows for realistic options for movement and interaction.  The only thing I would gripe about is that the door on the bottom may not be readable to all, and could be misinterpreted.

Great job, though.  I love it.

wow, thanks for the lovely feedback.

..and I fixed the door :)

and an even better update. I'm always open for suggestions on improvements :)
I guess I shall connect some of these islands somehow...

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/BEoAlMb.png[/imgzoom]

@abstauber: Cool idea. I turned down the brightness of the nebula already, then I played around with the colorcount of the nebula for a more grainy pixely oldschool dpainty look.
But this is still painted in PS, so I tried installing a color count plugin for PS ( http://www.simplefilter.de/en/analysis/colorcount.html ), but where is my plugin folder?!

Good entries so far! Cannot wait for the final template demo game, having great hopes this will teach me how to make my own adventure.

EDIT 1: Started working on an entry too. :) 
EDIT 2: Sadly, out of time. :(

final version of my entry I think... by now...
[imgzoom]http://selmiak.bplaced.net/stuff/bg05.png[/imgzoom]

That looks great, selmiak.  Lots of nice little details.  I love the "HOME" sign!

loved the space-mug :D <3

I love your lovely comments :D

Nice one Selmiak. You should make the stars glimmer.

I think if my background should win this comp I'll animate the stars, the waterfalls, the watery clouds of the waterfalls and the radiowaves and maybe some more, but for now I'm done ;)

this is too much for now and too little time and it is easier done within AGS and within the template than showing this in a gif with different framecounts of the different animations and only 256 colors.

last two backgrounds I missed, great work both of you.
love to see your progress iterations selmiak .. perfect end result!


Is this char a sci-fi character?

Quote from: Tycho Magnetic Anomaly on Sun 23/07/2017 12:07:15
Is this char a sci-fi character?

Well, since it's originally based off Space Quest's Roger Wilco and wears a space uniform looking thingy, then I'd assume so. It could be changed of course, but why bother? Sci-fi is obviously the most superior genre of fiction, isn't it? :-D

A fine selection of quality backgrounds, by the way. It going to be an interesting vote.

Quote from: Stupot+ on Sun 23/07/2017 07:21:12
Nice one Selmiak. You should make the stars glimmer.

+1

Also there could be a bit of pixel-cleanup done, but apart from that this is my fave so far!

Quote from: Amy on Sat 22/07/2017 15:52:33
Good entries so far! Cannot wait for the final template demo game, having great hopes this will teach me how to make my own adventure.

<placeholder> Started working on an entry too.

I see your edits there and now I'm interested in your outcome :)

Selmiak amazing Man i love how you started with a space and you turn it into this amaxing piece of art really good job

Selmiak, your artwork is the one that prompts me to create a game.

It's beautiful selmiak. Reminds me of Genesis/megadrive

Your background really turned out gorgeous, selmiak! Are you sure, you want to waste it on a Sierra template (laugh)?

To me, it screams DEMO GAME (nod)

Hobo -  A ah...  I know it looked like Roger but I wasn't sure if it was just a generic char based on him (i think it was the alternate colors that threw me) .  Trust me to bow out of contests just when all the sci-fi themed ones start up! lol

Time to vote for the backgrounds!

Voting criteria:

Concept: How original and interesting is the background.
Playability: How would the background work in a game.
Artistic Execution: How beautiful the background is.

Voting will close on the 2nd of August.

Quote from: Hobo on Sun 23/07/2017 13:54:32
Sci-fi is obviously the most superior genre of fiction, isn't it? :-D

Oh that's definitely true. But in terms of adventure games, most people seem to prefer a default contemporary look. Just look at how underused that Insta-Game pack was.

Quote from: Tycho Magnetic Anomaly on Mon 24/07/2017 16:47:43
Hobo -  A ah...  I know it looked like Roger but I wasn't sure if it was just a generic char based on him (i think it was the alternate colors that threw me) .  Trust me to bow out of contests just when all the sci-fi themed ones start up! lol

You didn't participate just because there were a bunch of sci-fi backgrounds. Aww. :(


And now I see that voting has just begun as I was writing this.
I'll have to think about who I'm going to vote for. This is a toughie.

Concept:  Nixxon - just because it goes against all concepts with all these whacky comical lines and surreal angles.
Playability:  Lorenzo (01) - that door is just very encouraging to click on and explore around and find out what lies behind
Artistic Execution: Abstauber - clear pixelart lines and a low colorcount make this background very interesting and scifi spaceship bridges with big screens and a breathtaking view are always cool in my book. and it is very fitting for the roger sprite.

Concept: Lorenzo (01) This is just a magnificent scene - period. I wish I could pull something like this off. The color perspective is remarkable.
Unfortunately it didn't survive the low-res transformation very well and looks a bit blurry in this resolution. I'm sure it looks outstanding in a higher resolution.

Playability: Selmiak Okay, this might not be the first time we've seen floating things in space. But this is for sure one of the most interesting examples. There is a whole tiny world to examine... where does the water come from? What does the monolith do? Why is home upside down? As already mentioned, I'd love to see this covered in a future demo quest as well. Oh.. and the spaceship is super cute ;D

Artistic Execution: Nixxon This background survived the downscaling very well as a lot of effort went into "post scaling" ;) Also the toonish perspective is top notch, great work!

Well done to all entries! God damn, this one was tough.

Artistic Execution: (07)Selmiak. It's just so pixel perfect. It resembles a commercial quality backdrop from that era. Really well done. I want to see where that ‘stone portal' transports me!

Playability: (06)Abstruader. Another beautiful natively low res background. I love the palate and cleanliness. While a little ‘bare' to the naked eye, I can envision some pretty outlandish events transpiring in the distance of space while manning that control panel.

Concept: (05)Rocchinator. Awesome composition and wonderful pixel work here. I feel like roger is a little too small for the background. Unless, he's onboard an alien ship perhaps? With some tweaking this would probably be my fav.

@Lorenzo. Man, artistically these are truly outstanding. Particularly the first one. The colours are just gorgeous. 100% professional quality art. As mentioned though, with roger implemented and at zoom, the contrast of pixel rendering is a little jarring. Guys… can we make a HD Sierra template just for these??!

@Eri0o. Another solid entry with a vibrant palette and clean definition. With the addition of objects in the scene this has a lot of potential. Well done mate!

Concept: 07 Selmiak
Playability: 03 Nixxon
Artistic Execution: 01 Lorenzo

Concept: 07 - Selmiak
Playability: 04 - Eri0o
Artistic Execution: 03 - Nixxon

Concept: 07 Selmiak - I really love the idea of the floating islands in space. The upside-down Home sign is a great touch.
Playability: 01 Lorenzo - There is a decent space for the walkable area and a few good places for hotspots, too.
Artistic Execution: 07 Selmiak - All of the entries are really stunning with some amazing details, but I just feel like this background looks the best with the character in mind. The colours are really beautiful. And I really want to see the (potential) animated version! :-D

Concept: Lorenzo just love how Roger fits on this one i can see a game here.
Playability: Selmiak outstanding bg i love how everything can be interactive totally playable
Artistic Execution: Nixxon what can i say Man, im a big fan of your artstyle, its just gorgeous.

Concept: 07 - Selmiak
Playability: 06 - Abstauber
Artistic Execution: 01 - Lorenzo

All worthy contenders! I ended up dividing the votes between the three backgrounds I would like to see in the template the most.

Both Lorenzo's backgrounds look gorgeous and have a lovely comic book feel to them, but because of the downscaling and clashing style difference, it would probably not work best with the current sprite.
Same sort of applies to Nixxon's entry, when zoomed in, the excessive anti-aliasing really shows. Otherwise, a very interesting style and a well-crafted environment. I'd like to see the original sized versions of these beauties.
Eri0o's background feels slightly out of scale and is probably artistically less impressive than some others, but I do like the color choices and atmosphere of the piece. Solid work.
I really like Rocchinator's one a lot, that's some great pixelling work you got there, the view from the window looks spetacular. Sadly, it doesn't scale well with old Roger there, he seems kind of out of place.
Abstauber - nice and clean pixel art always rates high in my book. Fits very well with the sprite and has an actual Space Quest feel to it. Good stuff.
And Selmiak's entry is probably my favorite. Awesome concept, looks very inspiring. The space could use some clean-up, though. The color reduction created some odd and sloppy pixel clusters in there.

The overall quality in this competition is super high. I'd be satisfied with any of these.

Concept: 03 - Nixxon
Playability: 06 - Abstauber
Artistic Execution: 07 - Selmiak

I normally don't do this, but I will be voting for one background in multiple categories.

Concept: abstauber
Playability: selmiak
Artistic Execution: abstauber

I think abstauber's background is the one best suited for the template.  The rest are all very well done.  If it were up to me rather than a vote, I'd choose abstauber's.

lorenzo:  Both of your backgrounds are wonderful.  I would relish the opportunity to work on something with such an art style.  As others have said, the transition to low resolution did a disservice to the art, and made the backgrounds less suited to the Roger sprite.
Nixxon:  I always love your use of color, but I'm just not a fan of the overly exaggerated cartoony look.  And as much as the scene is interesting, and there is a lot of playability, I just didn't find it to be as suitable for the Roger sprite.
eri0o:  I really like the piece overall, and it could definitely work in a game.  It's a little bare, but the colors and concept are fantastic.  The scale seemed a bit off for the Roger sprite.
Rocchinator:  The concept of a ship's bridge is perfect for the template, and the work has some great colors and details.  I felt the captain's chair was a bit out of place, and the overall image perhaps a bit out of scale, and so less suited to the Roger sprite.
abstauber:  I think that this background is exactly what the contest and sprite needed.  The concept of a ship's bridge is the best, and it looks fantastic.  The colors set a mood, and the simplicity helps.  There are clear exits and things to interact with.  The Roger sprite looks perfectly at home here.
selmiak:  I really enjoyed this background.  Although these islands are floating in space, there is some semblance of gravity evidenced by Roger standing and the water falling.  I love the glowing orb in the center, and the blue cup ship is a nice touch.  I like that you went the extra mile to include exits and pathways, it really made the difference.  This is a background that the Roger sprite looks ready to explore.

So many great entries, it was a hard choice.

Concept: 03 â€" Nixxon. Great art style, fantastic colours; Roger's sprite just fits right in.

Playability: 06 â€" Abstauber. Such a clean, uncluttered background, with clear walkable areas and precise palette. It's really good. I think it would be a great choice for the template.

Artistic Execution: 05 â€" Rocchinator. I just love that view of space! The ship feels a bit big compared to Roger, but I'm sure it can be fixed with a few touch-ups.

Concept: Nixxon (The whole city-in-the-sky feel makes me want to explore the rest of it)
Playability: Selmiak (It's very obvious where you can walk and most likely what you can interact with)
Artistic Execution: Lorenzo 01 (This is the game I would want to play if only for the graphics alone)

Concept:                 selmiak         - a modern way to represent AGS and leaves enough space to start experiment with the engine
Playability:             Abstauber    - it is easier to start working with clear lines
Artistic Execution: selmiak         - makes me want to explore and manipulate it without being intimidated by the artistic skills needed to do so

A really tough choice since all of the entries are like coming from a game and usable.
Roger sprite can be used everywhere as an explorer coming from space.
Having in mind that it will help to start working with the engine or try something new
I think it should be possible to use it as starting point for an adventure and at the same time
being interesting enough to stay there performing some actions. Also it should represent the engine
but not distract from the task for those using it or even intimidate a beginner.
So that's why I didn't choose the most impressive images to be used here even I really would
love to see them in a game.
phew - hope this makes sense somehow (http://s14.directupload.net/images/user/130305/f4y8sho9.gif)

I don't really like the categories for picking a template background. I'd rather have made a voting "choose your top 3 for the template".

However, here are my votes:

Concept: 07 - Selmiak
Playability: 07 - Selmiak
Artistic Execution: 07 - Selmiak

I picked Selmiak's background for all categories because it is the most interesting, there is a lot of stuff to interact with (of course some elements should be made objects for the template), the pixel art is beautiful and it fits the Roger sprite and theme very well.

Quote from: cat on Sun 30/07/2017 15:52:11
I don't really like the categories for picking a template background. I'd rather have made a voting "choose your top 3 for the template".

I thought about doing that, but in the end I decided to use the Background Blitz voting system. If we ever do a high-res version of the template, I'll just do the pick top three used in the sprite jam style of voting for the contests.

Concept: not as much originality as I hoped for, I have to say. Close call between Lorenzo's first one and Selmiak's. I'll go with Lorenzo 01 cause the several "mismatched" (but well integrated) elements really make your mind wander.
Playability: all did a very good job in this sense. I think Selmiak's opens a lot of possibilities with scaling of the character, and the bg could also serve as some sort of mini-map so: Selmiak.
Artistic Execution: I think the more solid in their own style are Abstauber's and Selmiak's, with Rocchinator's worth mentioning for its grainy old-school vibe. I think overall the most gorgeous and rich is Selmiak's, so I'll go with his one.

Concept: Selmiak - A really fine piece. Little touches I love like the home sign, ags mug ship. Detailing top notch.
Playability: Nixxon - Lot's of paths to wander, like a central hub background , suits the theme perfectly.
Artistic Execution: Lorenzo (Picture 1) - Amazing detailing, great feeling it being in an alien environment in a far off galaxy somewhere!

I had a very hard time with the Artistic Execution, I had 3 I wanted to vote for.

Great work to everyone, yet another awesome background contest!

Quote from: cat on Sun 30/07/2017 15:52:11
I don't really like the categories for picking a template background. I'd rather have made a voting "choose your top 3 for the template".

I agree.  I found that these categorizations didn't always lead to the best picks for the template.

Concept) Lorenzo (1)
Playability) Abstained
Artistic exe) Selmiak

Fantastic work people.

The voting has ended and the votes are tallied!

Our winner is:

Selmiak
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/z8i22Q7.png[/imgzoom]

Our runner ups were:

Lorenzo
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/wYFEpGj.png[/imgzoom]

Nixxon
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/w3JQ9GN.png[/imgzoom]

All the entries were amazing guys!
So congratulations to all the participants.

Congratulations!

oh nice! :-D
thank you all for participating, that was fun!
As we need it for the template, here is a version without Roger:
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/hqLe4Tv.png[/imgzoom]

Amazing Contest glad to be part of it . Congratulation to Nixxon lorenzo and Selmiak well deserved victory

Congratulations selmiak! That background really is beautiful. And well done to all of the other entrants, it was a tough job deciding who to vote for!

I'd say it was a successful competition, thanks to everyone who took the time to participate and vote. And I'm certainly satisfied with the result.

So impressed by all the talents on display 8-0

Congrats Selmiak, you never cease to amaze me.