Adventure Game Studio

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Make a background set in another world. It could be a world with strange lifeforms, a scenery of alien structures, anything goes as long it gives a vibe of belonging to a different world.
I posted a few screen from Another World because that game is a reminder that even with few colors and details it's possible to convey a great atmosphere, but there are no constraints for the challenge.

Deadline: 24th of November 2019

Voting:

Concept: your background should tell us something about the place you have depicted.
Playability: does it have clearly defined walkable areas, things to interact with, etc?
Artistic Execution: does the image convey the wanted atmosphere? What's the feeling of the place?

Have fun!


Trophies

(https://i.imgur.com/G62WMuH.png) (https://i.imgur.com/AjOJPWF.png) (https://i.imgur.com/rlzdNMI.png)


Results

• 1st place: abstauber
• 2nd place: lorenzo, Neil Dnuma and Kastchey
• 3rd place: Jack and Reiter

- Alan

Awesome! I'm a sucker for otherworldly sceneries.
I don't know if I'll have the time to make an entry but I will definitely try.

Hmm. I'll see what I can do. I might even try something with my "new" laptop.

I love both the game (Another World) and the theme! Hopefully, I'll be able to make an entry.

I'm also in for this.

Here's a quick entry:

(Using the spoiler thing to prevent it from lagging others' connections.)

Spoiler

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49092566333_13c92d67b8_o.png)

[close]

A weird sky in some strange barren land--the ground probably illuminated by a light close to the foreground.  And maybe random items or NPCs would appear at rightly-timed moments in the game.  Like first time around, you meet with someone who gives you information, and later when you return here, there's a discarded item needed to solve a puzzle.  And maybe sometimes you'll see a funny Easter egg on the top of one of the distant mountains.  Oh, the possibilities!

Here is mine. A tricky matter, certainly, but not a subject that I could abandon.

Spoiler

[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/CjHHDlT.png[/imgzoom]

[close]

It became a rather peculiar worldlet, but I would like a brief visit. I think that I shall draw the rest of the barge some day, too.

Okay, I just stop with the touchups now.
This turned out weirder than intended, but here we go: 16 colors, all taken from the C64 palette.

[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/wq2inAf.gif[/imgzoom]

Definately lots to explore here ;)


--edit:
In the meantime I converted the image so that real C64 could display it too  8-)
[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/QaxVVHr.gif[/imgzoom]
(160x200px, 3 different colors + black in a 4x8px cell)

How's it going, does anyone need more time to finish their pieces?


- Alan

I'm working on my entry right now! I started a bit late, unfortunately, but I hope I can finish it today.

Very cool and colourful entries.

My entry:

(https://i.imgur.com/G8Ivx04.png)

The whole competition I had in mind to do a Dyson sphere, but it makes everything a lot harder and creates boring shadows, so I made this instead:

(http://techtroupe.net/posted/backgroundBlitz_anotherWorld.jpg)

Thanks for all the entries guys, I'll close the challenge tomorrow morning (approx. 12 hours from now), unless anyone asks for an extension.


- Alan

I would appreciate an extension if you are so kind to offer. I didn't get a chance to work on anything yet, but the theme is amazing so I'd love to get at least a quick entry in.

Quote from: Kastchey on Mon 25/11/2019 04:06:46
I would appreciate an extension if you are so kind to offer. I didn't get a chance to work on anything yet, but the theme is amazing so I'd love to get at least a quick entry in.

Ok, then. I'm adding three more days.


- Alan

This was harder than I remembered!
[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/1jeDxDs.png[/imgzoom]

Quote from: Alan v.Drake on Mon 25/11/2019 08:57:54
Ok, then. I'm adding three more days.


- Alan

Awesome, thanks!

Lovely entries everyone. And a couple really stunning ones - more detailed comments incoming!

Edit:
Here's mine. Not quite what I had pictured in my mind but anyway, here goes:

[imgzoom]https://i.ibb.co/jkQfnGy/alien-world.png[/imgzoom]

Voting categories:

• Concept: your background should tell us something about the place you have depicted.
• Playability: does it have clearly defined walkable areas, things to interact with, etc?
• Artistic Execution: does the image convey the wanted atmosphere? What's the feeling of the place?

Voting ends on the 3rd of December 2019.

Concept: Jack (The story here is obvious... Some humans are exploring a distant planet(oid))
Playability: Abstruder (I can tell immediately where my character can go. Also kickass graphics for c64)
Artistic Execution: Lorenzo (Beautifully composed. Belongs in a museum! (or art gallery))

Concept: abstauber; it is a mysterious place.
Playability: abstauber; there are strange things, that look like statues or animals, a glowing thing that hovers, a hive.
Artistic Execution: Kastchey; it is almost red, excellent choice of number of colours.

This might be my favourite AGS thread ever!  ...aside from having to decide on a favourite in this thread. So many good entries!

Concept: Lorenzo (I can totally envision a very cool concept game breaking new ground with this style.)
Playability: Abstauber - definitely; getting Space Quest flashbacks just looking at that!
Artistic execution:  argh! With so many solid entries, this really is so hard! I'm going with Kastchey because I just need to know the backstory to this image. Jack, your image sparked the greatest emotion response for sure. Reiter, I love it. Full on echoes of Yellow Submarine, and I'd love to play whatever that game is just to know more!

Concept: abstauber (I want to know about this alien planet, and the eyes watching me)
Playability: Reiter
Artistic Execution: abstauber

And the Space Quest awards go to:

SQ1 Neil Dnuma
SQ1 & 3 Kastchey
SQ:TLC abstauber

Concept: abstauber - it has the most "out of this world" feeling. Lorenzo's piece is also nice, but I get more of a "ancient ruins with soap bubbles" feeling.
Playability: Reiter - lots of possible hotspots there
Artistic Execution: abstauber - wonderful pixelwork and palette usage.

Concept: lorenzo because the picture really makes me wonder what happened to the builders of this structure and what role the gooey spawns of Yog-Sothoth that are casually floating around played in this. Runner-up: abstauber with his mushroom caveworld. It was a tough choice!
Playability: Neil Dnuma because of the clearly defined walkable areas and exits.
Artistic execution: abstauber because of the fantastic use of a classic palette, perfectly executed background objects and sweet play of lights&shadows. Runner-up: Neil Dnuma because of the lovely choice of colours, nice composition and overall softness of the image.

Feedback:

Spoiler

DBoyWheeler: I like the eerie effect of the blueish light in the right corner, but the background could use more details.
Reiter: An interesting choice of colours and attention to details, plus a variety of objects that are screaming to be clicked at. I'd totally play this game.
abstauber: Holy cow! This is beautiful. What did you need me for back in the days, exactly? You could have easily handled all the graphics stuff yourself ^^ Achieving such depth with a very limited palette is quite a feat, and the concept is super cool, too.
lorenzo: There's something eerily calm and scary in this image. Awesome use of B&W, too.
Jack: The main picture is nice enough, but what really intrigued me are the red and blue glowing objects in the sky. They add an interesting touch to the piece.
Neil Dnuma: I really, really love your choice of colours and how you made the orange glow of the lava reflected on the edge of the pathway. The composition is very pleasant to the eye. Nice job!

[close]

Comments:

Spoiler

blur: Thank you! I did spend quite a while trying to get the palette right.
man n fist: What I had in mind was a (now) desert world with all its atmosphere swiped away by solar winds, now trapped in gravitational field of a black hole and slowly sailing towards destruction. The spidery legs sprouting from beneath the arc in the background belong to the only survivor - an ancient elder being who crawled up closer to the surface looking for prey, found none and went into hibernation.

[close]

Concept: Neil Dnuma (not many hotspots, but perfect to connect 2 important places...)
Playability: abstauber (I so want to walk around and explore and climb...)
Artistic Execution: Neil Dnuma (<3 these colors)

Neil Dnuma... now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time...

Alright, here are my votes.

Concept: Kastchey - Like all your backgrounds telling a story, I love the tale of this dying planet with a preditor as a sole survivor, who's desperately waiting for his last kill.
Playability: Neil Dnuma - It looks like a great connection screen between two puzzle rooms. Well designed walkable areas, character scaling would be a breeze to apply.
Artistic Execution: lorenzo - The production quality is simply amazing. It really makes me wonder if you actually do this for a living.


[offtopic]
@Kastchey I was really tempted to post a screenshot of the Nimbus you designed back in the days. That could have been an instant win  8-) Oh and I'm having a hard time following a believable concept for too long. My entry started as some colored blobs and after some trial and error I carved out the shapes. I always liked (and still love) the stories you hide in your pictures.

Oh and I don't think I did the palette any justice. I still gave the objects a solid (boring) color and shaded those. Ususally people do much more creative and colorful things with the palette. And I'm not fishing for completents here ;)
[/offtopic]

I am delighted to hear that the playability of my background turned out well! And it is even more splendid to hear an interest in a game for it to be in! I did have that possibility in mind, and still do. Although, it will be quite some time before the voyage can begin, I fear.

I did, however, make a full picture of that magnet-barge.

Spoiler

[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/YDMb0kz.png[/imgzoom]

[close]

Brave aethernaut and camera for scale.

I am still unsure of my place to vote in a competition in which I am appearing, but I would like to write some on the wondrous pictures that we have seen.

DBoyWheeler: It is an excellent start, and there is something quite eerie about that purple glow. It is quite Spartan, although combined with assets of a fitting stile, it would undoubtedly make a good game.

abstauber: A splendid picture! One that inspires a sensation of wonder (and a smarting of envy), and that would be an excellent addition to its game. Why, if one presented it as a screen-shot from an old classic, I would believe it!

Lorenzo: A very peculiar piece, with a very peculiar mood. One wonders what that place once were, and just what the bubble creatures are. It is artistic and alien, and the sharp absense of colours beside lights and shadows is very effective. Mysterious and unearthly. It is like a strange landscape one could encounter in a dream. Marvellous!

Jack: An oddly pleasing picture, that makes one imagine a clever planetary cast-away, setting camp on a distant world set to twin stars. Its applications for gameplay are vast, and one can already imagine the game that it would be in. Excellent work, and may I say that I like that little blue cup in the foreground?

Neil Dnuma: Another excellent picture! I can reveal that it is my favourite. The strange, dry plants and the snaking ramp and the odd light, it makes one very intrigued to continue onwards, and meet the inhabitants of this place. Why, it rather reminds me of Riven, all-together.

Kastchey: It is a rather frightful picture, a barren and blasted hellscape, in searing red. Those looming legs, in particular, I shall say. It is truly an image of a buried, terrifying predator, and the viewer would do well to hope that it is dormant. It looks as if it would burst forth and devour a foolish visitor in an instant. Marvellous! A splendid picture, and a scene that I would find quite distressing, if I encountered it in a game.

Quote from: Kweepa on Sat 30/11/2019 17:22:29
Neil Dnuma... now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time...

Yup, it's been a few years... Just suddenly started thinking of pixels and this place again, and went by to have a look:) And then the background blitz showed up... had to give it a shot! BTW nice to see you're still around!

Votes:
Concept: It's hard to decide, because there were so many good entries. I have to go with abstauber. It's great in so many ways. Very detailed and exciting, with masterful color use. Every background does well here, but among with abstauber, I feel the hellish piece by Kastchey and the weird world created by reiter deserves a mention!
Playability: Again, every piece works well. I'm giving it to abstauber for great variance in possibilities. Lorenzo's could also work on several levels (different floors and levels of depth), and Jack's piece has both details up front and great depth to it.
Artistic Execution: Kastchey because it's damn great and he deserves a point. Great atmosphere from just a handful of colors. Otherwise abstauber's is of course worth mentioning here as well. I also admire the line work of lorenzo, great style. Reiter has some nice details, especially the barge and that little camera, nicely pixelled. Jack builds some great atmosphere not least from a creative lighting choice. And DBoy is onto something with those interesting shapes. I'd love to see more details on that. Great work everyone, I wish there were more categories to hand out points in... :)

Wow! Great show of different styles. I wish there were more categories.

Playability: Jack. It feels lonely.
Artistic execution: Neil Dnuma. I'm reminded of the Dig. A great atmosphere.
Concept: Kastchey It's the polar opposite of the last backgrounds in the awakening

Lorenzo's picture is nice too. Could it be the planet where Clotilde Soffritti landed?

Abstauber: impressive use of a limited palette.

DboyWheeler: The upper part works but the bottom doesn't match IMO.

Reiter: The brightest picture. I like the pastel colors.

Concept: abstauber
Playability: abstauber (There is many things to see and possibilities to interact in that background. It is also easy to see the walkable areas)
Artistic Execution: lorenzo (It is really nice to look at and makes me wish for a black and white game in that style)

This is the first time I see double contenders for every single trophy... welp, I had messed up the counting.  :=

RESULTS

(https://i.imgur.com/G62WMuH.png) 1st place: abstauber!

(https://i.imgur.com/AjOJPWF.png) 2nd place: lorenzo, Neil Dnuma and Kastchey!

(https://i.imgur.com/rlzdNMI.png) 3rd place: Jack and Reiter!

Thanks for participating, everyone!


- Alan

Congrats abstauber!! So well deserved ^^

Congratulations to abstauber!

Wait...what?! I won a thing?

I'm really honored - I mean it. Thanks a lot! I'll come up with a new theme soon.

And I'll print out my new trophy and put it in my boxed copy of Another World  :-D

Congrats, abstauber, I really like your background! I forgot to vote though  (roll)

Congrats to the winners!

If anyone hasn't seen it, there's a great short documentary on the making of Another World (just sharing while we're talking about it):

I completely forgot to vote. :-[
Congratulations abstauber, it was a great background!

Thanks a lot and fortunately I finally came up with a new theme.