SCI-FI Diner background (sort of)

seaduck · Sun 01/01/2006 16:27:32

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the most atmospheric diner in Old New YorkÃ,Â

2x

Size: 320x200, square pixels
Colors: 53
Time: ~10-15 hours netto

Hi, I started this for the Postapocalyptic Diner BG blitz, but didn't have time to finish it back then.

As you can hopefully see, it's a hover-diner parked at the damaged Statue of Liberty, close to what used to be the proud Manhattan.

It could still use some work (diner interior, missing walking area), but it's taking too much time, and the contest is long over.

Throw your crits at me!!

nihilyst · Sun 01/01/2006 16:47:29

Hi, seaduck!

Wow, that's truly atmospheric. The only thing that hits my eyes is the breakage of Miss Liberty's arm. It doesn't look broken.

I like the broken moon idea, but why is the whole surface white, while the interiors are of a dark gray. It wouldn't be easy for the sun the cast those shadows.

But I enjoy the colors you chose for the diner.

On the next postapocalyptic diner contest, you'll surely win.

cheers
nihilyst

MarVelo · Sun 01/01/2006 17:59:19

is the diner hovering? Because it looks like it is ontop of part of the statue, its hard to tell what is the ground as well.

seaduck · Sun 01/01/2006 18:21:53

taffytom:

Yes, it's hovering in front of the statue, those two round things extended from the diner's body are anti-gravity pods. (Two more are in the back)

As for the ground, you can see water in the lower part of the image (as the Statue of Liberty stands on an island close to Manhattan) and there's Manhattan covered in darkness with a few lights in the middle background of the image.

nihilyst:
Thanks! The arm - I forgot about the arm, you're right!

MarVelo · Sun 01/01/2006 19:13:21

You might want to put something that looks like a shore line between manhattan and the water because it ends strangly. The water, I thought it was a rock outcrop at first.

seaduck · Tue 03/01/2006 16:43:41

Great ideas all! I tried to fix it:

- lightened interior of the Moon
- made the arm look torn off
- added some small waves bouncing off the shore (sorry, have no idea what else to do about it.. perhaps somebody could tell me how to make the water look more like water...)

As for the Moon, I still left some dark spots, because the surface of the former interior is highly uneven and casts shadows. (BTW from a physical point of view it would hardly stay like this for long - gravity would make sure of that. But I saw this in the movie Time Machine and loved itÃ,Â

)

Thx, I think it looks better now!

DonB · Tue 03/01/2006 17:01:57

Ã Å't does look better, and it did already looked very pro..

There are much pro drawers around here.. this looks very good.. a sci-fi atmosphere with much original ideas like the broken moon..altho.. I would choose to have the fire of the statue not broken but the head broken, but it's already drawn.. don't change itÃ,Â

, would just be my choise..

it looks finished! Just some details inside the bar to be done

for which game is this? Or was it for a drawing contest at the other AGS forums..

big brother · Tue 03/01/2006 17:08:03

The depth is confusing. You need to make the tangents clearer. Right now it's hard to tell whether the statue is supposed to be in the background or foreground. Also, where is the walkable area? Half of the bg is devoted to the statue and the other half to the diner, leaving little room for a sprite. The city skyline should be a more pure black to contrast the sky a bit (which I would lighten and shift the hue slightly near the horizon for added contrast).

And what's all this about water? It looks like the diner is perched on a dark rock. If that's supposed to be water, you need a shoreline, and perhaps ripples around the edge of the diner and the statue.

Darth Mandarb · Tue 03/01/2006 18:44:25

I got the impression the the diner was floating way up high near the top of the Statue of Liberty. (I guessed those "wheel" lookin' things were anti-grav thing-a-mabobs)

I did a quick paint over ...

- added a gradiated sky
- altered the shoreline
- added depth of field (blurring) to the water
- added more lights
- shaded the moon a little differently
- added some hi-lighting on the diner's window

The water was too defined, which was pushing the diner and the water together. By blurring it, it makes it feel apart.

I would suggest dithering the clothing on the statue ... the rest has beautiful dithering, but the clotheing part has just smooth lines.

All in all, I think it's a good enough background. Though, as BigBrother mention, there's no place for the character to walk about. Unless this is for a cutscene type thing ... then it's spot on

Hope the paint-over helped!

MarVelo · Tue 03/01/2006 20:09:40

very nice work darth. To bad I have to adjust my monitor to see the colors

seaduck · Tue 03/01/2006 21:08:33

Yes... I guess the image really IS confusing.... I didn't realize that. Since it seems noone reads what I write (yes, I did mention those were antigravity podsÃ,Â

), I quickly made an explanatory animation:

(Darth, I love your paintover, I just made this prior to seeing it!)

Some explanations:
- It's not going into a game - that's why I left out the walking area (a parking ramp)

- I originally put in only a few lights on purpose (destroyed city slowly recovering)
- didn't shade the surface of the Moon sphere (because it's a back-reflective, not a diffuse surface, Lamberts cosine law doesn't apply - it doesn't get darker with increasing angle)
- the skyline is actually a horizon - I made it sloped and drew houses on it for the sake of composition (but it's confusing, I confess))

big brother:

The very fact that you comment my picture is great encouragement for me!Ã,Â

I admire your work greatly!

You're perfectly right about the skyline, and the lack of sprite-usable space.

Darth Mandarb:

Great paintover! I think you fixed it, now it's much clearer! I think you made it look 100% better.
And you actually figured out what's in the picture. I'll incorporate all your ideas - It's a shame this image isn't going to a gameÃ,Â $:-\$

I really appreciate getting advice from you two, guys! Thanks!

big brother · Tue 03/01/2006 23:27:33

Wow, I didn't expect an animation showing the layers! Good work so far, it def is an improvement. I think having a few buildings pushing into the lighter parts of the horizon would be a good thing (now that the horizon is lighter). It would show that the player is above a city, not in outer space (try imagining the cityscape as stars and the sky as the ocean on the globe...)

I must apologize if my earlier post sounded rude. I haven't been bothering to "sandwich" the crits between two compliments (like polite people do). I'm glad you didn't interpret it as me being grumpy.

seaduck · Mon 09/01/2006 11:59:51

Big Brother: Hey, no problem !

DonB: Yup, it was for the BG blitz, not for a game, unfortunately (now that it looks so nice thx to Darth

) I considered severing the head instead, but then nobody would recognise it

- redid the suggestions from Darth's paintover
- added dithering to the statue's robe and hair
- right side: changed the coastline a bit and added some lights
- interior: antialiased the lights, added furniture, etc.

DonB · Mon 09/01/2006 12:17:21

Well I think it's massive, really, so much atmosphere in it..

AlbinoPanther · Mon 09/01/2006 13:40:14

Now we order you to make a game

Dave Gilbert · Mon 09/01/2006 13:57:06

My home! :o

Poor city. Why is it always New York that gets destroyed?

Revan · Mon 09/01/2006 14:18:50

arnt you all forgetting that the moon is behind the hover diner, and that the lighter side of it dosn't make sence unless there is another light source i am missing; Do the headlights make a difference to the shade? also how do i post pics (Dun a paint over)

DonB · Mon 09/01/2006 15:30:21

Quote from: Revan on Mon 09/01/2006 14:18:50
arnt you all forgetting that the moon is behind the hover diner, and that the lighter side of it dosn't make sence unless there is another light source i am missing; Do the headlights make a difference to the shade? also how do i post pics (Dun a paint over)

Revan, post a pic by [img ]http://URL of your pic[/img]

Without the spaces after img

Sam. · Mon 09/01/2006 15:37:23

Quote from: Dave Gilbert on Mon 09/01/2006 13:57:06
My home!Ã,Â :o

Poor city.Ã,Â Why is it always New York that gets destroyed?

IM sure one of those little dots is where you live dave.

Anyway, you're in korea now. no complaining.

DanClarke · Mon 09/01/2006 17:20:12

Nice bg, i love the design of the diner in particular

Just a couple of things i'd look at, as mentioned, the horizon seems a bit of an issue, so i did an extremely pap paintover on how it might be changed. Also bear in mind that the statue of liberty isnt very tall at all, so the height portrayed in here is extremely exxagerated. But theyre only small isues really, and i think it's a really neat idea on the whole