Island Backgrounds in lowres palette for comment

Xellie · Tue 05/09/2006 07:32:10

I want to ask for C&C on these two backgrounds... 16 color palette used only, going for an old-school Sierra type look. Suggestions for improvement are welcome.

Background #1: (a tropical island)

Background #2: (on the beach of the island)

Mordalles · Tue 05/09/2006 15:59:49

those look really great.
i can't really crit, since i don't know much about old-school sierra style, maybe the tree could do without the dark outlines, since it clashes with the clouds.

but i wanted to say welkom, goed om meer afrikaanse mense hier te sien!

Xellie · Tue 05/09/2006 16:28:43

Quote from: Mordalles on Tue 05/09/2006 15:59:49
but i wanted to say welkom, goed om meer afrikaanse mense hier te sien!Ã,Â

Yes boet! Wat 'n verassing! Baie nice om te weet ander ZApies is ook into AGS! I'll definetely check out the games you participated in... thanx for the kudos!

buloght · Tue 05/09/2006 16:30:01

Hallo

The background looks good. I might not be the one to crit, as helm is a pixel lo-res master, this is his kinda thing without a doubt. Hopefully he'll help you.

Um , maybe the black line around the forest could be less jaggy. You could also give the clouds depth by adding one of the greys. The reflection on the water might be a bit harsh? I'm not sure if islands reflect that much. It makes the water look very clear which isn't really sea water. Also some of the trees get bigger as they go up, generally palm trees get thinner upwards, but that could be your style

Anders so nie lyk dit goed en baie sierra-agtig, goeie werk

Xellie · Tue 05/09/2006 16:45:04

Hey! Nog eenÃ,Â

! By the black line, do you mean around to top of the palm trees or the 'background trees'? Anyway, I tried to keep the black outline strong, to keep things clear, also to make it easier on me to keep a uniform style... but I'll experiment with changing the outline color and varying thickness.

Trees, ya, I like them a bit cartoony, and with such low pixel depth and color, it just defines the shapes more cleary, by sacrificing realism... they still clearly are trees, which I'm fine with.

About the reflection, that (and the cloudes) is actually what I hoped for some help with... I know the sea is too flat, looks more like a lake, but with a limited palette, I don't really see how I can make it look 'realistic' without dithering EVERYTHING... (because I like the cartoony effect of some pieces that are not dithered, but remain flat color). Any help with that anyone?

CaptainBinky · Tue 05/09/2006 16:57:22

Perhaps you could use the cyan between the dark blue water and the sand to get that tropical shallow-water vibe? And the wave effect could maybe echo the shape of the shore-line rather than being straight horizontal lines..? You don't necessarily have to dither everything if your shapes are interesting.

Am I the only person in this thread who doesn't undestand a word of... er... whatever language that is?

Cap'n Binky

edit: Quick & Dirty mockup (haven't put the breakwater in, and I drew this crudely with me mouse

):

Tuomas · Tue 05/09/2006 17:04:39

Quote from: Xellie on Tue 05/09/2006 16:28:43
Quote from: Mordalles on Tue 05/09/2006 15:59:49
but i wanted to say welkom, goed om meer afrikaanse mense hier te sien!Ã,Â

Yes boet! Wat 'n verassing! Baie nice om te weet ander ZApies is ook into AGS! I'll definetely check out the games you participated in... thanx for the kudos!

Bloody hell, I can understand all this! Why are you talking Dutch anyway?

Anyway, I agree with CaptainBinky, you don't need to use dithering that much. Oh, and I'd add that the reflection of the trees in the water might me too strong, at least that's how I see it.

Xellie · Tue 05/09/2006 17:30:03

Quote from: CaptainBinky on Tue 05/09/2006 16:57:22
Am I the only person in this thread who doesn't undestand a word of... er... whatever language that is?
edit: Quick & Dirty mockup (haven't put the breakwater in, and I drew this crudely with me mouse ):

Cap'n Binky & Tuomas

It's Afrikaans (one of the 11 official Languages in South Africa) and we'll not continue it, lest I be summarily kicked! (...just happy to meet a few countrymen!)Ã,Â

Thanx for the advice, especially about angling the wave lines, I didn't think about that, also the cyan 'shallow water' although I suspect I'll have to dither for that. The reflection is too strong... maybe I should just drop it alltogether? Although It does underscore that it is water and reflective, not just a blue blob...

Cpn Binky, just had a look at your edit... helps a lot! Looks great, I'll try it out!

PS What do you use for editing, drawing?

CaptainBinky · Tue 05/09/2006 17:34:23

Hi Xellie!

I did that in Photoshop simply because I had it open at the time

But normally I'd use DPaint for this kind of thing.

Cheers,

Cap'n Binky

buloght · Tue 05/09/2006 17:37:01

Captain Binky, that is masterfully done

. I'm gonna start posting my TFT2 bgs here for you to help me with, darn it,
*adds Captiain Binky to jealous-of list*

What I mean with less jaggy is this

(mine on the right)

But I'd recommed going without the black since what Binky's done is excellent and it might clash with that. Also the clouds binky added with the depth is what I meant (binky rules)

Xellie · Tue 05/09/2006 17:47:07

Quote from: CaptainBinky on Tue 05/09/2006 17:34:23
I did that in Photoshop simply because I had it open at the time

How did you do the dithering so quick? I am at the pixel editing stage, and I frankly don't understand how to dither any faster than making 1 line of pixels with my dither color, copying the layer, merging down, copying again, etc.... Can you point me to any tuts, etc on faster dithering / creating patterns in PS?

Thanx again for the help, I hope you see imitation as flattery and not plagiarism when I post my rework again!!!Ã,Â

And buloght, I agree, we are in the presence of pixel-masters...Ã,Â :'(

Buckethead · Tue 05/09/2006 17:49:49

dudes, don't talk dutch if you aren't , it makes you guys look really silly

as for the BG's:

1st one: don't use reflection of the water. The sea is never that flat and the water never soo bright that it's possible to reflect like that.

2nd one: do what binky said , his paint over shows it all, i guess

CaptainBinky · Tue 05/09/2006 17:52:53

Hi Xellie,

In Photoshop: For the dithering, I made a 2x2 image and dithered in that (cyan and blue for the sea), then did Select-All, Define as pattern. Then I whacked a new layer on the beach background, filled the layer with the pattern I just made, put a quick mask on the layer , inverted the mask (so the dither becomes invisible), and then paint where I want dither to be in white on the mask. I can do a pic to show you what I mean if that doesn't make sense.

Of course, in DPaint, you can just set your brush to be a dither brush, and that's even more simple

Cheers,

Cap'n Binky

P.S. What software are you using to paint these?
P.P.S Take what you like from the image. It's not plagerism, it's flattery

(and I seem to have just repeated what you said

I seem to have a habit of doing this!)

Xellie · Tue 05/09/2006 18:05:41

Quote from: CaptainBinky on Tue 05/09/2006 17:52:53
I can do a pic to show you what I mean if that doesn't make sense.

I kinda do... and then again, I kinda don't....Ã,Â Ã,Â

It would help a lot of you'd be so kind!

Quote from: CaptainBinky on Tue 05/09/2006 17:52:53
P.S. What software are you using to paint these?

A trail version of Graphics Gale... which I don't quite understand as yet...Ã,Â

Quote from: CaptainBinky on Tue 05/09/2006 17:52:53
P.P.S Take what you like from the image. It's not plagerism, it's flattery (and I seem to have just repeated what you said I seem to have a habit of doing this!)

Repeat yoursefl? No one does that. Repeat yoursefl? No one does that.Ã,Â Ã,Â

Seriously, thanx for the help.

buloght · Tue 05/09/2006 18:07:10

dutch is not afrikaans, afkrikaans is completely different language. It may come from dutch since the peoples of nederland found South Africa (Cape Town) but the language has changed a lot.

But yes, afrikaans people (like me) sound silly haha.

Xellie · Tue 05/09/2006 18:10:27

Quote from: Buckethead on Tue 05/09/2006 17:49:49
dudes, don't talk dutch if you aren't , it makes you guys look really sillyÃ,Â

Hi... cutting out right now.Ã,Â :

But just FYI, it is Afrikaans, not dutch, and we are Afrikaans speaking.Ã,Â

Quote from: Buckethead on Tue 05/09/2006 17:49:49
1st one: don't use reflection of the water. The sea is never that flat and the water never soo bright that it's possible to reflect like that.

That is probaly the best solution, although I DO like the reflection... will try it and see.

Greyarea · Tue 05/09/2006 18:25:38

Sorry can't help myself

......

<off topic>

You know you have been living in SA to long when:
1) You think anybody who walks to the shops down the street after dark is totally nuts.
2) You just can't understand why everybody else in the world calls bukkies trucks.
3) You think its normal to hear Afrikaans on the AGS board

</off topic>

On a seriouse note I think your bg is really neat Xellie! Great to see another SA AGS user with so much talent.

CaptainBinky · Tue 05/09/2006 21:34:43

Quote from: Xellie on Tue 05/09/2006 18:05:41
It would help a lot of you'd be so kind!

Okay, but I'm not sure how translatable it'll be into other packages...

First up, make the dither pattern that you want (mine is a 2x2 simple alternating dither pattern)
Then, in Photoshop, Select-->All, then Edit->Define Pattern:

Name your pattern in the box that pops up.

Next, on your game background image, make a new layer and fill this layer with the pattern you've just made by selecting Edit->Fill and then choosing the pattern you just made:

You should now have your pattern filling the enire layer. Next, put a "Quick Mask" on this layer (click the button the red arrow is pointing at):

Now select the mask that you've just made (click the mask - it appears next to the layer like where I'm pointing the red arrow):

Once it's selected, press Ctrl+I to invert it (the layer will become invisible again). Now, with the quick mask selected, you can paint on your canvas in white to reveal the dither pattern:

Of course, this'll only work if you're working with RGB images, not indexed. So take care to use the pencil tool, and only paint in colours of your palette. Then you can flatten your image at the end, and convert your RGB image to an indexed image using your game palette.

Hope that makes sense

Cap'n Binky

Xellie · Wed 06/09/2006 06:53:08

I think I get that... wil try and apply it. Thanx for the excellent TUT.

Xellie · Thu 07/09/2006 12:51:28

I'm still working on the tropical island backgrounds, got a bit of inspiration from CaptainBinky's tut, and decided to try another climate (also, I needed to break away from the tropical heat!Ã,Â

Here is my try, used a lot more dithering, currently 7 colours... The area on the right bottom will be filled with foreground, where a character and interaction can take place...

Any suggestions for the sky and clouds? I don't know if they're doing the job yet...

EDIT:

Thanx for the comments. Modified the sky and clouds... does this look better?