Critic On my background

[Dualnames]

People have been asking for improvement on my style but I can't think of anything better. I added somethings but apparently they're not reaching a good enough level.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q53/JustLedZep/untitled12425.jpg

[R4L]

Maybe take your time?

Also, why not try a different program like GIMP, or Deluxe Paint? Anything is better than M$Paint. (that wasn't a bash against it)

Look for tutorials on the main page of AGS. Those can help as well.

[Candall]

People have been asking for improvement on my style but I can't think of anything better. I added somethings but apparently they're not reaching a good enough level.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q53/JustLedZep/untitled12425.jpg

I can offer the following advice:

1.  If you're going to go high-color, then go high-color.  The graduated light effects mixed with the jaggy lines found in the rest of the image make for a piece that is inconsistent within itself.  At some point it looks like you're just casting darkness over places so you don't have to put anything interesting there... and the stuff that you do have there is essentially invisible.

2.  Check your perspective.  Now, I know that there's no hard-and-fast rule that you can't stylize your way out of using vanishing points, but it's a bad idea for beginners.  Moving beyond that issue, take a look at the vessel on the table.  I'm talking about the cylindrical one here.  You should be able to see the curve of the bottom of that item.

3.  Plan out the composition of the room.  Make things visually appealing.  Some people may disagree with me on this issue, but when I'm making a background... I'll take form over function any day of the week as long as there isn't a puzzle tied into it.  It doesn't matter to me if the science lab isn't arranged efficiently as long as it's arranged interestingly.  The two box tables against the wall don't do it for me, and the test-tubes in the foreground really aren't serving any purpose other than to add an obviously superficial sense of depth.

4.  All I'm going to say about this one is... balance.  The white piles of paper up there may be important to the plot, but there has to be a better way of balancing the value levels in the scene.

[monkey0506]

You've saved the image as a JPEG. Nice...I think JPEGs should be treated like BMPs. Of course JPEGs at least have a small size...but they also have an equally decreased image quality. Try PNG instead.

...Wait...you wanted critique on the contents? :

Well basically Candall nailed the big points. You've thrown things like reasonable perspective and shading out the window and the image has greatly suffered because of it. Also though parts look decent, namely the foreground, you appear to have lost interest in the image as you continued working on it. What exactly are those squiggles on the ground and walls supposed to represent? Hopefully some lengths of string or rope that the player can pick up, braid a net, and capture that paper monster from the Mountain Dew Amp commercial before it attacks him.

On a less sarcastic note, maybe R4L's right. You've done a little bit of work here, but it definitely leaves something to be desired. Perhaps just slowing down a bit will do the trick.

[cobra79]

It has been mentioned already. The perspective does not work. I have the feeling that in all of your BGs you draw your objects (boxes mostly) without taking into consideration which side of them would be visible.

A picture says more than 1000 words:


The left boxes look ok, don't they? The right ones feel weird. The obvious one is of course the lower right box. Its perspective is totally off. It stands on the right side of the vanishing point (red dot in the middle) so we have to see its left side not the right one. Accordingly if an object is placed above the vanishing point we see its underside.
You can put the red vanishing point wherever you like, but all those lines representing depth have to meet there. If you moved the box in such a way that it directly blocks the vanishing point (hovering in the middle of the room) it would be reduced to a single square and you would need a drop shadow on the floor to show that it is not some kind of window in the back wall.

The higher the vanishing point the more floor you will see.

The upper right box does not feel wrong, because its perspective is correct, but nevertheless it looks a bit odd. Its shading does not correspond with the shading of the upper left box. Shade the sides that face the light source (which is in most cases above the object) with your brightest shade.

[Dualnames]

Thanks to all of you. Indeed the rooms are made pretty fast. I've noticed that the rooms that had the best BG I've reworked them many times to reach that level.