Tell me honestly....

[FrankT]

Is this styled dashboard truly suitable for a game of my calibre? Especially considering it's loosely based on the one from The Wizard of Oz.



The dashboard pulls out to reveal most of the standard icons.



The shadow on the centre-right is a placemark for the inventory item. (Perhaps I ought to have retained the save/load icons....)

[Anian]

What does "game of my calibre" mean?
Wizard of Oz is really a wiiiiiiiide area of media, stories and atmospheres, so you'll either have to provide some other examples or give a bit more detail.

But to me the icons at least don't look like they are from a WoO universe, not that they don't belong there, but if I just looked at them I wouldn't say "that's a Wizard of Oz game".

[Babar]

Aren't the icons simply Sam 'n Max ones that have been recoloured to look like (caucasian) human skin?

[FrankT]

Aren't the icons simply Sam 'n Max ones that have been recoloured to look like (caucasian) human skin?

I redrew them. 

I'm terribly sorry, I'm going to have to do them all again, aren't I?

[Ghost]

They make good icons, easily readable and established, but they are really very close to the original S&M sprites. When I hear Wizard of Oz I think whimsical magical pun-laden stuff, maybe the icons can reflect that? (No idea how your interpretation of WoO will be).
For example, crystal ball instead of an eye, a leather pouch instead of the cardboard box... But I like the idea to pull down a set of icons- gives you more screen eastate.

[FrankT]

Ah sorry, perhaps I haven't made myself quite clear: the dashboard shape derives somewhat from Jersey Jack's newest pinball machine dashboard. The game itself is an interpretation of Sam & Max. Ah... yes.

[Anian]

You should probably decide on the color palette and the actual look and style of the game (backgrounds, characters etc.), then it'll be eaiser to style the GUI.

[Ghost]

You should probably decide on the color palette and the actual look and style of the game (backgrounds, characters etc.), then it'll be eaiser to style the GUI.

+1. Your screenshot combines a highly stylised background with a realistically rendered GUI frame and crisp cartoon icons. That's three styles, and the GUI frame is the odd man out- nothing wrong with the shape, but it would look better to draw all elements of the game in one style.

[FrankT]

That's true! I'd better get rid of the gradients, then. Maybe give it a different colour.

[EchosofNezhyt]

Yeah remove gradiant and you can shade it or solid color. Also you should AA the edges.

[CaptainD]

Given the game it's for, perhaps you should try to make it look like the hood of a Desoto?

[FrankT]

Given the game it's for, perhaps you should try to make it look like the hood of a Desoto?

Cracking idea! ...how?

Also you should AA the edges.

AGS allows that?

[EchosofNezhyt]

Not quite

http://gas13.ru/v3/tutorials/handmade_antialiasing.php

Your U.I. is cutout but round so aa will give it a nicer curved look.

[CaptainD]

Given the game it's for, perhaps you should try to make it look like the hood of a Desoto?

Cracking idea! ...how?

Would using these as a reference help?

[Monsieur OUXX]

S&M sprite

That sprite below looks very S&M to me :

[FrankT]

Not quite

http://gas13.ru/v3/tutorials/handmade_antialiasing.php

Your U.I. is cutout but round so aa will give it a nicer curved look.

But will AGS show anti-aliasing correctly?

Would using these as a reference help?

I think so! As a matter of fact... that might mean I can add a bit extra onto it....

[Ghost]

That sprite below looks very S&M to me :

Brr, Leprechaun. Thanks for rekindling childhood fears, sir!


Frank: AA filters are overrated when it comes to pixel art. If you want to use a blur filter you will need to use 32bit colour and an alpha channel, and alpha rendering on GUIs is buggy.
With a small palette, maybe four hues of blueish gray, you can soften edges enough to make them look convincingly smooth.

edit:
Super-crude mockup, based on your original frame shape:

[FrankT]

Good idea! If I can implement that somehow with my new design.....

[FrankT]

Well I gave the whole icon bar an overhaul, but I dunno.... I mean it's not that much an improvement, is it?

[CaptainD]

Well personally I like it, it's an attractive and clear layout, you win in terms or aesthetics and functionality.

My only real concern is the choice of colours - I think the main icons don't look right / stand out enough.  If you're going for a light grey background they need to be darker, stronger colours (to me).

Incidentally I love the savegame icon, very stylish!