Does using photos as backgrounds appear cheap?

Armageddon · Sat 06/04/2013 04:09:16

Quote from: Monsieur OUXX on Tue 29/03/2011 09:33:04
A long time ago I did some experimentation with refactored pictures :

Everything you see in the image comes from Google images. everything.. And it's not a single picture, it's tens of them. The original scenes looked nothing like what you see here.

The result looks cheap because at the time I was bad with contrast, and also I stupidly lost quality by stretching down and then up some elements. But I'm sure one can obtain awesome results very quicly.

That production method addresses the main criticisms of pictures-as-backgrounds: You can rework the composition to make the picture fit in the game.

I love the style of those, that first one especially. Care to talk more about the process? Did you draw a basic layout and then put pictures over them? I really like it and would play a game that looked like that. doesn't look cheap at all. With the grain it almost looks scanned in.

Snarky · Sat 06/04/2013 10:10:34

We all realize that this is a thread from 2011 and MMMorshew hasn't been active on the forum for almost a year, right?

Armageddon · Sat 06/04/2013 10:26:44

Oh wow, sorry.

Stupot · Sat 06/04/2013 10:53:44

Damn you, rhyme! I want my 2 cents back

rhyme · Sun 07/04/2013 02:05:36

Quote from: Snarky on Sat 06/04/2013 10:10:34
We all realize that this is a thread from 2011 and MMMorshew hasn't been active on the forum for almost a year, right?

Sorry, that was my fault. I'm just getting started on a game (& new to AGS) and was facing the same question so I posted a sample background image of mine in a reply. Looks like everyone was replying to the original post though. Here's another one:

.M.M. · Mon 08/04/2013 22:37:23

I really like the style - you can still see it used to be a photo, but it certainly doesn't look cheap! Disadvantage of this style is that it would be really hard to add characters, at least I think so.

rhyme · Mon 08/04/2013 22:41:42

Quote from: .M.M. on Mon 08/04/2013 22:37:23
I really like the style - you can still see it used to be a photo, but it certainly doesn't look cheap! Disadvantage of this style is that it would be really hard to add characters, at least I think so.

Thanks for the feedback. We're planning on making it 1st person at this point so shouldn't be an issue.

Anian · Mon 08/04/2013 23:00:36

Quote from: rhyme on Mon 08/04/2013 22:41:42Thanks for the feedback. We're planning on making it 1st person at this point so shouldn't be an issue.

Unless there's any other character in the game...

cat · Tue 09/04/2013 08:39:40

I'm not too fond of this style. To me it looks like "was too lazy to make proper backgrounds so I took stock photos from the internet and applied a filter to make it look cool".

Andail · Tue 09/04/2013 09:56:22

Yes, it looks extremely cheap. If you want to use photographs, either
a) Make the whole game 100% photography based, and take original photos yourself, like they did with Donna. The photographs need to be aesthetically appealing, and fit the game perfectly.
b) Use the photos as references, but paint your own picture from scratch. Don't trace, don't use cheap filters, just look at it while painting your own thing. It both looks better and improves your skills.

Miez · Tue 09/04/2013 16:50:57

I agree with the two posters above: either use photos for reference or make dedicated photos (and for that you need to be a gifted photographer).
But if you have the skills a "photo collage" method as shown by Monsieur OUXX can yield amazing results, I think.

bush_monkey · Tue 09/04/2013 17:11:16

I don't know. If used knowingly, the jarring style between cartoony characters and photo backgrounds can work. Any of you seen the cartoon "Amazing world of gumball"?

rhyme · Tue 09/04/2013 20:27:40

Quote from: Andail on Tue 09/04/2013 09:56:22
Yes, it looks extremely cheap. If you want to use photographs, either
a) Make the whole game 100% photography based, and take original photos yourself, like they did with Donna. The photographs need to be aesthetically appealing, and fit the game perfectly.
b) Use the photos as references, but paint your own picture from scratch. Don't trace, don't use cheap filters, just look at it while painting your own thing. It both looks better and improves your skills.

Thanks for the feedback. FYI, these are all my original photos taken myself and yes it will be 100% photography based.

selmiak · Tue 09/04/2013 21:07:26

I'd love to see an adventure game where someone build real mini replicas of rooms and photographs them really well and also animates some handmade puppets. Kind of like samorost but with no paintovers and more interactions.

cat · Tue 09/04/2013 21:34:46

You mean like this for example? http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/1330/

selmiak · Tue 09/04/2013 21:43:05

cool, will give this a try, thanks cat

Snarky · Tue 09/04/2013 22:25:41

Also The Dream Machine.

dactylopus · Mon 15/04/2013 10:08:00

Have a look at these links:

Real Bits 1
Real Bits 2

These aren't games, but a series of still images. While it's obvious that you're looking at sprites on photos, I think it's done well and none of the pixel art looks particularly out of place. Granted, some of these images are using editing techniques and almost all include a pretty nice shadow, but I still think the point remains.

It will only look as cheap as your photos and sprites, in my opinion.