Background Blitz: February 5th - 14th

Pessi · Thu 05/02/2004 10:38:17

Hopefully this background blitz gets more attention than the previous one.

This one will end on Saturday so the next one can start on Monday or something like that. I hope it's OK.

The subject for this Background Blitz will be "meeting at a warehouse". The style should be something that would fit a rather serious detective adventure game. There will be a meeting with some criminals/gangsters at some warehouse at nighttime. The atmosphere is supposed to be exciting/scary. Pay attention to lighting.

Dorcan · Thu 05/02/2004 10:44:39

Count me in !

Are there any restrictions ? Size, colors ?

Pessi · Thu 05/02/2004 13:28:40

Alright!

Thanks for bringing that up, I all forgot about it! The size 320x240, colors 256. I hope this doesn't limit anyone's style very bad.

Good luck!

Pet Terry · Thu 05/02/2004 13:47:53

Whoo, I could try entering if I find enough time ( I bet I find

) So, yeah, sounds interesting

Minimi · Thu 05/02/2004 22:07:22

I'm drawing one on paper... and I'll probably post it in a few days. Maybe tomorrow already. Can I also draw characters on the background??

sergiocornaga · Thu 05/02/2004 22:19:19

Alright! If I do one, It'll be in grayscale.

JimmyShelter · Thu 05/02/2004 22:42:08

I started making one.

Allready it looks more cartoony then I had in mind, but it's one of the first backgrounds ever I'm making, so I'm happy it doesn't look completely bad.

Darth Mandarb · Thu 05/02/2004 23:52:41

I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring this time around ...

Detective John Harper tracks down the Nazis who have kidnapped American silver
screen star Lyza St. Claire to the wharehouse district on the South Harbour docks.
A second world war looms on the horizon ...

Pessi · Fri 06/02/2004 10:12:25

Looking real good! Very interesting style Darth, especially the perspective. Seems really animation friendly. I like the tension created with the characters.

Minimi, yes you can. It can be a kind of a screenshot, like Darth's one. As long as the characters could work as actual sprites.

Grayscale holds great potential. Hopefully you'll be able to make it.

Rock on, everybody! I didn't expect such interest.

Pessi · Fri 13/02/2004 09:50:56

Just a reminder - one day to go! Give it a try, guys.

Minimi · Fri 13/02/2004 15:18:41

I'll just my entry right now. It's only the scanned sketch of me with pencil. The truth is, I have not much time in hands, otherwise I woulda coloured it. Very busy days, and I have to go within a hour again! $:-\$

Well here is my entry! I really did my best on making it look good

maybe next time, I do find the time...

Dorcan · Fri 13/02/2004 17:32:06

We can submit our creation the last day, which is the 14th, right ? I haven't finished yet and I will not be able to continue it until tomorrow evening, sooo...

Pessi · Fri 13/02/2004 18:13:11

Dorcan, yeah. Great to hear you're still interested.

Minimi, looks really nice. The trees really add to the atmosphere with their shapes. Even though you didn't get to use any colour the atmosphere is obvious. Good work. Thanks for showing it!

Dorcan · Sat 14/02/2004 17:05:42

I'm not very happy with the lighting and shadows, but oh well I wanted to finish it quickly.

plasticman · Sat 14/02/2004 17:19:58

pessi, can i ask you to wait for my submission before closing the blitz ?
i started working on this yesterday because i didn't see the thread before... it should be finished soon, otherwise i'll just post it the way it is.
very inspiring subject, and good entries !

Darth Mandarb · Sat 14/02/2004 17:50:38

Dorcan - I continue to be impressed with your light/shadows art. Great job!

Pessi · Sat 14/02/2004 19:19:07

Dorcan, that is amazing!!! It doesn't really bother me that it isn't that polished since the major stuff is pretty much right there. And "pretty much" just because you say they could be better.

Very Igorish, in a good way.

Plasticman, sure. Can you give a rough estimation when it'll be finished?

I really like what I've seen so far! Thanks everyone.

plasticman · Sat 14/02/2004 19:24:25

thanks, just give me half an hour and i'll upload it !

Dorcan · Sat 14/02/2004 19:51:19

I forgot to congratulate Darth Mandarb for his use of isometric background and characters style I love so much

Good work !

Minimi, I like your trees, very creepy

Are you thinking about coloring your background anyway ?

Plasticman, I'm impatient to see your entry.

Thanks Pessi

plasticman · Sat 14/02/2004 20:13:28

here we go ! it's still a bit messy but i don't want to let you wait more.
now that i see it in small size with my desk lamp turned on, it looks way too dark. oh well...

again, great job guys. it's a shame we don't see more entries.

Inkoddi · Sat 14/02/2004 20:59:35

Wow, plasticman!! My vote to you!

Darth Mandarb · Sat 14/02/2004 21:56:03

Great work plasticman! That's really good!

evilspacefart · Sun 15/02/2004 08:01:30

i really liked darth's, but plastic's just totally took me by surprise.

Pessi · Sun 15/02/2004 10:03:26

OK, I think it would be reasonable to have the voting time end in, say, 9 hours. That's pretty much 9PM (GMT +02:00) for me so I could wrap this up. I'm completely confused by all the time zones so I'm not sure if it is reasonable. Let me know if it isn't.

And my vote goes to... Plasticman! The image is totally sweet. Here's why:

Darth Mandarb's image definitely works. However, the thing why it doesn't work the BEST for this Blitz is that the style could be more serious. The style is great though, as already pointed out, but Plasticman was closer to the serious detectivegame look I was after. The best part of Darth's image were the characteristic characters

and the perspective.

Minimi's piece has a great potential, it's a shame it isn't finished or near finished. That's why I can't really compare it to the others.

Dorcan did great on lighting. The most advanced lighting of the entries, in my opinion. I like the different hues and the bouncing light. The reason why I prefer Plasticman's entry to this is again because of the style. His style would work better for a serious game in my opinion. So it's not about skill really, just the style. But different styles are all good, if everyone had the same styles it would be boring.

Just one thing I would like to see in Plasticman's image would be something to make the shadows a bit more appealing. Like different hues or some shapes there. But anyway, you can't use very much time on Background Blitz so it's something that could be just because of lack of time. I don't know, it's just something I'd like to see.

All in all, this was a very pleasant surprise for me to see so many high-standard entries. Thanks again! Vote people!

Darth Mandarb · Sun 15/02/2004 10:10:12

I think I gotta go with plasticman's as well.

It totally looks like what I had in mind when I started mine! I went a different direction as I developed it. My description actually fits better with his image than with my own I think!

Dorcan's is awesome too ... I had a really hard time picking between the two, but went with plastics for the same reason Pessi did.

Minimi's was a great start, I would have liked to see where it could have gone ...

I'm babbling ...

Awesome jobs guys!

~ d

TheYak · Sun 15/02/2004 10:23:43

Great flaming ghost-turds, Plasticman! That's fooking amazing. They're all gorgeous and each very unique. I'm envious of skills shown in each but PM's just screams ambience. My imagination of the scene, after reading the blitz regs, is pretty well captured by Plasticman. Plastikmon, I choose you!

Dorcan · Sun 15/02/2004 10:41:00

I was expecting something big comming from Plasticman, and I'm not dissapointed ! Awesome !
My vote to Plasticman

Minimi · Sun 15/02/2004 11:33:59

hmm.. plasticman's background is really great, no doubt about that, but I vote for Dorcan, because I like the sketchy feel about it.
When DM entered the comp. early, I thought, WOW! noone is going to make anything better than this! lol

So you all did a great job!

Eggie · Sun 15/02/2004 11:40:50

I vote for Dorcan.
It just oozes with character...just put it in a game with a generic 'detectiveish' MIDI and it would be fine for a serious detective game...

Paper Carnival · Sun 15/02/2004 12:02:45

I vote for me and plasticman. Plasticman's is really awsome!

plasticman · Sun 15/02/2004 19:05:21

thanks for the comments guys, they're appreciated.

Pessi, i totally see what you mean about the shadows. i tried going for something different first, but it didn't come out too well so i ended up throwing those shadows in without too much consideration, i'm afraid.

my vote goes to Dorcan, mainly because of the work on the lighting which gives the scene an interesting atmosphere.
you definitely displayed the best technique.

DM's unique style looks good as usual, but i also think it's hard to make it work well with a serious theme like this one.
by the way, i only noticed afterwards that your setting was near the docks ! that was the first idea that came to mind after i read the topic of the blitz. maybe we just watch the same movies :)

Pessi · Sun 15/02/2004 20:03:08

And the winner iis, Plasticman! Congratulations! I'm looking forward to the next Blitz.

cpage · Mon 16/02/2004 12:33:08

Damn nice entrys this time :o