BACKGROUND BLITZ: No Place Like Home - WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

[Grundislav]

No Place Like Home

Every adventure game hero needs a place they call home to go back and rest between quests. For this competition, draw the home or place of rest suitable for an adventure game protagonist!

Deadline is May 30th, 2017!

Voting:
Concept: Your background should tell us something about the person who lives there.
Playability: Give your protagonist something to do at home, make the background useful!
Artistic Execution: The cozier it feels, the better!

Good luck!

[Nixxon]

Hey this one looks fun!

[Rocchinator]

Nice, I will come up with something.

[blur]

D'oh! I missed the deadline by one day 
Anyway, the first one is drawn freehand with a 2x2 pixel brush and uses an EGA palette, but with too many different colours.
[imgzoom]http://img5.fotos-hochladen.net/uploads/noplacelikehxd4e7yqbi3.png[/imgzoom]

The second one shall be isometric, but it is very hard to draw non-square objects correctly.
[imgzoom]http://img5.fotos-hochladen.net/uploads/noplacelikehrmt9xycbg2.png[/imgzoom]

[DBoyWheeler]

Oh how I wish I could take part in this and other competitions, but since I might be getting a new job soon, I might need to bow out of this and others for a while.

[SilverSpook]

I'm going to be entering this, once I stop watching Alien Covenant and Blade Runner trailers.

[Grok]

[SilverSpook]

[Tycho Magnetic Anomaly]

Heya folks, nice idea for a contest, so I thought I would try step outside my comfort zone and try a traditional side on / perspective drawing. My idea was to have a sci-fi style cabin either set on a spaceship or in a bladerunner type city. I will probably go with a cityscape for the window in the end, it would be nice to have that nice dusky orange light stream in volumetrically to the room from the window. Just like scene from Dekard's Apartment.  Anyway I just started it so here is my progress on it. Assuming I complete it I will post it again when its fully done.

Great starter entries I see there from silverspook and grok.  You really have nailed down a good atmosphere in yours also silver-spook, good work folks.


its a traditional 320x240 res
[imgzoom]http://fractalscapes.net/-DUMP/iii4.png[/imgzoom]

[Nixxon]

Dayamn, some stiff competition this month!

Top quality gentlemen.

[Tycho Magnetic Anomaly]

Hello Folks, well I would have loved to spent a few more hours on this, but I had to just say "stop" .... and here it is, A compact apartment in a sci-fi bladerunner-esk setting.



Timelapse Video (720p): https://youtu.be/iOKECERd6KE
[embed]https://youtu.be/iOKECERd6KE[/embed]


EDIT:  Ok folks a few others asides from AGS also thought the one with less post processing was better, so I used my modified version, just tweaked the colors a bit more to make it a bit warmer, and added some very last more detailing in. This is the final final now, and will use this one as my entry.  I am done.

[selmiak]

that's awesome tycho. I watched the vid and figured the neons and glows are no more pure pixel art but effects, but that's what's possible with the current gfx editing software, but the smoke coming from the vent in front of the bed is no pixelart anymore
the best smoke with perfect pixel control is probably made with circles with different opacity and deleting what is no smoke but no smudge tool or... how did you make that smoke?

[Tycho Magnetic Anomaly]

Heya selmiak, how goes

Thanks for the response dude, and I am glad you like the image. I am not sure what you are asking me though? heh
Yes there are a lot of post process tricks going on over the pixel art which I think makes all the difference. The smoke I had from a while back I forget what I was using it for, but its just a simple wispy type texture with ps blends.  If you or anyone else would like to look at my psd file you can check out how I put it together,, bare in mind the layers are a bit messy/unnamed etc. 

http://fractalscapes.net/-DUMP/No_Place_Like_Home.rar

I know I could  have painted in more "pixel arty" looking stuff in terms of smoke and glows, but I don't think I would have the time, will or even skill to make it look like I did with the PS work. Sure its a pixel art image, but with modern polish lets say
The advantage of doing it way I did is that you can create all sorts of lighting results time and time again without having to mess with the original pixel art, and making modification on the original pixel art is simple enough in that all you do is drop the modified image onto the bottom layer of the PS project. (BTW the post work only took 10 mins, compared to trying to do that pixel by pixel)

I often forget to time-lapse post process work, but if I do another background for AGS I will try remember to record it.

Anyway, I hope someone finds this useful, and I hope I answered your question

[DBoyWheeler]

@Tycho
Wow!  I'm kinda feeling a Space Quest VI vibe with that one.

[Mandle]

Tycho, after watching your video I would like to see a version of the room with the post-production filters toned down by about 50%...

For me they seem to obscure more than enhance your beautiful first draw...

[Blondbraid]

I agree with Mandle, the effects do distract from the pixel art, and they clash in style.
Otherwise, it's a very beautiful image with lots of character.

[Tycho Magnetic Anomaly]

Um, well see if this is any better, I toned a number of the layers down, also de-saturated a bit, I might say this could defiantly be more suitable for an in-game background, whereas my first pic (which I think I still prefer) was more of a atmospheric thing.  I really wanted a strong atmosphere, hinting at this guy being a heavy smoker, city smog, perhaps cooking going on in the background, hazey dust in the air..etc.. it was that sort of "feeling" i was trying to get. I think I have lost a bit of that  feel in the modified version. Which do you guys think?

[imgzoom]http://fractalscapes.net/-DUMP/004C.png[/imgzoom]


I will stop tinkering with this now and call it a day. whichever of the two is more suitable

best of luck to everyone also

[Nixxon]

Amazing pixel art Tycho!

I think I prefer the last 'modified - de-smogified' version. It's just easier on the eyes.

Though, the lighting in the first version did give a 'warmer' feeling due to the expanded palette.

Bloody tops.

[Mandle]

That second version is so perfect to my eye that now I want to play that game!

Also, the objects in the room now look like that are actually solidly resting on the surfaces. For me, in the first "smoggy" version they look to me to be floating a bit, especially the box, laptop, and ashtray.

[Nixxon]

Time-lapse shenanigans - https://youtu.be/wfs_zljNqq4

[Tycho Magnetic Anomaly]

swoon! ...  sublime nixxon well done .. how do you get such clean lines, is this illustrator? (if so are you using beziers or stylus perhaps?)  and while I am asking, have you got a background in graphic design/illustration for print by any chance? Superb work.

edit:  Just watching your time lapse now.. doh missed the link

[Nixxon]

Thanks mate!

Wouldn't say a "background" *pun* professionally in illustration, but it's definately the end goal god willing.

Everything (bar the original crude sketch) was done on the iPad Pro. I've used wacom tablets over the years but the iPad has been a game changer. Unfortunately it's not much use for anything else :p

[Mandle]

Amazing treehouse! Especially so after watching the timelapse...

[Danvzare]

That second version is so perfect to my eye that now I want to play that game!

Also, the objects in the room now look like that are actually solidly resting on the surfaces. For me, in the first "smoggy" version they look to me to be floating a bit, especially the box, laptop, and ashtray.

Absolutely agreed. The second version is just so much better. The first version looks like it belongs to someone with a really large bong.

[Mandle]

The first version looks like it belongs to someone with a really large bong.

Cops will never pull over a man with a really large bong in his car. Why? They fear this man. They know he sees further than they.

[DBoyWheeler]

Wow!  That treehouse is spooky (but in a cute way)!  It almost reminds me of the Ghoul Kids' Pumpkin Treehouse from King's Quest 7 (and that's a good thing, I assure you).

[SilverSpook]

Awesome work all around! 

@Nixxon: I always liked the art in The Aftermath, and this is top notch as always!

[dactylopus]

Good stuff in here so far.  I really like Tycho's background.  It has a Blade Runner vibe.

[Dream]

Welcome to the Sleeping Owl Inn, where weary travelers can warm up by the fire and rest for the next day's adventures.



(Full size image here)

Gif of the process:

Spoiler

An explanation of the process:

Thumbnail Sketch: Just a tiny 2 inch x 1 inch sketch in my sketchbook. Scanned, cropped, lines isolated, adjusted to fit a 16:9 aspect ratio, increased the size to fit 8.5 inches x 11 inches, layered over a 50% opacity grid of 3 horizontal lines and 3 vertical lines evenly spaced to help with straightening things, and then printed on regular 8.5 inch x 11 inch printer paper. It looked horrible and blotchy in an only-know-what-that-is-because-I-drew-it way, but still useful.

Pencil Sketch: Using a light box with the printed thumbnail sketch under a blank piece of regular 8.5 inch x 11 inch printer paper, I drew the room in pencil. Lots of erasing here, and all the details nailed down. I then inked this pencil sketch and erased the pencil lines.

Final Inked Drawing: Next step was to use the light box again, with the inked drawing under the final blank paper. The final paper is 8.5 inch x 11 inch Hammermill Color Copy Digital Cover paper, a thick cardstock that's extremely smooth. The pens I used are Sakura Micron pens in sizes 01 (0.25mm) and 005 (0.2mm). This is where I drew the ink drawing that would be painted. Wood textures and small details were finalized.

Final Watercolor Painting: This cardstock is not meant to be watercolor paper, however it can work if you are careful not to use too much water (which causes lots of buckling). With a dryish brush, I painted from light colors to dark colors. The paints I used are liquid paints called Dr. Ph. Martin's Hydrus watercolor paint. When it was finished, I scanned it and touched it up in Photoshop. "Touching up" included increasing contrast (the scan was washed out), fixing a few spots where paint went slightly off course, fixing the weird white spot the scanner decided was on the rug, adjusting to make everything straight, and resizing to 1920x1080. Also, this is when I added in the foreground which was painted on a separate paper using the same methods.

[close]

[Nixxon]

Wow very nice dream!

I love that traditional application and result, very impressive indeed.

[Tycho Magnetic Anomaly]

wonderful background, lots of character too, really well done
I love your method, its amazing to see from such a rough sketch what can become. You and Nixxon have both inspired me to pick up a pen (or stylus) at some point and try physical drawing.

Nixxon I had tried a few apps with my pretty bad android tablet in the past, even tried out a couple of cheap stylus's for it, but the latency.. arg. also the stylus was no more precise then a finger.

What is the latency like on your ipad and what sort of stylus are you using?
(I was also looking at your other timelapse video on your youtube, very impressed, asides from game art there would be work for you within the illustration industry for sure.)

[DBoyWheeler]

@Dream Kinda reminds me of either one of the castle rooms in the King's Quest II remake, or Castle Borgov in Quest for Glory IV.

Either way, really neato job here!

[Mandle]

I want to stay at The Sleeping Owl! It's so charming!

[Misj']

[Tycho Magnetic Anomaly]

omg, this contest...

stunning Misj, just stunning, I would love to know what your material/software/method was on this., it looks like a frame taken straight out of a top class animated short, or animated feature film.

People, keep posting your amazing works!

[Misj']

Well, the process isn't very difficult. Basically it comes down to: lot's of layers.

The process itself is fairly simple: line-art -> flat coloring -> shading -> masked layers for the color-effect of a partially lit room. Most of this is the standard approach using is comics (rather than paintings). The painterly look itself is something I still experiment with, but I haven't had enough time to really practice (and it takes a lot of practice) since I started my new job.

As for my tools, it's done entirely digital. I still draw a lot on paper, but I knew where I wanted to go, and I knew which tools I wanted to use to achieve that. I paint on my desktop (running Windows 10) using a Wacom Cintiq tablet/monitor; and my go-to painting application is currently Corel Painter 2016. But all of this can easily be achieved using ArtRage and/or Sketchbook Pro (or Photoshop if you happen to have a huge budget)...at a fraction of the price.

[Dream]

Thanks for the comments!

I'm impressed with all the talent here in this thread.

Thanks Nixxon, I appreciate that. I'm loving your distinctive style that's so clean and exaggerated, with colors that really pop. The time-lapse is great to see how you work.

Thanks Tycho! I hope you do end up picking up a pen/stylus sometime, I'd love to see what you make. Your time-lapse video shows how much detail goes into your pixel art. I think the post-processing effects add a modern look, which reminds me of Hyper Light Drifter's art style. Now I want to make something in a sci-fi setting.

Thanks DBoyWheeler, I love the idea that it might be part of a larger castle structure.

Mandle, haha! Thanks Me too, but they only take silver or gold coins, which means I'll need to go on an adventure to find treasure first.

And oh wow, I agree with Tycho, Misj's work really does look like it's straight from an animated film. Excellent dramatic lighting, too. Is your profession related to animation, Misj'?

[Nixxon]

@Tycho, Thanks mate. The Ipad Pro 'pencil' is very very nice to use. Almost no latency, it feels very natural once you get used to drawing on the glass. To compare it to traditional passive screens with generic styluses is apples/oranges in my experience. It performs far better than my Wacom digital tablet/PC combo did and can handle very high resolutions with multiple layers without a hitch. Plus it's super portable and just generally awesome. I would very much recommend trying one first if you have the opportunity (apple store maybe?).

@Misj. Jesus that's nice! Very Disney esque. The lighting is beautiful. I especially love the character

[Tycho Magnetic Anomaly]

Thanks for the info there Misj', would love to see you apply that skill to a game!

Nixxon, also thanks for info, I do now intend to get sorted out with a system for freehand drawings, getting an ipad pro now seems like a better idea for sure.

[Rocchinator]

WOW So many amazing entries love them so much, I'm trying to finish mine today hope i can make it

[Grundislav]

Wow! Great entries!

One more day left for anyone still working on theirs!

[Blondbraid]

I had an idea, but sad to say I haven't found the time to work on it.
However, the other entries this time are top-notch, really professional looking!

[Tycho Magnetic Anomaly]

I have faith in you Rocchinator! Been anticipating your background ever since your first post.

[Dream]

Rocchinator, good luck finishing today! I hope to see it.

[Rocchinator]

I Have to be honest because of work and other things this week couldnt add more details as i like too but still wanted to be able to show it. I hope next time i can do better with more time. So here is my entry

A Plane Crash survivor House with a close view to the shore... very close

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/RyTt9Rt.png[/imgzoom]

[Rocchinator]

By the way here in Argentina its still 30th of May. Hope I could get into. Amazing entries everyone.

[DBoyWheeler]

Wow!  Rocchinator's entry has kind of that LucasArts feel to it... like maybe Indiana Jones or something... or that Amazon Queen game (I forget whether or not that's LucasArts, but that game had the Lucas appeal to it).  Well played.

[Nixxon]

Nice one Rocc@ lovely pixel part and looks super fun to play!

[Grundislav]

Okay! You guys have your work cut out for you, there were some great entries!

Remember to vote for Concept, Playability, and Artistic Execution

So, here are your choices:

[imgzoom]http://fractalscapes.net/-DUMP/004C.png[/imgzoom]

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/RyTt9Rt.png[/imgzoom]

Good luck to all participants! Voting is open until June 3rd.

[Tycho Magnetic Anomaly]

Rocchinator, defiantly worth the wait, just wonderful... I adore your attention to tiny details and the piece in general really makes me feel nostalgia for the classic point and click styles... top job!

Voting for the entries in this contest is going to be tough for me, need to digest this over a couple of days, but congrats to everyone for getting their works in, and best of luck! 

[Rocchinator]

@Nixxon @DBoyWheeler @Tycho Magnetic Anomaly Thanks guys for the feedback i really apreacite it. I love all your entries so many styles and concepts. This is going to be difficult. Good Luck everyone!

[DBoyWheeler]

My votes:

Concept: Rocchinator (amazing how a castaway can recycle stuff from his close brush with death to make the best of his lot)
Playability: Tycho Magnetic Anomaly (it gives me the Space Quest 6 feel, and so much to interact with too!)
Artistic Execution: Hard choice here, but in the end, I pick Nixxon (it reminds me of the Pumpkin Treehouse from King's Quest 7 in a way... and that's good)

[Rocchinator]

This really hard...

Concept: Tycho Magnetic Anomaly For me it looks there lives a mostwanted professional hacker. It has a DANGER atmosphere everywhere.
Playability: Nixxon In this case Its a small place but seem that the character can do lots of research and experiment with objects in there.
Artistic Execution: Dream Very Unique Style I like the warm medieval look to it. i will totally have dinner there and hear bards songs by the fire.

[dactylopus]

So many fantastic entries in this contest, and they could fit into multiple categories.  It's definitely hard to choose.

But that's my job here...

Concept: Rocchinator
Playability: Tycho Magnetic Anomaly
Artistic Execution: Dream

Well done, everyone!

[Tycho Magnetic Anomaly]

Yup this one is so tough for me that I have been considering putting the names into a hat, but that is just lazy so I need to just figure this out some other way. I think what makes this vote so particularly hard is the variety of styles, they are all so very different, and each of them has their own merit when taken individually.

I also notice the voting on this is a little different to the colorball contests, just to be clear is this how it works:

Concept:= equivalent of 1st place
Playability: equivalent of 2st place
Artistic Execution: equivalent of 3st place

OR

are each category separate so at the end there are a 3 lists of top3's for each category? thus 3 1st winners, 3 2nd place winners, and 3 3rd place winners?

[SilverSpook]

My bad guys, I just realized I uploaded a way-too-huge version of my background which probably is tough to see.  Just put up a smaller one on the first page.

Great work everyone!  It is a pretty tough choice here, all the pros have come out of the woodwork!  I would say, they should all do MAGS to help with the participation, but I myself am also too swamped to get to it. :O

Here's my votes:

Concept: Nixxon
Playability: Rocchinator
Artistic Execution: Dream

@Tycho: As I understand it, each vote you get in any category counts as 1 'point'.  Whoever gets the most points wins.  I.E. let's say this happens:

John votes:

Concept: Background 1
Playability: Background 2
Artistic Execution: Background 2

Jill votes:

Concept: Background 3
Playability: Background 1
Artistic Execution: Background 2

Jesus votes:

Concept: Background 2
Playability: Background 1
Artistic Execution: Background 2

Background 2 gets 5 votes, so they win 1st place

Background 1 gets 3 votes, so they win 2nd place

Background 3 gets 1 vote, so they win 3rd place

etc.

[Tycho Magnetic Anomaly]

ah right, gotcha!  makes sense now.. cheers for the heads up on that

[Riaise]

Concept: Rocchinator - I love the idea of the survivor making the plane their home! It works really well.
Playability: SilverSpook - I can imagine the protagonist having to rummage around in this room, trying to find clues or some specific object.
Artistic Execution: Misj' - This one is really difficult because so many of the backgrounds look amazing, but I just love the animated feel of this entry.

Well done to everyone, though! Really fantastic entries all around. I wish I had more votes to give!

[Tycho Magnetic Anomaly]

Concept: SilverSpook - I am a Massive fan of anything post apocalyptic, Your background has really hit a spot with me.
Playability: Rocchinator - Very game ready, tons of detail for the adventurers mouse to explore and click on, Love it.
Artistic Execution: Nixxon - Oozing with confidence, consistency, composition and character, and so well executed.

Some words on the other wonderful entries:

Dream: I live in Ireland so this makes me feel really homely, Very delicate detailing, wonderful color balance and very distinct style.

Grok: From looking around the forum I notice your works keep on getting better and better and better. I really love your sort of punk/grunge/noir feel. There is something just right about the minimal colors and splashes of vibrancy. I really feel that given enough practice you have so much potential. I really look forward to seeing how your works evolve over time.

Misj': What can I say? its spectacular, as I am sure you know, perhaps perfect for the image subject, it emanates professionalism and quality in every respect. Alas, to my understanding it was the fact you had your awesome character included in the composition which was a factor why I felt I could not vote for it. Keep up the amazing work.

blur: It was by sheer luck I spotted your late entry on the first page. It is a dam pity because from what I can see from your start this could have been a very sweet entry. Again its the tiny details that attract me, and I love isometric in general. Please finish this off if you get the time.

Just well done everyone, what a contest.

[Dream]

It's a difficult choice, all the entries here are really great and I'd love to see games made with them.

Concept: SilverSpook - The setting tells a story immediately and it's immersive.
Playability: Rocchinator - There's a lot of things a player could do there.
Artistic Execution: Tycho Magnetic Anomaly - Plenty of detail, good use of color, and pretty lighting.

[blur]

My votes:
           Concept: Rocchinator, because the protagonist improvised to make the place inhabitable.
       Playability: Tycho Magnetic Anomaly, because there are many things to fiddle with and there is enough room to walk around.
Artistic Execution: SilverSpook, because it has least outlines.


@Tycho Magnetic Anomaly

Spoiler

Thanks for the encouragement. I spent about 16 hours on the freehand and about 30 hours on the isometric (my first try at this technique) and ran out of layers (maximum is 16 in grafx2) and time.

[close]

[Danvzare]

Concept: SilverSpook  This was a tough choice, but overall, this one does have the most unique concept in my opinion. The teddy in a pool of blood really sells it as well.
Playability: Rocchinator  I can see this easily fitting into a game. Plenty of potential hotspots to interact with and objects to pick up.
Artistic Execution: Tycho Magnetic Anomaly  This is just beautiful. A little overdone with the effects, but still beautiful none-the-less.

[Blondbraid]

Concept: Misj' It just looks so cozy with the cats!
Playability: Rocchinator There is lots of stuff to interact with.
Artistic execution: Dream It was a tough choice, but I like the hand drawn feel to it.

Really, all the entries were great, and it's a shame I never found the time to enter something myself,
but this contest have produced some lovely backgrounds!

[Grundislav]

We have our final results! Just click your heels together three times, and repeat after me: "there's no place like home, there's no place like home..."

In 3rd place, and winner of the bronze slippers, we have SilverSpook!


In 2nd place, winner of the silver slippers is Tycho Magnetic Anomaly!


And in 1st place, winner of the gold slippers is none other than Rocchinator!


Congratulations to all the winners, and everyone for participating! It was a tough call because of so many great entries, you should all be proud!

[Tycho Magnetic Anomaly]

oh.. these results caught me by surprise, thought there was a few days left.

Well done to Rocchinator for you glorious win also for getting it in on time
Well done SilverSpook it was a close one,  you have also wet my appetite for your next project which I only saw today.
And a very well done to everyone else for their stunning entries,so much time and effort put in. Keep it up and you are all going places.
Great theme Grudilav

and thank you all so very much for the votes, I can't tell you how much it means to me.

[Misj']

Congrats Rocchi!

[Rocchinator]

Wow! I never won a first place before:cheesy:, i`m so happy. Thanks to all. Congrats to Tycho and SilverSpook for your awards amazing job everyone. This was a thought competition so many incredible entries, this was a memorable competition Grundislav. Amazing job everyone.

[SilverSpook]

Congrats to Tycho and Rocchinator! And thanks everyone for your votes. I already have a pair of silver slippers to match my silver trench coat, so the Bronze Slippers will be a great addition to my wardrobe!

In all seriousness, this was probably the toughest competition I've ever witnessed on the AGS forum, and there have been *a lot* of competitions. I barely felt qualified to *vote* on the entries, they were so good. So amazing job, everyone involved! Gives one hope for the community, it does.

[xBRANEx]

Congrats to the winners! I don't remember when I saw so much great entries in one competition. It's such a shame that some beautiful entries ended up unrewarded!

[Nixxon]

Sheet, I forgot to vote lol.

Grats guys, all were wonderful entries on this one.

[Dream]

Congrats to the winners! Great entries everyone.

[dactylopus]

Congratulations, everyone!  Any image could have been the winner this time, which is really cool.  I loved every entry.

[Danvzare]

Congrats everyone.
This contest had a lot of really great entries. It made it hard to vote.