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Messages - reagel

#1
I'll just say that the room is really starting to take on some 'character' too, with how you've filled out the bookcase and the diploma on the wall. Nice details!
#2
Overall, I like your clean and simple style.

One problem with the perspective is that we can see the top of the door, but we can't see the top of the bookcase or fridge. You need to decide where the viewer eye level is. It seems like it might be at about the level of the top of the curtains. If this is so, we need to be able to see at least a sliver of the top of the bookcase and fridge. If you want the viewer eye level to be lower, then you will have to change the door so that the top slopes up rather than down towards the viewer (similar to how you've handled the dividing wall).

Lighting: I actually like that you've kept it pretty simple, but I feel like some of the smaller objects may be missing their shadows. When I zoom up to 4x, then I can see that you have put some subtle shadows around the fry pans, for example, but they are mostly invisible at 1x, so you might have to emphasize them a little bit more. If the light in the room is coming from the two overhead ceiling fixtures, I would also consider emphasizing that by putting a small circular shadow around where the metal attachment meets the ceiling, to show that the light is coming from them and is directed down.

The view outside the window: this is tricky, because it appears to be twilight outside, and it's hard to contrast that light level with the artificial indoor lights. If you want to emphasize the sunset scene, you could lower the horizon slightly so that it's more immediately readable to the viewer and darken the buildings in contrast. But I could also see keeping this half-light look as well.

Overall, though, I think it looks great!
#3
Critics' Lounge / Re: KQ4
Fri 23/03/2012 15:45:23
I don't know which is Lolotte and Genesta, so I'll just call them night castle and day castle.

I love the night castle. It's got a lovely twilight atmosphere, but you can still easily make out details and texture. It is cliche, in a way, but I'm not sure if that's a bad thing. It's a fairytale castle, and it immediately looks like a fairytale castle. It's instantly readable to the audience.

The day castle is also instantly readable as a fairytale castle. It's a little too sugary-sweet for my taste (I think it's the pinkness of the roofs), but my taste runs to the dark and Grimm fairytales, so there you go. There's something that bugs me a little about the texture of the tower roofs of the two shortest towers in the middle. Their roofs look extremely shiny, almost wet, while the other roofs have a more matte appearance.  I'm not sure if it's intentional, but the right-most tower has a slightly bulgy-in-the-middle look that gives it a kind of cute or cartoony appearance.

I think you could give a little tweak to the purple-lined path coming towards the viewer, since it looks like it is narrower in the foreground, and it should be wider in the foreground than in the background.

I love the perspective you've given to the sea and sky. I think you could even exaggerate it a little more and make the sea a touch darker in the foreground and lighter where it meets the horizon.

As I've said before, WOW, I love your backgrounds. I think you are doing an amazing job.
#4
I don't actually have anything to add on the perspective that others haven't already covered, but I'd love to jump in and critique the sky. That's what I do... critique skies. Anyhoo, in the 'orange sky' version above, the light on the building seems to be coming from behind the viewer, but the sky looks strongly backlit, as from a setting sun. If you are going to use that sky, I would flip the shadows so it looks like the light is coming from in front of the viewer.

Oh, and the grey sky version looks great, atmospherically. Nice and foreboding, dark storm clouds gathering, duh, duh, duuuuh, etc.

The one minor thing that jumps out at me from the shadows on the house is that the shadows cast by the roof overhangs facing the viewer are very narrow, but the shadows from what looks like the same depth of overhang on the front of the house (under the peak of the roof) are very wide. To me, it looks like the roof should extend more if it's going to cast that wide a shadow. Just my impression.

Overall, very impressive setting!
#5
Critics' Lounge / Re: KQ4
Thu 16/02/2012 02:22:22
Wow, what a difference!

I'm torn between the images, personally. I love the blue light in number one and the way the tree trunks 'pop' a little bit, but I think the lightness of the sky in number 2 creates a beautiful atmosphere. There's more contrast, glow, and drama to that image.

The way you've done the clouds and stars is perfect, I think. It really looks like the very last trace of sun setting behind the pines (or just the beginning of moonrise) is lighting the clouds at the horizon. Very nice!
#6
Critics' Lounge / Re: KQ4
Wed 15/02/2012 07:17:06
I love the scene by day. The sky and the pool are magnificent! And birch trees.. I love birch trees!

Something seems off to me about all four of the night scenes though. They look more like viewing a day scene through heavy sunglasses rather then being outside at night. I think one issue is the clouds: at twilight and at night, clouds should appear darker, not lighter than the sky around them (unless they are lit by very strong moonlight, for example, but that isn't supported by the rest of your scene).

Also, all the colors seem equally dimmed. At twilight, usually blues seem to become more luminous, while reds  begin to look blacker (Again, except when there is a strong red sunset, but that doesn't seem to be the case here). I think the sky and the sky reflected in the pool look too greyed out in all of the four examples. I would suggest making the sky and pool a richer, more luminous blue, and then slightly highlight the white tree trunks and darken the red flowers.

During the day, the light is coming from the sky, but also from the reflected sunlight off the bright ground and grass. As you approach evening and night, though, the greatest source of light should be the sky, followed by the reflections in the pool. They should be much brighter than the surrounding landscape. They really should 'glow' a bit.

Hopefully that makes sense! I really do love your screenshots so far. This is a very exciting project!
#7
Completed Game Announcements / Re: Gemini Rue
Sun 06/03/2011 22:12:26
I have enjoyed several different Wadjet Eye games, and I really love the look of this one, but I'm a little hesitant because of the action sequences. Can anyone give me a very honest recommendation?

I really hate being drawn into an intriguing plot and then having to give up on a game because the action is beyond me. I'm very, very, very bad at action sequences. Is there any workaround/way to skip those areas for someone like me, or would it be pretty much impossible to finish the game otherwise?

Thanks for any guidance you can give me, I'd hate to buy something I can't finish...
#8
Hints & Tips / Re: A Tale Of Two Kingdoms
Sat 21/07/2007 16:35:35
Guest, to open the latch,
Spoiler
use the nail that you pulled out of the post in the stables
[close]
#9
Hints & Tips / Re: A Tale Of Two Kingdoms
Sat 21/07/2007 16:15:13
Ok,  this little rabbit is still totally stuck! Sorry, but can anyone give me very clear step-by-step directions on how to
Spoiler
get to the screen with the lily pad? Once I get to the bridge I can either go back to the beach (right) or back to the cross roads (up) but I can't go along the stream to the left. If I go back to the crossroads, I can go up to the monastery, and then left to the stream bank, but at this point I can't go down to the point with the lily pad. (I can do this in human form by walking across the stream, but not in rabbit form.)
Spoiler
[close]
[close]
#10
Hints & Tips / Re: A Tale Of Two Kingdoms
Sat 21/07/2007 08:18:55
Thanks for the hint Fizzii, but
Spoiler
when I try to cross at the lily pad, I either get the message about being uncomfortable crossing water or, if I use the hand icon, I get the message that I don't want to uproot the plant. I also occasionally get a strange kind of bug where the fox and I go running around the bushes on the bank and through the stream for some reason. You do mean the lily pad which is one screen to the left of the monastery, right?
Spoiler
[close]
[close]
#11
Hints & Tips / Re: A Tale Of Two Kingdoms
Sat 21/07/2007 07:41:24
Hmm: I'm stuck betwen a bug and a hard place. When I'm a rabbit, I run into the bug that freezes the game when I try to cross the bridge. Someone hinted that it's possible to get past this point without using the bridge, but I can't manage it- can anyone describe it further?
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