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Thanks guys! I'll make those few quick alterations and actually start painting this thing.

The main thing that strikes me is that your perspective looks isometric - those buildings should have a vanishing point on the horizon line (unless everything is on a very steep angle?). Also the lack of contrast makes it hard to distinguish the buildings. The rocks at the water's edge have really nice tones - no reason why the man-made objects couldn't be the same...

Usual thing, I left this project to stew while everything else in life took precedence, however, I'm having another crack at this.

Firstly, thanks to everyone who continued to comment and make suggestions while I didn't touch the forums for a while. You guys prompted me to scrap the kitchen and rework it, so here's a new version to pick to bits!

I got rid of the pillar - just didn't seem to be working, and as Hudders pointed out, it wouldn't even be there if it was that close to the wall.

Oh and just for clarification, that pantry door in the old one was never meant to be hanging outwards â€" as in towards the viewer â€" it was always flat perspective, just angled down due to the hinges. Obviously that wasn't depicted very well. I've made the new cupboard door actually hang outwards this time...hopefully that's clear...? Or not?

I keep noticing how much I need just to go live alone in a cave for 10 years and actually learn to draw...

Firstly, I apologise for posting this really messy work - I just quickly changed the layout of certain aspects in the room by dragging them around, so it looks pretty bad - the main thing is I'd like to nail this composition down so ignore the other stuff going on.



S: you're right - there was a lot of weird stuff going on I didn't notice. I think I've managed to fix the size irregularity - the TV is now much smaller, and I plan to make the stove larger as well. I'll give things like the floorboards more attention once the composition is finalised. As for the cupboard door, the new kitchen layout should help with its practicality, but I kind of like it hanging, rather than it having no doors attached. I hope that doesn't come off as me being one of those irritating people who ignores constructive criticism and defends everything they do - I do try to take everything on board and I appreciate the feedback.

Ryan Timothy: Intriguing idea for the fridgue GUI. I was planning on making it a separate room, or the uninteresting option of having the door open so the player can't see in  I like this third option now.

Layabout: I think, whether or not I did it consciously when I drew this, one thing I don't always like about adventure games is the overwhelming sense of a stage. I find this particularly in indoor environments, where the rooms are just enourmous for no particular reason (the latest broken sword game was a good example - particularly in places like bathrooms) other than to let the character wander all around them easily. I suppose ultimately it's a balance, but I'd like to try give my indoor environments a sense of actually being inside a realistic room, and this one in particular is designed to be small and cramped.
Having said that, I have tried to rearrange the room slightly to make it more user-friendly. I've shifted the bench back, more into the foreground, and removed the stove section so there will be a larger unrestricted walking area. Also yes, the linework is quite distasteful - don't worry, I am going to go over it - it's just a rough sketch for now.

I'm wondering whether or not to remove the support pillar on the counter, so as to lessen the clutter of the room - possibly making its focal points a little less confusing?

What's the verdict on this latest layout? Cheers.

Thanks everyone for all the feedback. I've sketched in some changes (excuse the flat colour base and lack of highlights or shadows, it's very WIP. Oh and I forgot to fix up the city, so it looks horrible)

I've compromised on the cropping, because I do like Ryan Timothy's workover for the right-hand-side of the image, but the kitchen will be useable in the game - the fridge can be opened etc. As a side note, I will also be drawing the bathroom, and yes, the toilet too, as it all pertains to the story and the puzzles  I'm a fan of games where the environment is very exploration friendly (if there's a door to the bathroom, why shouldn't you be able to enter it? etc) Just personal preference.

Also I'm definitely going to keep those ideas for ambient sound and visuals in mind when start putting all my backgrounds into ags. You have a mind for subtle details and atmosphere.   

I've tried to mess up the room a bit more with junk etc, and hopefully the exterior corridor is looking a little more like the real thing (a thought occurs that I should have included an overhang-support pillar in place of one of the rails, and/or a drainpipe).

I'll add more junk, but as objects rather than background, as I want the player to be able to pick up a lot of random stuff - make you think about what you actually might need.

Thanks, I really like that idea - definitely adds depth to the scene, as you said. I've made a quick rework of that wall, however I'm not really sure what the exterior should look like as I'm unfamiliar with the exterior hallway apartments you referred to and I can't find a good visual reference.
As such, I tried to make it up, but it kind of looks more like a hotel balcony right now...

Any suggestions or paintovers are welcomed.

Hi, I've made a quick sketch of a living room composition that I'd like some compositional feedback on.

The flat is run-down and dirty (not conveyed particularly well yet) and inhabited by an unsuccessful cat-burglar, hence his outstanding rent payments and the flat's condition. The room will only be seen at night, and the three light sources are a window in the kitchen off to the left (emitting very slight moonlight/street light), the tv, and the primary source which is the ceiling light in the top-centre at the back of the living room. A secondary character will be sitting on the couch watching TV. The door at the back leads to the bedroom, and the one on the right is the front door which leads to the apartment block's communal corridor.

I will be creating two versions of this room, as at one point the power gets disconnected and then the only light will be the one from the window.

I find interior locations, particularly normal rooms, harder to create interesting compositions with, and I'm aware that it might be a bit flat because it's only a one-point perspective. Also the cropping of the TV is awkward - not sure if it should be tighter or more zoomed out.
Any feedback/criticism would be appreciated. Thanks.

Maybe try to put some kind of horizontal and vertical line through each cog, like 4 spokes in the wheel (or more, depends how it looks) to show the rotation more clearly? Then the teeth wont need to be so perfectly animated.

I know absolutely nothing about pixel art, but I would say that the cityscape view from the window would look nicer if it had depth. Maybe fore, mid, and background layers of buildings (becoming progressively paler into the distance), or even just two layers of near and far, with the far ones being more silhouetted (by which I mean no details) and lighter.

Wow, lots to reply to. Again, I appreciate all the feedback. Thanks!

DazJ: I'm using photoshop and an Intuos4 tablet to produce this entirely digitally.

Travis: Very logical conclusion you drew about me not having sketched in the house yet, and thanks for your concern. I originally forgot to, but then (having realised) I ignored it as I have a really strange workflow where I work on what appeals to me the most, rather than what I should draw The moon is only there because I was out late at night and saw the sky looking like that, got inspired and painted it when I was home. There is going to be a roof/upper story peaking over the walls, and if you compare perspectives with the height of the buildings in the background, as well as take into account the fact that the house will be at the rear of the wall section (the front is an inner courtyard) it shouldn't have to block out the moon, it'll be more to the right. I find your knowledge of dimensions intriguing - that telephone pole should possibly be a fair bit taller than it is then...

As anian suggested, the hot dog vendor and graffiti probably would detract from the idea that the area is upmarket. A couple of things with the alley on the right - I think the general consensus is that it would benefit from parked cars so I'll have a look at implementing that. Also now that the issue has been raised, I notice I also don't like how the alley vanishes rapidly towards that point. I think I'll cut it off - either with the end of the road, or some kind of obstacle (a parked truck is one interesting solution).

Thanks - yeah I was aiming at a kind of Broken Sword aesthetic. You're right, that's a trash-can in the middle, but it's not enough on it's own. I definitely like all those ideas to fill out the scene a bit more - particularly the animations as they should help breathe life into it.

I messed around but couldn't make the roundabout work, however, I liked your idea of lines on the road. I've inserted a zebra crossing, as well as a few elements like a drain and manhole.

I figured I might as well post my WIP to show my current solution to the bottom left corner. Bear in mind that everything is still being blocked in - the elements don't match and are rough and unfinished.


As it's still in it's early stages, hopefully any problems I haven't noticed can be caught before I put heaps of time into it.
My main concern still lies in the lack of foreground objects, but I don't see a way to incorporate any without it looking forced.

Feel free to rip it to pieces. I'm happy to go back to the drawing board. This is largely style test as well as an attempt to learn to use a tablet.

1. The walls encircle a fairly large house, owned by a well-off family

2. The setting is a city, maybe very slightly more suburban. The era is contemporary, but this location is in an older part of town (I'm looking at going for a slightly Art Nouveau aesthetic). I'm not giving the city a definite real-world location so I can have more freedom, however it has basic references to England - there is a pub in the left-hand background.

3. The neighborhood is upmarket but not exclusively - just more of an affluent area

A further note, the power-lines are also necessary for the the story.

Hey, thanks for the response. What I didn't mention earlier is that I'm designing this game at 1024x768 (I scaled it down so it wouldn't be massive on the forum), but regardless, you make a valid point.
I think I'll probably have to restrict any far-away interactions to the the door only, just as an access to the interior location. No exterior details except maybe the entire building as one hotspot etc.

I'm attempting to make a scrolling nighttime street scene, however I thought before I actually go too far in drawing it nicely, I should see what everyone thinks of the basic composition. I'm kind of concerned with the lack of foregrounding - there's really nothing going on, and also a fairly useless dead space on the bottom left...however - there are several things I need to remain constant in order for the puzzles and story to work:

The street on the right has to remain clear and visible.
The pub in the background is an accessible location and so can't be concealed by any foreground objects.
The wall and gate are the main focus of the location as the character will be attempting to climb over it.

With that in mind, any thoughts for improvement?



Note: Excuse the messy sketchy drawing. I've just got myself a tablet and am trying to learn to use it. 'Trying' being the operative word.

I'm no expert at all with pixel art, but if I was trying to upscale something, I'd blow up the original to the desired size. Then, ignoring the quality, use it as an underlay over which you could trace/re-shade/whatever the new version so the basic shape and proportions would be the same.

Here's a really bad, rough edit, but it gets my point across with the shadow and colour balance. I made it too dull though. I wouldn't desaturate it too much as I think the vibrancy works well as part of the style.

It's really your preference though - depends what look you want to achieve.

For what it's worth, I think the conspicuous collage/pasted-together look could be quite cool. In other words, don't hesitate to ignore everything I've said 

You might just want to adjust the colour-balance of some of the objects to make them more consistent with the room as a whole (It seems red is the predominant colour/tint).
Also the sign's stand doesn't have a shadow. Each leg would cast a thin shadow beneath it. Right now it looks stuck on to the background, not grounded as part of it.

Unless of course this collaged aesthetic is meant to emphasised, in which case, I think it works pretty well. 

I draw it out on paper roughly, then shove in some rough colours with watercolour paint, just because I don't like colouring on Photoshop from nothing.
Also that way some of the rough brush-strokes are still visible in the final, leaving a small amount of texture.
Essentially, then I scan it and colour everything by putting in layers (at 50% opacity) of flat colour over the top of the scan, and then burning and dodging where appropriate. Pretty simplistic actually...

I don't use a tablet because I don't have one  But i'd really like to get into that at some point.

Wow...that is one incredibly complex issue. Thanks for the link - I now realise what kind of issue I'm dealing with.
I think I might just try work around it. I don't even know how to do a lot of basic programming let alone that stuff 
Very much a beginner right now.