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Oh, a thousand thanks, Progz
It's looking really great now, I'll just clean up the shading a bit more and then it's pretty much perfect, imo.

Mad; thanks, I see your point. I'll definitely increase the contrast a bit, to improve the sense of depth.

I probably won't show more material from this project until it's time for a GiP, in half a year or so, so thanks for now!

And limping to compare my thousands of hours of hair pulling work with pub master is very unfair and it makes me think lowly of you.
no offense icy.

Haha, nice dual-insulting there, Construed

Make the game save automatically when the player enters a room, with e.g. SaveGameSlot.
For retrying, use RestoreGameSlot with the same int.

Remade the whole floor with manual "texture":

Something like that?

Ok, probably the last thing I'll post before I'll get more secretive about this project.

1


It's not entirely finished, to start with, but I'm rather sceptical about it... I really thought the 3D-esque perspective could be cool, but now I think it just messes up the low resolution. Moreover, I can't put the character anywhere near the edges, or he'll look weird with his verticalness...
Btw, the room is supposed to be dimly lit - these are all night scenes so far.
The floor is a sketchup texture (too realistic?), the model for the mat was nicked somewhere on the web.
Any thoughts?

PS:
The living room has been updated, if you scroll up. The interior of the fireplace looks a bit weird without the fire animation there, in case you wondered.

That's a wonderful blog you've found there, really nice to be able to browse those old handpainted backgrounds like that.

I apologise for being a bit presumptuous about your background's origin; I based it on its composition and perspective, which looks very photogaphic to me, in addition to the wood texture.

As for my own backgrounds, the method I've worked out has speed as a key component. My art is usually less constrained in terms of resolution and style, but I also know that if I'm to finish my current project, I will need to be able to produce backgrounds rather quickly. Funny you should mention the outlines, because I've actually removed them, or at least toned them down considerably, in my final version.
The process usually looks like this:
1. I create a basic 3D shell in Sketchup. It's very crude, and just meant to establish a good perspective. The wonderful thing about 3D modelling is how you can change and adjust the viewpoint, so I can experiment around with the perspective.
2. I import a picture of the model in PS. I resize it and start cleaning up edges and details. I use textures very sparsely, since I don't want to lose the handpainted look. If I use a texture, I just find a good big picture somewhere and copy-paste it to the surface in question using Skew or similar re-shaping tool. 
3. I apply shadows and highlights with a custom brush to give it a more realistic look (as opposed to cell-shading).
4. I adjust hues and values, and often employ the Variations-function, to make colours more homogenous. One common error -or feature, depending on the style you're pursuing- in beginners' art is the wide and diverse range of colours. This is usually only found in comics, and not the real world, where there is a dominant light setting that will limit the colour range.

Thanks Anian, good points! When it comes to his being in a hurry, I've noticed that a slightly more pronounced stride looks better in-game. Maybe it's just a matter of taste, but when I've made walk cycles more relaxed, the motion comes across as too subtle in the walking animation on screen, and he seems to almost glide. But I agree that it doesn't really match his mellow pose in the idle stance.

As for the width of his head, I've tried without the extra hair-pixels, but found the head far too narrow. It's hard when you have so little to play with - one extra pixel makes it strangely wide, and one fewer makes it narrow. For instance, I find the head too narrow in your previous edit. Again, it's a matter of personal preference... I'll still to try to find a middle way, I guess.

Thanks for the re-sizing advice, I would never have thought of that

Walkcycle:



C&C appreciated.

You're bold to create sprites with such high resolution for your very first project
I think you're on the right track, but there's plenty of work ahead... some pointers:
* The right walk cycle - I think he's facing the "camera" too much, making it look like a diagonal view. You would probably see his torso more from the side.
* The down view is too jumpy - instead of a smooth bobbing motion, he's kind of shaking.
* About the cabin background - this is very obviously a photograph painted over. This is fine, but is it a style you're pursuing? The character is rather cartoony, maybe the backgrounds need a more hand-made, cell-shaded look?
* Also, I'd really really suggest waiting with the diagonal views until later. Not only do they require a ridiculous amount of work, they're also not very necessary except for a stylistic touch. Better proceed with story, coding and backgrounds, to give you a sense of progress.

This thread is for critique of the entire grimquest game.

Oh, ok. Then it totally sucks.

You see, this is the thing - if you ask us to critique the entire game we have to measure it by such standards. And playing this game just leaves you wondering what the heck you're supposed to do, and half of all interactions are either missing or mixed up, like walking to things when you just want to look at them.

Now you tell us that the only thing you've done yourself is some additional coding. Why not just say that you want feedback on that particular piece of coding? I'm sure that kind of coding requires some pretty advanced coding skills. I mean, I sure as hell wouldn't know where to start if someone asked me to create a multiplayer function, so why not just take credit for that?

Do you understand how it feels strange to give you feedback on something that isn't yours? It's like taking a movie, say, The Avengers, and adding your own subtitles in some new language, say Klingon, and then going "hey guys I want c&c on this movie please!"
You see how this is weird?

The problem is that you're completely obsessed with various phrases, abbreviations and concepts that you find epic-sounding, but few others can relate to.
When I read this thread all I see is fluff. Fluff with references to more fluff.
We want more substance, Icey.

Graphics and animations are very nice

Not to be a dick, but what animations? The only movement I saw was the main character's walk cycle, and that was really lacking, frankly.

I really suggest using flash or something for creating movies.  I don't know how necessary it is to use AGS for this, in fact it's a bit frustrating when you can't pause or resume the movie. I watched until the school scene, but was interrupted and couldn't be arsed to watch the whole thing again.

It's great that you have actually put something coherent together, but some parts really felt unfinished. Like how you re-used the same sprite over and over again, even zooming in on it (creating a horribly blocky pixelfest) for the close-up.

Thanks Progz, and nice edit!
The reason the fireplace has been left largely unfinished is that, as you mention, I plan to animate the fire and I don't know how much of it needs to be shaded at this point.
And good point with the wooden panel

Here's what I hope might be the final version of my character:



I'm throwing in this background as well:


You think it should work?

Thanks a lot, guys, really nice edits!
That's the beauty of pixel art; just a few pixels in this or that direction, and the whole expression is changed. I'll definitely use your ideas to proceed

Aloha!
I've painted many a picture in me days, but pixelation has never been my forte.
However, my new project will be in low-res, so I'm pretty much forced to pick up that trade now.

Here's one version of the main character:



Any immediate reactions?
He's supposed to be a rather laid-back PI, and and the game's set in the early 80s.
I'm worrying maybe the face has too few shades, especially compared to the jacket, which perhaps could be simplified in return. Well well.

Hi Tentacles, this sounds like a fascinating idea. However, I think you should describe the plot a bit more and introduce us to the elements and concepts of your game.
It's hard to understand this conundrum without being even remotely familiar with the story.

Hey, you were asked to fix a problem and instead you insult people for no apparent reason. Way to go!

This board is for threads that are a tad too silly, pointless or irrelevant for the general discussion board.

As of April 2012, there will not be a place only for popular threads, like the previous "popular threads" forum; instead it's all about the content.

This forum will this thus be largely unmoderated. You're still expected to use your common sense, and abide by a few recommendations;
* Don't break any laws. No links to illegal sharing, no libel, no personal threats etc.
* Don't flood the forum. Nonsense is best served in small portions.

Thank you and happy silly posting.

Whatever happened to Stupot? Haven't seen him around for several minutes.