Messages

Khrismuc: What's with the Casption Contest? Did you make it?

Oh hell, I totally forgot about that...
Do I have to? I'll try to think of something...

The Sprite Jam ends precisely at 2400 GMT today, that's 1:00 AM my time.

You've got your front view, why not starting to animate it? Use any of the 4, they are all very good.

That subway train looks really cool, only one thing about perspective:
Right now, the part of the chairs you sit on isn't horizontal (butt lower than knees).
They should look more like the couch in your first bg.

I believe there's no problem with uploading it here.
Critics Lounge topics don't have to be adventure-related, afaik.

Just check out older threads and you'll find poems, music and even art that have nothing to do with adventure games.

Is it 3D-based or hand-drawn?

It is completely hand-drawn.

I think the problem with the columns is that they probably shouldn't be columns.

Exactly. I wanted to avoid a boxy look, but now I guess I'll change them.

...adding some smaller/lighter markings in the sand in the distance would add a lot of depth.

True. The blank area in the top-left is going to show another building, so I'll work on the sand afterwards.

I also don't believe the horizon line wouldn't be quite that low unless there's higher elevation there. From the angle of the building and height of the horizon, I'd say the view was approximately halfway between the porch and rooftop of an adjacent building. It also looks like you can see some of the top of the balcony when it should be obscured at this angle (or at least a normal viewing angle). The coloring is excellent but some of the posts seem a tad flat - like a sprite fenceline in a 3D game.

I'm sure that the perspective is correct. I don't fully understand the 1st sentence, but the horizon is actually quite high. When I began designing the bg, the balcony was supposed to be walkable, but I've abandoned this recently.
I think you're referring to the balcony's railing as being flat, it's wip.

I'm being damned nitpicky on all the above though.. I have to pick on slight imperfections or simply say, "Wow." I thought the former would be more productive.

Absolutely. Thanks for the good advice!

Here's the workspace, complete with ugly helplines and vanishing points.

This was meant to be the first location for my feb. MAGS entryÃ, 
It's the only thing I've done so far, but I still consider finishing the game.



C&C appreciated, especially suggestions on how to improve the ground and the columns, I'm not very happy with both of them.

...C'mon! You know where it's from!

Actually, I don't

Yes, although converting MI1's Guybrush to 4 colors isn't that hard.

You can use any char you want, but if the original version features a LOT of colors, you're more likely to win.

[well-known person in Gameboy style]

Ok, this week's rules are:

well-known person in Gameboy style

Pick a celebrity (can be a fictious one, like Ronald McDonald) and draw it using only 4 shades of either grey or green.
Caricatures are fine.

I'm not sure about the size of the GB's display, I think it was 128x128. So that's the size limit.

Thanks!

I'm clueless, I didn't see that coming...
I'll think hard about a (hopefully) original theme for the next jam.
As I'm relatively new here, is there anything I should know?

Please upload it as zip archive.

Only thing so far: there's no way to skip the intro and it isn't possible to load a savegame beforehand.

Btw, where's the music in the beginning from?

The pig's shadow should look like this:


As the window (sun) is the only lightsource, there can't be any distinct shadows outside the beam of light that's shining through it.

Also consider that a background pic should only consist of static items. Did you paint the doll, closet doors and wires on a different layer?

I'd hurry with posting that screenshot. Maybe it will keep the mods from locking this thread.

I'd change the arms' movement, right now it looks as if the guy is working out without weights.

Make them move towards the camera, then back.

I did a quick paintover to give you some ideas.



I didn't finish the column, though.

I wanted to point out that this background is obviously not finished, of course you can c&c a lot, but, as Andail put it in his Read-before-posting:

* Consider if you actually need criticism. Some people seem to jot down just anything, publish it here and expect a step-by-step tutorial on how to improve it.

Some things I noticed:

-no descriptive text on the Lost Kitty poster
-the shadow on the column wouldn't curve like that, it'd be straight.
-the column and ground/platform suggest an angled perspective, but the train has no depth.
-that's why it looks like the train is as flat as a cardboard and nailed to the building
-the train is very short, and it ends right after the door
-the train's floor and the ground/platform aren't the same height.

Yes Damien, you are being very mean, I think it took him at least 20 minutes.

Seriously, this is the critics lounge.
And there's hardly anything to c&c in this bg.

I feel the bg is screaming: paint over me! So my lazy creator doesn't have to do the hard work!

edit:
I prefer people to tear apart my posted artwork, it motivates me and makes me be like "Just you wait, I'll show you I can do better!".
Encouraging replys to posted crap always make me feel like people just wanna be friendly.

It's quite interesting that good stuff almost always gets nit-picky replys focusing on minor not-so-well-done details, while overall crap makes people go like "keep it up!"

Only one thing to add right now:
The tables are a bit off, they look like everything being put onto them would fall off towards the camera, 2d-speaking: flatten the ellipses even more.
You did it right with the bottle holder, as we can barely see inside.

The left door of the cupboard looks bigger than the right door, just shorten it a bit.

Actually it looks thinner, as the left door should be effectively wider in 2d. (check Neil's edit)

You're aiming for wackyness, ok, but the bed is too far off perspective, especially the pillow.
What makes DOTT's backgrounds so great is that you can still sense the correct(!) perspective underneath the very wacky lines. Everything is deformed and twisted but the proportions still feel right.

Back to your pic: you should really get rid of the dark triangles in the ceiling's corners, no lightsource would ever produce these shadows.