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Something about this picture looks very off.
Some things to try that may or may not help:
Make the doors much more pronounced.
Either flaten the perspective, or make it even more angled.  Right now it seems like it is not quite looking in from across the hall, and not quite looking down the hall, but almost like it is in a transition between the views.
Shading.  Maybe the other things won't seem off if you just add some basic shading to everything.
Instead of changing the perspective, extend the floor all the way off the corner.

Technically, it seems like it should be okay, but when you look at it, it just seems wrong

Nice buloght.  I know it's not the crit lounge, but I thought I would comment for reference.  The 'spikes' at the top do add a cool almost mouth like look, which is cool.  If you are trying to do realistic stalactites/stalagmites though, they should be pointing down, even on a slanted surface as they are formed from water driping.  Oh, and great job with the texturing 

Well, I would have done more, but I got bored, so here's mine.Ã,  Might have to look a sec to see the hidden danger.

320x200Ã,  7 colors



X2 in case it's hard to see

Come on, more entries!  I'll share a little idea I came up with maybe inspire a few more people.

What if someone that got a sex change was only made younger in spots?

[Problems with the Fountain of Youth]

Previously, on Photoshop Phriday:

Photoshopping isn't drawing a completely new image -- It's editing images to create a new image, such as editing one image or combining several images. The contest usually lasts for a fortnight. Also, you don't have to specifically use Photoshop -- Paint Shop Pro, MSPaint, or any other programs can be used. Please make sure your image doesn't exceed the width of the screen.

See this link:
http://www.somethingawful.com/photoshop/

And for other examples, see here:
http://www.worth1000.com/

-------------------------------------

Problems with the Fountain of Youth
Ã,  Ã,  Ã, After finally discovering the Fountain of Youth, those who drink of it find out that there may be a bit of a problem.Ã,  It seems that only parts of their bodies get younger!

I don't think an example is nessesary.Ã,  Stick a baby head on an old guy, or the opposite.Ã,  Of course you could get more creative.Ã,  Have fun!

The perspectives seem fine to me.  You can tell a bit in the first one, but it's not striking.  If you had a hard time because you didn't want to make a huge file with dots for points it's understandable, if you just didn't know where to put em (which I kind of doubt)  Just stick one far to the right and one far to the left.  As you work and try to line things up, it should be obvious which one to use each time.  I am thinking you just didn't mess with having a set point though, so you probably didn't need to know that.

I think the night one is alright.  The only thing that was a bit off was the lighting.  It looks like the moon is just off to the top right, but all your shading is still the same relative angle as the day when light should be coming from an almost opposite direction.

Okay, erm, I don't know if I like this one, or the other one I did.Ã,  I think the other one looks more realistic, plus it my first 2 google images thing.Ã,  But I just kinda kept going with this one.Ã,  There are like 9 or so animals here, 3 in the turtle thing.Ã,  So I am just sticking this up, consider it an entry or not.  I tried to add utters, but I couldn't get it to look right   :'(

"Cheatowl" recipe:
Do a google image search for "animal"
Combine first two results in a picture
Sprinkle with 'tweeks'
Let simmer for 1 hour.Ã,  Ã, :

Result:


(I realize it is kind of similar to the example, but I decided I was going to use the first two pictures of real animals I got when I did an image search for "animal" on google)

They seem to just have way too much grey.Ã,  It might not be as a big a deal if you didn't have the highly saturated colors with it.Ã,  Adding a bit more color (not anything major) I think would help.Ã,  Here is a quick paintover with some ideas.



-Added some light blue highlights to edges reflecting light
-Darkend upper area
-changed lighting on pipes
-darkend and blured the area outside of the door to help add contrast since everything is very similar in color
-Add some reflection/glow to behind seat and around red lights
-Added color to the door (I was assuming it would be a kind of blue forcefield like in the other pictures
-Added light to the floor that also may come from the force-door

I don't think the second room is bad, but it would definitely need some objects in it, right now it is so empty it seems almost pointless.

Nice, much better now   

I love the character.  I agree that the glasses stand out, it seems like 'cheap salesman' always go for the 'everything matches' look, so I think just changing the clothing, hat, and glasses (notice how in your ref pic even the glasses match the brown of the shirt?) to have similar color schemes would help.  Think tacky old sofas

I've always wondered exactly how people get such details into their work, especially not-terribly-hi-res art like this. It's fantastic.

Most common way: Work at high resolution then resize smaller.  Not a bad thing.
Less common, but probably not by much: The 'details' are actually left over from sketching, color washing, or 'scribbling'.  Bad thing.
Least common: Experience.  The more you work with low res, and changing high res into low res, the more you learn how details are reduced electronically, and can reproduce the effect.  Eventually you'll be able to actually improve on it because you know what you want to show up, not just an 'average' of pixels as is done mostly for electronically reducing.

Best thing (imo) is to work at larger resolutions, rescale to the correct size, then tweek the things that you think need tweeking.  If you ask, you will likely find that many people on sites like Deviant Art do it this way.  In the end though, natural ability always helps.  Some people can just do some really amazing things and you can't learn instinct.

On that note, and to be at least a little on topic, I am looking forward to seeing more artwork that you produce for this game, it's looking very good so far

The newest version does look better.Ã,  It does still seem to be from a rather steep angle however.Ã,  Some possible ideas:
-Change the perspective on the floor only, having the outside lines at closer to a 25 or 30 degree angle from the console instead of closer to 50-60 degrees.
-Or, If you don't change the floor, you may need to adjust the pad if you are wanting it to appear round.Ã,  right now the perspective make it looks oval, and maybe even a a bit 'bubble' like.
-And a purely cosmetic, but not quick change, you might consider making the image less symetrical.Ã,  If your going for that, cool, but images are often more interesting with less symetry.Ã,  It may help even, to do something like just removing one of the green tubes on a side and shifting the pad to one side. Or just bringing back the foreground tube and side elements you took from the original as it didn't have as much of the 'first glance mirror' effect.
Also, it seems you want to have a rectangular wall panel, but the vanishing point for the top edge is wrong, it's way below the floors suggested vp.Ã,  Which really makes me think again that it is the floor that needs changed. Unless your going for an odd shaped wall panel, in which case I would say bad idea here, because it is very hard to show without it just looking wrong.

I went ahead and just did a quick edit, it's not clean, I just distorted it.

Yeesh man, sorry. Ã, I didn't mean to sound like I was calling you down or anything, I guess stupid was a bad word, I appologize. Ã, Please relax on the backlash though as it almost made me want to say things I would regret. Ã, To clarify:

Background/path color difference doesn't seem like a must have because it can be very impractical when trying to convey certain moods or atmospheres. Ã, (Sorry again for using 'stupid')

Having a 'background' that is not clear cut could be seen as deceptive, but when trying to convey tension or confusion a player character feels it is sometimes useful to make the actual player feel a bit of confusion. Ã, In this case, treking through a vast jungle could be quite tense and scary. Ã, Is it more important to make sure the picture has correct perspectives and obvious objects (trees vs rock formation) or to relay the overall feeling of a place? Ã, I guess that is a question the author has to answer.

When I mentioned 'fixing' the image, I did not mean to involve your paintover in anyway. Ã, I work in a very quick turnaround art market, and so the thinking behind this may not be relevent to a fan game. Ã, Basically, I ment that, yes, after much work most images will eventually look almost just as you invisioned, but where do you draw the line? Ã, Do you work on one piece for 3 months until it is just right, or manage the major issues and accept less important details in order to get a piece out faster? Ã, Again something that will just have to be decided each time.

To BB, it is apparent that a main focus for you is on ease of use so we may again have differing oppinions as my main concern will most usually be just the look, so please don't bash. Ã, I am quite amazed at your indifference to blasting out insults however, and hope that you keep in mind we are one community here. Ã, You seem to be fairly regular contributor and it would just be nice to see the regulars more often taking the higher ground to keep the community stronger. Ã, I appologize again, and for anyone else, I will NOT insult on purpose, and should I do so by a too critical remark or misused word please let me know privately. Ã, (And sorry for causing all this off topic chatter).

I am sorry, but making sure that walls and floor have clearly different colors/hues or are clearly seperated in any way seems like a pretty stupid thing a bg "should" have and I totally disagree.  I like the fact that everything is basically green.  It really gives it a good jungle look.  And while it might seem to have some depth issues I think that is actually okay too.  Distances in jungle atmospheres can be suprisingly deceptive in real life and I see no reason why that can't carry over into game graphics.  I think the only real problem is the water.  Trying to "fix" the other things would likely take a very long time to be effective, and could still end up having almost no noticeable effect unless you put old and new side by side.

I got in the christmas spirit.Ã,  (click thumbnail for bigger picture)

The Silver Lining has got a listing on Gamespot now.  It was even on a section of the front page!  I just thought this was freaking cool, and would encourage you guys to go sign on, or sign up if you haven't (it's free and quick) and add the game to your wish list or tracked games which is a major part of how they rank games.

Gamespot - The Silver Lining

A lot of dogs actually tilt their head up instead of sticking it out.  If you want a bark cycle longer than a single bark, say 3 or so, I'd move the head forward just a tad, and up a tad in the first "bark" then arc it's head back a bit more on each "bark" after.  Also, the reason I think the others look like sneezing or whatever, is that a ferocious bark is very rarely a single "bark".  And if it is just a kind of friendly barking, there is little more than a tiny head movement a chest puff.  I am around dogs a lot and have access to many dogs trained to do all kinds of tricks, so if people need a little feedback from me feel free to ask.

The best solution for you I think would be to have a more than one animation.  Have a starting to bark, in which he gets into position (head out a bit, possibly tilted up slightly, tail out, fur up, etc) ; a barking animation, basically just cycles through the mouth and head movement with possibly a tad bit of body "puff" or tail twitch (though most dogs keep a very stiff tail when barking) ; then a done barking animation that brings it back to the standing or walking cycles.  For any single fierce bark I think it will always have a "sneeze" look to it and Space's is probably about the best you can get.  Imagine if you had a yelling animation for a person that went from calm to angry repeatedly, it is pretty much the same thing.

She looks like she is about to fall foward in the side view, move the head back a bit, or maybe have her leaning back a little more, her weight isn't distributed equally.