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[next BG-Blitz @ ThreeOhFour]

Ok, to bring this to a fair end

While jwalt has come up with a background that can be implemented a lot more comfortably in a game, ThreeOhFour's technical skill and imagination resulted in a picture that took the lead with 5:3 points.

Thanks for participating. Looking forward to the next BG-Blitz @ ThreeOhFour!



PS: Thanks for the informative comments, Snarky. Perhaps some day there'll be a new and better attempt, respecting the points you've mentioned.

[Idea]

Ok then. Perhaps it was too complex and too defined. However, thanks for those nice two entries!
Those who are interested might vote by those categories:
Idea
Atmosphere
Composition
Functionality, Economy and team-work (merged the two points).

Wow, that's amazing in many ways ThreeOhFour!!

[a background that includes dangerous fire (or a sign for it)]

Thanks for your feedback. Actually it's not that hard. In brief the topic could be "a background that includes dangerous fire (or a sign for it)". I hope that there will be more people participating.

Thank you for the compliment and the generous gesture, Kastchey! I appreciate your offer and have already tried to make up a new contest.
Thanks @ everyone for participating and making this kubla-khan-blitz an entertaining contest!

[Regression]

Regression

• 
  Ever since he was a child, 43-year-old Mr. Vest has had that special dream. When his wife wakes him up from it, pearls of sweat are running down his face. While trying to slow down his rapid breathing, he forces himself to remember what he has just seen: There was fire. And he was about to die. Then, each time, the memory disappears in the shadows of his mind.
  
  The cold leather of the couch helps to feel comfortable while trying to relax. His business shoes with the loosened laces are accurately positioned parallel to each other and in a line with the pattern in the carpet. This session will be his last attempt to bring light into the subconscious.
  
  “3. Just let the relaxation wash over your body.”, the voice says, continuing the countdown that it started a few minutes ago. “Just let the relaxation... wash... o-ver your body.”
  
  Could it really be that his dreams are memories of a long forgotten past?
  
  “2. You are completely relaxed, in a safe place, where nothing can harm you... completely relaxed... nothing can harm you...”
  
  “1. You feel one... everything... feel...everything...”
  
  Darkness. Then - an old wooden door. The voice tells him that beyond lies his past. The source of his nightmare. Slowly he walks towards it. Carefully he touches the door knob. It feels extremely hot. Usually he would have taken his hand away immediately, but he knows that nothing can harm him here. So he turns around the knob, opens the door and steps through it.
  

â€"


You are the only background artist of a small game development company of six static and a few free team members. The script is almost complete and people expect that your artistic skills make the author's visions visable to everyone. Animations, music and character sprites will be done by your colleagues.
The scene in which the protagonist opens the imaginative door will be followed by a „flashback-sequence“. It is a scene of a past life in which Mr. Vest, as a different person, will die because of/during a fire. This is the scene you are now designing and painting/pixeling the background for. (The fire could be in a room, in free nature, in a city or anywhere else. Also, a „pre-existence“ does not necessarily have to be located in the past but can also be an incarnation in the future. To keep this contest as open as possible, the details are up to each participant.)

Rules and hints:

• There should be some kind of „stage“ - a place where the action takes place. It's a walkarea (usually in the foreground) on which characters are fully scaled.
• The more characters (NPCs) are seen, the more work the sprite-artists will have.
• You should have at least one animated area in your background (e.g. smoke, flames, glowing metal). Animations make a scene look interesting and dynamic. Remember, that the more complex, the larger and longer the animation is the more work the animators have to put into it. For this contest, you do not have to animate that area, but only may show one frame of it (the animation is the animator's work). However, you will have to give a...
• ...brief description: Describe your picture to the rest of the team. Where is the walk-area, where does the action take place? Where should NPCs be (if you want any), what should they look like and how should they act? Which areas should be animated and how? For that purpose, you can use a sketchy paint over (arrows, circles, notes), too.

-


Categories for voting will be:

• Idea
• Atmosphere
• Composition
• Functionality
• Economy and team-work (How much additional work does the background mean for the rest of the team? Is your background (design/image and description) comprehensible to the others?)

Atmosphere: Kastchey (mysterious, calm atmosphere)
Composition: Kastchey (i like non-symmetrical compositions)
Functionality: Kastchey (walk-area and object interaction in the lower right part of the image; possible "floating-area" on the river)
Technique: Kastchey (fine low-res-/low-colour-style; interesting texture of the blue wall to the left and the plants in the upper right)

Selmiak - isn't it just pressing the numbers 1 to 0?

Hello everyone! I have just registered because I like pixelart and old-fashioned adventure-games. For me, these contests and the critics-forum can be a good way to practice and improve painting/pixeling. Please allow me to participate with my interpretation of the topic.
I've focused on the aspect "paradise behind walls". In my imagination there's a stronger ancient-chinese influence on the mongolian architecture of Kublai Khan's Xanadu. Image size is wide-screen (scrollable).
Looking forward to a productive time with you. Have a nice day.

[imgzoom]http://s7.directupload.net/images/130413/mqwxkilm.png[/imgzoom]