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Am I the only one having trouble downloading BucketHead & FSI's games?

Do you have issues with rapidshare? I could explain you how to download or re-host it somewhere else.

Please do!

Am I the only one having trouble downloading BucketHead & FSI's games?

Really EXCELLENT sprites everybody.

No imagination, no creativity, please help.. 

Here's my try: (Let's call it a secret russian fighterplane thingy)

First off, nice pic!

A suggestion (Here I go, giving advice that I'm still recieving myself... but anway)

Depth of perspective concerning the mountains? I sugget making them more faded, to account for the immense distance form the viewpoint; I mean, if that is a WHOLE CITY down there, then obviously those mountains in the distance are a way off... Yet they've got the same intensity value as the rock face on the right in the foreground.

Use it, don't use it, just a thought... Oh, and gr8 work once again ProgZ!

Nice and fun... well done.

I guess one of the most important things about CD covers, is for them to stand out. And I think your retro look and 'fading' effect does just that. It is not something I'd ever design myself, but Kudos for achieving a nice unique style. Go for it!

The Chinese Song is a bit intense, sounds like a death sequence for a character in a game. All the disharmonics are not very easy on the ear, but I guess that's the idea, and then again, I'm no expert on Chinese songs!!  Better than what I could do anyway...

Like the NewSong003 very much, can picture some arcade sequence, chase, or something... nice!

I was just checking out your background, good work!!

Thanx! Still a work in progress though...

Im assuming those port holes are under water but the door also has that blue colour.. so where is that door leading from?

If you look closely, you'll see that 2 shades of blue are visible through the portholes, the lower one is the sea outside, and the lighter one is the sky. If you look at the window in the door, you'll see that only the lighter one is visible, therefore indicating that only the sky is visible and not the sea, so that door leads to the deck of the ship... that's the idea anyway... 

How did boxes that large get through a door that small?

Actually, as stated above (in reply to Eagermind) "... this room is a kind of secondary storage room, directly above the 'main' coal storage room, accessed through the grates on the floor... the ramp is used only for smaller shipments and boxes, so all the coal on this ship is not processed through this one room." Also, every entrance to the room might not yet be visible in the screenshot... 

I think its great with, what like, 7 colours?

10 colors at the moment, and there's still lots of stuff to improve on... but thanx for the encouragement.

Maybe just use smaller boxes or don't stack the boxes in the foreground.
then you will be able to see the top half (or at least the head) of your character sprite.

I feel that the boxes as is give a nice foreground for the character to walk behind, and you'll be able to see him to the left and right of the boxes... if it doesn't work out once implimentend, I'll have to make the boxes smaller, but I'll try it as is for now. Thanx for the comment.

The new lighting is much better!

Thanx! I'll add some stuff to make things more interesting, but I knew the lighting was 'off' with the first try. ProgZMax's comments pointed out the stuff I didn't really know how to solve.

I'd say the ramp is too steep.
Just out of curiosity, how does the coal get in and out of those grates? I was thinking the room might be a little more interesting if, instead of boxes, the coal was stored directly in this room.

The whole idea is that this room is a kind of secondary storage room, directly above the 'main' coal storage room, accessed through the grates on the floor. The character will be trapped inside this room, and will have to find some ingenious way of getting out... the ramp is used only for smaller shipments and boxes, so all the coal on this ship is not processed through this one room.

Also, you might want to move those center set of boxes to the back wall. Right now they will block the character from view, and with their central location right in the middle of the screen, they take up a lot of real estate.

I put the boxes there on purpose, to give some sort of foreground, since the room has a very shallow depth of field with actually just one plane, no true 3'rd dimension. Also, since the room is twice as wide as my intended resolution (320 x 200) it will be scrolling, so the fact that the boxes are in the center of the room won't be that much of a hindrance I believe.

I was actually inspired by a lot of use of 'foregrond' objects in older Sierra games, to give an illusion of depth. Granted, they didn't usually block out the whole screen, but, I'm still only an apprentice in this whole AGS Background Thingy! 

Thanx for the comments, as soon as I've had time I'll add more interesting bits to the space. Anything else still welcome of course.

Thanx Miez & ProgZMax. I added the shading and dithering... left the ramp in, because it was a ramp for the boxes as mentioned. Will add ojbect etc... soon.

Thanx ProgZmax, once again... I'll have a go... I like the challenge of a limited palette, but think I resort to dithering too much... will take a swing and post a rework.

This image uses only 16 colors (the CGA palette). This depicts a cargo hold of a coal ship... the grates in the floor give access to a place where coal is stored on the ship. (It is for 320x200 resolution, so the screen will scroll).



Please give comment concerning:

- how to make the room more interesting (objects still need to be added, I am looking for suggestions concerning the layout / architecture).
- dithering (am I using it too much) ?
- lighting... does it work, is there a better way to give an idea of lighting using a CGA palette?
- general improvement.

Thanx.

- added some noise to the floor/carpet

Dart Mandarb, how do you add the noise?

I like the room very much, and had ideas concerning adding some objects, and took Mandarb's rework as a base.



Maybe it helps a bit...

Tell me what you think.

I think it's great... would personally still make the edge of the surf have a more gradual fade to the beach... but that's just me. I LOVE the water texture as well... what application are you using?

I'm not very experienced with animation, but thougt I'd do it for practice... could still use some refinement at the end, but what the heck, here's my try:



Just wash your hands after viewing...Ã, 

I like the track very much, personally I think it is definetely suited to a game, something pacy , maybe futuristic. Nice one.

Very, very nice pic. I would agree with Progzmax, the wave edges on the beach to the right are too defined, using the lighting keys in the rest of the image, it should probably be darker and less defined than at the moment. I also think that Oneway is correct, a bigger lighthouse might just make the focus on it as the main emphasis of the painting seem more logical. Brilliant pic!

I'm still working on the tropical island backgrounds, got a bit of inspiration from CaptainBinky's tut, and decided to try another climate (also, I needed to break away from the tropical heat!Ã, 

Here is my try, used a lot more dithering, currently 7 colours... The area on the right bottom will be filled with foreground, where a character and interaction can take place...



Any suggestions for the sky and clouds? I don't know if they're doing the job yet...

EDIT:

Thanx for the comments. Modified the sky and clouds... does this look better?

I am DEFINETELY not qualified to crit. Only want to let you know that it looks STUNNING so far, and to encourage you to keep at it...