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Hey all. Been a while.

I've been working on developing a portrait style for a future game. I would normally paint from scratch, but I'm going for a photo-realistic quality and am painting over mixed and matched photos. I have been using Gabriel Knight as an inspiration because I want to give that dark feel the portraits in that game have.



It's definitely not polished yet, but am looking for some input. Is the blue too vibrant? Do the images blend well? In your opinion, would it be better to start from scratch like my portraits on Quasar?

-Thank you.

Hey, I'd like your opinion on these Gabriel Knight sprites I've doubled the resolution of and kept the pallet. What do you think? I've also changed the aspect ratio so they appear as they would in game.

http://www.agdinteractive.com/games/kq3/behindscenes/selwood3.html

http://www.agdinteractive.com/games/qfg2/behindscenes/feature3/feature3.html

Distance is the big problem, I think. Here's something new I've tried.

I found this distance function on the forums.

Code: ags

function repeatedly_execute() // Every game loop
{
  //Get's a character less than 50 pixels away
  if((Distance(player, character[numChar]) < 50) && (player.Room == character[numChar].Room)){ 
    standingCharacter = character[numChar];
  }
  else{
    standingCharacter = null;
    if(numChar < Game.CharacterCount - 1)
      numChar++;
    else
      numChar = 1;
  }
  
  standingHotspot = Hotspot.GetAtScreenXY(player.x, player.y); //The hotspot the player is standing on
  
  if(standingHotspot == hotspot[0])
    standingHotspot = null;
  
  if((standingHotspot!= null) && (player.IsFacingLocation(standingHotspot.GetProperty("InteractionX"), standingHotspot.GetProperty("InteractionY")))) // If the player is facing the hotspot he is standing on
  {
    // Set the facing hotspot and set description Gui
    facingHotspot = standingHotspot;
    lHotspot.Text = facingHotspot.Name;
  }
  else if((standingCharacter != null) && (player.IsFacingLocation(standingCharacter.x, standingCharacter.y)))
  {
    facingCharacter = standingCharacter;
    lHotspot.Text = facingCharacter.Name;
  }
  else
  {
    facingHotspot = null;
    facingCharacter = null;
    lHotspot.Text = "";
  }
}

[EDIT]Whoops, just a simple logical error with my new code. There might be a problem later since the standing character will stay the same even if another character is closer and faced if they are both in range, but this isn't a big issue.

I hope I'm making sense.

Code: ags

//Variables Declared
Hotspot *facingHotspot;
Hotspot *standingHotspot;
Character *standingCharacter;
Character *facingCharacter;

Code: ags

function IsFacingLocation(this Character*,  int x,  int y) // Returns if the player is facing coordinates
{       
  int checkLoop;
  int RelativeX = x + GetViewportX() - this.x;
  int RelativeY = y + GetViewportY() - this.y;
  if (RelativeX > 0 && AbsInt(RelativeX) > AbsInt(RelativeY)) checkLoop = 2;
  else if (RelativeX < 0 && AbsInt(RelativeX) > AbsInt(RelativeY)) checkLoop = 1;
  else if (RelativeY < 0 && AbsInt(RelativeX) < AbsInt(RelativeY)) checkLoop = 3;
  else if (RelativeY > 0 && AbsInt(RelativeX) < AbsInt(RelativeY)) checkLoop = 0;
          
  return (this.Loop == checkLoop);
}

Sorry about that. I'm trying to be clear in what I would like. Yes, hotspot detection works because the player can stand on it and face a certain direction. I need a way to detect weather a character is within a certain distance, and is facing the characters location.

I'm creating a code to detect hotspots and characters. The hotspot detection is working like I want it to with the character standing on the hotspot and facing it's origin. This should work like 3D Lucasarts Adventure games. Any ideas?

Code: ags

function repeatedly_execute() // Every game loop
{
  standingCharacter = Character.GetAtScreenXY(player.x , player.y);
  
  standingHotspot = Hotspot.GetAtScreenXY(player.x, player.y); //The hotspot the player is standing on
  
  if(player.IsFacingLocation(standingHotspot.GetProperty("InteractionX"), standingHotspot.GetProperty("InteractionY"))) // If the player is facing the hotspot he is standing on
  {
    // Set the facing hotspot and set description Gui
    facingHotspot = standingHotspot;
    lHotspot.Text = facingHotspot.Name;
  }
  else
  {
    facingHotspot = hotspot[0];
    lHotspot.Text = "";
  }
}

Lets see how this goes. I beefed up the arm and fixed the shoulder. Your right, this looks a lot better.

I think the crabs being a blue-green really appeals to my eyes, even though it's a bit unrealistic. I might try to add some detail to them.

Other than that, I just fine tuned some of the coloring.

LOVE the character portraits. Are they modelled off of real people?

I based my pencil drawings off of photographs and painted them on the computer. Elissa did some great touch-ups after they were scaled down.

I've tried to broaden the shoulders some. I'm still trying to figure out the proportions with the arms. The right one looks about right because there should be a bit of fore-shortening on it. I think the left one is a bit too long.

I'm trying to draw several hermit crabs in his arms. I darkened the colors a bit for a temporary fix. Is there another appropriate color I might use that would complement the picture better?

any particular reason why the patterns in the background seem to be pixelated? Is it to represent the knitting, like on a jumper?

Yeah, that was the look I was going for. Do you think it would be better to paint the pattern?

It's been a while since I've heard some criticism of my work, so here is something I made today. I will still be doing some touch-ups, but I would like to know what you think of it so far.

I'm experimenting with this kind of sprite style only using a few colors. Would these sprites work in a game? Is there something that could be done to improve them?

@Turtiathan: Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed the game. Have you talked to the rat about everything yet? If you have more questions, you should post them in the hints forum. Hope you finish it!

Voices are added to the game and many grammatical errors are now fixed.

theRoger: Thank you for your work. Your accent makes Occlude a very fun character. Can't wait to hear more.
Que: Your voice for Morgan made me think of my character in a different light. Very fun to work with you. Keep doing this.
Rob: You have a very dynamic and unique voice that was exactly what I imagined for the part. I couldn't think of it being done any better. Well done.

Here's an update. Does his torso look better? Also, I still am a bit undecided on what to do with the girl's bag. Does anyone have a reference photo that looks similar or something to add to make it look less like a blob?

Thanks, Bulbapuck. Sorry for putting the responsibility on you.

I fixed most of the places where there were suggestions. Don't worry about the bag and other places. I'll work out the details after I add colors.

Sorry. I added one now.
And heres an update with a scaled head:

I'm about done with a rough layout of this painting and would like to know what you think about it. Is there something drastic I should change or keep in mind before starting on colors and details?

Here is the reference photo.

Water in a swamp will be stagnant so their probably wouldn't be erosion on the edges. I think you should either make the water reflect the sky, or make it flow onto the grass a bit. Maybe you could paint clear water and add algae on top of it. There should be lots of reference pictures you can find that look like this.