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Messages - poc301

#441
Quote from: rbaleksandar on Tue 21/04/2009 14:09:13
  What I'm talking about here isn't personal opinion mixed with feelings ;) I'm talking about the art itself. It's like taking a movie and put a cartoon character in there without any work done to mix them both good. The style that you use for your background is totally differen from the (pixel)-art you're using to make your character. Either pixelize the background or change the character. Another way to do the trick is to stick to Hudders's suggestion. It's not necessary to make hand-drawn backgrounds. You can always make some kind of collage with photos and put a pixel-character. I've seen this many times and it looks really great. So better change the background in your case and not the character. Don't make it so washed up...But hey - it's your game after all ;D Do whatever you want and like to. ;)

I understand/appreciate the difference between the 2 styles, and I completely do like the analogy you made about movies with cartoon characters in them.  I really don't want to do hudder's suggestion, since I like the animation, movement of the characters.  I kind of dislike games where the characters just move poses periodically, and don't want my game to be like that.

What did you mean by "collage with photos and put a pixel character"?  Also, by "don't make it so washed up", what do you mean?  The decolorization? 

I really like the pixel characters I've developed over the past few weeks, and definitely want to keep them.  Maybe I will work on pixelizing the backgrounds..  Take my existing BGs and work them over into pixel format or something..  I dunno..

But all things aside, here is another take on the main character standing image.  I made him lean a bit less, and trimmed/evened out the legs some.  Thoughts?



Thanks,

Bill
#442
Quote from: krishaw on Mon 20/04/2009 22:40:32
For a bit of humour you could add Frankie Boyle's poem "Daffodils"

Enjoy  ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgI7RAu8IXw

OMFG that was HILARIOUS!  I had never heard that before.  Hahah.  I dunno, I might do that. 

I have actually never played Grim Fandango.  I was a child of the 80s, played all the Sierra/LA games, but never that one.

-Bill
#443
Quote from: Hudders on Tue 21/04/2009 12:10:44
What's the requirement for the characters to move? I could see the game working with static characters or characters that move in a limited way, (single frame change of positions, etc), using photographs of people rather than hand-drawn sprites.

I'm thinking kind of like the CSI games; they have photo-realistic backgrounds and minimal character movement, (nobody walks anywhere - animation is limited to speaking and small movements of the hands and arms). Of course, these are presented from the point of view of the player character, but I can easily see it working just as well with the player in the frame, shown from a third person perspective.

One problem if you go down this route though, of course, would be the requirement to source photographs of the same actors in subtley different positions, including the frames necessary to create a talking animation. Probably too much of an expense, (although, saying that, you could use portraits for dialogue so as to dispense with the talking animation alltogether).

Its a full-moving game..  Animations, walking, etc.   I COULD change the backgrounds up to be hand drawn stuff, but I rather suck at that, and I have 90% of the backgrounds for my games in place and ready to go.  So I'd essentially be scrapping the project.

Plus, like I said, I kinda like the feel of the 'enhanced' photo backgrounds with the sprite characters..  I dunno.. :(

-Bill
#444
Quote from: rbaleksandar on Tue 21/04/2009 07:35:12
Don't like the combination character-background.

I will rework the sprite some more today and post another version.

As for not liking the character-background combo, I have found that people either like it or don't (which is pretty normal, I guess lol). 

I am wondering if a more digitized photorealistic character would be better.  But then I also like the look of the pixel art characters on the worked photorealistic backgrounds..  I dunno..

-Bill
#445
Very helpful, thanks!  I feel like I am learning so much with this stuff.  Its kinda fun :)

Here is my latest revamp.  Critique, comments and ideas on how I might be able to make it better?  I am afraid the jeans might still be a little bit tube-ish, or square..  I tried making part slimmer, and pulling some in around the knee, but it didn't look right.

edit: In seeing it, its almost like the left leg (the character's right leg) is too thick.  But I measured and it is the same amount of pixels across until the bottom where the jean material bunches up some..



Thanks again!

-Bill
#446
Thanks so much for the critique!  I took your pointers, and modified the new one a bit.  I dropped the shoulders some, and put a hand in the pocket, also making the other hand proportionate.  I was going to make one of the knees bent slightly, but I didn't know how to do that without the other leg looking too long.  Any pointers for that?  Or other tips?



Thanks again!

Bill
#447
So in working on the female spriteset from the past few days, I have learned quite a few things about drawing characters..

This made me go back and revisit the main character artwork, to try and make him a little nicer for my upcoming Episode 3.

I have an OLD and NEW in the image below, and would like some critique, and maybe some ideas on how I can make it fit better into the backgrounds of my game.  One of the comments I get consistently from people are the way the art feel of the background (rendered photo-realistic) doesn't mesh well with the pixel-art sprites for the characters.  For game 3 I am trying to fix this, but I REALLY like the way the backgrounds look, so I don't want to change it up.  I was thinking about running the pixel art through the same conversion/filter that I run the background images through, to see if it works well, and I have attached the screenshow below.

I am really getting into this art stuff, so any help on making myself better will be appreciated!



This shows my old character sprite from Episode 2, marked OLD, alongside my new redesign, marked NEW.

The new one has re-done hands which look less blobby, broader shoulders, closer arms to the torso, closer legs, and a turned-out foot to make it look more casual.  I also adjusted the look of the collar on the jacket and redid a bit of the shading on it.




This image shows my 2 images on a background from my new game.  I sort of like the way the pixel art looks on the photo-realistic backgrounds, but I get negative feedback about it saying things like it takes away from emersion and it doesn't fit.  I want to have as good of a game as possible..




This is the same set as above, but run through the conversion filter I use for my backgrounds.




This is that set on the same background.


Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Bill


#448
The Rumpus Room / Re: The MSPaint game
Mon 20/04/2009 16:52:34


Next : Birthday Surprise!
#449
I like it, and not just because my game got a favorable review! :)

I think the hardest part for you will be keeping on top of games and finding time to play them all.  But then again, the price one must pay..  :)

-Bill
#450
Works great, I will incorporate it.  Do you want a virtual representation of yourself?  Or shall I just create a random character sprite?

-Bill
#451

Haha, so it isn't a bug then :)  Memory hackers don't count.

I don't think its possible to remove inventory items from the game, and I had nothing else to do with them, so for one I put Al Lowe's head as the image, and the other I left as a blue cup.

Once in the AGS software, I couldn't find an option to delete an inventory item.  So in it stays :)

-Bill
#452
Thanks for the interest :)

I am hoping to have dialog finished within the month and track down some voice actors.  Then its on to Beta testing in early May hopefully.

I work fast because my job has a LOT of downtime where I do my games in between trouble calls (I'm in IT) :)

-Bill
#453
THAT is a good idea :)  I will grab my Douglas Adams collection from my bookshelf and look for something good to put in :)

Thanks!

Bill
#454
Just wanted to chime in at Kastchey..

I really like the changes you made, with the light source and such.  It really made it pop.

-Bill
#455
The Murran Chronicles: Episode 3 - Lifedrinker of Landsdowne

Website: http://www.billandnicole.net/games

Teaser video: http://www.billandnicole.net/games/ep3/murran3.wmv


NOTE (3-3-11) :  See my last post : http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=37524.msg571278  for info on the new screenies.


Plot/Storyline
-------------------

Shortly after your adventure with the mystery in Montana, you are given a case involving mysterious deaths in Landsdowne, Massachusetts. The bodies of two men in their early twenties have been found recently, and according to local authorities both dead men looked to be in their seventies when their bodies were found. There is no explanation as both men were thought to be healthy, and in the prime of their lives. Add to this the odd reports of a pack of animals roaming the town at night, and you have your work cut out for you. Is there some sort of vampire creature on the loose as some of the town rumors suggest? What is behind the rumors of odd goat-like creatures that have been seen after nightfall? Are the two related? You are thrown into the midst of an age long battle between good and evil as you investigate the case of the Life Drinker of Landsdowne.
 
About The Game
------------------------

Life Drinker of Landsdowne is in 640x480 resolution, running in Hi-Color mode.   This game will be almost twice as long as the second game, and will have much more content, many more characters: some with dynamic locations, and 3 different endings depending on the paths and choices you make as the player.  

This third game in the series will be the first to not feature the police cruiser as your primary mode of transportation.  Dust off those walking shoes, there is much to see in the town of Landsdowne.

This game will also feature something new to the Murran Chronicles: day and night cycles.  Explore the town during the day, and return to places as night for a whole new look at them.  


Progress
----------------

Story 100%
Dialogue 100%
Graphics 90%
Character Art / Animations : 85%
Puzzles 100%
Scripting 100%
Music/sound 100%


Old Screenshots (CLICK A THUMBNAIL FOR THE FULL IMAGE):

   
 


Thanks,

Bill
#456
Thanks much for those tips, I have updated the game and just finished uploading v1.1 to my server right now.  It fixes all those bugs mentioned.  I have had a problem with the Arsay scaling thing since day 1 (not in-game day 1, but literally the first day I began writing the game lol).  For some reason, the game's pathing wants to move him to odd zones which pop his scale out of whack (even though there is no scale size of that type on the room.  It is odd.)  My beta testers found a bunch of instances of it over the month or so it was in testing, and I thought I'd caught it all. 

Again, thanks much for the heads up.  I will work on the Ep1 bugs now, but thats tough since the inventory items you have aren't even made available in the game..  I dunno what the heck I did.  As I said, I was still learning AGS when I made that game :)

Thanks!

Bill
#457
I love the shoe comment!  That is really funny haha :)

Thanks to everyone so much for the help with the images.  I will rework it and make another post when I am happier.

Thanks!

Bill
#458
Quote from: Bjyman on Sun 19/04/2009 12:14:35
If it wasn't for possible infringement you should say it's like a Ben Jordan game in the forum title.

I think by reading the description of the game, you get an idea as to the kind of game it is.  If, after reading the description, someone goes in thinking its like King's Quest or something, there is something wrong with them :)  In fact, on my website, I mention the BJ series and Grundislav Games even with a link to their site.

Quote from: Bjyman on Sun 19/04/2009 12:14:35
Spoiler
- The game seems to crash if you pull out the gun on the cop when he's in his office.
- If you pull out the gun while in inventory mode the game crashes.
- I found numerous Oscar bugs where he's huge and seems to be stuck in one place on Day 3. (The Farm lake and the initial screen of the Sioux location.)
[close]

I will resolve those bugs, thanks for the heads up.  It must've slipped by the beta testers as well as myself.

Quote from: Bjyman on Sun 19/04/2009 12:14:35
I also created a saved game file that has the blue cup and Al Lowe inventory items unlocked at the beginning of Murran Chronicles 1. There was also a second blue cup but I didn't include it due to redundancy. But be warned clicking on these inventory items with the pointer will cause your game to crash because you didn't actually pick them up in the game.

Download it here:

http://www.megafileupload.com/en/file/98104/agssave-006.html

Episode 1 was much more of a learning experience for myself using AGS.  I am not surprised there are more bugs in it, but I will fix those if I can find them.

Thanks,

Bill
#459
Hints & Tips / Re: Talons of terror
Sun 19/04/2009 04:15:22
Wow Bob, that is a positively glowing review.  Thank you so much, I really appreciate it.  Feedback is the reason I make games, and stuff like that makes it worth it :)

I look forward to getting Episode 3 out there.

-Bill
#460
Very nice, Mods.  I might use one or some of those (with the author's permission).  I just figured I'd drop a line here first though.  ;)

-Bill
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