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This is a really cool idea, but I have to agree with Radiant. A lot of things that seemed sensible to me (like being able to "look" at the turtles) weren't among the parser's vocabulary, which makes it sort of frustrating.

I really like that there's a strategy aspect to it, too. I assume that when you release the manual and the final version you will provide some sort of guidance as to what causes death. 

[Idea]

Idea - Cobra79 rulez

Atmosphere - Cobra79 rulez

Design - Neil Dnuma rulez

Composition - Neil Dnuma rulez

Functionality - Neil Dnuma rulez

Technique - Neil Dnuma rulez

Hi there.

Is this bg meant to be a cinematic-type scene or a useable background for the player character to walk around on? In the case of the latter, it seems to me that it would make more sense to choose a smaller portion of the field to draw to scale with the character sprites. A football field is quite large, and drawing the whole thing in one screen is fine for an aerial shot, but not as fine for a playable backgorund.

This is a very cool topic imo, Tiki. I would have contributed (poorly), but I just haven't had the time.

It's a shame there are so few entries because the ones that have been entered have been great.

Regarding radiowaves' suggestion, it might be cool to clutter non-essential areas of the floor with debris, since you said the ship is meant to be damaged. The wires are great but to me don't give an overwhelming sense of damage so much as disrepair. Maybe one of the tanks can be cracked as well. Either way, though, it's looking really good.

I'm planning to display them over the background. I haven't decided yet if the dialogue itself will have a frame or not.

Here's a bit of a modification to the main character portrait, and a new portrait, both framed in a style similar to Evil's suggestion:



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I think I've made improvements since the initial posting, though I'm still not really happy with the way they're presented. I do like cutting off the top line or so with the frame, somehow.

Just as a note, the frame color and value matches my GUI, and the more I think about it, the more I like having some kind of frame (though not necessarily this one); to me it gives the sense that the camera has zoomed in on the person speaking.

Uhf -

I'm interested to see what your style is when you're a bit further into the process; the initial sketches are intriguing.


I think the issue in that screen of TOTK is one of composition rather than scale.

And with regard to rooms that take up less than the total space you have allowed for your backgrounds, I think it's been used to very good effect occasionally. It allows you to vary the actual size of your rooms so that large places actually are large and small ones actually are cramped. It also, at least to me, gives the sense that you're actually, physically looking into this place and can't see beyond its boundaries.

Not that you should do it that way, or any particular way, just that you might not be so quick to dismiss it as a possibility.

ildu - point taken, I'll keep that in mind when I polish them and try to make them more distinct from one another.

GarageGothic - do you have any particular suggestions for how to frame them? I allowed more space than I needed because at the time I wasn't sure if I was going to draw backgrounds behind them, but my partner said he preferred the neutral background, so that's no longer an issue. I'm still not altogether sure what would look best, though.

What size are the sprites you plan to use? If you find you're having trouble fitting everything into your rooms without taking up all of the available space, you could consider scaling everything down a notch. If your sprites were slightly smaller, you could draw everything else slightly smaller, but maintain the same canvas size and end up with a little more breathing room. *shrug* Just a thought.

Your sketches seem promising but it's hard to really have any idea what the room will look like based on that stage.

I'm always a little amazed by what people do with graphics tablets, but I think this sketch looks really cool. I like the wires hanging down, and it sort of reminds me of Alien.

What is supposed to happen in the middle of the room? Does it really require that much space?    You might put in a center console or computer with input stations on both sides, or something kind of useful sciency center island like that.

regarding the suggestions made by loominous -- loom, how would you suggest working out the drawing perspective if you were to aim the camera the way you've drawn in your example?

[Venus]

I now hereby call a hault to this edition of the Colouring Ball!


Venus wins first prize for the delicate awesomeness that is "A jellyfish"!



Illustrious wins second prize for a great idea and some fab rendering!

Alliance wins third prize with an original idea that stands out from the pack!


Honorable mentions go to Oddysseus and Evil, both of whom should be proud of their way weird entries.

I've been working on these for a while and feel I can't improve them further without help. I deliberately chose to make them rather small, as they're intended for small talk only at the moment, with formal dialogue taking place on a separate screen (somewhat like GK1). Working at this size has proved to be a struggle for me, but I'm hoping you guys can help.




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Cobra, that is a wickedly awesome background. 10/10 for Vision.

I think you should be proud, jpp; you've come a really long way since your first posting in this forum. 

The statue rocks, and nice edits from everyone including Ben.

My only suggestion is that the elbow seems too low on the forearm on the left arm, to me. His bicep seems to take up 2/3 of his arm.

Walk until you reach that cross over there, Lavern. Then, look at the other side of the hill, and you'll see a huge white City, a place you could never imagine before. That's the place you'll live from now on.

Reminds me of the Power and the Glory. 

I think you're making great progress on these Lyaer.

I'd also say that if making a template means the difference between finishing a game and not finishing, more power to you.

I did a paintover of the female template to see if I could address some of your concerns. Whether I succeeded or not is up to you. 



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I wasn't going to alter the front views, but I found that in order to make the changes that seemed appropriate in the other views, I had to change them all.

- Lowered the breast hang by one pixel
- Removed the outlines in places where they seemed unnecessary
- Added  highlights to give the face a little more definition
- Altered the feet in the side and nw views to make it look more like she was standing flat on the ground
- Tweaked the shading a bit to give body parts more definition
- Widened her hips by one pixel
- Altered the hang of her arms to make them more natural-looking


Hope this gives you some ideas. 

The original template you posted was not bad at all and I would say totally serviceable. The revisions you've made and whatever you will make in the future can only make them cooler.

That paintover looks just fab, cobra.

This is the beginning of a fine background, Mouth for war.

I would suggest, for the grass, using a yellow-green color (like the lightest color on cobra's leaves, for instance) for the grass, perhaps with a few brown bits as well. The main thing, I think, is not to go crazy with it and overtexture the grass areas. Just put in a few sprigs here and there to trick the eye into thinking it's all over.

Which is also to say, it would be might kind of you to include the game's name in your entry post.

He did; it's called Keepsake.

I assume side view is only used with walking animation, and in that case it doesn't need to be perfect because it only flashes quickly when walk animation ends or starts.

That's true with regard to the shading possibly, but if the shapes aren't proper I'm worried that a walk animation based on it might end up being off.

I'm going to go ahead and give it a try, though, taking out the darkest shade in the chest area as suggested.