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HAVE A CONCERN ABOUT MY ART ASSETS AND COULD USE AN OPINION.
Posts
Stew
0
Stew
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CloseHi all!
I'm building up some resources to make a demo for my game and recently I've begun to have some concerns that I might be digging myself into a bit of a hole. I have commissioned some talented artists to make custom battle backgrounds, battlers, etc for my game but as the work comes along I'm starting to worry that maybe it won't mesh well with the more standard pixel art that will be making up the game outside of battle... I will fess up to not being super experienced about these matters and was hoping I could get some opinions.
Here's an example of the art out of battle:
Here's an in battle example:
Thoughts?
I'm building up some resources to make a demo for my game and recently I've begun to have some concerns that I might be digging myself into a bit of a hole. I have commissioned some talented artists to make custom battle backgrounds, battlers, etc for my game but as the work comes along I'm starting to worry that maybe it won't mesh well with the more standard pixel art that will be making up the game outside of battle... I will fess up to not being super experienced about these matters and was hoping I could get some opinions.
Here's an example of the art out of battle:
Here's an in battle example:
Thoughts?
Sana
678
Well, one thing that you'll need to fix is those horribly noticeable white lines around the battlers. Just throwing in my two cents~ :3
Stew
0
@Sana. Yeah, I'm working on that. The artist originally was delivering the battlers with colored backgrounds and whatever color I change it to, even if I make it transparent, the outline remains afterwards.
Stew
0
Crap... That's what I was afraid of. Is there anything anyone can think of to fix that? I considered maybe experimenting with hand drawn sprites and tilesets, but I searched for and couldn't really find many good examples of it being done.
Stew
0
I edited the coloring of the forest battle scene to be a bit more consistent? Does this help?
Also, here's another one of my battle backgrounds. Does it have a similar problem?
I also fixed the battlers to remove the white outline!
Also, here's another one of my battle backgrounds. Does it have a similar problem?
I also fixed the battlers to remove the white outline!
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
Well, you've got all those enemies flying the middle of the air. Which seems like an extremely simple problem to fix - just move them down, right? - except that on your second battle background, even at the very bottom, there's no section of ground for the monsters to stand. If you put those snakes at the bottom, their tails will be like fifty feet behind their heads. If you put the wolves down there, the ones on the right side of the screen will be ten feet tall - while the ones on the left side will be only as tall as the grass. A good battle background has a large flat area that's all approximately the same distance from the camera, where the enemies can stand. Your forest one does, but your plains one does not. The second battle background, while really pretty, is just clearly not made for use in RPGs. (Is there more drawing behind the menu? Maybe the part where the monsters are supposed to stand is being hidden by the menu, and you could move the image up to make it work?)
That said, I don't think the art style clash is a problem at all. I think the first battle background was fine before you darkened it. Tons and tons of games - including the RTP - have pixel art for the maps and really nice drawings for the battles. Change the first battle background back to what it was before, since the colors matched the map's tileset better. That forest is green, not brown.
That said, I don't think the art style clash is a problem at all. I think the first battle background was fine before you darkened it. Tons and tons of games - including the RTP - have pixel art for the maps and really nice drawings for the battles. Change the first battle background back to what it was before, since the colors matched the map's tileset better. That forest is green, not brown.
Stew
0
I tried going back to the original painting and stretching out the bottom section. It's not perfect but it's a bit better I think.
My artist also sent me a final version of the forest background that I modified a bit differently than the first. I like this version and the green version both but I trust your opinion!
My artist also sent me a final version of the forest background that I modified a bit differently than the first. I like this version and the green version both but I trust your opinion!
author=LockeZ
Well, you've got all those enemies flying the middle of the air. Which seems like an extremely simple problem to fix - just move them down, right? - except that on your second battle background, even at the very bottom, there's no section of ground for the monsters to stand. If you put those snakes at the bottom, their tails will be like fifty feet behind their heads. If you put the wolves down there, the ones on the right side of the screen will be ten feet tall - while the ones on the left side will be only as tall as the grass. A good battle background has a large flat area that's all approximately the same distance from the camera, where the enemies can stand. Your forest one does, but your plains one does not. The second battle background, while really pretty, is just clearly not made for use in RPGs. (Is there more drawing behind the menu? Maybe the part where the monsters are supposed to stand is being hidden by the menu, and you could move the image up to make it work?)
That said, I don't think the art style clash is a problem at all. I think the first battle background was fine before you darkened it. Tons and tons of games - including the RTP - have pixel art for the maps and really nice drawings for the battles. Change the first battle background back to what it was before, since the colors matched the map's tileset better. That forest is green, not brown.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
Use the old one, the addition of foliage in the foreground makes it unusable.
Ask him if he can remove the foliage from the foreground of the other so that it's just open grass all the way across.
Ask him if he can remove the foliage from the foreground of the other so that it's just open grass all the way across.
I don't think any of those battle scenes look like they are the same game as that overhead image. Because the style is so incredibly different. On the on ehand, you have pixel art. Then you have a more hand drawn battle scene.
It just looks like two completely different games because of the two completely different styles.
It just looks like two completely different games because of the two completely different styles.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
Uh, well
That's true of basically every single 2D RPG ever made that has seperate battle screens, and a fair number of 3D ones
so
no big deal
That's true of basically every single 2D RPG ever made that has seperate battle screens, and a fair number of 3D ones
so
no big deal
No, it's not. It looked fine in dragon quest, because the art style was the same. It looked fine in final fantasy, because the art style was the same.
Look at the overworld image. It's a cartoony headed character in a very 2D-pixel-art world.
Now look at the battle images. They are much more photorealistic, much higher detail, and look hand drawn.
Those two things are not just different images, they're different styles. It doesn't look like the same tools, same inspiration, same artist, or even same team worked on both scenes.
And I'm not even saying this is bad thing. But that's what was asked.
Look at the overworld image. It's a cartoony headed character in a very 2D-pixel-art world.
Now look at the battle images. They are much more photorealistic, much higher detail, and look hand drawn.
Those two things are not just different images, they're different styles. It doesn't look like the same tools, same inspiration, same artist, or even same team worked on both scenes.
And I'm not even saying this is bad thing. But that's what was asked.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
I mean yes you are obviously correct that the two clash. Duh. That's so blatantly obvious that it's clearly not what he was asking. At least, I assume not. Maybe it was, and you've answered his question if so. But I assumed he was asking if they clashed badly enough that he should either refrain from using the nice battle scenes, or spend money commissioning custom tiles and sprites that match the battle scenes. The answer to that question is no.
Stew, if you want to make your game have art on the field map that is as high of quality as the art in battles, then by all means, more power to you. But no one's going to so much as blink if you don't, so don't feel obligated to commission artists and crap for it. The players will notice, yes, but they will not mind; it's an exceedingly common device used by games. You have made great use of the tiles you have to create a very solid and attractive map there, and it goes without saying that those battle scenes are gorgeous, lack of place for enemies to stand notwithstanding. So I wouldn't change either one.
(Also, unrelated: If you are really particular about where you place your enemies in each enemy group, and don't use that snake on the plain (we don't need no motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plain) you can probably use the final versions of those battlebacks without editing them.)
Stew
0
Many thanks for all the input (spoken in the voice Johnny 5)!
Ha, I can keep the snakes off the plains. I have only a few enemy types as of this point though so I might try and finagle a way to make them work. It's important to me to have as much original stuff as possible, but my budget is a minute one I fear.
Ha, I can keep the snakes off the plains. I have only a few enemy types as of this point though so I might try and finagle a way to make them work. It's important to me to have as much original stuff as possible, but my budget is a minute one I fear.
Dyhalto
7536
If you want "correct" opinions on the clash between the map and battle style, throw up a short demo for us to play.
It doesn't have to be an official game demo. Just Carmichael leaving the village, crossing the plains, and storming the castle, all using default gameplay. 1/2 hour long so we can get into it. When we're done, we'll have a final verdict on whether the different art styles were jarring enough to affect our enjoyability.
It doesn't have to be an official game demo. Just Carmichael leaving the village, crossing the plains, and storming the castle, all using default gameplay. 1/2 hour long so we can get into it. When we're done, we'll have a final verdict on whether the different art styles were jarring enough to affect our enjoyability.
Stew
0
The demo is in my Locker: http://rpgmaker.net/users/Stew/locker/
It is very much a work in progress but there should be custom art and music in it. I am also aware of how awful the overworld map looks. I need to work on that.
When you enter the forest just follow it to the cave at its end. All the enemies are underpowered to make it an easy run. There will be a few sections where I've adjusted the screen tone to be a bit gloomier. Any impressions on how well that works as compare to the standard screen tone would be appreciated!
Thanks!
It is very much a work in progress but there should be custom art and music in it. I am also aware of how awful the overworld map looks. I need to work on that.
When you enter the forest just follow it to the cave at its end. All the enemies are underpowered to make it an easy run. There will be a few sections where I've adjusted the screen tone to be a bit gloomier. Any impressions on how well that works as compare to the standard screen tone would be appreciated!
Thanks!
