The Realms Shattered

I use overlays pretty sparingly, I think - only when needed, really. In RealmS I've thus far used two - one at the festival and one during a scene which is inaccessible to the player as yet. Yeah, not a big user of fogs. More into tints, really. However!

There comes a time in every RM users life when they need to ask the question - should I use a fog here?

So, this is something I want to address and I'd like opinions. Being that I'm using the RTP and don't want to get too bogged down in making things too spiffy-looking when it's a relatively simple chipset, I have to ask myself if I really need to go that extra step into the world of overlays. Do I really need to worry about overlays in places like forests where a tint may do just as well?

For example, I'm currently mapping a sort-of dead forest that will lead to a haunted mansion. Okay, so I've already decided on using a fog at the actual mansion site and a light effect when inside (with tints, of course) but I also find myself wanting to add a bit more atmosphere by using a fog for the forest itself. And this is where I ask myself why I feel that the forest lacks atmosphere enough to warrant using a fog.

The RTP is a fairly bright and cheery set - you'll get no arguements from me about that. I'll try my best to make the darker areas of the game darker, but even in real life there's a splash of colour in the bleakest of places. It should be possible, though to make something bleak and dreary with the combination of music and base graphics without relying too much on overlays. But then again, are overlays now considered part of the graphical equation? That is, are they now an integral part of creating atmosphere in a game - especially one made on a SNES-era game creation program?

X_X Sometimes I argue myself in circles.

Okay, here's the lay-down. Should I use overlays in general areas in RealmS or keep them for special scenes/areas instead. IE: do I make them a common thing or rare?


With fog.


And without.