41 replies to this topic

[Mitchfork]

HollowKnight

Just playing around with the Lost Isle graphics. Thank god for DarkFlameWolf and Petoe!

Pabru

Link poses for his young admirer.

Cukeman

Uh, excuse me… sir? I was wondering if you might recognize the girl in this photograph?

Jared

Anything could be in that temple...

[Jared]

*Looks at competition*
"Holy ****!"
*Runs off*

[Dawnlight]

I voted for Pabru. Is that a custom tileset?

[Master Maniac]

Omfg cukeman, I must have some of your NPC's

[Cukeman]

HollowKnight: Very impressive! I just wish the walkable surface areas on top of the mountain
were the northernmost borders. I don't like how the "extra" border diminishes the perspective effect,
but that's a relatively minor quibble. Yours is a very moving screen.

Pabru: I really like how the mountain is reflected in the water (at least it looks that way thanks
to the darker colored water) It would be nice to see more "reflections" in the body of water on the right
side of the screen. I don't care for those trees though, they look very flat.

me: Great job! You've breathed new life into an old tileset. Ordinary tiles are now filled
with morbid danger lurking behind every turn. It's amazing that those tiles worked so well with
your RE4 idea, and that you were able to envision and realize their dormant potential. You've got talent dude!
I had thought at first that you misused the floor tiles, and "X" dirt tiles, but now I see that you were
simply putting them to creative new use - nice! There is one problem though, - you seriously need
some transitions from floordboards to dirt. Although it isn't very noticable, it would be an improvement.

Jared: The temple looks a little bland, you should add some vines and/or swamp flowers creeping
up the building, and maybe some crows or buzzards on the top. Something like that would give it some
punch, and really bring your screen to life.

Edited by Cukeman, 05 August 2011 - 09:25 PM.

[Ventus]

Wow i love Cukemans this week RE4
great job every body else

[Master Maniac]

HollowKnight: Very impressive! I just wish the walkable surface areas on top of the mountain
were the northernmost borders. I don't like how the "extra" border diminishes the perspective effect,
but that's a relatively minor quibble.

Pabru: I really like how the mountain is reflected in the water (at least it looks that way thanks
to the darker colored water) It would be nice to see more "reflections" in the body of water on the right
side of the screen. I don't care for those trees though, they look very flat.

me: woot! RE4

Jared: The temple looks a little bland, you should add some vines and/or swamp flowers creeping
up the building, and maybe some crows or buzzards on the top. Something like that would give it some
punch, and help your screen come alive.




Leon is a major overhaul of MC Link, but my Ganado is just MC Talon with a haircut and
a palette change. I am even using the axe that came with the tileset (slightly customized).
Think I should work on making more Ganados?

I'd love to be able to use any NPC's of that style that you've made if at all possible. It'd fit perfectly with my DoR NPC's.

[Nathaniel]

As I did with the recent SR, I am going with letter grades now.

HollowKnight - B-
A good screen when it comes to design. I like the tree arrangement and the ground details in the walkable parts. I see that most of the screen is not meant to be walkable, so for functionality purposes it is simply a path to the building entrance. I like how the horizon fits into the screen. Too bad it never made it out of the editor and into the player though, considering the lack of a subscreen and at least our protagonist, so slight decrease for that for what I otherwise feel is roughly as good as some of the others.

Pabru - A-
Interesting graphics. I like them for the most part. Still pretty boxy, but the cliffs and grass look nice to me. Walkable barren ground details are a bit too barren for my tastes, but only a bit. Makes me wonder if the subtle details of that (the little brown dots) could be emphasized a little more in those tiles. I like the deep water vs. shallow water effects, and the waterfalls as well. The screen is also well designed, as it feels comfortable, so most praise for that.

Cukeman - B
Not sure if this was taken from the editor or the player, due to the lack of a subscreen and I am not sure how the people exactly fit into it. The tiles themselves I like a lot, but some things about the design do bother me. The center of the screen with the table and carpet looks nice, but the placement of the two bookcases feels off to me. I'm sure there is meant to be a small gap between them, but they almost appear as if one is right up against the other. Also, the floor design in the upper left corner does feel a bit awkward. The rest of it looks good though, as the walls seem to have just the right amount of ornamentation.

Jared - B
You're the only one to provide a subscreen, so advantage to you in that aspect. Now for the rest of it: Design looks decent. The details are certainly there no question about it, although I feel as if you might be going a bit overboard with the statues. Then again, I shouldn't question your intent if there is a reason behind there being four of them. Might rely on seeing nearby screens to know for sure. The rain is a nice extra touch, and I think you got the colors right on it too. A very playable screen indeed. Details feel kind of random in the lower right corner, rather than there being a rhyme to the reason.

Vote goes to Pabru, which I feel is the most appealing shot among them.

[HollowKnight]

The competition looks very nice this time around. Also, thanks for all the kind words.

HollowKnight: Less clutter, you dolt.

Pabru: I really like those custom tiles. They are very impressive and do well with keeping a perspective as far as I can see. Although it still looks very nice, I find the deep or dark water confusing. Why is it just in that corner? It might be worth experimenting with using those tiles in a different way. An example would be using it for large bodies of water, which would explain the turbulence. You could also have the center of the lake be darker to show the increased depth. Or, if you use them as reflections like Cukeman thought, they could look very nice. You would just need to make it mirror the mountain more. All of this is up to you, overall nice screen and tiles. Just figure out a good use for the other water tiles.

Cukeman: While I like the tiles here a great deal, the way you used them makes the screen feel chaotic. In most houses, floor boards only go one direction. This would be the case even if the house was wrecked or disheveled, because there is no reason to put in floorboards that go against the flow of the room. It looks very peculiar and sort of damages the beauty of the design and tiles. I also have to complain about the board-to-tile transitions. While I understand the whole wrecked feel, but having squares of dirt in such an advanced tile set looks incredibly awkward. I suggest creating some board tiles that have broken edges and a transparent background, that way you can layer them over dirt to create the image that it is a hole in the floor instead of a confusing use of tiles. Also, making a tile that has the pothole tile on boards instead of dirt would make those parts look much nicer. Overall, the design is nice, but the use of tiles makes the screen feel chaotic and confusing.
Also, open corner.

Jared: The screen looks pretty nice, but there is no theme to the ground or detail and that makes it very confusing. I would suggest only using two ground types per screen. You can make it work in one area, but in this tileset it is difficult and having all three on one screen looks chaotic and pretty cluttered. I suggest removing one of the statues, the rectangular rocks, and the bushes in the middle of the screen. The statues currently have no particular pattern and seeing the exact same statue four times on a screen is a little excessive. Maybe two in line with each other, and one or two in front of the temple. You could even have the statues floating on tiny platforms in the poison lake. The rectangular rocks add a cramped feel to that part of the screen and look I think bushes look best when in clusters together, and usually along side solid objects. Having stray bushes in the middle of the screen just adds to the clutter. Another thing that might look good is replacing the huge flower in the corner with another tree, that kind of tile would look better in the poison lake. One last thing to change would be the fact that those tiles that have rain hitting the ground are supposed to be using on all water tiles and no where else I believe. Right now it looks like the rain is actually very sparse, which contrasts with the overheard tiles show a good amount of rain. On the other hand, the ground detail is done pretty well and in the end it is a nice looking screen, just with some things to work on.

I really like the way things turned out here, looks good.

Edit: @Nathaniel: Yea, unfortunately the screen turned out a little cluttered. It was my first time using Lost Isle tiles, so a lot of unnecessary tiles got added out of excitement Unfortunately, it was just a screen, not a quest. I originally had enemies in it too, but they wouldn't cooperate. One was always phasing through trees and the others were underground whenever the wizzrobe came by. Next time I'll make sure to put more effort into making it a complete screen, subscreen, Link, enemies and all.

Edited by HollowKnight, 01 August 2011 - 11:16 AM.

[Adem]

I found Pabru's to be the most unique and eye catching, so my vote goes there. However, all of the shots this week were quite good.

[Alestance]

Cukeman: Uh... What's going on in this screen? It just... I don't know what's going on!

Jared: There are a lot of design flaws here. Specifically the objects close to the edge of the screen.

HollowKnight: Yeah, ok, I can appreciate a good screen like this, but I was never fond of lost island's graphics, or the pure set. There is just so much graphical style clashing in those sets and this screen is no different. Consistent graphical style is very important, and most tilesets don't use one consistent style. I'm not saying the graphics are bad, but they NEVER worked together, and never will.

Pabru: I voted based on the fact you used a tileset that is both incomplete and no longer in development, its new and fresh and consistent. The design flaws are far less than Jared's and the novelty of the graphics make up for the few flaws it presents.

[Cukeman]

Cukeman: Uh... What's going on in this screen? It just... I don't know what's going on!

Am I to understand you've never played Resident Evil 4, or is it my design that's confusing you?
00:39 - 00:55 (YouTube) (conversation cutscene skipped)

Oh, I thought you were actually confused

Edited by Cukeman, 04 August 2011 - 08:43 PM.

[Radien]

HollowKnight:

It looks generally pretty good, but it feels a little... gritty. Does this screen have sand flying across it? I'm guessing it does, but that particular graphic doesn't show up very well in still frame; it just makes the screen look speckly. Anyway, the best thing about your entry is that the colors look rich despite the heavy use of Pure/GB tiles. Actually, though, is this Pure Remembrance? Or is it DoR with some ripped Pure tiles?


Pabru:

Lotsa custom tiles here. Is this HappyPuppet's tileset? Some of the tiles look a little odd, but it's always good to see new stuff that hasn't been used much. You are using it will, too. The only thing I don't like is those trees. I've never liked them much; the perspective is off and they look a little... "smudged."


Cukeman:

Not bad, not bad. But... are those floorboards seriously running nearly the entire width of the house?... You are neglecting some tiles here. I don't recommend repeating the same floor tiles one after the other like that. Mix them up, and shorten the floorboards. Also, the crossways floorboards don't look right; I wouldn't use them. Everything else is fine except this house is kinda... well... big.


Jared:

It's all right. I've never been fond of purple swamps, though. I guess it's just a standard screen with lots of Pure tiles (plus DoR sprites and that nice subscreen. But the subscreen isn't enough to make this the best shot; not quite.



I voted for Pabru again this time. His is the most solid.

Serious lack of subscreens this time. Jared's the only one who put any effort into that. A subscreen is like extra credit on a test: you don't necessarily HAVE to do it, but there's definitely not reason NOT to, and it counts just as much as doing well on the main task. Next time, if someone else makes a nice subscreen and it is the deciding factor in who wins, don't come complaining to me.

[Pabru]

HollowKnight: 8/10

First, I just want to say the overall effect of this screen is really excellent. It's just nice to look at, and your well done design definitely contributes to that effect. But that being said, I still have some comments. First, the sandstorm simply doesn't work in a still screen. It just takes away from the richness of the colors in the shot. Secondly, it does seem a little cluttered. I'm not really concerned that there isn't much walkable space: that's not the intent of the screen. It's not even the large number of objects that's the issue. Its the random assortment of a lot of different objects packed really close together which is the problem. Fortunately the excellent graphics and design (in terms of the placement of each general area, sunset, mountains, etc) more than make up for it! I'd vote for it if I wasn't in the contest!

Cukeman: 6/10

Slightly above average. The graphics are nice, and I like the custom sprites. Plus RE4 is an awesome game! The screen just lacks depth. It's very flat, and no amount of detail can make that appealing. Add the fact that all you see is brown, and the ultimate result really holds back what could otherwise have been more successful.

Jared: 5/10

Exactly average. I spent a lot of time looking at this screen and there's quite a bit of detail. Like really. It's pretty obvious that you put work into this screen. Not only that but the details are well placed AND functional! Sounds great so far, right. The issue comes with the concrete synthesis of those details: together it just doesn't have anything special. It doesn't make me interested at all really (the opposite of HollowKnight's who's on first appearance makes you go "whoa!" even without closer attention). I think the color scheme is definitely part of it, and a sort of lack of flow between the right and left sides of the screen. The temple also just looks boring: look at the Zelda games for inspiration! The external parts of the dungeons usually look pretty awesome! Even the classic ones (tree entrance thingy and building with eyes thingy) have more detail than this! So overall I commend you for the good work and effort, it just needs some extra touch.

[NoeL]

Voted Pabru. The tiles aren't the prettiest, but they're fresh and have a nice palette. The water is awesome. The trees are very reminiscent of my Prophecies trees.