14 replies to this topic

[Taco Chopper]

Architect Abdiel

Link heads out to begin a new adventure.
Don't mind the switch and barrier on the left. That's something I may spruce up a little later.

Blackpaintbowser

Glowaive, the last obstacle before Factory

Orithan

You ever get the need to make a new tileset from scratch halfway through a project?

Twilight Knight

So this is how Argon powers all the contraptions in his "Evil Lair"... He uses 100% renewable energy, what a good guy actually

xanadude

"help i took a cbd gummy and it's giving me a migraine" - Link

[Colin]

Architect Abdiel - The screen design's pretty good with generally clean detailing. I'd ignore the switch in a different type of critique thread, but as a contest I can't really look past it. The palette's not my favorite but if it's like a GBC palette and you're going with some type of restriction there I can look past that detail however. The only other remark I really have is that I've always found it a bit weird to have a house that says "Link" on it. All that said, I think it's pretty good so my vote goes here.

 

Blackpaintbowser - I give you props for originality. I think the colors are pretty cool and I appreciate custom graphics as a rule. I'm having a hard time making out the sprites/entities on this screen, I can see what looks like a character, flower, and maybe a walking robot? Maybe in motion they stick out more or are otherwise more readable.

 

Orithan - I think too many of the tiles look grainy such as the trees, the grassy cliff borders, and back portions of the cliffs near the bottom right. On the other hand I think the sprite's fairly good and the base grass texture is quite nice too look at. Maybe another issue about the tiles is inconsistent outlining such as the trees lacking a top outline yet the cliffs are often quite outlined... except when they touch grass. Also the sprite is outlined in a different color which looks a bit odd.

 

Twilight Knight - the shadow under the bridge is a small but effective detail. The water wheels are a fairly cool detail as well. One way I think this screen could be improved is if you added some depth to the bridge itself, it's looking kind of 2-dimensional currently. Also I think there's too much visual noise on the subscreen, I'd remove or change the little designs next to Magic and Health most notably.

 

xanadude - It's a well-designed screen, I don't really have critiques for it. I think the only reason I didn't vote for it is that I don't personally like the classic aesthetic very much, but this isn't really a dig to your screen.

Edited by Colin, 17 April 2023 - 10:38 PM.

[Twilight Knight]

the shadow under the bridge is a small but effective detail. The water wheels are a fairly cool detail as well. One way I think this screen could be improved is if you added some depth to the bridge itself, it's looking kind of 2-dimensional currently. Also I think there's too much visual noise on the subscreen, I'd remove or change the little designs next to Magic and Health most notably.

Hmm I have been thinking the same two things myself, good to hear some confirmation on that. I'll add some pillars under the bridge and remove those fancy things around the health and magic meters. Thanks for your feedback

I nulled but probably would have voted for Xanadude, the design, palette and detailing are just perfect

[Architect Abdiel]

Architect Abdiel - The screen design's pretty good with generally clean detailing. I'd ignore the switch in a different type of critique thread, but as a contest I can't really look passed it. The palette's not my favorite but if it's like a GBC palette and you're going with some type of restriction there I can look passed that detail however. The only other remark I really have is that I've always found it a bit weird to have a house that says "Link" on it. All that said, I think it's pretty good so my vote goes here.

Yeah, my goal with the palettes was to go very simply with the basic palettes from the GBC games that EXGBZ provides. So, this is just the Labrynna palette from EZGBZ.
That's a fair critique on having Link's name on the house. I guess that's because GB Zelda never actually did it. I just wanted to use it because EZGBZ comes with it and I thought, what the hey! Why not?

Thanks for the critique anyways. The switch is an interesting thing, because I was having trouble getting a basic combo to trigger with stomp boots, so the switch is just an enemy that can't damage you and required the stomp boots, to knock down the out of place block. There's probably a better way to do it in 2.55 that I just haven't understood yet.
 

[Twilight Knight]

It looks a lot better like this indeed Colin

[Mitchfork]

Architect Abdiel - Good screen, but with a couple of nagging things that keep it from great.  As Colin said, can't really ignore the button/block - and I question what the purpose of it is since I assume that pressing the button lowers the block? Seems like you could get away with cutting out the "puzzle" element here and just making it feather accessible.  Speaking of this area, having the pit one tile away from the screen edge is pretty unfriendly. 

 

Blackpaintbowser - Honestly, it's hard for me to tell what's going on here.  The palette is bold and cool, and I appreciate the custom graphic effort, but it does have some readability problems since the sprites/background all seem to use the same color ramps.

 

Orithan- I like the tiles but the screen is a little basic.  The mountains are pretty blocky, and the bushes are strewn a little randomly here. I'd like to see some bolder shapes with the cliffs paired with more intentional solidity placement in the gameplay area.

 

Twilight Knight - Despite a general bias against DoR these days I quite like the dungeon style you've got going here.  It's pretty clean and the palette is nice, and the shadow is a really nice touch..  I do agree that your revision posted above me is a big improvement, but I think this screen was my second favorite of the bunch here. It feels a little... generically chosen for the contest? I don't know why this screen above others in the dungeon. But nonetheless it's a solid entry.

 

xanadude - Yeah, had to vote here. I am a little skeptical of some of the choices (laying the trees and river under the mountain) but the detail level is perfect, gameplay area is nice and respected, and you've got a great balance going with the two mountain colors.

[Architect Abdiel]

Architect Abdiel - Good screen, but with a couple of nagging things that keep it from great.  As Colin said, can't really ignore the button/block - and I question what the purpose of it is since I assume that pressing the button lowers the block? Seems like you could get away with cutting out the "puzzle" element here and just making it feather accessible.  Speaking of this area, having the pit one tile away from the screen edge is pretty unfriendly. 

Well it’s meant to be a Stomp Boot check. That’s a good point with the pit. Now that I think about it, I can just move the stomp boot check into the cave. It would also look much less out of place in a cave.

[Twilight Knight]

t feels a little... generically chosen for the contest? I don't know why this screen above others in the dungeon. But nonetheless it's a solid entry.

Thank you and you are exactly right. I was working on this particular screen when I saw Taco's announcement to enter a shot. No other screens were made of that same area at the time, but by now there are and there are some more visually pleasing screens in there already.

But this is usually my strategy with SotW. Just submit something I am working on now and get a lot of feedback :-)

 

Also I understand the bias against DoR, it is full of perspective issues and clashing graphics. I tried to improve that in my own tileset already (this is made in my own tileset for the record, it's based on DoR 1.0)

Edited by Twilight Knight, 18 April 2023 - 03:45 AM.

[Architect Abdiel]

Kept it simple and updated the bottom left corner due to feedback.
Stomp Boot trigger will be in the cave instead of on the overworld.

 

[Colin]

Kept it simple and updated the bottom left corner due to feedback.
Stomp Boot trigger will be in the cave instead of on the overworld.

 

Very nice! I don't really have further critique. As a side-note I notice that you have chosen to have the back half of the trees be walkable which isn't a problem per-se, just an interesting choice.

 

 

But this is usually my strategy with SotW. Just submit something I am working on now and get a lot of feedback :-)

 

I appreciate that you submit something pretty much every time.

[Orithan]

Orithan - I think too many of the tiles look grainy such as the trees, the grassy cliff borders, and back portions of the cliffs near the bottom right. On the other hand I think the sprite's fairly good and the base grass texture is quite nice too look at. Maybe another issue about the tiles is inconsistent outlining such as the trees lacking a top outline yet the cliffs are often quite outlined... except when they touch grass. Also the sprite is outlined in a different color which looks a bit odd.

 
Thank you very much for the critique and thank you for the assistance you gave me in a voice call. It's been very helpful for me.
 

Orithan- I like the tiles but the screen is a little basic.  The mountains are pretty blocky, and the bushes are strewn a little randomly here. I'd like to see some bolder shapes with the cliffs paired with more intentional solidity placement in the gameplay area.

The tileset is very much an early work in progress - this is just a screen to test the current assets I have. I do agree that the bushes are kinda strewn around though and I am going to address them.

Here's the updated screen

Edited by Orithan, 18 April 2023 - 10:22 PM.

[Colin]

 

Nice improvements overall, glad I was able to help! I see you also did the grass borders for the cliff and adjusted the tiling for the tall grass texture all which look pretty good.

Last remarks, mostly on small details at this point:

• The grass texture you have is fantastic. The speckled dirt texture is a tad boring, I think larger dark patches strewn sparingly and there might look more interesting.
• To close out on outline consistency, consider making exterior outlines for the bush black just so they match with the trees. I think the bushes are pretty good though otherwise.
• I think the little rocks in the dirt could probably be improved a tad as well. I'd start with removing some of the interior dark speckles.
• I think there's room to improve on the palette itself. As for exactly what to do, I'm not sure as palettes aren't my forte. I would describe the palette as a bit drab/dreary.

Edited by Colin, 19 April 2023 - 02:50 AM.

[FieryBirdyThing]

It was a toss-up between Architect Abdiel and Twilight Knight, for me (although xanadude's is also pretty neat). I ultimately went for Twilight Knight, as it just seemed more interesting to me, in terms of details, than Architect Abdiel's.

[Twilight Knight]

It was a toss-up between Architect Abdiel and Twilight Knight, for me (although xanadude's is also pretty neat). I ultimately went for Twilight Knight, as it just seemed more interesting to me, in terms of details, than Architect Abdiel's.

Thank you! UK and NL can remain allies... for now :-)

[Taco Chopper]

With 46.67% of the vote, the winner of Screenshot of the Week 776 is xanadude!
 


"help i took a cbd gummy and it's giving me a migraine" - Link
 
Thanks to everyone who submitted for SotW 776, as well as everyone who voted or gave feedback!
 
Voting totals:

• xanadude - 14 (46.67%)
• Blackpaintbowser - 7 (23.33%)
• Architect Abdiel - 4 (13.33%)
• Twilight Knight - 3 (10.00%)
• Orithan - 2 (6.67%)