72 replies to this topic

[Neppy]

Here are this weeks shots for SotW. Sorry I am late with this. I've been running around here and there, and I forgot last night, mainly because I can't keep what day it is straight right now... Here you are!

Peteo

Very detailed custom subscreen, isn't it?

Revfan9

Lolo wanders into the Inn, wondering what idiot left the door open.

Sharon Daniel

The Sand Crab bravely takes a fireball to save Link...

There are your choices this week! Thanks for looking, and see you again!

[Sharon Daniel]

First vote! Yaay!


Petoe: Very nice layout and graphics. I have absolutely no complaints. It's not something I'd vote for in a SotW competition though.

Revfan9: The tiles are nice, but I'd like to see some more decoratives on the walls. It seems weird to have grass over the stones in the middle of a town, but it doesn't look bad as long as you don't put too much thought into it.

Sharon: That big tree looks so out of place. You're retarded. Nice custom palette though, and that Twilight Princess sword is to die for. *VOTES* Uhh... Kidding.

*nulls*

[MermaidCim]

I want your secret Peteo. Nuff said, I voted for him. How did you get the subscreen to look like that?

[Revfan9]

Peteo: Every damn time....

Revfan: ...

Sharon: The screen structure is so-so, and the custom palette has too much yellow in it. Plus, the big trees sortof clash with the sand.

[link3505]

They're all excellent screens, but in the end, I voted Peteo. I'd like to see a clearer image, but still. The overall design of the subscreen is very well done

[CastChaos]

Peteo gets the vote! One of the greatest subscreens I have ever seen.

Revfan9's screen is very pretty.
SD's screen... well... Just good detail and very pretty tree, but the screen is still simple. The sword is... funny.

[Radien]

This is a really hard vote. We have three very different screens with very different strengths.

Peteo:

A very, very well-designed subscreen. Thought out, carefully placed. Unless you end up changing gameplay, I'm sure this will suit your quest until it's finished.

I'm not sure I want to vote for a subscreen, though, as its very nature is to have absolutely nothing "going on" in the shot. Also, in this case I CAN notice the JPEG compression. Even if it makes the shot look better rather than worse, it's interfering with our view of the screen.

Revfan9:

Quite well-used tile placement which complements these high-quality graphics excellently.

However, I have one simple, but notable issue with this shot: there's a bit too much repetition of two of the ground tiles. It makes parts of the shot look a bit too simplistic. I'm not going to complain about the lack of a subscreen, though, since you have just enough elements on the screen to keep us interested, and it doesn't look like it was taken in ZQuest in any case.

Sharon Daniel:

This is nearly flawless use of Pure-ish tiles. I like the palette, and everything goes well together.

It is, however, very simple by nature. Which isn't necessarily bad. But the main drawback of this is.... well... the cake layer mountains. They look exceedingly "square" on an otherwise natural-feeling screen, and I mean "square" in a literal sense. I know they will always look that way, but I think it's time to move on to better mountains.


I can't decide yet. I'll come back to this later. However, all three screens are pretty good, despite some fairly mild shortcomings.


P.S. -

Sharon, you re-ripped those FSA palm trees, didn't you? Good job on being true to the original.

Edited by Radien, 09 January 2007 - 05:42 AM.

[Peteo]

Yeah Radien, I understand that most people don't want to vote for subscreens or title screens because "there's nothing going on". But it's a good screenshot anyways so I thought I'd give it a go anyways. It is a ZC shot after all, and from a real quest unber work too.
And I notice that every time people are irritated by the jpegginess of the shots, and this time it really made the shot worse... But I made a deal with DFW that all Lost Isle shots will be sent in .jpg format. Though now that the quest starts to be finished in a few months I think we could start sending the shots in a clearer format.


I guess I could comment the other 2 screens:

revfan - really nice graphics used here, but I'm a detail freak and this shot is crying for more detail. try to add more "decorative" tiles to the shot and it will be spectacular!

sharon - it is a good beach shot. not good but not bad either. I just think that huge palm tree is really out of place even though it looks good alone.

[Sharon Daniel]

Radien, I don't like those mountains, or any mountains in Pure, but I'm using them just because this quest will use Gameboy-style graphics. I'm getting rid of that big tree too, because it clashes with the style.

P.S. -

Sharon, you re-ripped those FSA palm trees, didn't you? Good job on being true to the original.

Yes I did, and submitted them to PureZC, too. They were just added yesterday, go grab 'em, use 'em, love 'em.

[Radien]

Yeah Radien, I understand that most people don't want to vote for subscreens or title screens because "there's nothing going on". But it's a good screenshot anyways so I thought I'd give it a go anyways. It is a ZC shot after all, and from a real quest unber work too.
And I notice that every time people are irritated by the jpegginess of the shots, and this time it really made the shot worse... But I made a deal with DFW that all Lost Isle shots will be sent in .jpg format. Though now that the quest starts to be finished in a few months I think we could start sending the shots in a clearer format.

I am operating under the opinion that since real games never use subscreens as screenshots for advertising their game, they don't make good quest screenshots, either. But I'm not beyond being convinced otherwise, and you are definitely putting up a fight with that fine example.

Let me guess: DFW wants screenshots that won't allow the graphics to be stolen, eh?

Well, unless DFW insists that a bit of quality loss is the only way to guarantee that ripping is 100% impossible, I may be able to suggest a few other methods that would make it about 99% impossible to rip, instead.

I can understand protecting your custom work, but what JPEGs do to 256-color video game graphics is pretty brutal...

Radien, I don't like those mountains, or any mountains in Pure, but I'm using them just because this quest will use Gameboy-style graphics. I'm getting rid of that big tree too, because it clashes with the style.

Gotcha.

What about Sun Tower's "cake layer" mountains? Those are Gameboy-style, but they are more detailed, which would match the rest of your shot. Even without the large palm tree, everything besides the mountains is more detailed than Gameboy graphics.

Yes I did, and submitted them to PureZC, too. They were just added yesterday, go grab 'em, use 'em, love 'em.

No need. I already ripped and recolored them directly from a FSA sprite I found in Google image search, probably just like you did. I edited the trunk, as well.

...We're both pretty anal, aren't we?

[Blue Link 2007]

Hmmm, can't really put my finger on who I want to vote for. Peteo has was good graphics, but Revfan9 also has good graphics. At least somebody is using those big palm trees. Those would look nice in my quest...

Anyways, I vote for the inn thingey. It kinda reminds me of the Stock Pot Inn not having a door to the toilet (shame on you, Anju ).

[Dart Zaidyer]

Revfan gets my vote. Sharon Daniel's screen doesn't seem like anything special, and as for Peteo, well...
nobody in their right mind should expect anyone to vote for a shot of a subscreen, especially once it's been destroyed by JPEG compression. Everyone should be sick of this attitude. If you want to protect a body of work that in all fairness can be ripped to death upon completion anyway, you'll need to find a better way to cripple your screenshots.

[Peteo]

Fine, you win. All this complaining is getting on my nerves so here's the shot without any stupid jpg compressions:



I have to admit this one's nicer to look at than the one submitted. Oh well, too late to change that screen anymore.

[Lotus Eater]

Petoe - Great Subscreen, what else do you want me to say though.
Revfan9 - I love this tileset, it is very cool.
Sharon Daniel - The big Palm Tree makes this shot. But I hate that nasty grass.

Votes Revfan9

[Nathaniel]

Peteo - It is a very nice subscreen. The stone tablet background is very unique, and the carved spaces to represent slots for specific items was pretty clever. The map also seems to take on a style of its own.

Revfan9 - Nice tiles, and I like that building facade, but I can't help to notice that something doesn't feel right about the shot. I can't tell whether that building has a roof or if it is a wall that encloses a courtyard. I don't normally think of inns having a courtyard, so that is where the confusion lies. Otherwise, nice job.

Sharon Daniel - A very functional looking beach shot. While the big palm tree in itself looks beautiful, it doesn't look completely right on that sand and among the other palm trees. Cliffs that are perfectly straight and bend at perfect 90 degree angles do make the screen look somewhat unnatural, but since it is based on a certain style, I guess there is not too much that can be done about that.

Each screen was quite different, so what I value more or less in each screen differs. So it all boils down to overall quality and effort, and it seems that Peteo's subscreen most fits that bill. That is where my vote goes.