52 replies to this topic

[/M/]

So what exactly IS pillow shading, I think I get the gist of it but I don't know exactly what it is.

And sure, I will try to make some trees like yours Wizzrobe, It probobly won't be too hard. Just time consuming.

Shading

With our light source firmly established, we can finally shade our object, starting with the simple example of a sphere. But first, an example of what not to do :



This called 'pillow shading', a great evil spoken of by pixel artists in hushed tones. It is the work of the devil, and appears to assume a single point light source hanging directly between us and our object.
Do not, under any circumstances, shade a shape this - it looks rubbish. This sort of radial tone gradient is suitable only for a surface lit by a very close light source - like the burning torches above.


~ Credit to Mark's Pixel art tutorial.



Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shading for some other info.

Edited by /M/, 02 January 2007 - 06:03 PM.

[DarkFlameWolf]

blarg and you had to pick a bad pic! Next time, let me choose, your choices are horrible! LOL

[/M/]

0_o

Peteo, gets to choose, what your going to show, at SoTW?

[link3505]

Nuvo's shot is nice, but WAY too dark. The trees and the temple really need work, too. Their perspective is off just enough to make it look odd. The bright red also looks out of place

Peteo's is nice too, but sort of bland. Some rocks or rubble would make the path look better in my opinion. Looks like a kickass sewer, though

DFW's is dark too, but it's easy to see what's going on. THe screen is set up nicely. Though, the transparent shadow on the water looks funky. Still, this got my vote

Ack, I clicked Peteo by accident. Can it be changed, please?

[Peteo]

blarg and you had to pick a bad pic! Next time, let me choose, your choices are horrible! LOL

Hey, it's not my fault people are blind!
That's a perfectly fine shot, a gameplay shot. Nothing spectaculat about it but nothing fake either. It's a lot better than those basic Pure shots put togehter in a minute. But if people can't see it, too bad. I just hope they don't get the wrong idea of the quest because it's not "just another Pure quest". So next time I will show a screenie from an inside area because those tiles are custom and look spectacular, eh? Or then I just go draw tons of custom tiles for the ow's and hope that it results in more votes!

Anyhoo, it's no shame to get beaten by Nuvo's screenie. ^_^

[Radien]

Ooh, very nice shots. It's a hard decision.

Nuvo's, however, mostly looks good in the dark palette, because the darkness hides a lot of the shot's problems. It's like the type of stuff Linkus submitted when he'd first started drawing tiles. Hopefully you'll improve just as much, Nuvo.

So that brings it down to DFW and Peteo: one is an excellent use of Pure shadows; this is an example of a Pure shot that ISN'T boring. Most notably, the shadows don't cause any of the colors to look wonky, which is sometimes the case in ZC.

Peteo's is a bit simple shot, but it also introduces some cool new ripped tiles. The classic ropes bring it down a bit, though.

All told, I think I'm going to vote for DFW this time. Also, I don't see why the JPG format is a problem; in this particular case the distortion is pretty minimal.

[Phoenix Fable]

I vote for Nuvo. Overall his looked the best and it used a good tileset.

[Freedom]

Nuvo - too dark
Dfw - too dark
Votes Petoe

[Fire Wizzrobe]

Got it. Thanks Fire Wizzrobe. But I don't really see how the pillars are pillow shaded though.
As for the temple, my quest idea is a huge ruins in an african savanah type of place. So Given that, what would be a good color for stone in that setup?

My bad. I mean they look flat.

For the color sceme, a sand tan should be nice, like these:

http://images.google...htt...s=en&sa=G

Edited by Fire Wizzrobe, 02 January 2007 - 08:35 PM.

[NoeL]

Nuvo: Best shot here for sure. I'm not sure about the white outline of the guardian, but if it's supposed to look like he's glowing then you did well. He's a bit too bright for the rest of the screen, but your custom graphics are pretty awesome. Good too see you've improved those trees! *votes by a mile*

DFW: What is it with you and jpg formats? It's a good action shot, and the screen is set up nicely for a battle, nice detail with the shadows etc... but why a jpg!?

Peteo: Umm... yay Fester? Sorry, I don't see the magic here. Nice design, but unimaginative graphical layout.

EDIT AFTER READING COMMENTS:
I don't think Nuvo's shot is too dark at all NOR is DFW's. For one, Nuvo's is a NIGHT shot... it SHOULD be dark! Secondly, shots generally look brighter in ZC than they do here because they're not surrounded by a bright green background. Save the shot and view it on a black background. You'll be amazed by what you can actually see. It is NOT too dark.

Oh and Peteo, don't whine about people not voting for the forest shot. Yes I agree, it's a good Pure shot, but that's it. You said it yourself...

Nothing spectaculat about it but nothing fake either.

People want to see spectaculat shots! Spectaculat shots are what win SOTW! You're just short suiting yourself by NOT submitting a spectaculat shot!

Edited by NoeL, 02 January 2007 - 10:23 PM.

[Colin]

My bad. I mean they look flat.

You should probobly know a lot about comments on flat pillars shouldn't you Fire Wizzrobe?
Hehe, sorry if that sounded like an insult. But whatever, I will see what I can do. Thank you.

Edited by Nuvo, 03 January 2007 - 12:11 AM.

[nicklegends]

Why the JPGs?

Hey, I really like Nuvo's shot. Its color composition is great, the tiles are well-chosen, and it really brings me somewhere... Nice. DarkFlameWolf's was also very well-done. Similar to Nuvo's, the colors are beautiful, but there's nothing that really grabs me. Finally, Peteo's... nothing too remarkable about this shot through my eyes, but it's still well-constructed.

I'll go for Nuvo, here.

And... wow, for SOTW 150, there were relatively few people who entered. What happened??

[Revfan9]

Not too good this week... (Even after the delay!)

Nuvo- The Temple doesn't match the style of the grass... Try adding some speckles to the stone and we are good to go. But it still gets my vote.

DFW- Ugh... Just a plain Pure shot that has been distorted by it's extreme JPEGGYNESS and the shot isn't even all that great, not like the stuff you were showing about 8 months ago.

Peteo- Star for originality, but the tiles don't look as good as Nuvo's... And the screen structure isn't all that incredible either.

[Peteo]

Well NoeL, it's not like I don't get it that the nicests and prettiest looking shots win, and to make it clear, I think the right shot is winning this week. It's just the comments of people. I kind of hoped that people would appreciate real gameplay shots more than this but obviously not. But I'm kind of glad that an average shot like that was sent because after all the "not impressive enough" comments I am now more willing to add more custom stuff to the overworlds of the quest. I'm a custom lover myself and even though the OW's in the quest as a whole are more than pleasent enough, more custom work never hurts.

I just wish b16 would be released soon so that the custom subscreen I worked so hard for could be sent. That should be impressive enough.

[.TakaM]

first one: way too dark
second one: jpg
third one: boring and plain

as null as they come.