Yakoob on 10/1/2017 at 06:58
Still going back and forth on whether I want to do an art pass before launching Alpha publicly... I'd prefer to get feedback and see if the concept has any potential, but some reactions lead me to believe the current placeholder art might be too much off a turn off for many people to even give it a proper chance :/ Don't wanna miss an opportunity for an interesting game due to temporary art.
So in the meantime, did a few art test/mockups for the street scene. Thoughts?
Inline Image:
http://i.imgur.com/wXlxFnR.jpgStarker on 10/1/2017 at 07:39
If you can pull off something close to Void and Meddler, go for it. That game looked pretty damn impressive.
Neb on 10/1/2017 at 07:47
Immediate good feeling about #3 and #5. The colour and contrast catches the eye. Looking closer, the depth and perspective of the other four seems unnecessary if they're only going to be backgrounds. I prefer the vivid colours.
Matthew on 10/1/2017 at 10:36
3 and 5 work for me, too.
Thirith on 10/1/2017 at 10:41
For me it's also #3 and #5, though I also like #6. The first two look too much like placeholder art to me, and the KRZ style (apart from being extremely difficult to do well) strikes me as less suited to mere backdrops. It'd have to be part of an overall, cohesive aesthetic, and I think that this might be easier to achieve with the other ones.
Al_B on 10/1/2017 at 12:54
If #6 was a (little) bit brighter then that would probably be my choice. Given the game content (particularly the outdoor festival where people are celebrating in the street) I'm not sure the dystopian atmosphere for #3 or #5 really fit. The "technology" within the game isn't that dissimilar to that available now so I don't think it really needs to be futuristic either. As you're also encountering the street scene after a day's work but not too late at night it would seem a bit jarring for it to be pitch black.
I also feel that having a difference between the feel of the street at the beginning of the game and the more intrusive surveillance elements towards the end if the player goes that route would give a nice contrast with a more "relatable" background.
Renzatic on 10/1/2017 at 22:52
I'd say go with the lighting quality of 5, with the shallower perspective and general mood of 6. Everything's a little tense in your world, but it's not a full on dystopia, either.
Yakoob on 10/1/2017 at 23:54
Thanks for the detailed feedback guys! I think Renz may be nailing down to something. I was considering pushing the Blade Runner-y (Void and Meddler) stylization and adjusting game world, but AL_B makes a good point about relatability and bigger impact of the growing guards/drones (and maybe cameras/scanners later on?)
Another reason behind that style is my own artistic ineptitude (since I do not want to hire an artist yet). Basically, I want to pick a style I can create in (which already rules out 99% of options lolz) So I figured simple vector art with some grain/concrete texture like in #3 and #5 would realistically be most feasible. I was thinking of taking the Current style and just painting over with the vector art (maybe getting rid of the perspective) and applying filters/textures, and later lighting. I would do the same for the office/home scenes.
All in all, I'm still trying to figure out if I should invest the time in redoing it... if it's truly holding people from even taking a look at the alpha, then I'm not even able to test the concept like it is intended to.
Nameless Voice on 11/1/2017 at 01:35
I think I like 6 best because, yes, the perspective is nicer, but also because the way the art you've chosen there is curved and has different angles in it makes it look like it has much more depth to it.
A lot of the others look kind of flat, especially the "solid rectangle with some lines in the middle" road - which looks especially odd in #4 because the perspective of the background and the perspective of the street are completely different.
Yakoob on 11/1/2017 at 03:55
Yea the perspective is off, it was just a quick mockup to nail the feel/style. I'd of course adjust it accordingly in finals.
