Thanks for the timely input. I'm close to setting the standards of the entire scene, so comments are critical at this time. Colour adjustments are still in the agenda.


The different styles of roofs are meant to reflect the age of the building or the roofs. Brown-and-red roofs are meant to be the oldest of the form (assumed to be used before the 1920s-1930s), followed by plain red roofs, which are improved over later during the 1950s and 1960s. Grey roofs will be used as a successor. The first block of buildings you were referring to have roofs that were reconstructed, presumably from a fire or for maintenance.

By wandering, what do you mean?


The construction of buildings are based on the economic climate at their time of construction. This is a town that prospered from booming tin and rubber revenues during the 1910s and early 1920s (before the 1922 rubber price crash). The market was designed as such to reflect the town's wealth at the time of its construction, and was designed with only two masonry walls front and back and tiled roofs, while the rest are primarily wooden and cast iron between (it couldn't be fully illustrated because of its angle; the sketch offers a better view of this area).

Of course, markets in larger mining towns that are primarily wooden and supported by cast iron/steel pillars and roof frames are unknown, but they were built much earlier, during the 1890s to 1920s.


It's based on a real town, (which aerial view I have), as well as large number of photographs. But I have to make adjustments to support the first two blocks, as well as to cram certain landmarks into the canvas.


Edited by The Mozack - 23 July 2009 at 4:08am

I've noticed an important issue on shadowing, and made a quick dirty photoshop edit (hope you don't mind).
The ground shadow on the right of your first block gives a sun angle: exactly from the left, somewhat below 45°.

In this case, many of the roofs should be in shadow.

I darkened and 'blued' (important) some of those, as well as parts of walls (blue arrows), progressively according to their angle (although it might be more realistic to not be progressive, it looks nicer).
Conversely, I lightened some of the sunward roofs (green arrows); progressiveness would be realistic there.

Same thing for the 1922 bldg: although the roof angle is slightly lower than the sun angle, the raised part of the roof should cast a shadow down to the edge.

'wandering reds': did that on 2 roofs on the left of the block, by shifting hue. Not well done, but you get the idea.

I also have a perspective issue on the market block, on the 2 galleries linking the bldgs (unless these roofs are deliberately un-symmetric).
Fixed one (orange marks).

Tried to help on your newest roof (red arrows). The angle of view sure is a difficult one.
I'd say make it as if it was directly facing the viewer, trying to get this very slight angle on the roof is only confusing. Tried 2 options, not there yet.
And the back side should also be fixed: as it is, it only has 2 rows of very long tiles. Tried a few ideas.

Tried 2 lightings on this bldg: the strictly left side sun (should be less contrasted though, because the roof will receive little light), and a more backlit version which I find nicer. Should not be so different as to have compatibility issues.

Hope this helps!

Double checked the shadow angles again. The second one is used by the market. By coincidence, that one uses a 1x1 pixel line. It's pretty much how I originally measure the length of shadows, so it's technically accurate.


Edited by The Mozack - 24 July 2009 at 5:24am

your colors are very saturated and dark.. please try to go for some less saturated colors, and not so much pure grey.. (maybe it isnt pure grey but it looks like that to me). other than that.. your perspective skills are truly something to admire.. this has wondorous amounts of potential and ill be watching this progress.

Fortunato and others before have a point. The palette has been a bone of contention for a long time, and I originally started out using MS Paint palette colours to make initial editing easier. It's not natural and will have to be rectified sooner or later.

For that, it's time for a proper colour index. The reds and grays in particular require desaturation and hue adjustments, and the general apperance of the scenes have improved somewhat as a result.

Here's the first block with the original colours:



And the same block after remapped reds and grays:



The market block before:



...and after:



The change in reds have actually allowed the browns on the roof to stand out and blend better, so that's a good start. I'm still not happy with the grays though, because it's contrasting with the reds now. Perhaps shifting it to yellow hues will help.




Edited by The Mozack - 18 August 2009 at 9:06am

Wow! This is getting some scope!

I recently looked carefully at some tiled roofs in southern France, with the intent of pixelling them (someday).  I noticed some, but not all, have very different tile colors next to each other, and randomly set. Usually a majority of pale dirty pinkish tiles, some dark grey, and a few red ones, usually the newest. I guess these variations appear  during repairs.
I found some photos to explain this.

Edited by Manupix - 07 September 2009 at 4:07pm

Decided to detail the roofs of the first block anyway. Screw the old look.

Framework half-done.

Started again. Detailing at this angle is pretty tricky.

I love this project, keep it up !

I have no crit, but i have had to post and say that is one of the most incredibly gutsy undertakings i ever ever seen in pixel format 

vector, yes but u must have the patience of a saint or be clinically insane to enjoy doing that in pixels

well done and good luck

Steve

More detailing. The building to the left features horizontal glass shutters in place of wooden shutters.

Looks great!
2 things I don't understand well:
horizontal glass shutters: these look like very modern, dark metal things (not glass), is this what you have in mind?
Open 1st floor fronts: are they actually wide open? or are they glassed shop fronts? in which case you wouldn't see that much inside, mostly reflections from outside.

The courtyards will be the next portion to focus on. Started with the buildings to the left.

needs AA =P

Back. Finally started with detailing along the side. The ends of the roof pitches have also being added. It's a shame some of the window trims won't be visible.

Detailing on walls and overhang frames.

Well, the horizontal lines had yet to be introduced onto the roof, so it wasn't actually nearly completed per se. The lines are supposed to provide the other half of the tiles' outline and complete the look.

For the sake on consistency (at least for buildings in this area), I had to opt for the same tile design as the previous two blocks:



So, yeah. The advice was good, but the problem was already resolved quite a while ago. :C

EDIT: As for the shading inside, it does depend on the angle of whether there is internal lighting within the interior. I'll take note of your advise and consider it during final detailing.


Edited by The Mozack - 16 December 2009 at 4:16am

Not sure if you've started on roads, but brick streets might look good for this portion of your town.

Coming back to this, several bits of detailing has been done. AA on the windows should begin sooner or later.

Damn, 3 months for this one block.

Roof's almost done.

Will move on to fixing those windows.

Adjustments on details. Expanded on drainage.

Never ever stop with this until its done, please..? ;D

Its already becoming my favorite pixel-art, especially if you will complete it.
And I really really love the style of red-ish roofs and white walls.

Its so lovely <3

Starting new block...



This one is on the other side of town. Turns out the rough width of the building is too wide after all. I'll have to fix this on the main canvas sooner or later.

Hammering out structural form. This is based off an IRL reference, BTW, with two more buildings added in to the left.