>(")< Desert Level
Printed From: Pixel Joint
Category: Pixel Art
Forum Name: WIP (Work In Progress)
Forum Discription: Get crits and comments on your pixel WIPs and other art too!
URL: https://pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2574
Printed Date: 10 September 2025 at 1:01am
Topic: >(")< Desert Level
Posted By: jalonso
Subject: >(")< Desert Level
Date Posted: 09 July 2006 at 10:57pm
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This will be the last of the series for this game. This one is orange because its the only color left. I have been asked many questions about these BGs that have prompted me to use this last one as both a place for me to get c+c and show in as much detail as possible the creation process. It will be a c+c+tut for some. The first step I took beyond the basic open a file and what have you is divide the canvas into the two screens (viewable area is 320x240). I then divided the canvas into 3 areas The whites on the WIP. I also blocked out the User Interface (UI) area since not much is needed there (the top). Having decided this would be an Egyptian, Moorish, Muslim architecture type of setting. I first blocked out a generic playing layer (1) these I based on the others for the sake of consistency. Layers (2,3,4,5,) were blocked out with a general idea of creating good layouts in the screen sections (I see 3 distict layouts, capable of looking well balanced on its own). Layers (6,7,8) will end up as moving clouds sky or whatever ends up back there (more layers may be added there too, not a layout problem so ignored for now). Lastly because all the other BGs have a small animation I included a sun that will move somehow (for later). In this first draft I added way too many minurets (towers) to remind me that height is needed, I will not use this many. Finally the pyramids are there for the gamer to immediately understand the scene, an important element. It may not end up being a pyramid but it will definitely say "desert" upon entering this level. Notice too that I threw in a layer from the factory level (damm those f**kin smokestacks) and colored it orange. The playable area I colored in blue. This is the genesis for my palette. The buildings will be cream/white/sand color but will need some blue (secondary lighting, architectural decoration or something blue) by having the blue already there I will refrain from eliminating it or ignoring it. Regardless of the direction this takes. It will be basically orange and blue. Now that the base structure, idea and concept are set I will start to pixel with freedom, wherever. I may jump around or I may start with a layer (middle ones are best. better ideas always come up while working so the work that goes into a middle layer won't be all wasted. By the way the smallest thing I want to have detailed is the minuret tops. I will make the smallest possible one that shows all the details I want to include and then work my building scale to it, within reason to the door scale set by the other BGs. On to pixelling  c+c very welcome! ------------- |
Replies:
Posted By: Souly
Date Posted: 10 July 2006 at 5:25am
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It's not very desertish.. I think the towers have too much repetition. Maybe add a giant castle in the backdrop?   Sorry, I could only think to use PoP for refferance to the buildings. ------------- 
I am the jesus of PJ. |
Posted By: PixelSnader
Date Posted: 10 July 2006 at 12:27pm
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souly i love you!!! ------------- ▄▄█ ▄▄█ ▄█▄ ▄█▄ |
Posted By: Monkey 'o Doom
Date Posted: 10 July 2006 at 12:43pm
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Yet another reffy. http://imagehost.ensellitis.com/images/369179594.png -------------- http://pixelmonkey.ensellitis.com"> 
RPG is numberwang. |
Posted By: Sythius
Date Posted: 10 July 2006 at 1:45pm
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Dont' get to excited there, Sander.... 0,o;
Lol. |
Posted By: Aleiav
Date Posted: 10 July 2006 at 1:45pm
I agree it should be more desertish but MoD's reference is a little busy for my tastes. I couldn't tell what was what while playing, methinks. 
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Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 10 July 2006 at 10:06pm
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Great refs guys, thx. As I mentioned that was just a general blocking out of areas. I started pushing some pixels for the middle layer and found it was too filled up as first drafted. I began with creating a base for the desert. While filling up the area I threw in a huge pyramid and really liked it. This gave me a whole new idea for this scene. The direction has turned to make the rest of the building on the left in the foreground and a street market with fruits/vegs, rugs and baskets on the right side, in front of the pyramid. Under tents and tarps (I need blue). I see palm trees here in the front too. This is the background of the background so its very orange atm  ------------- |
Posted By: miau
Date Posted: 11 July 2006 at 2:03am
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Awesome! Just wanted to say that. I fail at commenting WIPs but yours so deserve admiration :( ------------- ... |
Posted By: Demon
Date Posted: 11 July 2006 at 2:21am
Yep, jal's got the skillz that killz. And we'll put em to more good use soon. 
------------- "At least we killed some boredom..." - Death Note. |
Posted By: Draco9898
Date Posted: 11 July 2006 at 7:27am
| Now, THAT'S a desert, good job |
Posted By: Shark
Date Posted: 11 July 2006 at 7:50am
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i can see this is going to be my favourite out of all of them ;)
damn typos ------------- Snark, we love yuu. |
Posted By: Bifur
Date Posted: 11 July 2006 at 3:47pm
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i would take out thoso clouds and contrast , also make the sand dunes wider and smoother but its the better until now as shark said (gotta remember PoP from snes) ------------- 
I know! Leafs shouldn't make shadow... |
Posted By: Larwick
Date Posted: 11 July 2006 at 4:24pm
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Looking fantastic jal. I love the building, and the trees, and the pyramid. One thing i find sorta off is the shading in and general colouring with the dunes and the clouds. I know you hate AA, but you really should sometimes, because clouds arnt spikey :) -------------  http://larw-ck.deviantart.com">
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Posted By: leel
Date Posted: 11 July 2006 at 4:38pm
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i think you should dither the last circle of the sun glow more.. cause it ends a bit abruptly and then the rest of the sky is kinda boring. thats the only thing i could think of, it's pretty much perfect |
Posted By: Rodder
Date Posted: 11 July 2006 at 7:49pm
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I kinda agree about the glow of sun, but on the other hand it also gives the atmosphere a dusty look, im not sure if you were going for that effect or not.
I dont know what to tell you other than it looks good. Keep going. |
Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 12 July 2006 at 5:39am
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I am unable to post images with this new forum update :( @Bifur, I noticed the dunes were too bumpy too, thx @Lar, leel and Rodder, I still don't know what will be in the foreground so the sun is mostly for positioning only. I hate to waste pixels (other art to do, lol). I will fix and clean the areas that end up been seen in the final version. I see not point in making it all perfect at this point when not all of it will be seen. ------------- |
Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 15 July 2006 at 11:12pm
So I have revised the layout to fit in better with the others. I
thought it best to set the mood by having the first screen be mostlt
desert and scroll to the building. I found the
building worked best with heavy shadows in the balconies of the
building so
I have removed the sun and placed the lightsource on the top left. I'm
happy with the colored palm trees but the orangy ones look wierd still.
The very front playing level is supposed to be a tile mosaic wall as
seen in Morrocan architecture. I added some faux Islamic writing to set
the mood. If you are Moslem and find this offensive, I live at 1600
Pennsylvania Avenue,   ------------- |
Posted By: Blick
Date Posted: 16 July 2006 at 2:37am
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I still have no idea what goes through yiour mind when you place pixels the way they do. Maybe I'm too geometric and your style is too organic for me to understand, whatever it is your logic evades me. You should get rid of the orange tinting on the foreground foliage, it makes the plants look tattered because the orange blends in with the background in my opinion. ------------- http://punaji.com/"> 
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Posted By: Shark
Date Posted: 16 July 2006 at 4:23am
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sand = <3.
KUTGW ------------- Snark, we love yuu. |
Posted By: Blueberry_pie
Date Posted: 16 July 2006 at 4:42am
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Originally posted by Shark sand = <3. KUTGW Quoted for truth. That sand looks delicious... I want to eat it. ------------- |
Posted By: Bifur
Date Posted: 16 July 2006 at 6:02am
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Originally posted by jalonso So I have revised the layout to fit in better with the others. I thought it best to set the mood by having the first screen be mostlt desert and scroll to the building. I found the building worked best with heavy shadows in the balconies of the building so I have removed the sun and placed the lightsource on the top left. I'm happy with the colored palm trees but the orangy ones look wierd still. The very front playing level is supposed to be a tile mosaic wall as seen in Morrocan architecture. I added some faux Islamic writing to set the mood. If you are Moslem and find this offensive, I live at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Sand way better! Keep updating -------------
I know! Leafs shouldn't make shadow... |
Posted By: Larwick
Date Posted: 16 July 2006 at 6:12am
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Originally posted by Blueberry_pie
That sand looks delicious... I want to eat it. Lmao, brilliant. Really nice update, i think the main problem with the orange palms is that they're too blocky, and lack the foreground palm's ability to merge to the background (i'm talking about the leaves). But yeah, great work, dunno how you churn it out. ------------- http://larw-ck.deviantart.com">
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Posted By: Shark
Date Posted: 16 July 2006 at 6:36am
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i cant wait to see the sky. The tiles seem a bit messy though. Perhaps remove some of the colors. ------------- Snark, we love yuu. |
Posted By: fil_razorback
Date Posted: 16 July 2006 at 7:25am
| This one is turning reaaaaaaaaly great ! |
Posted By: Aleiav
Date Posted: 16 July 2006 at 8:45am
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Amazing so far! I really like the color of the building. :)
------------- |
Posted By: Ensellitis
Date Posted: 16 July 2006 at 4:17pm
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the way the sand fades back looks almost like a photo, brilliant
------------- There's a pubic hair on my keyboard. What the f**k?? I "mow the lawn" so it's not mine. Gross. |
Posted By: Psychotic_Carp
Date Posted: 16 July 2006 at 8:02pm
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The foreground I think is most excelent but the background sky seems kinda bland to me now -------------  got game?
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Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 16 July 2006 at 10:29pm
More revisions. I redid the whole front tiles to a less scrappy style.
Re-did all the orange palms. Added more dunes and removed the reds
Blick mentioned which I missed when I added the railing. I don't think
I'm adding any clouds to this sky since it doesn't rain in the desert.
This is why I keep adding palm trees, lol ------------- |
Posted By: Rodder
Date Posted: 17 July 2006 at 12:01am
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It looks great as is. You have so much detail in the foreground that the sky acts as "whitespace", ie. no clouds needed. It's a good resting place for the stressed out eyes of a gamer.
Love the front tiles btw. |
Posted By: Shark
Date Posted: 17 July 2006 at 5:19am
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ooo those tiles are much better. i really think some subtle coulding will make this piece though. ------------- Snark, we love yuu. |
Posted By: Larwick
Date Posted: 17 July 2006 at 5:36am
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Great update again. The palms are looking far better. Improvement on the tiles too. Are you not planning to add a rippling sun then? Because i think that's what's needed. ------------- http://larw-ck.deviantart.com">
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Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 17 July 2006 at 8:34am
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Originally posted by jalonso @Lar, If I add the sun, what explains the lighting as it is now. Do you mean add the sun and re light everything? The building looks very boring without the hard shadows. ------------- |
Posted By: Larwick
Date Posted: 17 July 2006 at 8:37am
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Hmm yeah i understand, it isn't worth redoing all the lighting for. :/ ------------- http://larw-ck.deviantart.com">
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Posted By: Pixel_Outlaw
Date Posted: 17 July 2006 at 8:53am
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Dude that rocks...I hope we bomb it to the ground! Make a raghead pop out of the window. Looks great. ------------- http://www.shmup-dev.com/forum/"> 
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Posted By: Saboteur
Date Posted: 18 July 2006 at 2:30am
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I'm still confused. I need this paralax thing explained to me.
From what I understand, it's a bunch of layers that scroll at different rates as you move, correct? I believe Disney used the same idea to animate forests and stuff, as well as probably other animation... studios... or whatever.
Holy crap sidetracked.
ANYHOW. What I want to know is the following: If that's the case, and that these will indeed scroll, then wouldn't they need to loop and connect with themselves again, as you would with tiles? If not, then how... would it work? Crap, I'm not making any sense.
Yeah. What would help would be to see the paralax in action, somehow. Really, right now, I'm doubting if I understand what the term "Paralax" means anymore, because I just don't see how it'd work. ------------- "I was minding my own business and walking across a pebbled path, and a Duck started giving me the business." |
Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 18 July 2006 at 5:55am
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@Sab, You are correct about tiling for parallax and how it works. I
have made all these BGs with this in mind so that no tiling is needed.
This is why the sides either have a tall building on the end or clear
skies. Besides making an attractive scene as seen in these flat
versions. I have to keep technical issues in mind. These are some mock
parallex effects I created in Flash for demonstartion purposes only.
The programmed version run much smoother but they give the idea and
hopefully answer your questions. http://www.jalonso.ensellitis.com/gameart.html - http://www.jalonso.ensellitis.com/gameart.html ------------- |
Posted By: Monkey 'o Doom
Date Posted: 18 July 2006 at 6:42am
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They're still backwards. :/ ------------- http://pixelmonkey.ensellitis.com">
RPG is numberwang. |
Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 18 July 2006 at 7:02am
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@ MoD - I haven't gotten around to re-arranging the speed of the layers
as you originally pointed out to me. It's on my to-do list. damm monkeys!!! <----- This is very light grey in color. The forum is still buggy so use your imagination for now :) ------------- |
Posted By: Saboteur
Date Posted: 18 July 2006 at 3:20pm
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Ahh! What threw me off was that I thought it was a platformer game, not a fighter. Crazy me. THAT woulda meant that the foremost layer was also still background. Heh.
Thanks for the clarification! ------------- "I was minding my own business and walking across a pebbled path, and a Duck started giving me the business." |
Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 06 August 2006 at 9:58pm
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This is now finished and post is closed. I have submitted to the gallery :) I added a subtle cloud layer in honor of Sharkemo! I miss you, dude.  ------------- |