Hello! I'm working on a mobile game project, with a top down view. There wouldn't be a lot of backgrounds (just 3 or 4 like this one, I think) so they have to be good.

I wanted to use outlines to have a super readable style, but it's maybe too clean...

What do you think of it, and what would you do to make it looks better?

Thank you!

New version:

The textures help, but overall I think the problem is that everything feels too plain and perfect, the space doesn't look lived in, and the scene doesn't feel "real".

Look at some real furniture, it's rarely so plain! There are folds, patterns, carved features, bits that stick out, etc. The details only pile up once the furniture is used - wrinkles, scratches, spills, etc. Plus people rarely put all their furniture at such perfect angles, things are usually a little rotated.

Even the walls in the plainest room are rarely just a wall texture. The depth of the cinderblocks varies, the depth of the spaces between them varies and sometimes is barely visible, some of the blocks might have imperfections, etc. There are also things like outlets, wiring, power switches, baseboards, casing around doors and windows, not to mention remnants of previous uses of the wall - bits of tape from removed posters, old screws or screwholes, etc.

You might also get a more natural look if you suggest ambient occlusion - shadows that occur in corners and other tight spaces (such as between the bed and wall) because narrow spaces don't let in a lot of light.

Another thing is your colours. You're hue-shifting a bit, but you should do it more. Choose a colour for your lighting, and choose an ambient colour. Shift the lights towards the colour of the lighting, and the shadows towards the ambient colour.

Lastly, the carpet looks like stairs to me because the pattern on it looks like the fronts and tops of stairs. Maybe try something with zigzags or wavy lines instead of straight lines, or otherwise break up the lines?

Oh hello eishiya! and thank you for your answer!

I changed the resolution (x1.5) to be able to add more details in the scene, added a few objects, and tried to suggest ambient occlusion and everything you said in your comment. I still need to add details and small objects. And I'm not sure how to do the hue shifting you talked about, though.

Here is the new version:

Thank you! I did a new version with outlines on every object, and a few little changes.

I'll try more hue shifting, and I hope all the objects will stay consistent.

Here it is:

The scene definitely looks much nicer! The details help a lot. There's always more you could do though. For example, maybe the carpet doesn't go wall to wall? or if it does, it probably has some edging on it. How about rubbish bins or rubbish piles? A frame on the painting/poster, and maybe a cast shadow from it?

I think the big gradients look a little boring though, and you're missing an opportunity to create non-distracting shadows by using them. Creating texture through the edges of your shadows is a great way to suggest more texture than there is without overwhelming the piece.

Outlines on objects are nice, but I think the outlines on the carpet are distracting, they make the carpet look like it's hovering slightly above the floor. For things lying flat on the floor, I find it best to leave off outlines, especially if they're things the player will be able to walk on top of.

Your cast shadows (under the furniture, etc) seems to be darkening the colours directly and doesn't have much hue of its own. Unless you need all the objects to be separate, I recommend hand-colouring the shadows instead of using blending. That way you can get more interesting hues in there.

Bit of a nitpick: chair and sofa backs are rarely perfectly vertical, they're typically slanted. Even in those sofas where the back of the sofa is vertical, the fronts of the cushions usually aren't.

Even nitpickier nitpick: the laptop on the table seems to be half-closed and balancing on its edge, rather than lying on the table. The perspective of the rest of the scene seems to have a lower camera angle than that laptop. Perhaps drawing the bottom of it with 1:2 lines instead of 1:1 might work better?

Thanks for your comment. I did some stuff, added objects in exterior and did a few color tweaks, but I didn't have time to do everything you talk about

PS: and for some carpet stuff I'm not sure if you talk about the red thing or the blue thing (in french there are different words for these: tapis / moquette).

Anyway here is the current version:

OK, I already changed the rug's outline. Do you think it's better?

I did a few anims for the main character: