there's banding on the sprites that should be removed. more contrast in the colors used on the sprites could also help. I'd vary the type of stars used, so that they aren't just dots and + signs (should be some decent references in the gallery). Also think about making some stars less bright (so make some that use a color that is darker than pure white). the outline on the moon is unnecessary, I'd remove it and then use AA to fix some of the jaggies and make it blend more smoothly into the background. the highlight on the hill isn't working, there's no reason for it not to extend to the border of the hill, or further toward the characters. Also, what is the hill made of, why is it dark grey? And lastly, thing about adding a horizon in the bottom right.

As far as tutorials go, here's the in-house special.


Edited by cure - 06 April 2012 at 2:35pm