Criticism and ideas about graphics

[x4000]

even more so if you are using a perspective that seems very flat in the first place.

I find the perspective to be very odd and disturbing - from the movement of characters, and now the shadows as well, it feels like it is isometric(ish). But a lot of objects break away from that, the car for example (http://arcengames.com/w/images/stories/avww/v004/PreAlpha-v004-Summon-Tree.jpg) looks like it was seen from a side view, just as all of the taller buildings. Smaller structures however land anywhere in between, not a sideview but not quite isometric(ish) yet.

It is really weird to look at: http://arcengames.com/w/images/stories/avww/v004/PreAlpha-v004-Teleport.jpg - some of the tires are in a side view, the ones to the right seem to follow the (correct?) perspective and the cargo containers just feel like cut-outs, especially the ones with shorter edge facing the camera. Logically some of them should intersect, like the ones on the right hand side, next to the tires.

Sorry to hear it.  Nothing more I can say than that.  Most 2D top-down games (Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger, etc) all use something very similar to this.  PixelJunk Monsters.  Etc.  The list goes on and on.

[Teal_Blue]

Just a thought, but some games i play aren't very realistic at all. Swarm Arena and even Flotilla, which is a lot of fun, though not as sophisticated nor as deep as AI War. But still, what my point is, is that i think that perspective is something you get used to in whatever game you are playing. The perspective for AVWW in my opinion is fine.

It is true that there are different views, but i find the variety in AVWW interesting and prefer to have that variety than the all consistent viewpoint i have seen in some other games by other people. And consistent viewpoints, sometimes, at least to me, is more boring because the view never changes.

But i am not an artist or a technician or whatever, i am a student and a player, moderately so, and i guess i'm regular, if that means anything, and so i think a lot of people will accept it and love it for that variety that you have put into AVWW.

It might be possible to get real technical about this or that not quite fitting, but to be honest, I like it and don't really care if there are technical things that are whatever. I didn't even notice some of the things that people are bringing up. But even if i know now, I still like it the way it is.

I understand you want your game to appeal to people, but still, you gotta make your game.

Anyway, that is my two cents, and hope i didn't offend anyone, i seem to have a habit of that sometimes. I just wanted you to know that not everyone thinks this or that is not what they want. You worked your @#$% off, excuse the verbiage,  and it LOOKS GREAT!!

Anyway, thanks for listening,
Sincerely,

-Teal

p.s. Sorry if i got a little defensive there, it just seemed the video was WONDERFUL, and then people start saying negative things. I shouldn't defend you, you are certainly capable of doing that yourself, but i did want you to know that some people support you. That's all.

@mlaskus, you are right that people just want to help, i just got all defensive when it seemed everyone was ganging up on the devs, thats all, sorry to single anyone out.

-Teal

[mlaskus]

i did want you to know that some people support you. That's all.

Pointing out stuff that could use some improvement is also supporting, we do it because we care about this game and Arcen.

[x4000]

And we appreciate both kinds of support -- very much!

At this stage, though, complaining about the perspective isn't going to help anything, just as an aside to anyone inclined to do so.  That is akin to, say, complaining that AI War is 2D instead of 3D.  But we do appreciate feedback that we can actually do anything about.

[Ixolite]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not as much complaining as sharing my view on the topic. I'm sorry if I seem whining, since this if certainly not my intention.

Now that I gave it some more thought I think its not as much about "wrong" perspective of the objects, as the inconsistency of the perspective. It is best seen on the cargo containers screenshot that I linked to in my previous post where I can see 4 different perspective views on one screen, which to me looks odd at best and misleading at worst.

That said, the foliage looks very good already, especially with how it reacts to the player actions. Adding some ideas to the criticism bit:

- The grass could use some flowers in it, this could really liven it up (http://www.cotonmanor.co.uk/images/wild_flower_meadow_panorama.jpg). Not sure how the sprites are handled but I guess that re-colouring same sprite shouldn't be too taxing, and that would be a nice way to add some variety and colours imo.
- Clouds and things like floating dust or leaves were mentioned in earlier posts. That got me an idea about low-lying fog, like the morning fog near the ground that high grass sticks through - that could look great and build a nice atmosphere for swampy areas for example.

[x4000]

Lots more is planned for various types of plants and plant variety. The current stuff is just one style among many!

In the case of the perspectives, that's again par for the course. In secret of mana, for instance, the buildings, benches, and character are all in three different perpectives. Though the containers are all in the same perspective. It's all one object, and I just rotates it to get the side-on shot. So some of that is just illusion or the trick of the camera.