General Category > Starward Rogue Alpha Discussion

Graphics feedback?

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x4000:
Hey guys,

So obviously there are some parts that are incomplete and not worth commenting on:
1. Stuff behind the main room area (except the starfields, which are good to go).
2. Interface stuff.

And then it also seems like folks are happy with the monsters.

But I've noticed some commentary about being in the "uncanny valley" with the actual room graphics themselves.  Are we talking about the walls here, or the objects in the room, or what?  Personally I'm really happy with the walls in particular (though they are glitchy right now and showing a bunch of extra walls in some cases, so that might be coloring your experience), but I'm not real thrilled with the chests yet.

How are you finding the item graphics (aside from the money, keycards, and health, which I already know folks want changed, and will be).

Someone mentioned wanting shadows, which I'm not sure exactly what that means -- shadows where, and from what?  In Binding of Isaac, for instance, I know that they do have shadows, but there is also a concept of height there that does not exist here.  That game is using a bit of a fudged perspective like older Zelda games do.  We use that perspective on the walls because we can't avoid it, but everything else is straight top-down for us.  Like most SHMUPs and other 2D shooters.  That's not something we can change, because the ships require rotation and so on in order to work properly.

When it comes to the paneling and so forth in the rooms, right now it's a bit bland because we wanted the most bland version first, to establish kind of a baseline style that would let the enemies and players really pop against it.  And then the starfields are a great example of what we're trying to do with making the backgrounds really pop behind all of that.  Badland is a good example of that sort of aesthetic in action,a lthough we're not doing silhouettes in the foreground or quite as extreme of backgrounds.  So we're kind of in the middle.

Bluddy:
Hey Chris, I believe I made most of those comments.

My main question with regard to answering this is, what are we supposed to be inside of? What are these rooms? Without knowing where we are, it all seems very abstract, and I don't have a sense of what it should be like in the first place. It seems more like peeking in a graphics editor than anything else. How are these ships confined to such a small space? How is there a concept of doors for ships?

As I said in my comments, the ships are quite detailed and beautiful, and I think giving them a tiny bit of a bob/quiver as they hover in place would really bring out the fact that they aren't static graphics plastered on the screen but rather living entities.

The panelling is probably the worst offender. I think it not only needs to be more interesting (and somehow explain its presence in this environment we're in), but also look different throughout the room with some pattern. For example, assuming we're in some space garbage dump, a few occasional panels could have some extra debris or rust. The panels at the lower left of the room could be a different shade than the ones at the top right.

It feels like looking at a graphics editor because the panels are clearly tiled, rather than integrated into a cohesive whole on the screen. EDIT: I guess the other reason is because we're looking at spaceships inside rooms.

Binding of Isaac is a great example of this. At its core, each room should look the same (as they did in the original flash versions). But the shadows in Binding of Isaac do a great job of integrating the screen and making every room look like a slightly different, but unique unit. There are tiny mushrooms strewn about, little animated critters (worms and such) on the ground, some walls have water streaming down them, and a ceiling we never see casts different shadow patterns on the floor. As we walk, a the corona of a light from above shifts about, giving us a strong sense of place.

Assuming there's something in the layer above us you could cast shadows/shine lights from whatever is there.
 
If the plan already exists to do all these things, that's fine. I'm just bringing attention to them in case it doesn't.

Pumpkin:

--- Quote from: x4000 on November 19, 2015, 03:01:16 pm ---but I'm not real thrilled with the chests yet.

--- End quote ---
I mantis'ed it.


--- Quote from: x4000 on November 19, 2015, 03:01:16 pm ---How are you finding the item graphics (aside from the money, keycards, and health, which I already know folks want changed, and will be).

--- End quote ---
Thanks god! Er, I mean, Chris. Thanks Chris. A lot.
Talking of this, I'm very curious. What will you come up with? Time will say, I guess.

For the rest, I'm personally not caught in the uncanny valley. I love the general "Arcen" theme. It's very similar to Bionic Dues for the rooms and TLF for enemies and shots. It sounds familiar, and I like it.
However, I remember being a bit... set off by the graphics the first time I saw Bionic Dues. Let's say it's a particular style but once you're familiar with it, you can really appreciate it. And I do! ;)

mrhanman:
I was just looking at all the item graphics in Images folder, and they all look pretty great.  I think some of them might not match the overall style of the game, though.  Kinda like how some early special effects didn't quite blend into the surrounding scene in a movie.  I guess what I'm saying is the items all have this distinctive, saturday-morning-cartoon sort of style that is awesome, but doesn't quite blend in with the surrounding graphics.  None of the explosion graphics seem to match this cartoon style.  The ships are all great, though some of the player ships need to have a more distinctive hitboxes.  Everything seems to match stylistically until I hit the tileset folder.  Those aren't bad, but pretty much everything in there looks like it was done in a completely different style.

I will say that the medkit and energy graphics seem to not match the rest of the theme.  Not stylistically, but  I wouldn't expect the health and energy of a spaceship to be a literal first aid kit and 9 volt battery.

Pumpkin:

--- Quote from: mrhanman on November 19, 2015, 04:58:26 pm ---I will say that the medkit and energy graphics seem to not match the rest of the theme.  Not stylistically, but  I wouldn't expect the health and energy of a spaceship to be a literal first aid kit and 9 volt battery.

--- End quote ---
I mantis'ed that too.

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