2D Graphics Preview: Need Feedback

[Accname]

My idea is to have a maximum of 4 characters per cell in the grid. So a 1x1 room could take 4 crew members inside.
But i am still indecisive if i will continue with this concept or change it to 1 crew member per cell and make them bigger.

But which version is better guys?

 

[DrEvil]

I agree with slappy, a mix between the grey and blue, not as dark but not as light as the blue.
You want a passive colour in the back that doesn't create too much attention, but you want people to realise it's a floor.

I'm not sure if I am crazy or stupid... But I see no beige.
I see a light red/light blue/grey.

 

[Accname]

Has been quite a while, this is not my main project right now and i work only rarely on this, but here is some progress on the graphics:

Ignore the parts on the right, they are for the door animations and for drawing the rooms.

With the new system the player is able to construct his own individuel space ships.
You stick the rooms together which come in 3 sizes: small (1x1), medium (2x1, 1x2) and large (2x2).
Then you put systems into the rooms, like a cockpit, engine, generator, weapons, medibay, radar, communications, shields, and many more.
Lastly you set up doors to connect the rooms. If you have many doors your crew can move faster but fire will spread faster too and enemys will have it easier to board your ship.

Please give some feedback!

 

[Varine]

The graphics aren't very... space-ish.

 

[tom_mai78101]

Especially the green icons in the center of each room. It doesn't give out a modern vibe to it. Is it ok if you can give the icons a bit of a shadow, so as to give it a bit more depth?

But I do like the overall layout on the walls and interiors. If there are custom accessories available, they need to match the theme of your walls/interiors, or it may backfire.

 

[Varine]

The color scheme is terrible.

 

[tom_mai78101]

The color scheme is terrible.

Really? I thought he's going for a simple design.

 

[Accname]

Thanks for the feedback.

Yes, i wanted it simple. I am making the graphics myself so i have to keep it simple.

The walls were supposed to be blue at first but somehow became green, probably because my monitor was not correctly set up at the time.

The icons show which system is in what room. The color indicates its health.

I would like to add some decorations to the ship which will hopefully give a more sci-fi feeling to it but i dont quite know how.
Especially since the player can build the ship entirely by himself.
I could give him the option to add decorations as he pleases but i would like it if they were added automatically.
But i would need to have sprites for it first.

If you guys have any ideas how to improve the atmosphere and the overall looks please share your opinion.

 

[tom_mai78101]

For starters, try anti-aliasing the icons? Icons with a sharp contrast on the edges isn't pleasing to the eyes.

Well, for me at least.

 

[Varine]

The aliasing isn't that big of a detractor. It's the bright colors; it doesn't match the tone of a space game really. I assume that the tile background is going to change, but the color of the floors needs to be a darker gray, maybe make a grate texture for it.

 

[tom_mai78101]

Maybe you're much more correct than me.

Or perhaps, Accname is planning on animations, and that the bright green color is actually a color key.

 

[Accname]

Thanks for the feedback.

Antialiasing would probably be possible, but i dont know, it would take away from the retro feeling.

The background is this bright right now to see the much darker character sprites. In the heat of battle the player should be able to see exactly where his crew members are and what they are doing.
Also, the doors are currently pretty dark.
But i could probably try to make it a little darker.

The bright green icons indicate the "health" of the systems. They change colors from green, over yellow to red depending on the hitpoints.

Here is a slightly altered version:

 

[tom_mai78101]

The bright green icons indicate the "health" of the systems. They change colors from green, over yellow to red depending on the hitpoints.

Aha! Color key, right there.

Wouldn't it be better if there's a gauge next to the icons instead of displaying the icons with different colors? Since I don't know what is considered as "retro", I'm unable to provide feedback on this.

 

[Accname]

I dont know, would be 2 additional sprites per room.
Dont you think its better to only have these icons? Wouldnt make the ship look that crowded with too many elements.

 

[Varine]

He's going for an earlier generation feel, Tommy, like from the NES and arcade decade. I understand the concept your going for, it just feels off, like, visually, I have no desire to play it, it looks like a programmer game where you just kind of threw some images together to make it visual (which, in effect, pretty much makes it as retro as it gets), rather than make it a command line game, with no real flow to it. You have the really bright bright tiles, then the more subtle, but still moderately bright grays, alongside glowing icons (which I like; if there was any kind of lighting system integrated it would be really cool to see those as glowing the rooms up), and small characters that are off center and not really visible.

 

[tom_mai78101]

Oh...

Well, I was thinking more like this:

The icons are the gauges, so that you can tell which ones are critically damaged, and requires a "Programmer" with computer skills to fix it. I might have said it wrong in my last post.

There's a retro feel of having your life bar getting sapped away. 3 stages, 1 hit and it's the next stage.

 

[FireCat]

Wouldnt make the ship look that crowded with too many elements.

If you make "the elements"a slightly smaller, then maybe you can have 4 per room?

 

[Accname]

If you make "the elements"a slightly smaller, then maybe you can have 4 per room?

What do you mean? The system symbols?
They are supposed to be unique for each room.

And the crew sprites fit 4 times per tile as they are.

 

[Jokker]

The graphics are great for their purpose! Keep it up
I have a quick question though. Is this for your own project, are you coding the game as well?

 

[Accname]

The graphics are great for their purpose! Keep it up
I have a quick question though. Is this for your own project, are you coding the game as well?

I am doing everything so far. Last year I started teaching myself openGL and openAL from online tutorials and examples. Until now I have been building a solid 2D / 3D graphics engine for my future projects.
But I take my time, I am not rushing it.