Plokman's Backgrounds and Sprite test ground 2

[Plokman]

Since my old thread is older than 30 days since my last post I hope its ok to start a new one. Anyway I'm trying out some Mother 3 style backgrounds. Custom from the ground up but following the shading rules of Mother 3. None of the stuff I post here has anything from a Mother 3 background save maybe pallet.

First off for a tile set background I'll show as soon as its done I have a Neilson Box Tank Engine that will be a object. It's a WIP so you know.



This is what its meant to be:

Edit: I like how it turned out.

[Previous]

I think the passenger part is too short and should go a tad further up. Other than that, I'm not familiar with the style, soooo...

[Virt]

The base of the tan pipe further from us should be thinner, based on the ref.

[SKELTON S. SKELETON]

I get what you're going for, but it's literally a bunch of boxes with pretty minimal shading. If that's what you're going for, great, you're the number one box champ

[Plokman]

I get what you're going for, but it's literally a bunch of boxes with pretty minimal shading. If that's what you're going for, great, you're the number one box champ

All I'm asking is for a bit of constructive criticism. Not Sarcasm. I Only asked if it looked nice for the style I ain't asking for a crown. I'm just trying to improve. I know its simple but you got to crawl before you walk and you got to walk before ya run.

[Plokman]

Hmm I think I got a finished design. We got a front back and side view as well as animations. What do you think?

[Thumbtacks]

I've always kinda liked that box-train little thingy.

That being said, they're kinda right, The design is a little simple.

Criticism-wise, The smoke thingy and the firebox on the back are pillow shaded.

[Plokman]

I've always kinda liked that box-train little thingy.

That being said, they're kinda right, The design is a little simple.

Criticism-wise, The smoke thingy and the firebox on the back are pillow shaded.

Glad you like it. It is simple and Trucks for it to pull won't be any more complex but I went for it as a style choice.

Firebox I can agree on. But I shaded the Funnel the same way they do in Mother 3. Unless I missed something.

[Plokman]

And now for a new interlude. Made with a custom tile set that was made following the shading rules of Mother 3. Blue Grass Hill.

[Thumbtacks]

Well I don't remember Mother 3 having ugly colors and solid black lines all over the place.

If you are following the shading rules of a game, then you should use the colors from that game too.

Also, the tiles are very repetitive.

[Plokman]

Well I don't remember Mother 3 having ugly colors and solid black lines all over the place.

If you are following the shading rules of a game, then you should use the colors from that game too.

Also, the tiles are very repetitive.

Well I don't see ugly colors and go look at Saturn Valley it has those blackish lines. And if I'm going for a style inspired by another I'm not going to copy it 100% now am I? That is how you get copyright lawsuits.

[Garamonde]

Not copy it totally but like
actually conveying the style properly
someone who knows the style will have to help but
it's just the blue doesn't go with the orange. I know EB games are strange but I don't think it had blue grass. I'd tone it down to a light blue, it just is distracting to the eye honestly.

[Plokman]

Not copy it totally but like
actually conveying the style properly
someone who knows the style will have to help but
it's just the blue doesn't go with the orange. I know EB games are strange but I don't think it had blue grass. I'd tone it down to a light blue, it just is distracting to the eye honestly.

That could work. I may try it.

[Cobalt Blue]

I get what you're going for, but it's literally a bunch of boxes with pretty minimal shading. If that's what you're going for, great, you're the number one box champ

All I'm asking is for a bit of constructive criticism. Not Sarcasm. I Only asked if it looked nice for the style I ain't asking for a crown. I'm just trying to improve. I know its simple but you got to crawl before you walk and you got to walk before ya run.

but ut seems the soild its really warm and comfy because you refuse to go beyond crawling with this.

you're missing a lot of details(rivets anyone?), proportions are quite skewed(the train seems to be shorter thn it is suposed to see). also you're using a terrible photo as areference. there is no way you can actually tell the scale of the train with a photo at that angle. get a sideview and a front/top image and then compare it with your sprite.

the whole mother 3 fiasco seems more of an excuse to not shade things properly other than anything else.

[SKELTON S. SKELETON]

look; okay; here is the deal, the deets, the gnarly as deets.

You are bad at this style. you've managed to take a style that pops really well:





and make it look flat, bland, and boring. I wouldn't play an earthbound game if you did the sprites for them. The thing is about a style like EarthBound/Mother 3's is that they work by way of simplicity. They focus on key details to convey through the tileset to bring the scene together. The games also have a habit of breaking things up and making them more dynamic. Look at that bottom screenshot; the cliff of the mountain is slightly curved and breaks up the dominance of the plains. The small bits of washed out yellow from the flower give a kind of nice divisive affect to the palette.
Even look at the third screenshot, which is conveying a flat street: the road curves around where the action is frames. there are small splashes of red and yellow to dominate the grey color of the road. the characters details POP like BAZOW, even the small bits in that area of the brown from buildings make things pop out more.

The first thing anyone notices about your mockup is that you obviously used a repeating tile that you very poorly copied randomly to break things up. It doesn't make the grass look dynamic, it makes it look rumpled. There's no detailing done on the hills or cliffs, and they all follow a single, boring, flat line. There's no hint of perspective or vanishing point there; it's literally a completely flat image with no illusion of depth.