Project Aura (Update: Hill backgrounds)

[Badbatman3]

I'm sorry about putting this topic up before and then deleting it. I was hesitant and I'm pretty sure I messed everything up, so I'll try again.

I'm working on my own 2D metroidvania in Game Maker. I've made it through a lot of pitfalls such as the design flaws and I also learned a lot about programming over the past few months.

The main problem now is that I wanted my sprites to be 16-bit SNES style, but I eventually realized how horrible it was. So after making them 8-bit NES style instead, I was amazed how much easier they were to manage. I was hoping if I could get some feedback and maybe some tips. Even though I'm not the artistic type, I'm going to have to fill that role if I want to create my own content.

Update: Working on hill backgrounds.

[Koh]

Well first, i have to say for technicality's sake, these aren't 8-bit, and are still 16-bit, because of the number of colors employed.

That said, the sprites look pretty good overall. The only thing that bugs me is the way his ears just get cut off, totally flat at the top where the outline would go. Why is that?

[Badbatman3]

Well, I thought it would be a little off-putting and I wasn't positive on where to put the outline. Should I go with the one in the middle or the right?

[DioShiba]

Personally, I kind of like the middle and the right one, but that's just me saying.

[Badbatman3]

Alright, I'm at my next pothole with textures. I tried dithering which I felt looked better at first, but now it looks kind of iffy. I wanted some variation of shading. I tried dithering, but I'm not certain if that was a good idea or not.

When I run Game Maker, it looks strange.

[E-Man]

I think the backgrounds could use a lot of work. Maybe an image like this could give you some inspiration/something to work towards?



See how nicely detailed the leaves and the trunks of the trees are?

[Badbatman3]

I'll take care of the entire background soon, but just the first layer for now.

Right now, I think I'm on to something with the grass textures. The left was pillow shaded, and after some adjustments it looks better. Is this decent enough texture quality?

[DioShiba]

There's still some banding in the grass from what I can tell on the right one. But aside from that the only thing that really bugs me is the lack of contrast in the ground under the grass.

[Badbatman3]

Whew, the grass is so much more pleasing to look at! Now I just need to see what I can do about the ground textures.

[Mr. Jam]

Nice work so far, but I feel like it could use some textures in the middle of the grass to fill in that large light green patch and there could also be some heavier shading for the bottom of the grass. Also, the contrast for the grass is good, but the ground could use a bit more contrast. I find that the darker brown looks similar to the outline color.

[Badbatman3]

Alright I added more contrast to the darker ground texture, added more grass shading, and added some texture to the empty mass. That worked surprisingly well.

[Mr. Jam]

I would probably go with something similar to the grass tiles in the image E-man posted. I just think that style of grass would go a bit better with the grass on the outer edges of your background tiles.

[Badbatman3]

I really don't know how to go to that level of detail though. Whenever I try something like that, everything ends up falling apart and I'm left with a mess.

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edit: Nevermind. Apparently I made something by accident. Okay, so maybe this isn't as complicated as I thought.

[Badbatman3]

Hard to tell if I should go with the top or bottom.

[Virt]

That grass looks weird, over detailed, and cluttered. I think the simpler grass from before is better.