Hill Top Zone

That's completely different from the grass moving under his feet as Hamneggs mentioned, and we're already planning some particle effects like that.

 

And for those of you that didn't know. THIS is why art is hidden, because everytime art is posted, it will go in circles and never get finished. Posters are over here complaining about finished artwork. Which makes me question the validity of some of your opinions at all. Because some posters will NEVER be pleased and they can't accurately convey what exactly it is that WILL make them pleased because they have no care to even put up THEIR concept of what they think its supposed to look like. They are just vague and say, "I don't like it."

Some of you need to go to Critiquing 101.

Almost makes me not want to post artwork on the forums. What is a poster's opinion really worth? Because some people here have no idea what they are talking about and we end up with warped trees. Some people just think a piece of art is never finished. Its that mentality that made Michael Jackson's face the way it was. By trying to improve on something that's finished and crap all over it until its broken.

 

By the way Maximus, now that you've managed to nail the colors for the tree, perhaps you could post some revisions of your previous, yet to be approved, foreground contributions? I remember some awesome level chunks for Chemical Plant and Oil Ocean whose only fault was that their colors were off.

lmfao

 

Well I hope your not referring to me MDM. Because if my constructive criticism is seen as bitching. Then I just won't bother saying anything on anything again. I asked genuine questions on things that have not been asked or on things that might have been over looked.

Example:

The detail on this.



Looks finished compared to this.



Now is this bitching? Is this an non-constructive question? One thing I don't do is throw my weight around when asking something. I also don't throw my weight around when I'm not even answered. But if my input is such a burden. Then maybe I should fuck off. Excuse my language. I just rather pissed if I come under such words. Considering the fact that I feel that my input has been good constructive criticism.

 

The colors/shading on the tree isn't perfect. Buts its DEFINITELY more like the sprite than the render. Its got to the point where I'm fine with the way it looks for now. And if you want to give it a shot, I've provided you with the SAME render I used to build upon.

I have a lot from CPZ that I modeled. If I rendered it separately and put some work into it in photoshop it could look pretty cool. But there is no topic to post that. I'd like to contribute to work toward the completion of Hill Top Zone. But I don't feel there is much I can contribute here.

I think Gambit is working on the grass tile/S tunnel.
I can't best test-objects rock.
I think the vines should be drawn and not modeled. I could possibly give a shot at the platform/lift.
Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of a test-object's catapult, but at the same time I don't think my interpretation would fair any better.
I really wouldn't even know how to begin on the Lava Pit.
And people don't have a clue what they want out of the dividing door.

So that leaves me kind of useless at this point.

@steveswede I didn't say anyone's name. I am just talking about the vibe in here. No one can come to a cohesive conclusion out of what they want and its frustrating for everyone, critics, fans, and artists alike. And about the background; Hey its OUT OF OUR HANDS! Staff says its finished and so its finished. There is no point in wasting your breath about it because our opinions don't matter after its finalized by staff. Its finished, just leave it be.

 

On the subject of the tree, I really can't stand the checkered trunk. To me it doesn't look HD, it looks like Megadrive dithering, which to me at least makes it look jarring compared with the sleek look of everything else.

 

Perhaps doubling their size would help making them not look like pixels at that size?

It could be worth a try.

 

I'll assume you are referring to me. True, the background was finished, but there was some confusion about whether the FINAL background was posted, it had not been, so I'm guilty of critisizing a background which was flawed. I may not know all the proper terminology, but I explained as best I could, and feel my points were understood. Not a simple, "I don't like it". As for the tree I had warped, that was just something conceptual to aid in picking a final tree design, you may not have liked it, but I wasn't fond of it either, it was just to keep ideas flowing, which is certainly better then weeks of zero action on the forms, and if nothing else it showed people what they did not what, which is also progress.

 

You'd think that, when you're suggesting ideas, it's because you like them to begin with.

I mean, hindering progress for the sake of posting ideas you're not even fond of, seems like the opposite to progress even.



Anyway, now that Hill Top is almost finished, perhaps new topics should be made for some other levels, since at least Maximus already has some stuff to show?

 

Suggesting ideas, even if you don't think they are the greatest, can always spark a new better idea in someone else's head. There were some not so great ideas thrown around from the tree, but it gets people thinking and talking, which is the point. Hardly the opposite of progress.

Barely anything is done to final quality here, even for level art. I won't even get started talking about the badniks and bosses. There's still much work to be done on HTZ before June 15th. Adding more levels would just stagnate progress on your current goals.

 

I agree with this. I suggest that Chemical Plant Zone and maybe one other zone get a topic so that people can have something else to focus on(besides, there's only so much of HTZ that people can do before wanting more to work on).

I dunno, I guess that's just how I see it. :v:

 

I don't think is really going to help to be honest. But at the same time, nothing is getting done here on Hill Top Zone. I mean, if you want to look at my Chemical Plant Zone you can always visit the archive. Around page ~75.

 

Actually, I was just thinking I might give the vines a go if MaximusDM is still willing to have a go at rendering the platform.

I might try doubling the size of the checkered pattern on the trunk just for comparison's sake. Caniad Bach - I hope you're not basing the whole dithering thing off that scene, as it's at half normal size! Actually I thought the pattern was quite large already... but maybe that's just in comparison to the original concept.

Personally I think Maximus tree (the base Lambert render with a simple colour fix) is as good as it needs to be. It's clean, it blends in with the other artwork around it. To me the top half is fine right now. So assuming that - all that needs to be settled upon then is the trunk. Then I don't see why it couldn't be fit for an "alpha" release. I mean things can still be improved down the line if need be, right?

Edit: It would be great to get an idea of where the staff stand regarding the tree.

Edit2:
Larger pattern:

 

I'll give the platform a shot.

 

So it's good for the alpha as it is then? Or you just want people to give it a break? I'm still a bit confused... The way I see it is that people will always argue about it unless they know the official stance on it. Otherwise everyone's going to have a different opinion/preference and not one of us have the authority or the right to tell someone else that they're wrong (other than endlessly disagreeing).

I'll be happy to move onto other things (and like I said, I will!). But June 15th is not very far away at all, and I can't really understand stopping conversation and work on it in the case that it isn't considered ready.

 

Yes, because I doubt that simply stopping work on this will get people working on other things. I think that kind of attitude is only going to kill activity on the forums. Here we have something that people are genuinely interested in and suddenly we're just pushing it to the side with little official word on what works and what doesn't. Gambit is in charge of level art right? All it would take is a summary of what's working for the tree, what's not, and what (if anything!) could be improved. If it's set in stone like that, then no one would need to argue over it would they?

I can't believe you think it's bogging down progress when for a few weeks previous to this there has been ZERO progress from the community side. There's been about a dozen pages worth of concepts and ideas in just ten days and now you're complaining that we're too focused on one thing. Yes there are other things to work on. I'll leave the tree for now and work on something else. But stopping conversation entirely rather than giving the community a good idea of why you see it as pointless bickering just seems counter productive to me.

Edit:

Aaanyway...... these are supposed to be leaves right? Not weird little knobbly things...?