Levels & Items Art

I wouldn't call it crazy, more like super tunnel vision. His post is about his progress in building a working tile set for the in-game level art.

 

I was referring to the grass itself and the shadows that accompany them, not the bushes. Though the bushes are kinda lackluster right now.

 

I'm new here and am aware that my opinion will probably be looked over but:

It seems kind of odd how you all have struggled through many iterations to make the grass look, well, not flat, (something that I feel has been accomplished) but when the grass comes to the edge of something,
like the platform or the cliffs on either side of the bridge, it simply is cut flat with the side, not extending over the edge at all like what was done with the rest of the grass. Yeah, I know, the tile system wouldn't like
such a thing, but I had to bring it up.

 

The tiling system would not like it at all, and many things have to fit into exact areas. For example, that platform is situated between two areas over a waterfall and it perfectly bridges that gap, if it were to be made wider, it would kinda overhang the blocks on either side of it, or the tiles would simply cut it off, depending on how it's in the stage. Some places I would like to mess with the grass a bit to make it more natural, but I think the tiling system will limit me in most of those places.

 

Ok, just one more curiosity on this issue. Why not make the brown sections of the tile 2 or 3 pixels smaller on each side, so rather than extending the grass, contract the clay/dirt/plastic underpiece. Just wondering.

EDIT:

Something like this raster mockup:



On the left side is the idea I just proposed, simply retracting the brown, and on the right I added 2 pixels of grass just for fun. Each side of brown was retracted merely 3 pixels.

 

Hmm, doesn't really jive well with the thing as a whole. The strong vertical lines everywhere kinda make it look like those outside strips that overhang now should just fall off or something. I understand what you're getting at, though I think this kind of thing would be better suited for Aquatic Ruin Zone. It's a lot less abstract and more realistic, so I can see this working a lot better. Emerald Hill is actually a huge pain in the ass, party because it's really abstract, so I'm kinda hoping Aquitic Ruin is more fun.

Here's what this looks like with a few pixels of overhang.


EDIT: I see you beat me to it lol. But yeah, I still feel like those side bits should just kinda slide off when they're like that.

 

Eh, I hope I'm not the first to see this, but the EHZ trees have a base to them. No, it's not the filter.

See for yourself:

 

Ha ha, yeah. I've done a ton of the level art myself, mostly because I'm the only level artist right now, and I'm pretty thorough with it.



I wouldn't worry about us missing any tiles. Even if I did miss one someone else would spot it eventually.

 

Is there any chance to show us a video of the first act or just some short clips?

 

When I made that HTz Tree I put a base under it. That same base, but in a blue color scheme =P.

 

We aren't planning on releasing footage yet, but I may put together some better mock-ups of the stage and what it looks like in-game once I get some more stuff finished up. We've got some other stuff we can show off later as well. I've been kinda busy with school lately so I haven't done a whole lotta work on the tileset.

 

Cool. keep us informed. I thought the project had come to some halt as it's been so quiet on here. Look forward to those mockups.

 

Yeah, it's been pretty quiet around here, but we've been working behind the scenes just like we always have. You'll probably see some more promotional art before any more level mock-ups, though. Just kinda depends how things turn out.

 

@Gambit

I've just decided to give Adobe Illustrator a try to see if I can do any art for the project. Is there anything easy you could give me a try that needs doing? I won't promise anything but I will give it a go.

 

Let's see. Most of the stuff for Emerald Hill is done or being worked on, so I really don't think there's anything much for you there to do, that and what is left is difficult. You could try your hand at some stuff from Chemical Plant or Aquatic Ruin if you like, or you could try making some of the few missing assets for Hill Top Zone. I know the tree for Hill Top is pretty flat looking, so that needs to be fixed so it isn't flat. We will also need the teeter totter and the blue breakable rocks. I don't think we have a sprite rip for the breakable rocks in the database, but you should be able to find everything else.

Also, if you want, you could try doing some detailed mock-ups for an upcoming stage if you think you can pull it off. It always helps to have some points of reference for things.

PS If you REALLY REALLY REALLY want to try making some grass for Emerald Hill, go to the database and download the latest metablock I uploaded (the AI file, of course) and break it down to see how I did it. I can hook you up with a section that needs attention if this is what you want to try out, but be warned, it will probably give you a headache and cause frustration. It has done both to me.

PPS In case you forgot where it was at. Here's the database again.

PPPS Good luck with Illustrator, it takes a bit of getting used to, but it can be pretty fun.

 

I'll be doing something simple as I don't want to aim too high. I need to get to grips with the programs features. I suppose I could have ago at some mockups. I'll see how the tracing plays out for me.

 

I'm kind of concerned that the community aspect of this project has become second to simply using our resources when you guys deem it appropriate. There is no reason to do everything in secret just because you want to "surprise" everyone; our contributions are just as pertinent as your own, and any updates shown publicly are tantamount to making sure people are still interested—and by extension motivated—to work on the project.

In short, not only will it make the project more popular for you to consistently share updates, but it will encourage more people to work on it for you, which will drastically speed up progress. This forum being dead for days at a time it starting to get really, really old, and if you don't need this community's involvement to work on your project, it shouldn't be a community project—period.

 

Well as far as level art is concerned, nobody wanted any part of that except for some objects that appear in the stage and the block tiles, and those are all done now. If I hadn't shown up I'm not sure who would've started working on all the missing tiles for Emerald Hill because Sciz dropped off the face of the planet and nobody on here showed any sign of trying their hand at it after Sciz had his mock-up for it finished.

For the updates thing, we will be showing off more updates this year, because we will almost certainly have the alpha build done this year unless something goes horribly horribly wrong. Also, we really do want a few things to come as a surprise, it would be awful boring for all of you if you already know everything about it when it comes out.

Oh, and I don't post a ton of updates because I would prefer to show off actual screen shots of the game in motion or mock-ups that are what it looks like in-game.

 

Tweaker has a point.. Lacking information about the progresss also means less motivation for contributions.

People just aren't seeing results, so many of the initial contributors might be dropping from the project already.



I don't know if the engine would allow to do this without much hassle, but I think the best thing would be releasing the whole Sonic 2 with the original graphics and music, except with the "HD" stuff that's already being posted in here (music, small objects, whatever). That way people will have some incentive to continue contributing.

The STI guys could check the game's progress each time they went to one of those computers and recompiled the level they wanted to play, after all.