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[Naserano]

First time posting here.

I'm trying to come up with an artistic art style for my "kinda unusual" game, and this is what I've got so far:





Your opinions do matter. Should I continue with the what I've got, or just hire an artist to do the job instead? I mean, does it look good  ? I really can't tell.

[Quarry]

It's almost trying too hard to be creepy, I'd suggest finishing a near-complete prototype and finding an artist

[icompose]

I like the lighting, as a gamer, not an artist.  I would say make the character a different color and a bit brighter than the background.

[Udderdude]

Are you going for a Limbo-like style?  You might need an artist if you're going to do more animated stuff.

[nss_aries]

I think that we would need more information about the game to give you a fair opinion.

[Naserano]

I like the lighting, as a gamer, not an artist.  I would say make the character a different color and a bit brighter than the background.

yup, I think it looks more artistic now (the screenshot doesn't represent an actual event from the game):

Are you going for a Limbo-like style?

No, but I can see the similarities 

I think that we would need more information about the game to give you a fair opinion.

Sure thing. The game deals with loneliness, depression and death. There isn't much gameplay to it. There are no platforming sections, puzzle solving, or even enemies.

Project Moon is about a lonely man, sitting on his chair in the middle of nowhere, nothing but his servant to accompany him (Which is the moon in this case. Yes, the moon is actually a character that will follow you around and even speaks to you regularly). The torch lying in front of the main character showcases the days that are left for him before he dies.

So at first, the flame is kinda huge and fierce but it will begin vanishing over the course of the game.

I can't speak much about the actual gameplay elements right now, but they are definitely unusual as I said before.

That has been said, I believe the gray-to-black pattern is perfect for the game's art style.

[nss_aries]

The palette is fine, be careful about the little touch of color. About the general art aspect I'd pay attention to the actual character drawing, even a simple character needs proper design.

[psheff]

The palette is fine, be careful about the little touch of color. About the general art aspect I'd pay attention to the actual character drawing, even a simple character needs proper design.

I agree with the touch of color comment, especially in a game that is black and white. Not saying you shouldn't use color, but anything with color is definitely going to stand out as something really important. Obviously as you said the torch is important, but if you use color as a way to guide the player in a subtle manner it could work to your advantage.

I like the overall style of it, definitely very moody. Is the grey circle supposed to be the moon?

[Naserano]

Yes, the grey circle represent the moon. I can get your confusion though, when I showed the game to my close friends, none of them predicted that it's actually the moon. Some of them thought it might be a window, while others called it a gaint flashlight. So...

Can you please further explain your point regarding the choice of colors?

[ANtY]

Thought it's a window too, the problem is that the light from moon doesn't work like you have it on your pic so ppl will be confused

[Naserano]

Thought it's a window too, the problem is that the light from moon doesn't work like you have it on your pic so ppl will be confused

The thing is, if the moon looked and acted like the -real- moon, then nothing will be special about it, because you have tons of them in other games (where the moon is nothing but a source of light).

Here, it's a bit different, the moon plays a major part in the game and he is very closely related the main character.

[ANtY]

but it doesn't look like a moon

[Naserano]

I believe this is the best I can get with the moon. I guess I'll have to hire an artist after all
Some artist on Reddit seemed very interested in the project.

[JLJac]

I think it looks cool. The problem is not in the art, but in your way of thinking, if you'll exuse my harshness.

You're too self-consious. Be ware so that you don't end up not making the game because you think you can't make it. Instead, just get going and start creating. The things you can do, do them as good as you can. The things you can't do, adapt your game design so that you don't have to do them. The key is to do.

It has been theorized that the sole biggest factor in "creativity", "talent" and general "competence" is just productivity. If you practise, you'll become good. If you create something that's not so good, you're still 100% percent better than the people who didn't create anything. Being good at something is synonymous with doing it.

So don't ask people "can I do this" - what will you get from it? Either they tell you "yes", and then it's still entirely up to you whether you actually do it or not. Or they tell you "no", which doesn't change anything either, it's still up to you.

I started my project some time ago, and was fairly confident in all the aspects of game making except sound design. I still trudged on, doing a good job at what I was good at and as good a job I could at sound design. After a while people became interested in my project for the qualities it had, and I got several offers from others to help me. Now I have a very talented sound/music guy working on my project for free. If I had given people a few samples of my sounds at the start of my project and asked "is this good enough for me to make a game" they might had said that it wasn't, and there would be no game.

So, just get started I think your idea is interesting, and I'll be happy to see you work around your difficulties.

[terri]

I think if you made it look like the character is outside, then the circle would read better as the moon. You could still give it some craters and maybe make the light less of a spot light

[Naserano]

I think it looks cool. The problem is not in the art, but in your way of thinking, if you'll exuse my harshness.

You're too self-consious. Be ware so that you don't end up not making the game because you think you can't make it. Instead, just get going and start creating. The things you can do, do them as good as you can. The things you can't do, adapt your game design so that you don't have to do them. The key is to do.

It has been theorized that the sole biggest factor in "creativity", "talent" and general "competence" is just productivity. If you practise, you'll become good. If you create something that's not so good, you're still 100% percent better than the people who didn't create anything. Being good at something is synonymous with doing it.

So don't ask people "can I do this" - what will you get from it? Either they tell you "yes", and then it's still entirely up to you whether you actually do it or not. Or they tell you "no", which doesn't change anything either, it's still up to you.

I started my project some time ago, and was fairly confident in all the aspects of game making except sound design. I still trudged on, doing a good job at what I was good at and as good a job I could at sound design. After a while people became interested in my project for the qualities it had, and I got several offers from others to help me. Now I have a very talented sound/music guy working on my project for free. If I had given people a few samples of my sounds at the start of my project and asked "is this good enough for me to make a game" they might had said that it wasn't, and there would be no game.

So, just get started I think your idea is interesting, and I'll be happy to see you work around your difficulties.

Thanks, I really (really!) appreciate your advice.

[Naserano]

gif: http://i.imgur.com/CbdSiVr.gif

There has to be a proper transition at the end, but I'll get to that later.