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[namre]

Hi guys, I need help with the background for the game I'm currently working on.

Click here for a bigger image

The background used on the image above was something I copied from somewhere as placeholder and will not be in the final game.

Here's my attempt to replicate the background using my own art but I reduced the number of elements seen on the background.

Click here for a bigger image

Here are my questions
- Is the background too crowded?
- Is it hard to differentiate whether something can be interacted with and another is only a background?
- Should I add more elements on my own version of the background?

Of course, you can comment on other stuff as well. Thank you very much in advance!

Cheers!

[speeder]

Unless your intention is to be creepy, I would remove that face...

And that is mostly it :D

[namre]

Unless your intention is to be creepy, I would remove that face...

Ahaha. Really? Does it look creepy?  My intention was actually to make it look cute and my girlfriend said it was. :D

Thanks for your input :D

[Sakar]

- Is the background too crowded?

Not at all. In fact I rather like your version as it is less crowded IMO

- Is it hard to differentiate whether something can be interacted with and another is only a background?

Pretty easy actually. Since everything that is the background is some shade of blue they differentiate themselves from the foreground objects.

- Should I add more elements on my own version of the background?

If you really want to, go ahead. Personally I like the minimal more look though.

[AndroidScholar1]

- Is the background too crowded?

Not at all. The pieces are well spaced out, and aren't blocked by the foreground objects. It's quite nice, actually.

- Is it hard to differentiate whether something can be interacted with and another is only a background?

If the things you interact with are that block, the door and trap-thing, then no. Keeping the background that shade of blue and everything in the foreground a different shade/colour is fine for differentiating what's what. Everything in the foreground contrasts well.

- Should I add more elements on my own version of the background?

Looks fine to me, unless you're planning on using that background for every level, in which case I suggest changing something slightly between levels to make each feel a tad more unique. Like changing the expression on the computer's face, or changing the positions of the pipes.

One thing I would suggest though is making the scan-lines (I can't remember what they're called, but I'm talking about the lines that are going over the entire image) a bit fainter. You can't really tell at the low resolution that you have in your post, but at the image's full size (which I'll assume is the actual game's resolution) it becomes slightly distracting. I'm not talking about making them completely invisible, just a bit more discreet. A nice effect to think about would be slowly changing it's transparency up and down over time with a slight shimmering effect, to give the feel that you're watching it on a monitor - but still, it looks great as it is now! Nice work.

[namre]

@Sakar, Yeah, overcrowding was my main concern. Though I don't really like plain backgrounds either. This is the reason why I'm asking for feedback from you guys. Thanks!

@AndroidScholar1, yep, they're called scanlines. And I'm really aiming on making it look like that you are viewing it from a monitor. I'm still looking for more references though, it seems scanlines are different depending on the monitors used. Regarding to its visibility, this was pointed to me as well by a friend and I wanted a second opinion before I edit it. Since you have noticed it too, I'll be sure to make it more lighter on my next edit.

Looks fine to me, unless you're planning on using that background for every level, in which case I suggest changing something slightly between levels to make each feel a tad more unique. Like changing the expression on the computer's face, or changing the positions of the pipes.

Yes, I'm planning on changing the background a bit for every level but still retain the overall theme. I'm also planning on making some of the background elements move, but I am afraid it might be distracting. We shall see.


Thanks!

[Retrogames]

I think it looks fine. You've picked a muted color palette for your background elements that blends them together and makes them distinctive from the foreground elements. If all of your backgrounds are handled in a similar way, I don't see it affecting gameplay at all.

That said, there's also a lot of things to look at back there, and while they're not distracting (and I wouldn't say crowded either), they're still interesting to look at. If the player gives themselves a second to pause and plan their next move, they may find themselves getting lost in it momentarily.

All good things, nice work.   

[J. R. Hill]

Looks really good, in fact it could definitely hold more background detail if you keep that palette.

[saibot216]

The background is fine. Not crowded.

[LazyWaffle]

Just a little. I'd just lower the contrast of the background colors, and maybe desaturate it a bit. It looks great though

[nahkranoth]

The level background is not to crowded, i think.

What i would change is the outline of the level. Now it is lighter then the dark blue background, but i would make it darker. - Why?

Now it looks like the actual level is on top of the background, while i think it's more logical to make it likes it's sunken into the background. - Why is it more logical?

It's about mass i think, here the dark blue background is the mass of earth that surrounds you (like in a cave). Hope this makes sense.

[PsySal]

- Is the background too crowded?

I don't know about crowded. For me, there is not a solid enough thematic placement of elements (if that makes sense.) In your image, the dark pipes are excellent as is the robot computery screen. But the white pipe throws it off for me because it gives me too much to think about. The three little square computer roboty things in the bottom left work alright because they are small and match the big computer screen. But the big white pipe is too much to think about, since it's not clear if it, or the roboty computery thing is the main feature. Does that make sense?

- Is it hard to differentiate whether something can be interacted with and another is only a background?

No, this is very obvious to me.

- Should I add more elements on my own version of the background?

No, I think you need to strip elements out. I like the idea of a single "focal" element and then one or two repeated secondary elements.

This goes without saying but hey, I'm just giving feedback! Please don't take it too seriously. I really like the style overall! =)

[namre]

Again, thanks to everyone who took their time to comment!

But the big white pipe is too much to think about, since it's not clear if it, or the roboty computery thing is the main feature. Does that make sense?

Yeah, I think I get what you're talking about. Since their color is a little lighter than the dark pipes, they stand out a little. I think this can be solved if I add more elements with the same color as the computer.

It's about mass i think, here the dark blue background is the mass of earth that surrounds you (like in a cave). Hope this makes sense.

Actually, I am aiming for a cake-like enclosed feeling. This would make sense once I reveal more on the game :D

Looks really good, in fact it could definitely hold more background detail if you keep that palette.

Yeah, it seems so. Before I had a different palette that the background looks too crowded even if there are a low number of elements. It seems I got it right with the colors.

Cheers!

[SundownKid]

Actually, I am aiming for a cake-like enclosed feeling.

The cake is a li-- *shot*

I think the background is great, but the level itself seems too flat. I think adding some pseudo-perspective would improve it a lot.

[namre]

Actually, I am aiming for a cake-like enclosed feeling.

The cake is a li-- *shot*

I think the background is great, but the level itself seems too flat. I think adding some pseudo-perspective would improve it a lot.

Lol. I mean "cave"-like.

I checked your edit, and you're right, it does look great. I still need to think about it, though. My game has a certain mechanic that might cause problems if the levels aren't flat. But I'll definitely consider it as I really like the look.

Thnaks!

[SundownKid]

My game has a certain mechanic that might cause problems if the levels aren't flat.

Just because it has perspective doesn't mean the character has to be able to move on a vertical plane. It could still be a flat surface.

[namre]

My game has a certain mechanic that might cause problems if the levels aren't flat.

Just because it has perspective doesn't mean the character has to be able to move on a vertical plane. It could still be a flat surface.

I understand what you mean. The problem I'm seeing is that I'm actually planning on having different rooms.

If we were to apply such a perspective for every room it would look weird like so:


Of course, we could alter the perspective so that it would apply to all the rooms like the one below:


You may notice that the difference in perspective in both rooms kinda seem unsettling for a sidecroller platformer. Since on the top room, you could not see the floor, while on the bottom room, you could.

Nevertheless, I still have to test it out and see how it would turn out. 

Thanks for your input. Greatly appreciated!

[Triplefox]

There is one palette thing I might add. Human eyes are heavily biased towards shades of green - we can hardly detect changes in blue, and only slightly notice red. I can't find the article that demonstrates the effect now, but it's circulated the net a few times - it shows a photo with different color channels knocked out or with mosaic effects applied.

By manipulating the palette with this bias in mind(e.g. foreground much more green than background, elements at the same level with very little green contrast and a lot of blue) you can make things pop to your discretion pretty easily. And with careful brightness range restrictions you can do it to most any color scheme, too.

[namre]

Sounds interesting. It would be great if I could see it in action. :D

Thanks!

[nahkranoth]

By manipulating the palette with this bias in mind(e.g. foreground much more green than background, elements at the same level with very little green contrast and a lot of blue) you can make things pop to your discretion pretty easily. And with careful brightness range restrictions you can do it to most any color scheme, too.

I would love to see some examples of what you precisely mean, because it sounds really interesting, but i have the feeling i should see it in action too.