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I see ThreeOhFour already got there with a great edit.

But I had one ready, as well, so I thought I'll share anyhow:

[imgzoom]http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab12/Mad1978/womanPO.png[/imgzoom]

The only thing, that looks slighty off in your sprite is the seemingly lack of jaw bone.
This is easily rectified by making the face just a pixel longer.

Additionally,  I darkend the middle skin tone, because I thought it gave the face more contrast.

Love the sprite overall,  btw...

A bit of a cliché, but it's all I've got...

[imgzoom]http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab12/Mad1978/Mobile%20Uploads/TimeLady.png[/imgzoom]

Ok, the counting is done...

Mandle

Fred Five

And the winner is...

Frikker

Thanks to everyone for participating, with entries,  voting, or otherwise!

Take it away Frikker.

So, I guess it's voting time!

And your categories are....

Concept - Artistic Execution - Playability

Judge wisely!!!

Great entries one and all!

I'll close this competition sometime around 14 pm gmt. So, if anyone wants to submit something in any state of development,  there is still some time.

So...

Less than a week to go. Hopefully,  some of the mentioned interest results in a background .
Also, feel free to share unfinished stuff, as well,  since it's always interesting to see how you guys work!

I do love the current entries a lot, but still hope for some more competition...

I've got just two very small issues with your last edit.

There are a few highlights on his left leg that look a bit like stray pixels.

The other one is something I tried to address in my edit. The zipper, fly (or whatever you might call it) on his trousers is a pixels width too far to the right, imho, which gives the impression of his pelvis being turned further than his torso.
Hope, you get my meaning, that sentence wasn't one of my best. 

Otherwise,  you've got a winner there, so go and get on with finishing the game!

Always have to have a go at an indy sprite

There are a lot of little things in each sprite I kind of like. So, instead of pointing them all out, which would be a bit tedious and confusing,  I did a little pick and mix edit with some additional pixel pushing:

[imgzoom]http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab12/Mad1978/Mobile%20Uploads/indyLeatherOuxx.png[/imgzoom]

...in the last edit I tried to give the leather jacket a little more shine. Don't know if it works, but I do like it somehow.

@Mouth for war, I left the topic open for interpretation. So go interpret!
No rules, that's how this competition rolls!!!

By the way,  love the entries so far...

Great to see some interest!

@Danvzare, it's always worth a shot! And to really stretch this metaphor. The more you shoot, the better the aim.

@Frikker, as I wrote in the description, no limitations. So, anything goes!

Yeah!
Mini fist pump

Got the new one up...

[The Nursery]

The Nursery

(I won't post any examples/references,  because...)

I want to keep the topic fairly open. So, the nursery in question could be designated for anyone or anything,  any time period or maybe just themed, sinister or frilly...

Therefore,  there are no special rules or limitations.  Draw your BG in any style and resolution you're comfortable with.

Hope, some of you will have fun with this!

I never got the go-ahead!

Although, my default setting of being is a constant state of madness, I'd be glad if someone just started a new one!

Ultimately,  it should be ouxx decision,  but since this is declared clinically dead for a while now, someone with a good idea is absolutely entitled to grab it, imho!

Here's looking forward to the next one...

Great sprite, as always!
A deserving winner under any circumstances.

So, if you're willing,  it's yours to take away!




Please breathe new life into this once great competition...

So, that deadline made quite an audible whooshing sound!

How should we proceed from here? It'd be a shame to let the sprite jam go down with such a feeble wimper.

I'd be open to just step aside and let, whoever has a good idea for the next competition, take over.

Open to suggestions, of course...

Well, first of all thanks for all your flattering comments!

"Rushed" is of course a very strong word for something that took me maybe 2-3h spread over 3 days to make. But that being said, it is a relatively short time for comprehensive background drawing. Right!? I mean, just look at those really insightful background workshop threads...

My BG is very much a product of not so ideal circumstances. I started sketching ideas on my tablet with sketchbook, and as I mentioned in my earlier post, didn't get anywhere fast. I got frustrated,  annoyed with myself,  and let well be... until, as mentioned before,  I thought this great idea deserves some kind of entry.

So, I just finished what I already had on my tablet inbetween working hours and telly relatively "fast"!

And that's where the trouble started... sketchbook, as nice as it is, really only works for high res images. So, as an afterthought,  I cropped and scaled the image down in gimp to resemble the dott ratio, and also limited the colour count to 256.

What you get, when you really look at it, is a blurry mess! Not to mention the sloppy shadows.  Try comparing my BG with an original one side by side, and you'll know what I mean...

As for tutorials,  I'm not very good at them, but a few tips, maybe:
1. Start with the correct resolution, but maybe make your workspace bigger than required,  you can still crop the thing later on
2. Take an original dott background, that fits your purposes best, as reference. Especially,  look for where they put the horizon and vanishing point. Take that as a starting point and work your composition from there.
3. Stick to just a few general colours at the beginning. 3-4 for for each element,  such as walls, furniture etc.
4. Start with rough angular shapes for whatever you're filling the background with. Using an antialised line tool for this and filling the shapes in is a good shortcut.
5. When shading don't be too concerned with realism. Again, use your reference for this.

This is by no means the best and only way to achieve a dott style background, but it has worked for me in the past.


Wow, that was a longwinded post, especially for me. But I thought I owed you a comprehensive answers,  because I really didn't want to come of as flippant with my "rushed" comment and thought I had to explain myself.

Back on topic:
@Kumpel: I'd really like to see that, as well.  So, get going...

There you go:
[imgzoom]http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab12/Mad1978/Mobile%20Uploads/1453313604826_1.png[/imgzoom]

Very much rushed.

It's just there to entice people to participate, anyway, since I haven't got an idea half as good as yours,  should it come to that!
So, come on folks...

I know what you mean!

I really tried entering your competition, since I think the idea is great. But a lack of inspiration and talent, stumped me from doing so.

I'm still on it though, so maybe you'll get something soonish...

Hang in there!

I'm with Funkpanzer in regard to the character having too little contrast to the overall background.

One way around this, is of course using a darker outline for the character:
[imgzoom]http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab12/Mad1978/Mobile%20Uploads/BGchaPO.png[/imgzoom]

This could look a bit harsh. But maybe it's worth trying different shades for the outline.


Another idea could be giving the character a slightly different colour value:
[imgzoom]http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab12/Mad1978/Mobile%20Uploads/BGchaPO02.png[/imgzoom]
(This also works for the gui, methinks. )

I also pushed some pixels on the character itself.


Overall, I like this a lot! Especially the gui.
I also don't see a problem with the walkable areas being flat. Gives it a nice platformer vibe. But the tree could use some depth, imo, since the rocks have such great detail.

Please finish this...

In regard to the tragic news of Bowies death, I thought we could expand this jam a bit.

Bowie was an artistic genius! Not only as a musician, but designer, actor, and dare I say game designer.

So, I thought it quite fitting for you creative folk to honour the man in this medium.
Whoever likes, may offer up a sprite depicting one of Bowies numerous incarnations, from film or music.


If anyone has already started with the other topic, I don't see that as a problem, since David Bowies genius was not of this world, either...