You know, I’ll actually agree with your overall sentiment. Yes, graphics could be better. This would mean, as you suggested, that I would have to go 8-bit style (or other simplistic style), or make them higher quality, which unfortunately means the game would be more expensive. Personally, I am tired of all the 8-bit looking games, and they don’t create a serious atmosphere, which I absolutely needed for this game. Bottom line, though: I didn’t spend enough time thinking about how the background and character art will go together. There is a stylistic mismatch between them, and I feel it too.
There’s a huge variety of styles that are very effective without being time consuming, and are very under-utilized in games. Of course it does take some time and skill to make everything work together.
Regarding the current style (which of course you should stick to to finish the game, but might consider this in the future), I personally dislike the “inverted” color scheme—it is often (over)used to evoke a sense of shock, other-worldliness, or outright inversion (light world/dark world), but to many people it only evokes the thought that the artist simply used a single photoshop filter to try to make it look interesting.
If you look closely, though, it’s not a simple inversion, since the hue is preserved. It’s not something that can be done automatically, because white shouldn’t always translate to black.
Edit: there is actually a whole system of reasoning why the colors look the way they do, so it’s, again, not just a simple inversion. :)
You know, I’ll actually agree with your overall sentiment. Yes, graphics could be better. This would mean, as you suggested, that I would have to go 8-bit style (or other simplistic style), or make them higher quality, which unfortunately means the game would be more expensive. Personally, I am tired of all the 8-bit looking games, and they don’t create a serious atmosphere, which I absolutely needed for this game. Bottom line, though: I didn’t spend enough time thinking about how the background and character art will go together. There is a stylistic mismatch between them, and I feel it too.
Ever played Every Day the Same Dream or One Chance?
Played both, liked both. Every time I load One Chance, I see the guy sitting alone on a bench, dead, while it’s quietly snowing around him.
If this is to show that simplistic styles can be used to create a serious atmosphere, then consider my statement revoked. :)
There’s a huge variety of styles that are very effective without being time consuming, and are very under-utilized in games. Of course it does take some time and skill to make everything work together.
Regarding the current style (which of course you should stick to to finish the game, but might consider this in the future), I personally dislike the “inverted” color scheme—it is often (over)used to evoke a sense of shock, other-worldliness, or outright inversion (light world/dark world), but to many people it only evokes the thought that the artist simply used a single photoshop filter to try to make it look interesting.
If you look closely, though, it’s not a simple inversion, since the hue is preserved. It’s not something that can be done automatically, because white shouldn’t always translate to black.
Edit: there is actually a whole system of reasoning why the colors look the way they do, so it’s, again, not just a simple inversion. :)