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How to make backgrounds for 2d arcade game
Author
hello,
I want to add some backgrounds to my simple 2d mario-style platformer. I already did the tiles and creatures graphics and animations. Can you give me any advices on how to paint nice backgounds ? Reasons for using special color ranges (dark, light, blue) etc.
I especially need information about how to make clouds (and forrest but thats less important).
Also any tutorials/pages on computer graphic painting/Photoshop/Paint Shop Pro/general techniques would be nice.
any help appreciated
Jan Rehders
http://www.turtlegame.f2s.com
I think one of the important things with a background, is not to detract from the foreground. There are 3 easy ways to achieve this:
a) it can be darker than the foreground (If the foreground is lighter, it naturally stands out by virtue of being more visible.)
b) it could have less contrast (you can apply a contrast-removing filter in most Paint packages). This way the background resembles a real life background (try looking at the horizon and see how everything gradually fades to a mid-grey colour).
c) it could be slightly out of focus, resembing the way our eye and cameras work. Use a blur filter for this.
All these ideas help to maintain the separation of the active foreground from the passive background.
The actual painting of the backgrounds, I know nothing about. I''d be tempted to try some freely-available images, but I doubt that is what you want. I think perhaps the key here is "Less is More". I might use a gradient between light and dark blue, perhaps adding the cloud filter once to vary the brightness levels (maybe as a brightness adjustment layer), and painting some wispy clouds with an off-white colour with a large but not very opaque brush.
a) it can be darker than the foreground (If the foreground is lighter, it naturally stands out by virtue of being more visible.)
b) it could have less contrast (you can apply a contrast-removing filter in most Paint packages). This way the background resembles a real life background (try looking at the horizon and see how everything gradually fades to a mid-grey colour).
c) it could be slightly out of focus, resembing the way our eye and cameras work. Use a blur filter for this.
All these ideas help to maintain the separation of the active foreground from the passive background.
The actual painting of the backgrounds, I know nothing about. I''d be tempted to try some freely-available images, but I doubt that is what you want. I think perhaps the key here is "Less is More". I might use a gradient between light and dark blue, perhaps adding the cloud filter once to vary the brightness levels (maybe as a brightness adjustment layer), and painting some wispy clouds with an off-white colour with a large but not very opaque brush.
Definetly have the background move with a smaller speed than the foreground (it is logical sinse eveything further seems to move slower). It separates the background from the foreground nicely.
Hey I have a question for you guys(sorry I couldnt help here):
I have Photoshop 5.5, Photoshop 6, PSP, Fireworks and all, but I really dont like them as much as.. you guessed it... MS Paint! Its much easier to use, but I have a question about the color panel. There are very few colors to chose from, and the onyl way to get a new color is to go to Edit Colors. Can i download a larger panel selection? I think there are 20 colors on the MS Paint paenel, cant I make it so everytime I open the rogram there are lke 60? Just a thought, MS Paint rules
I use the other programs for web desgin puproses, and really, they have too many panels, and they look sophisticated. Every time I do something in MS Paint it comes out good, and takes me 5 hours because I have to keep going to edit colors. Any help would really be appreciated.
I have Photoshop 5.5, Photoshop 6, PSP, Fireworks and all, but I really dont like them as much as.. you guessed it... MS Paint! Its much easier to use, but I have a question about the color panel. There are very few colors to chose from, and the onyl way to get a new color is to go to Edit Colors. Can i download a larger panel selection? I think there are 20 colors on the MS Paint paenel, cant I make it so everytime I open the rogram there are lke 60? Just a thought, MS Paint rules
I use the other programs for web desgin puproses, and really, they have too many panels, and they look sophisticated. Every time I do something in MS Paint it comes out good, and takes me 5 hours because I have to keep going to edit colors. Any help would really be appreciated.
Hi, I am also creating a 2D Mario style platformer, and have thinked about the backgrounds too. Here are some of my ideas that might help:
- Make sure that the player can easily distinguish the important foreground objets from the non-important background. If the foreground is dark, make the background light and vice-versa.
- To create an impression of depth, make the background less saturated than the foreground. You can use make the background sligthly tinted blue. Use warm bright colors in the foreground and desaturated cold colors in the background.
- Blurring the background might also work, depending on the style of your graphics. I wouldn''t use it with cartoon graphics.
At the moment I use old paintings that have fallen into the public domain as the backgrounds in my game some. I might change them later to my own drawings, but since the paintings work well, this has a very low priority in my task list.
- Make sure that the player can easily distinguish the important foreground objets from the non-important background. If the foreground is dark, make the background light and vice-versa.
- To create an impression of depth, make the background less saturated than the foreground. You can use make the background sligthly tinted blue. Use warm bright colors in the foreground and desaturated cold colors in the background.
- Blurring the background might also work, depending on the style of your graphics. I wouldn''t use it with cartoon graphics.
At the moment I use old paintings that have fallen into the public domain as the backgrounds in my game some. I might change them later to my own drawings, but since the paintings work well, this has a very low priority in my task list.
Author
thanks for your tips.
Actually I think about painting my backgrounds with a pen and scanning them then coloring it with PS etc.
Kylotan: any url where one could get your game/a demo or at least some screenshots ? Its always nice to see what others did.
Jan Rehders
http://www.turtlegame.f2s.com
Actually I think about painting my backgrounds with a pen and scanning them then coloring it with PS etc.
Kylotan: any url where one could get your game/a demo or at least some screenshots ? Its always nice to see what others did.
Jan Rehders
http://www.turtlegame.f2s.com
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