Graphics Which one looks crappier(or better)...

[Kobold]

EDIT: It has been decided by 3 game maker comrades that B sucks and A is kinda cool... so it's done. Thanks guys.

EVEN MORE EDIT: Apparently there is more cool ideas in the mix... I will redesign them according to your ideas ... see wether I can top the existing covers

Hello Community of Game Makers and Wannabes (mostly myself).
I have made some nonsense which actually looks not too horrible for once (this can be argued over).

It is time for these two Candidates to decide which one will be turned into a "special box" cover for Halloween 2019.
To understand what is going on in these two cover-art-pieces, they both contain the most memorable part of the game... Robin's Glasses in which you can see the reflection of the game's antagonist of all antagonists, haha.
I am sure this (the glasses and reflection) has been done before... too many times... so let me just puke right on top of the existing pile of cool ideas by doing the same thing. I can't do anything else as I want to keep it simple and merge protagonist and antagonist into the cover.

So here we are.... which on is better or crappier or whatever?
I have already a favourite... but it is not listed here as it isn't suitable to all audiences, sadly, haha.

Candidate A:

or candidate B:

 

[rIKmAN]

I prefer the first one, but this is highly subjective.

 

[Lonewolff]

Candidate B is crappier

Both look great, but I prefer A

 

[Kobold]

I prefer the first one, but this is be highly subjective.

Candidate B is crappier

Both look great, but I prefer A

If the majority keeps liking "A" , I should almost go and make Robin disappear at the end... you know... kinda like the glasses point towards the fate...or some weird stuff?

 

[ThinPixels]

I wouldn't normally say something looks crappy. This would be especially true with something as subjective as art, but since you asked, I'd go with "A" because "B" is definitely crappier haha!

 

[Kobold]

I wouldn't normally say something looks crappy. This would be especially true with something as subjective as art, but since you asked, I'd go with "A" because "B" is definitely crappier haha!

I've changed the title of the topic...
I got used to cussing a lot since I started making a game.
hence why I can no longer distinguish from what is the right or more appropriate term to use.

anyways... cool... so everyone seems to like "A" better than "B" ... ?
why? I mean I'll take it...

So the glasses it is....

 

[ThinPixels]

why? I mean I'll take it...

For me personally, the first better conveys a sense of horror. You have a monster in the glasses, but no one wearing them. When I look at the first image, I am questioning what happened to them, where is the owner of those glasses etc. It is a darker image in my opinion. The subtle smile within the second image throws me off, she doesn't take the monster as any sort of threat, but maybe that is intended.

 

[Kobold]

For me personally, the first better conveys a sense of horror. You have a monster in the glasses, but no one wearing them. When I look at the first image, I am questioning what happened to them, where is the owner of those glasses etc. It is a darker image in my opinion. The subtle smile within the second image throws me off, she doesn't take the monster as any sort of threat, but maybe that is intended.

darn.... that makes sense.
Thanks for taking the time and explaining this. I do agree with that!
You deserve another "like"

 

[Kyon]

For me personally, the first better conveys a sense of horror. You have a monster in the glasses, but no one wearing them. When I look at the first image, I am questioning what happened to them, where is the owner of those glasses etc. It is a darker image in my opinion. The subtle smile within the second image throws me off, she doesn't take the monster as any sort of threat, but maybe that is intended.

darn.... that makes sense.
Thanks for taking the time and explaining this. I do agree with that!
You deserve another "like"

Might even work better with the glasses being a bit broken?

 

[Sam (Deleted User)]

I like them both. B everyone seems to think looks worse, but you aren't going for realism (not many indies do, I know I don't).

I say use B because it looks just as good, (and more detailed), and it will piss everyone off..

 

[Kobold]

Might even work better with the glasses being a bit broken?

That is a cool idea... I shall give this a try.
I will post it here in case I didn't f**k it up too bad.

I like them both. B everyone seems to think looks worse, but you aren't going for realism (not many indies do, I know I don't).

I say use B because it looks just as good, (and more detailed), and it will piss everyone off..

...well that is certainly refreshing to see... one for "B"... you are definitely going against the stream here, haha.

To be honest with you... I am in fact trying to pull some sort of realism.
In the game I managed to turn the MatCap shader into a gloss shader thanks to some blending and texture "screwing around"... now the monsters do kinda look more disgusting... and believe it or not but the glasses do reflect the environment, and the skin thanks to some ambient colouring gives the impression of Subsurface Scattering going on... just like in real life, thing...
everything else looks like s**t though, but what can one do? I suck at GML so there is no point in trying to understand shader programs ... otherwise I would go as close to realism as I can.

Thanks for the input folks... believe it or not but I am taking it in.
I threw some "likes" at you both too.

 

[Thunder Lion]

EDIT: It has been decided by 3 game maker comrades that B sucks and A is kinda cool... so it's done. Thanks guys.

Hello Community of Game Makers and Wannabes (mostly myself).
I have made some nonsense which actually looks not too horrible for once (this can be argued over).

It is time for these two Candidates to decide which one will be turned into a "special box" cover for Halloween 2019.
To understand what is going on in these two cover-art-pieces, they both contain the most memorable part of the game... Robin's Glasses in which you can see the reflection of the game's antagonist of all antagonists, haha.
I am sure this (the glasses and reflection) has been done before... too many times... so let me just puke right on top of the existing pile of cool ideas by doing the same thing. I can't do anything else as I want to keep it simple and merge protagonist and antagonist into the cover.

So here we are.... which on is better or crappier or whatever?
I have already a favourite... but it is not listed here as it isn't suitable to all audiences, sadly, haha.

Candidate A:

or candidate B:

I feel the first one gives the essence of the game, as I've seen video and screenshots, although doing something in the background may help set it off, maybe some bricks or a dirty basement or lab floor?

 

[Kobold]

I feel the first one gives the essence of the game, as I've seen video and screenshots, although doing something in the background may help set it off, maybe some bricks or a dirty basement or lab floor?

...you mean like resolving the "blackness" ...giving it more depth / insight to the atmosphere?

 

[Thunder Lion]

...you mean like resolving the "blackness" ...giving it more depth / insight to the atmosphere?

Exactly! Also I feel the monster shouldn't be revealed in the glasses so well. Maybe glowing eyes with a dark silheute.

 

[Kobold]

Exactly! Also I feel the monster shouldn't be revealed in the glasses so well. Maybe glowing eyes with a dark silheute.

It's worth trying out, for sure! Let me take this with me and see what I can wiggle up....
Cool, thank you for your input. \m/

 

[HayManMarc]

I think A looks more professional.

 

[RichHopefulComposer]

I think the logo's perspective is making this feel off, at least to me. The logo tilting backwards makes it feel more like an action movie than a horror game. The beveling has the same effect. I think a simple, flat, sharp looking type-face would give you a much better effect:

Stuff like that. I agree with the others that the glasses fit the theme much better than the second one, too. That said, the glasses are only taking up a small portion of the cover space, which hurts the composition a lot, I think. It might work better if the glasses weren't in complete blackness - you could extend a gritty cement or whatever floor to the top of cover, maybe crack the glasses up a bit, add some blood, etc. I'm not sure about the green, either....I know it ties in with the game, but red, brown, blue, are probably all scarier colors. Maybe. Not totally sure, there. Green just gives me a "haunted house" kind of feeling, I think. Then again, red blood under green lighting would turn up almost completely black, so that could look really creepy too, if you start bloodying up the picture like I mentioned. =D

Anyway! Sorry for listing a bunch of negatives in the row. Your game looks good, so I wanted to give all the advice I could to make the cover more appealing - it's the first thing people see of your game, and if it's not good, it's the last, which would be a shame, since your game looks great! Good luck, Kobold! =)

 

[Kobold]

@RichHopelessComposer
Oh wow! Those are nice cover arts man...
I can not do art that complex... but I understand your point on the Logo's perspective... and the mood it conveys.... I'm still gambling away on redoing it with two more "gooderer" versions... taking all the feedback into consideration.
I like when people are critical... makes me better.

Thanks guys

 

[HayManMarc]

RHC and the others make some good points, but I still like the logo and the empty blackness in 'A'. Feels ominous. The logo has a slight tech-y feel to me, also, but still holds a horror element (and sci-fi) with the ooze coming off the letters.

 

[ajan-ko]

@RichHopelessComposer
Oh wow! Those are nice cover arts man...
I can not do art that complex... but I understand your point on the Logo's perspective... and the mood it conveys.... I'm still gambling away on redoing it with two more "gooderer" versions... taking all the feedback into consideration.
I like when people are critical... makes me better.

Thanks guys

Umm... some ideas:

Change your font. http://www.1001fonts.com/poster-fonts.html
Shatter your glass.

If your 3d monster/graphics sucks, don't rely on them.
Silent hill graphics sucks, but they rely on 2d art for box cover

Change the color palette
Silent hill color palette is so disgusting, it reminds me of rusty metal. You can feel the creep from the color p palette.
The evil withing using old walls palette color + blood.
fatal frame use japanese school horror vibe.
If you're using green as horror, you need to steal alien color palette

Use the scaries part: the teeth.
https://www.amazon.com/Clown-Mouth-Piece-Vinyl-Vampire/dp/B075NGL7LW

or eyes
https://wallpaperscraft.com/download/eyes_blue_eyelash_pupil_fear_10662/240x320
http://www.scaryforkids.com/man-with-red-eyes/


Give the old painted wall feeling:
http://metal.graphics/graphic/brushed/horror-background/
https://www.desktopbackground.org/w...s-hd-cool-wallpapers-basic-backgrounds-218473

or rusty metal feeling.

or tv static
https://www.shutterstock.com/video/...ror-tv-static-mixed-media-cg-and-footage.html

 

[Kobold]

Shoot...

Umm... some ideas:

Change your font. http://www.1001fonts.com/poster-fonts.html

...I can not do that (the reason for this is that the final font will be added into the existing TM-Title registry-entry for the title... and using a font which is IP to another owner/creator is not allowed to be added into the registry... so I gotta keep it original ... basically my own design. If that makes any sense.). But I like the fonts which you have posted... what I can do is change it up to achieve a "similar" design.

Shatter your glass.

It's in the loop... seems to be a favourite

If your 3d monster/graphics sucks, don't rely on them.

yeah... they do suck. But again the main-"monster" is subject to some spice-up

Silent hill graphics sucks, but they rely on 2d art for box cover

...can't argue that.

Change the color palette
Silent hill color palette is so disgusting, it reminds me of rusty metal. You can feel the creep from the color p palette.
The evil withing using old walls palette color + blood.
fatal frame use japanese school horror vibe.
If you're using green as horror, you need to steal alien color palette

...love it! ...here is the thing... our game's focus is not slaughter... and it's not alien either... and it doesn't contain a hellish sorta ambience. It is too cheesy for that. I have to stick to the green

Use the scaries part: the teeth.
https://www.amazon.com/Clown-Mouth-Piece-Vinyl-Vampire/dp/B075NGL7LW

That is awesome ...the main antagonist is not a crazy person though... but I like these biters... much better than what I gave it.
I will consider this.

or eyes
https://wallpaperscraft.com/download/eyes_blue_eyelash_pupil_fear_10662/240x320
http://www.scaryforkids.com/man-with-red-eyes/

...which one ... for the monster thing?

Give the old painted wall feeling:
http://metal.graphics/graphic/brushed/horror-background/
https://www.desktopbackground.org/w...s-hd-cool-wallpapers-basic-backgrounds-218473

or rusty metal feeling.

or tv static
https://www.shutterstock.com/video/...ror-tv-static-mixed-media-cg-and-footage.html

...old painted wall would actually work.

See I can not put metal into it or TV static (although TV static would kinda work based on what it involves... would love to share the plot, but that is secret sadly...)
...the rusty metal would suggest a nasty environment... the game's environment is clean, partially inviting and mysterious... so it is not a chainsaw-fight-the-devil-demons kinda theme.

Thank you Bro...
...you really gave me some good ideas.

 

[ajan-ko]

Shoot...
...I can not do that (the reason for this is that the final font will be added into the existing TM-Title registry-entry for the title... and using a font which is IP to another owner/creator is not allowed to be added into the registry... so I gotta keep it original ... basically my own design. If that makes any sense.). But I like the fonts which you have posted... what I can do is change it up to achieve a "similar" design.

There's free for comercial use font. Use them.

2. Usage
The given typeface may be downloaded and used free of charge for both personal and commercial use, as long as the usage is not racist or illegal. Personal use refers to all usage that does not generate financial income in a business manner, for instance:

- personal scrapbooking for yourself
- recreational websites and blogs for friends and family
- prints such as flyers, posters, t-shirts for churches, charities, and non-profit organizations

Commercial use refers to usage in a business environment, including:

- business cards, logos, advertising, websites, mobile apps for companies
- t-shirts, books, apparel that will be sold for money
- flyers, posters for events that charge admission
- freelance graphic design work
- anything that will generate direct or indirect income

...love it! ...here is the thing... our game's focus is not slaughter... and it's not alien either... and it doesn't contain a hellish sorta ambience. It is too cheesy for that. I have to stick to the green

You need to find the creepy green-ish hell reference. Use that color palette. Remember what makes we scared, we dislike disgusting color: rusty metal, blood red, blue dark night with tainted blood, in your case:

-Green monster: Alien, orc, zombie
-Swamp
-Creepy green nightvision http://bearded-devil.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/night-vision.jpg

I don't think hell is green... but whatever...

...which one ... for the monster thing?

Glass reflection, if those glass relect the creepy green eye / tooth, it will be even more scarier.

 

[Kobold]

...wow that looks pretty mean... is that hand...err...claw scratching marble?!

Now I am really unhappy with what I have created previously... there is so much better stuff I could do.

So you think, that the current colour palette lacks contrast... like having a sick looking tone of green-yellow somewhere organic and then use a surface somewhere with a slight hint of green?

 

[ajan-ko]

...wow that looks pretty mean... is that hand...err...claw scratching marble?!

Now I am really unhappy with what I have created previously... there is so much better stuff I could do.

So you think, that the current colour palette lacks contrast... like having a sick looking tone of green-yellow somewhere organic and then use a surface somewhere with a slight hint of green?

I think you want something like:
Creepy green nightvision
http://bearded-devil.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/night-vision.jpg

even normal things can be spooky with nightvision

Outlast do nightvision alot. (you probably remember green hell from outlast)