Adventure games art/Pictures

Cassandra Flowers

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Jun 13, 2004, 4:27:39 PM6/13/04

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Hi there,

Never programmed a game before, so I have decided to give it a go with a
basic 'classic' adventure that first came out on the spectrum "You are in a
wood, there is a tree in front...Go North..." that kind of thing. I'm using
embedded Visual Basic to try and create something that will work
successfully on a PDA - As an experience!

I want to add still pictures of things for my scenes. My question is, how
do game designers do it? For example, the classic Monkey Island Games, how
did Lucas Arts design the backgrounds? I've tried drawing, scanning, then
colouring, but my pictures still look a little ... rubbish. I've tried
drawing them free hand in paint, still look rubbish. So does anyone know
what sort of software I would need to create myself half decent pictures to
use in my computer games? I'm not looking for Halflife/Quake style
pictures, just the classic Monkey Islan, Kings Quest, etc. basic pics.

Thanks!

Cassandra Flowers

R. Alan Monroe

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Jun 13, 2004, 5:24:37 PM6/13/04

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In article <caidbq$n3d$1...@titan.btinternet.com>, "Cassandra Flowers" <ebay....@btinternet.com> wrote:

>I want to add still pictures of things for my scenes. My question is, how
>do game designers do it? For example, the classic Monkey Island Games, how
>did Lucas Arts design the backgrounds? I've tried drawing, scanning, then
>colouring, but my pictures still look a little ... rubbish. I've tried
>drawing them free hand in paint, still look rubbish. So does anyone know
>what sort of software I would need to create myself half decent pictures to
>use in my computer games? I'm not looking for Halflife/Quake style
>pictures, just the classic Monkey Islan, Kings Quest, etc. basic pics.

Most likely, they used Deluxe Paint for DOS.

Nick Reed

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Jun 14, 2004, 5:53:53 AM6/14/04

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"R. Alan Monroe" <amon...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:pC3zc.35845$Oa7....@fe1.columbus.rr.com...

>
> Most likely, they used Deluxe Paint for DOS.

Probably want something like Adobe Photoshop these days, though, or even
Paintshop Pro. D-Paint was okay in its day, but....

Ncik.

Gerry Quinn

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Jun 14, 2004, 6:42:28 AM6/14/04

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In article <caidbq$n3d$1...@titan.btinternet.com>,
ebay....@btinternet.com says...

> I want to add still pictures of things for my scenes. My question is, how
> do game designers do it? For example, the classic Monkey Island Games, how
> did Lucas Arts design the backgrounds? I've tried drawing, scanning, then
> colouring, but my pictures still look a little ... rubbish. I've tried
> drawing them free hand in paint, still look rubbish. So does anyone know
> what sort of software I would need to create myself half decent pictures to
> use in my computer games? I'm not looking for Halflife/Quake style
> pictures, just the classic Monkey Islan, Kings Quest, etc. basic pics.

The software you need is in the brain. Drawing good pictures does not
necessarily come naturally to everyone, any more than programming does.

One option is to look for a good royalty-free clip-art / photo library
(for example www.clipart.com), and use the images in slightly modified
form. You could get that '80s feel by showing a picture of a treasure
chest when you find one, or a giant frog when one attacks. Such
pictures are easy to find, and images with big single colour areas will
compress well in your distribution file.

The better your skills at design, the less actual art you will need!

Ideally, of course, you should find an artist who is interested in your
project - but that's easier said than done.

Gerry Quinn
http://bindweed.com
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