Topic: Background Styles

[Piranhaplant]

I'm working on a new level of Yoshi's Island, and I am considering two background styles to use.  



Style 1

The background is put in at full size.



http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp54/pirahnplant/Yoshis%20Island/SWM2YI-W4-A1--1.png



Stlye 2

The background is scaled up 200%



http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp54/pirahnplant/Yoshis%20Island/SWM2YI-W4-A1--2.png



Which one do you think looks better.

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Games I have mapped--Zombies Ate My Neighbors (SNES), Mario Party 3 (N64), Super Mario Bros Deluxe (GBC), New Super Mario Bros. (DS), Mario Kart DS (DS)

[TerraEsperZ]

My problem is that seen from that far away, you don't really get to see how bad the background might clash with the main map once enlarged. How about posting full-size versions of the two maps for a real comparison?



But personally, I try to never change the size of a background; I'll edit it instead, like adding more cloud rows or repeating sections if I can make it look good.



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Current projects: Bucky O'Hare (NES), Metal Storm (NES), Clock Tower (SNES), Ristar-The Shooting Star (Gen), Sonic The Hedgehog (Gen), Sonic CD (Sega CD), Mega Man Zero (GBA), Battletoads (NES)

[Will]

I find the second background looks better becasue it shows more mountains which gives you the feeling you're still on the ground and not  ridiculously high up in the sky as the first background seems to show, even if is full size and genuinely ripped. I think your idea to scale up to 200% was very creative Piranhaplant. On the other hand, if it wasn't originally like that, its going to stir players who might look at both the game and the maps. I'm sure you and Terra will make the perfect choice in the end.

[TerraEsperZ]

It's not my decision to make Will !



The only real problem I think is that an enlarged background might look too pixelated compared to the foreground. It really depends.



Personally, if *I* had to do it, I'd enlarge the background by an integer factor (2, 3, etc) so all the pixels remain the same size. I'd also try and use one those fancy pixel resizing algorithms like Super Eagle, Super 2xSaI, or hq2x, because they smoothen the resulting images in a way that still make it look like your average pixel art instead of the blurry mess with blended colors that most resizing utility usually output.



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Current projects: Bucky O'Hare (NES), Metal Storm (NES), Clock Tower (SNES), Ristar-The Shooting Star (Gen), Sonic The Hedgehog (Gen), Sonic CD (Sega CD), Mega Man Zero (GBA), Battletoads (NES)

[Peardian]

Though it does somewhat distort how the background is interpreted (like Will said, causing exaggerated sense of height), I myself would choose the normal size like in style 1. It's what I do for my Wario Land 4 and Yoshi Topsy-Turvy maps (with few exceptions), whose backgrounds sometimes would have to be stretched 2-3 times their size to fit the room they're in. From what I've experienced, it generally looks better when compared with the foreground and, though it distorts how the room may be seen, it can, depending on the shape of the level, look more "accurate". In the room you posted, for the most part the background is pretty close to how you would see it in-game for the first half of the room. I've tried resized backgrounds and can be a bit disorienting.



But that's just me.



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YTT (32%) - WL4 (60%) - PM (25%)

[marioman]

Style 1.



It looks more like the original game.  Keep in mind that these maps are probably not going to be viewed at the original screen size because people are going to want to see where the items are.  Therefore, using the original background size will make the maps look more like the actual game.

[Piranhaplant]

I have updated the urls, you should now be able to see them in full size.  Photobucket resized them automatically.

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Games I have mapped--Zombies Ate My Neighbors (SNES), Mario Party 3 (N64), Super Mario Bros Deluxe (GBC), New Super Mario Bros. (DS), Mario Kart DS (DS)

[TerraEsperZ]

Although I really think Style 1 is better in principle, in that particular case Style 2 does work pretty well, but I chalk it up to Yoshi's Island peculiar art style.



I tried something similar with other games and it always ended up looking pretty horrible, but in this case I can't honestly object. I wonder if the other backgrounds in the game would look as good though. If you can, please post more example.



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Current projects: Bucky O'Hare (NES), Metal Storm (NES), Clock Tower (SNES), Ristar-The Shooting Star (Gen), Sonic The Hedgehog (Gen), Sonic CD (Sega CD), Mega Man Zero (GBA), Battletoads (NES)

[Revned]

Seeing them full size, I'm going to have to put in a vote for #1. The second one just doesn't seem right to me. There's only so much you can do to represent a dynamic map with one image.

[Mahrla]

Just played Yoshi's Island DS and the background in pic 2 just looks too big compared to the foreground.

So style 1.

[Raccoon Sam]

Beautiful job.

Style 1 btw

[Maxim]

I vote for 1.

[RT 55J]

Style 2 looks surprisingly good. Honestly, either one would work perfectly for the level.

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"its a good day to do what has to be done by me and help my brother to defeat the enemys" - John Freeman

[Piranhaplant]

I'm going to test out this background resizing with the underground section of that same level.



Style 1--BG 100%



http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp54/pirahnplant/Yoshis%20Island/SMW2YI-W4-A1-Sub.png



Style 2--BG 200%



http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp54/pirahnplant/Yoshis%20Island/SMW2YI-W4-A1-Sub-2.png



Thanks to everyone who has commented, I appreciate your help.

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Games I have mapped--Zombies Ate My Neighbors (SNES), Mario Party 3 (N64), Super Mario Bros Deluxe (GBC), New Super Mario Bros. (DS), Mario Kart DS (DS)

[Revned]

Hmm. Now the second one looks better to me...