Background image ideas

[mobius]

so here's an idea I had; which is by no means complete but I'd like to see a little feedback on it; is it a good idea or just plain dumb?

I made this background by altering a level; taking a screenshot then adjusting the lighting in photoshop. What do you think? Please let me know if the background is too dark or too light/too distracting. That is the thing I'm trying to avoid the most.

See if you can recognize it. If I liked this (and people like it too, though If I like it enough I might just go ahead and do it anyway) I plan to make at least one of these like this for every original set.
I might not do this exact thing everytime (take an already existing level). And I plan to try other things for marble as well.

[mobius]

here's a possible slight improvement. I realize it looks silly with the top and bottom cut off at the moment but this is just a test.

[NaOH]

I feel like it's a too dark, given that behind the background is pure black. This makes the level seem rather lonely...

[bsmith]

The most distracting part for me is not the color, rather it is that the background is 'interesting'.  I look at it and think "Look at that structure back there!"  I think something more generic or bland would be a better background.

I think you have the color balance perfect for the tileset.

[NaOH]

The most distracting part for me is not the color, rather it is that the background is 'interesting'.

I bet a bit of Gaussian blur would completely fix that, as well as add a neat depth-of-field effect. Plus, the parallax scrolling would also disambiguate between level and non-level pixels.

[mobius]

I feel like it's a too dark, given that behind the background is pure black. This makes the level seem rather lonely...

I think you're right; except I kind of like the feeling this gives.

Here's a completely different idea which I also like (which is why I'd like to be able to use more than 1 background for a set...) I intend to fix the weird line that's visible.

[NaOH]

I really like that! Although I could see how the sharp edges of the tiles might be interpreted as non-background pixels. So I still wonder if blurring the background might be worth trying.

[namida]

I really like that! Although I could see how the sharp edges of the tiles might be interpreted as non-background pixels. So I still wonder if blurring the background might be worth trying.

My usual approach so far is to make the background significantly darker than the foreground. Examples:

LPV Abstract set

Unruly 7 "Lemming Workout Routine"

LPV Honeycomb set

Outrageous 2 "Working Bee"

LPV Mineshaft set

Edgy 14 "Unstable Formation"

LPV Machine set

Unruly 5 "Ancient Technology"

It's worth noting that from the next update onwards, NeoLemmix also features a button you can press (configurable as either "press and hold" or "press to toggle") that replaces the normal display with one that has no background, and simply renders terrain as light gray and steel as dark gray. See here for images (check both the linked post and the one after it).

I also intend to add (but haven't done so yet) a "Disable Background Images" user-side option.

[mobius]

I could darken or change the color of the brick wall a bit more. Although it is blurred already, slightly.

namida: personally I find those too dark; I can barely even see them, or realize they are there.
It's interesting to note that on my phone; my background was barely visible and namida's I couldn't see at all. But on my regular PC they look much better.

Also, welcome back NaOH

[ccexplore]

Although I could see how the sharp edges of the tiles might be interpreted as non-background pixels. So I still wonder if blurring the background might be worth trying.

I suspect tile edges are less of a problem.  The tiling is simple, consistent and pervasive, so the player should quick learn what is background when observing lemmings falling out of entrances and seeing where they land.  But perhaps the background could be made slightly darker still to further distinguish from some of the darker colors used in terrain, particularly if there are darker terrain pixels that can become exposed through typical removal of terrain during the course of playing the level (maybe less the case for the level shown in the screenshot).

my background was barely visible and namida's I couldn't see at all. But on my regular PC they look much better.

I actually had to look very close to see the backgrounds on namida's screenshots even on my laptop.  But I think that's partly because those screenshots are not enlarged to the full size of the screen like they would in actual play.

Backgrounds are tricky: the pixel nature of the game mechanics plus many terrain pieces being irregularly edged (as opposed to blocky straight edges) greatly increase the potential for confusing what is background and what isn't.  At least I feel that may be the case when I study and compare how, say, Lemmings 3 handles background graphics.

[mobius]

here's one I think turned out really nice. I might make it darker still. My plan is to have about 2 backgrounds for the 9 original sets. I will use these in the update for Mobilems 1 & 2. Depending on what NL supports in the future; I'll upload them for everyone to use.