I need some Title Screen Art

[JtheDuelist]

Resource Type: Title Screen Art

Maker Format: MV

Art Style: Artist's original

Description: I want the title screen art to depict Mozart, Clara, Amadeous, Septemus, with their weapons drawn ready to face Malus and her weapon facing the other way towards the others as if they were about to clash. I want the background the characters on to have a regal look to it. No text or titles are written on it.

Reference Images:

 

[Nightblade50]

I want the background the characters on to have a regal look to it.

What do you mean by that? Like a castle?

 

[JtheDuelist]

@Thomas Smith Something that could be more abstract like a regal scroll. I probably should have made that clearer.

 

[Nightblade50]

@Thomas Smith Something that could be more abstract like a regal scroll. I probably should have made that clearer.

So, the characters should be hovering in mid air, with a scroll in the background?

 

[JtheDuelist]

@Thomas Smith In a nutshell, yes. (Sorry for late replies- writing this between deaths in a Guild Battle on Unison League.)

 

[JtheDuelist]

Just gently bumping this.

 

[JtheDuelist]

Bump.

 

[SauloCVG]

Maybe you should try to commission someone to do this? Or maybe use programs like gimp/paint.net and create them yourself?
One thing that got me very good results is Tsukihime's "Hime_PreTitleEvents" plugin combined with Moghunter's "Mog_PictureEffects" plugin. The first one essentially turns any map into your title screen. From there, you can create your own title screen with events. So, for example, you can create images of your characters (or crop them from the battler sheet) and make them move or stay as you want.
With you want custom art, them maybe only a commission might help.

 

[JtheDuelist]

@SauloCVG No money to do so (still saving for a gaming PC), my own art skills suck (I got denied from making a commission shop because they said I needed to work on shading and anatomy), and there is no room for that type of thing in the project...

 

[SauloCVG]

@SauloCVG No money to do so (still saving for a gaming PC), my own art skills suck (I got denied from making a commission shop because they said I needed to work on shading and anatomy), and there is no room for that type of thing in the project...

So maybe, for the time being, how about cutting the characters from the battler's sheet and position them in a cool manner? That could really work. Using many layers on paint.net would do the trick and could look very nice. Another good strategy would be to look up character busts on free sites and reshape your characters to look like them. And use these images on your screen. Sorry if I didn't help that much.

 

[JtheDuelist]

So maybe, for the time being, how about cutting the characters from the battler's sheet and and position them in a cool manner? That could really work. Using many layers on paint.net would do the trick and could look very nice.

That was my first try before this post- resizing them past 200% made them blurry on paint.net (with anti-aliasing off).

Another good strategy would be to look up character busts on free sites and reshape your characters to look like them. And use these images on your screen

My specific art style would make that WAY blatantly obvious that I did that.

Maybe I should draw a version of it myself then ask someone to redo it in their style, kind of like how I did with my other project. At least then, they have something very specific to follow instead of a bad reference image...

 

[SauloCVG]

That was my first try before this post- resizing them past 200% made them blurry on paint.net (with anti-aliasing off).

My specific art style would make that WAY blatantly obvious that I did that.

Maybe I should draw a version of it myself then ask someone to redo it in their style, kind of like how I did with my other project. At least then, they have something very specific to follow instead of a bad reference image...

Do you have an artist that you trust and that you can hire if you need?
That sounds like a nice idea too. Art is the one thing we actually have to invest. And it is so expensive.

 

[JtheDuelist]

@SauloCVG I usually trust @SmashArt but he is usually very, very busy (he did the title screen, four character busts, and the rough outlines others used for the other busts in my other project). But he does do very nice work, even when doing it free.

You can find some of his work in the screenshots section of my other projects page: https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/downfall-fes-re-boot-demo-available.91574/

 

[Rhino]

I think that a rough version or more detail would help.
E.g. I can't tell if it's supposed to be just like a non sprite version of the side view battle system, with all the characters full bodies visible and kind of in a line, or if it's something that's more dynamic, (but perhaps harder to come up with when it's 4 v 1...)

Also, if you had a sv weapon sprite of the missing weapons it might help to include them so the title screen will match better.

Finally, have you changed the games resolution, or is it the default 816x624?

On a note of the character busts, I think the problem there is actually because of the awesome work done by SmashArt (and Roninobushi). Unless another artist is able to match up to that style, it's going to clash. You might get away with the title screen, but personally, I think mixing two portrait styles in one game would be too ugly (even if both styles are nice), so that's off-putting to me, and possibly it's the same to anyone else who'd like to help but can't draw matching work.

For that, I guess I'd just suggest using a placeholder of the same name/size now to make development easier, and being patient. That way, perhaps you'll be able to save up some money to commission SmashArt/someone else, or they might get some more free time. Worst comes to it, you'll make progress anyway, and projects close to completion tend to do better at recruitment. (Probably because of the fear with such a high % of games in development commonly dropped.)

Lastly, on paint.net, did you make sure resampling was set to 'nearest neighbour'? That should stop the blur

Spoiler

 

[Avery]

Workaround: Use the SV battlers, ready with their weapons, idle or similar animation. two on the left, two on the right , all closer to the horizon. Battleback of a matching scene as background.
Then, either recolor the boss' enemy battler (or anything with a fitting shape) to black and place it as silouette in the foreground or use it to create a threatening shadow on the floor. Tadaa. Will look awesome,match 100% the style of the game, is even animated and if you change something designwise it's easy to fix.

Quick&Dirty Mockup:

 

[JtheDuelist]

@Rhino The project I showed as an example of SmashArt's work is not the project this title screen is for.

Finally, have you changed the games resolution, or is it the default 816x624?

And no, I have not changed the resolution.

On a note of the character busts, I think the problem there is actually because of the awesome work done by SmashArt (and Roninobushi). Unless another artist is able to match up to that style, it's going to clash. You might get away with the title screen, but personally, I think mixing two portrait styles in one game would be too ugly (even if both styles are nice), so that's off-putting to me, and possibly it's the same to anyone else who'd like to help but can't draw matching work.

As for this particular project, that is kind of the point that they don't match up. This project IS inspired by Fire Emblem Heroes, after all- I mean look at all the hero artwork for the game. Every character has their own unique artstyle, because each was drawn by a different person. That is the kind of effect I am looking for in this project.

For that, I guess I'd just suggest using a placeholder of the same name/size now to make development easier, and being patient. That way, perhaps you'll be able to save up some money to commission SmashArt/someone else, or they might get some more free time. Worst comes to it, you'll make progress anyway, and projects close to completion tend to do better at recruitment. (Probably because of the fear with such a high % of games in development commonly dropped.)

Progress isn't the problem- heck, if I use the quickly drawn title screen art below I made for the game until I can get a remaster of it, all I would need to launch v1.00 is the busts of Mozart, Clara, and Malus to be able to launch it.

Lastly, on paint.net, did you make sure resampling was set to 'nearest neighbour'? That should stop the blur

I'll maker sure to remember that for later!

 

[Nightblade50]

Could you give me separate images of the character's SV battlers?

 

[JtheDuelist]

@Thomas Smith What do you need them for?

 

[Nightblade50]

@Thomas Smith What do you need them for?

I'm going to try to make the title screen with them...
Not like what Avery said, something different.

 

[JtheDuelist]

@Thomas Smith Do you want certain individual sprites or the whole sheets?