As much as I love and appreciate the backdrop art I've seen thus far, there's one minute detail I think *may* improve on them a bit. It would be awesome to see buildings appear in the background when there are a given number of friendly NPCs that are properly housed in the foreground, so that the surrounding world appears that much less "empty". A procedurally generated "large" village would feel more solidly "large" with this addition, and populating an area yourself would become more gratifying as the results of your efforts would more clearly affect the world as a whole. Here's an example: take a look at the screenshot of the Avian marketplace. Wouldn't the scene benefit from a couple of shacks dotting the landscape in the distance, and appear more like an actual community? I mean, those huts might not appear to match the stone buildings in the screenshot (mostly due to my terrible sprite drawing skills), but perhaps they're serving as a sparsely populated outskirts of sorts, where buildings are more shoddy-looking? Also, I'm thinking that maybe, juuust maybe, the buildings in the background can take on the hue of the dominant brick type in the foreground (it would only require a palette swap of the existing background buildings), so that all of the structures on screen appear to be made of the same material, more or less. In any case, I think perspective might be an issue - the buildings appear to be too far away in my example, for instance - but perhaps professional artists can succeed in that where this amateur has failed. Is this a good, workable idea? Got anything to add, as far as backgrounds go? Need a more thorough explanation, or (God forbid) more example "art"? What d'you all think?
I like the idea, as long as it doesnt make the screen too cluttered. One of the things I most disliked about Terraria and MInecraft was how alone you felt. I want a world that - when I build a city - will feel like its teeming with life, all going about its busy little business..
Movin clouds and birds and things in the background? Yea sure. I like it. Adds more ambiance, makes the world more alive!
Im supprised this has not been covered I thought it was. It would also be cool to see a person here or there in the background interacting with the houses but it would all be on repeat.
One of the backgrounds we saw in last night's live-stream (a large, empty field of green) really did need something--creatures, generic birds, ruins, villages, anything. The planet seemed so empty without.
Animating the backgrounds might be a bit intensive, but I really like the idea of parts of the background having buildings and stuff on them, it would really add a LOT to the ambiance of the game.
It may be implemented if they are planning planets with huge cities. It would be strange to walk in a super techno mega hive city only to see trees in the background. I don't know if it should be animated though.
I like this suggestion very much. It would be very nice to see how your village's background changes as you get more NPC into it. How it becomes a town, and later a city.
I admit I'm more concerned about how little they appear to be wearing when it looks like it's snowing out there. Chilly!
