Post by XilaskaR on Apr 8, 2017 18:22:21 GMT -5
Hello there! So, if decorating a closed structure is hard, decorating an open place is a million times harder. Or is it?
Air deco is kinda like the black sheep of creating. Its hard to do, and atrocious if you mess it up. You can have the best structures you can ever make, but a poor air deco just ruins the level entirely.
But don't give up just yet. Lets see what we can do.
Okay, so, there are 3 main forms of making air deco. Well, 4, if you count core, but you shouldn't try core unless you really, REALLY know what you're doing.
1-The simplistic way
Put a few clouds, make them move slowly and you're ready to go.
This is something that can be seen in, for example, TamaN's levels.
There's nothing wrong with this style, in fact I would recommend you to try it out when you first start with creating. Focus more on the structures and when you get them right THEN try to make a better air deco. Meanwhile, a simplistic style is more than enough.
What I don't condemn is other creators like Adiale, for example.
This is a good example of bad simplistic air deco.
First off, the objects that form the background are very dark compared to the background itself, that, even if its dark, it pulses to a really bright color. This makes the air deco kinda painfull to notice, because, as you know, blended objects get brighter if brighter things are behind them.
Secondly, it overuses the shade objects. The shade objects are these objects here.
Now while it may look extremely attractive and can make some really really neat effects if used right, they should never be spammed. Because it ruins the level.
If you are gonna use these objects, I beg you, use a dark color with blending. There's nothing as painfull as looking at a really bright shine object, or a non-blended one.
And secondly, the background tiles are overlapped with other air deco. (16%) This is something every new creator most understand - objects shall never overlap, unless under very specific ocations. If not, it will just look like a mess.
Same comment goes to 44%.
Okay, trashed adiale enough. Lets go to a more complex style of air deco.
2-The not-so-simplistic-but-kinda-still way
Tongii is my perfect guest for this.
This is were another aspect of air deco comes to mind: custom backgrounds.
So what is a custom background exactly? Well, instead of putting a lot of objects to form an air deco, you put a few objects, make them big, transparent, and make them move a bit slower than the screen. This gives neat perspective effects. They were first used on Abyss, by Funnygame, and since then they're been a stable for most maps.
Now here's a list of do's and dont's for custom backgrounds.
Dont's
1-A custom background should complement the air deco, not replace it. Never use a custom background as the only deco, try to always put a little more than that.
2-Custom backgrounds should never be on medium or top layers. Always put them below everything.
Do's
1-Be sure to use the "don't fade" option on custom backgrounds. If not, they will look ugly.
2-Be sure to lower the transparency of the custom backgrounds to at least less than 75%. If not, they're gonna get confused with air deco and you don't want that.
Okay, so we learned of two ways to decorate, custom backgrounds and simplistic air deco. But what if they come together?
3-The complex way.
By combining air deco and custom backgrounds is were creating comes at its peek, making amazing levels like this one.
This style of decoration mixes air deco and custom backgrounds (although it uses more air deco) and its generally the style of the most experienced creators, but there's something wrong with them most of the time, and its that they're, too messy.
Only a few people can actually master this style and make good levels with both elements at the same time, because using them in wrong ways leads to messy and confusing design.
In the end, just follow the basic rules.
1-Do not overlap objects unless under very specific situations.
2-Do not use bright blended objects if the background is bright - it gives eye pain.
The most important thing to understand here is that messy design isn't good. Overdecoration and core styles, yes, theyre overdecorated, but they aren't messy. Take a look at this picture.
Sure, there are a lot of objects, and sure, they're all over the place. But notice how, there is never an object over another one, theyre always separated at least by a few pixels.
Everything else really, is just adquired by practice. But, I can give you a few tips.
1-Try to add variety. Place different objects, don't just clutter everything with saws, because it will end up looking boring.unless you're JoarZ
2- Try to use dark blended objects. That way they're not gonna cause eye pain. Only use bright colors when you want to make an object pop up, or appeal over all the others.
3-Use a proper color balance. If you don't know how to combo colors, just use one, otherwise, bad color choices can completely ruin any deco, even if its amazing.
I'm gonna turn this into a series yay. Thanks for the support on the concepts guide. It was fun to make.
By the way, I'm oppen to suggestions about the next guides. So if you want me to talk about any topic just send me a message or post it here.
Air deco is kinda like the black sheep of creating. Its hard to do, and atrocious if you mess it up. You can have the best structures you can ever make, but a poor air deco just ruins the level entirely.
But don't give up just yet. Lets see what we can do.
Okay, so, there are 3 main forms of making air deco. Well, 4, if you count core, but you shouldn't try core unless you really, REALLY know what you're doing.
1-The simplistic way
Put a few clouds, make them move slowly and you're ready to go.
This is something that can be seen in, for example, TamaN's levels.
There's nothing wrong with this style, in fact I would recommend you to try it out when you first start with creating. Focus more on the structures and when you get them right THEN try to make a better air deco. Meanwhile, a simplistic style is more than enough.
What I don't condemn is other creators like Adiale, for example.
This is a good example of bad simplistic air deco.
First off, the objects that form the background are very dark compared to the background itself, that, even if its dark, it pulses to a really bright color. This makes the air deco kinda painfull to notice, because, as you know, blended objects get brighter if brighter things are behind them.
Secondly, it overuses the shade objects. The shade objects are these objects here.
Now while it may look extremely attractive and can make some really really neat effects if used right, they should never be spammed. Because it ruins the level.
If you are gonna use these objects, I beg you, use a dark color with blending. There's nothing as painfull as looking at a really bright shine object, or a non-blended one.
And secondly, the background tiles are overlapped with other air deco. (16%) This is something every new creator most understand - objects shall never overlap, unless under very specific ocations. If not, it will just look like a mess.
Same comment goes to 44%.
Okay, trashed adiale enough. Lets go to a more complex style of air deco.
2-The not-so-simplistic-but-kinda-still way
Tongii is my perfect guest for this.
This is were another aspect of air deco comes to mind: custom backgrounds.
So what is a custom background exactly? Well, instead of putting a lot of objects to form an air deco, you put a few objects, make them big, transparent, and make them move a bit slower than the screen. This gives neat perspective effects. They were first used on Abyss, by Funnygame, and since then they're been a stable for most maps.
Now here's a list of do's and dont's for custom backgrounds.
Dont's
1-A custom background should complement the air deco, not replace it. Never use a custom background as the only deco, try to always put a little more than that.
2-Custom backgrounds should never be on medium or top layers. Always put them below everything.
Do's
1-Be sure to use the "don't fade" option on custom backgrounds. If not, they will look ugly.
2-Be sure to lower the transparency of the custom backgrounds to at least less than 75%. If not, they're gonna get confused with air deco and you don't want that.
Okay, so we learned of two ways to decorate, custom backgrounds and simplistic air deco. But what if they come together?
3-The complex way.
By combining air deco and custom backgrounds is were creating comes at its peek, making amazing levels like this one.
This style of decoration mixes air deco and custom backgrounds (although it uses more air deco) and its generally the style of the most experienced creators, but there's something wrong with them most of the time, and its that they're, too messy.
Only a few people can actually master this style and make good levels with both elements at the same time, because using them in wrong ways leads to messy and confusing design.
In the end, just follow the basic rules.
1-Do not overlap objects unless under very specific situations.
2-Do not use bright blended objects if the background is bright - it gives eye pain.
The most important thing to understand here is that messy design isn't good. Overdecoration and core styles, yes, theyre overdecorated, but they aren't messy. Take a look at this picture.
Sure, there are a lot of objects, and sure, they're all over the place. But notice how, there is never an object over another one, theyre always separated at least by a few pixels.
Everything else really, is just adquired by practice. But, I can give you a few tips.
1-Try to add variety. Place different objects, don't just clutter everything with saws, because it will end up looking boring.
2- Try to use dark blended objects. That way they're not gonna cause eye pain. Only use bright colors when you want to make an object pop up, or appeal over all the others.
3-Use a proper color balance. If you don't know how to combo colors, just use one, otherwise, bad color choices can completely ruin any deco, even if its amazing.
I'm gonna turn this into a series yay. Thanks for the support on the concepts guide. It was fun to make.
By the way, I'm oppen to suggestions about the next guides. So if you want me to talk about any topic just send me a message or post it here.
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