DD
Parallax refers to the observation that objects further away move slower than closer objects, relative to the point of view of the observer. You can observe this yourself next time you're a passenger in a vehicle. Look out the window at objects further away, and look at how they appear to move past you compared to objects closer to the vehicle. Science is fun.
This was my first attempt at drawing my own parallax background for use in a game. Creating a 3D environment and perspective in 2D was more difficult than I anticipated. I'm fairly happy with the background of this one, but the foreground seems awkward and out of perspective. The biggest problem however is the midground, where the 3D perspective has been completely lost. It seems like a cross-section of the ground rather than a perspective view of the ground.
Ah. Here we go. Much better. The background in this one is good too, however including parts of the midground in the background layer has helped the transition between the two. Changing the midground path to better transition more between fore and background has made the depth a lot clearer in this picture. I'm not as happy with the foreground, as it seems kind of arbitrary and doesn't add anything. The picture would be better without it.
The main thing I've learnt from the first two iterations is that conveying depth is the most important part of creating a believable 3D environment entirely in 2D. To create the depth in this one, the fore, mid and background are not cross-sections, but rather each one covers a distance range between itself and the next. Ways I created depth properly in this picture include; objects further back are blurrier, lighter and smaller, the front layer contains more detail and higher contrast. The foreground in this picture is a dramatic improvement on the first two pictures, because while it doesn't necessarily add any more navigational information, it conveys an atmosphere of claustrophobia and a dense, layered forest, which is exactly what I was going for. I am suprememly happy with this picture.
One of the most important things I learnt about parralax backgrounds is not just about designing in depth, but also dealing with the practicalities of construction. Because the layers scroll by at different speeds they each need to be different widths. Above is an example of my final background animated into action.
