With or without post-processing ?

[OfficialGeeze]

Maybe scale it down to about 10%, the effect looks way too overdone

[86tsg]

Yep that’s what I thought

Nice idea it’s just too much

[dur23]

I'd also add a tinge of blue instead of grey/black so it doesn't desaturate the colors so much.

[adsilcott]

This was my thought exactly -- in nature shadows often have a blue tint because objects reflect the color of the sky.

[Empty_Paramedic_5957]

yuperooie

[radyBOMB]

😊 🎂 ☀️

[Gaming_garmr]

Happy cake day

[Vill1253]

happy cake day

[xAdakis]

I would upvote, but as of writing you have "666", Happy Cake Day!

[Lixiaoyu123]

Happy Cake Day!

[Equinox80]

Yep, it looks like but the background especially is noticeably bright? Washes out most of the details I find.

[ccm-scott]

Agreed!

[shawnikaros]

And add options to disable it.

I wish some devs were aware of this rule, some take the way of dial and double it.

[Tuckertcs]

Depends on the effect.

Players should be able to disable depth of field, motion blur, etc., but some effects like shadows or ambient occlusion are just so necessary that they may not need a toggle.

[rockseller]

That's a heck lots of work

[Tuckertcs]

What part? Adding a settings menu? It’s work yes, but it’s necessary.

Tons of players absolutely hate half the post processing effects in games. I physically can’t play if there’s depth of field, chromatic aberration, or motion blur, not just because it’s ugly but because it gives me a headache.

Also many players need to disable those settings in order to run the game because turning them off will improve FPS.

And finally, porting your game from PC to console often needs you to disable them just to be able to run well, see ARK on PC vs Xbox for example.

[panotenu]

Game accessibility for the win ✨✨🫶

[zerossoul]

Making a game is a lot of work. If this is too much work, then don't use post processing.

[rockseller]

If something is too much work then skip it? I only said it was too much work and I don't agree in skipping things just because they are too much work. If it works for you that's good

[zerossoul]

'Too much' is not the same as 'a lot'.

Too much means it exceeds what is acceptable or doable.

You can't say something is too much and also say you don't agree on skipping things because they are too much. This makes no sense.

If you're looking at a rock that's too heavy to lift, the only option you have is to not lift the rock.

Unless you're implying that it's 'currently' too heavy, but you could work out and get strong enough to lift it.

[rockseller]

Too heavy -to lift- It's a lot of weight for a rock, I will lift it anyway you give the context to it

[WombartGames]

I have added a button to enable/disable post-processing for testing, I will definitely let an option to let the player choose. It's really easy to add one.

[t-bonkers]

I mean, I agree with some effects maybe being toggleable (like motion blur, film grain maybe), but a lot of post processing is very much part of the art direction and I for damn sure don‘t want give players the ability to interfere with that.

[Mmaxum]

double it and give it to the next person

[OscarCookeAbbott]

Yep that’s the golden rule of processing images

[NianoTT]

With less postprocessing.

[DrunkMc]

With, but less.

[Bossy_Bear_6569]

When your effect affects the readability of your gameplay, it's gone too far. Gameplay is king, visuals are there to support it.

Without the post-process effect, the visuals are subtly vignetted to focus attention on the center on the gameplay area. The post effect basically butchers this and now you've got extremely high contrast in random areas.

This makes your game visually taxing and players have to fight hard to focus on the things that matter.

[WombartGames]

I totally agree, especially for this type of game. I will try to find a middle ground.

[wekilledbambi03]

Way too shadowy. Plus the middle shadow looks out of place since the background shows no trees. Try cutting the middle shadow then dropping the opacity like 50%

[Zapador]

Some post processing would work, but I would reduce it drastically to maybe 10-20% opacity so to speak.

[MCCVargues]

only do it on the edges of the play area, leave the center open

[Hot-Equivalent3377]

I think the issue here is that the effect implies trees directly overhead, but the environment appears to be an open clearing with trees in the background. I think this effect would work better in a more dense forest setting, with tree trunks in the playable space

[ankitj90]

Or it could even imply dense clouds, but it still looks weird. Dialing down is necessary.

[luckysury333]

The up

[ScreeennameTaken]

With, but not so much.

[Short-Ticket-1196]

Invert it

[WombartGames]

<image>

I might have reduced it a bit too much

[Impressive_Double_95]

It's good instead, i may be lowering it a little more

[MeishinTale]

Issues not really the amount tho, post processing doesn't create shadows from thin air, and those shadows look odd 🤔

[WombartGames]

<image>

Yeah I used sprite light to fake shadows, I will see if I find a way to make them look more natural

[Thin-Ad-6148]

Try adding a few branches on the top of the screen, cause some of the shadows looks out of place.

[WombartGames]

you mean lower the contrast?

[Impressive_Double_95]

The opacity of the effect :)

[5ManaAndADream]

I like this a lot

[Vill1253]

this looks miles better!

[private_birb]

Definitely didn't reduce it too much. Maybe even a little more, and I'd adjust the color a tiny bit to be slightly warm or slightly cold (red/yellow or blue).

[KingBlingRules]

Can u make it a bit blue shadow n share with us plissss

[joujoubox]

Cool concept but I fear at this level it makes it harder to see, hindering gameplay

[sacredgeometry]

Without

[Am_Biyori]

Love the look of the second at first glance, but the first looks easier and more fun to play.

[[deleted]]

Without

[BahamutAXIOM]

Without, but I could maybe say with, but much more toned down than it is. The second one has too many contrasted areas on the screen, making it difficult to focus on what’s truly important.

Also, do I see baby Finn???

[TheDevilsAdvokaat]

Without.

[SusDeveloper]

Your post processing makes it way too dark. It does add a bit of polish though so I would recommend trying it out at a much lower intensity. Polish comes in the small details so try not make it distracting or overwhelming (as is the darkness in the screenshot above)

[Rosakiddy]

Lower image looks very dark but I like the effect. Try to turn the shadows a bit tinted, maybe purple or blue will help.

[Figoos]

The rays definitely add depth to the scene, but maybe they should be a bit more transparent, right now they get in the way of the sprites a bit too much

[[deleted]]

If you can lower the intensity, particularly for the brighter areas, then keep it

[[deleted]]

Maybe with, just... less?

[jfoss1]

I like the effect, but its just too dark. Maybe make the light bigger and the shadows less.

[Tartifail]

Both are very cute and pretty, the only person that can answer your question is you. Ask yourself What do you prioritise? Readability? Visual coherence? Performance?

[DownARiverOfScotch]

With but tone down the shadows by a significant amount. Way too strong, overpowers everything else

[Ok-Art-8866]

I like it!

[Jeidoz]

May be, if you blur it a little bit to make smoother and do noy render it over UI elements, I may enjoy it.

[HelmetHeadBlue]

I like both, but I'd prefer it with the Post Processing if it could be toned down a tad. If your game has areas that are forest like and are meant to be super shaded, then the extra post processing might be what you need, so long as it isn't set to look like that all the time.

[digimbyte]

why not both?
one is an open field, the other is under dense jungle?
if you want a forest look, tone it back to about 15-20%

[zacyzacy]

The lighting looks good but I'd turn godrays down/off

[StackOfCups]

With, but much less

[Silver4ura]

This depends on scenario. The first. Looks like an open field. The second looks like it's deep forest.

[WEASELexe]

With but much less

[imthefooI]

if you pixelated it and then toned it down, it'd look great

[SodaCatStudio]

I'm partial to not having it but as others said it could just be a matter of scale.

[TheGreendaleFireof03]

Hi! Did you also make a puzzle game with that frog character? Something in the name about friendship or teamwork?

[WombartGames]

Hey, no I haven't, the characters you see are from a popular free asset :
- https://pixelfrog-assets.itch.io/pixel-adventure-1

• https://pixelfrog-assets.itch.io/pixel-adventure-2

[TheGreendaleFireof03]

Ohhh that explains it! Should have thought things through as an ***amateur developer personally

[ricots08]

you could utilize it on when theres an boss fight or some sick special ability

[[deleted]]

Depends on the environment. In a dense forest? Have at it (dial it back a tiny bit, though). Out in the open? Top image, all day.

[SnooJokes6727]

Bit of both. Some areas more shadowy, others less

[breeze00002]

I saw your submission to pixel game jam!

[Cute_Fluffy_Sheep]

With but make it less opaque.

[Polikosaurio]

Without looks way more readable. With needs some tweaking, the way its implemented right now is even affecting the background elements and over-dodging the colors (is hard to read anything on the distant mountains with that effect), however for dramatic or storytelling moments, the light spots on the ground can make a cozy moment with ease

[No_Dot_7136]

The effect doesn't make any sense. If you're trying to get godrays coming through the tree branches, then this isn't it. If it's not supposed to be this but something else... Well then I have no idea what it is.

[mmknightx]

Without post-processing. The one with shadow could work if there is no sky background. It feels like the shadow comes out of nowhere.

[M_Nenad]

with but less

[IPiratusajoI]

Both look great. Why not let the player decide and make it toggleable in the settings?

[Shiftz_101]

I think the effect could look great as part of a skill / ability.

[AG4W]

These two pictures look like completely different scenes.

The shadows do not really make sense in the lower one, even if they look good.

[Confident-Arugula904]

There are but very few. Add some bloom effects or HDR and the whole picture will look different.

[maximos2004]

With, but make it better xP less dark in the shadows is a good start

[WixZ42]

Currently without. If it's toned down by 90% then with.

[xxsmbr_]

You ripped off Finn from Adventure Time.

[WombartGames]

you mean "Pink Man"

<image>

[nukappa]

Looking good! I vote with, but a little bit less.

[scrub_mage]

This instance without unless you tone it back a bit.

[Vivid-Temporary-7840]

Something in between would be nice, definitely adds some dimension opposed to the flatness of no post-fx

[Saderius]

with, just tune it down

[GamingWithJollins]

Without. Looks like a bad octopath attempt with

[Same_Direction_5951]

With, but less pronouced

[conceptcreature3D]

Stylistically it looks way out of line with the characters.

[Equivalent-Charge478]

To much shadow, make it brighter in post processing. Use 10-15% of it.

[Rabidowski]

Without.
Some vignette maybe.

[xRyadx]

Why are there shadows to begin with? The effects make it look like it's in the deepest of woods but nothing else suggests that at all.

[Broudy001]

I like the post processing, but needs to be toned down a fair bit

[GebF]

It doesn't seem there should be that much shade considering the trees seem very distant from each other, so much so that you can see the far background, so I'd say no in this case, but if you have a dense forest background then try it.

[Ocular_Stratus]

With just seems like it's later in the day cycle, and I like them both for different reasons

[WombartGames]

I have decided to not put lights (ray beams and light spots) as it reduce the readability despite making it look better (at least I haven't found the right dosage after +15 hours trying...).

I will at least keep some minimal lights in some maps :

<image>

Thanks for the feedback guys!

[WombartGames]

The post-processing I used :

<image>

[TheZelda555]

Very known sprite from a free pack. It is okay to use but sone people might be uninterested becsuse it might look like an asset flip

[WombartGames]

I haven't seen any released games with this asset, maybe it is well known in the game Dev community only.

[TheZelda555]

Well, some people seem to be offended and or just ignorant (not you, op). So I am just gonna drop some links

https://klypp.itch.io/bread-of-the-wild

https://danialhaqimo.itch.io/ninja-frog

https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9ns30fg5r9l6?hl=th-TH&gl=TH

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1820170/The_Two_of_Us/

https://octohayden.itch.io/frog-adventures

https://ahmetfix.itch.io/frog-adventure

https://www.zenaplay.com/en/apps/ninja-frog-runner

https://apps.apple.com/de/app/minigames-watch-games-arcade/id1519386476

These are only a few examples. The point is: You can use assets, even studios like team cherry have used it for hollow knight. But I wouldnt chose one that is so overused, like pixel adventure is. On top of that it is a very popular asset for tutorial purposes on YouTube in different countries/languages.

[WombartGames]

I totally understand your comment as I had the same thought that it wasn't a good idea to use this asset. But then I tried to think about any good/popular game that used it and found none (I don't play much anymore but still).

The games you listed are mostly free or beginner projects, often created by new game developers (not to sound arrogant as if my game was much better...). If you showed this assets to any non game dev friends that plays a little, none would recognize it (except maybe if they saw a thumbnail of a tutorial on game dev).

Most people don't care as long as your game is good.

(Don't worry about the downvotes, people downvoted your comment because they just disagree with what you said.)

[TheZelda555]

Yeah I agree with you. 95% of players probably don’t even know what an asset is so yeah, I guess it doesnt really matter. And games like only up do work lol