Update #48: The Village By The Castle

Oh, and with regard to Miriam running in the air....it seems that she is running on the roof while it is falling. I don't think she would run in mid-air if the platform wasn't under her. If the roof falls first and she follows it, then the just falls. If it falls with her, then her feet are still on the roof and she can still take steps. Right?

Also, everyone should look closely at the depth of background shown at the very beginning of the village.  It is quite impressive.  You can see buildings going back away from the foreground in great detail.  It almost looks like a photograph:

ok, one of the rules of video game design is you should never lose track of where the character is (look at cotm, the main char is a lot of dark colors in a dark environment and really really small, if it wasnt for the screen attempting to center him you really could lose him if hes not moving and thats a HUGE problem in a video game)

miriam NEEDS to stand out from the background, it gives you a point your eyes can always easily return to when youre scanning the screen for enemies, items, interactables, platforms, and general scenery, its the whole reason alucards cape was so flowy, why miriam has a scarf and petals crumbling off her back, why soma and juste (minus the glaring outline he has because of cotm being dark on dark on dark) and jonathan have long coats, why charlotte and shanoa have long hair, and all of them have a bright primary color or white to their palette, its SPECIFICALLY so they stand out, this isnt a movie where you dont need to know where everything is at all times, its a video game, and in the massive amount of data bombarding you at any given moment, certain elements have a need to be easily found, namely where you are, where the enemies are, and where you can go

yes this stage needs a little work, maybe some work done on the platform shading and bounding box placement along with a little bit of an extra work put into miriams shadow so she doesnt look like shes floating above a platform that itself is curved like the eaves in the video, but the lighting scheme of an area should only affect miriam a little, if she blended into the ambient lighting like she would in a realistic or cinematic experience, you run the very real risk of losing track of where she is in a gaming environment, and that would be a colossal issue

anyway, hope some of that makes sense and curious what yall think ^^

side note for those that see her being inconsistant on where she is on the platforms

platforms previous to this shes on houses that are further back than the house with the collapsing roof, im sure with a little tweaking this can be more easily communicated that the platforms are on different planes of depth like having a transition plane (ie the house has a curve or side wall so your eye more easily recognizes this house/wall juts out further than the previous one, they do have this in the picture you just have to be looking for it to really notice) to ease your eye into accepting platform a you would stand on the fore edge and platform b you would stand further back

on a lighter note, hope yall get better soon and LOOOOOOVE the new track, and im really liking what i see so far with the color palette and the level of ruined this town has, and i wonder if how the roof crumbles will be the same every time and still provide a temporary platfor to run and jump off of or if it will only do that sometimes and have you fall like miriam does after the 2nd floor crumbles and she goes into a falling animation

@scars Unseen

Not sure if you're saying that character designs and other non-game asset references are irrelevant or what there. There's certainly a difference in expectations when translating a design to pixel art and translating it to a hi-res HD character model. 

Closer to the topic at hand, Im not sure I understand the problem with critiquing Miriam's design and in-game translation relative to how she blends with the environments. Or for suggesting that the artstyle used for Shanoa in OoE would better suit the environment art style, and perhaps even the game's entire thematic character. (Blood spewing fountains and hoards of murderous demons, not to mention subjecting young women to non-consensual and inhumane acts of manipulation and mutilation - none of this really fits with Miriam's lighthearted presentation. ) 

I see that you are a fan of Miriam's presentation in-game so I suppose I do understand the defensiveness regarding her looks.

Regardless, I was only saying that if a change was felt necessary given the popular reaction of Miram and the environment clashing somewhat then I'd hope we wouldn't lose the game world's fantastic character of grime and decay, reflecting the souls of Miriam's makers who've caused all of this. These environments have such a strong feeling of texture and place, giving everything else an anchor point in the real world. Id hate to see that lost to match Miriam's simplistic palette. 

Is it just me or the level has kinda too much light? I feel like Miriam is walking infront of a theater scene because of the light. It's like there are light everywhere, up, bottom and front.

Jango No one's arguing that Bloodstained should be bright and cheery, or that it should be simplified to the point of losing its character.  But details can be implied and stylized.  Have you ever seen Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust?  Here, let me show you a few screencaps:


The show manages to pull a dark and gloomy feel without trying to fit as many details as they can into every square inch of the screen.  Some details are stylized; others are obscured.

Even the Castlevania series itself shows that you don't need fine detailed textures to achieve a dark and gritty aesthetic.  For example:




Again, details are implied by good use of shading and stylized artwork.  And, IMO it looks a lot better in the context of a 2D gaming environment.  No one is asking for the game to turn into a shounen fantasy game.  But I think we could change things up and find a balance that is less realistic and detail saturated than what we have while still maintaining the same ominous and gritty feel. 

Do you still feel she is out of place ?

From Bloodstained Twitter

Everything looks on point, not to mention that this level is still not finalized.. people should keep that in mind before judging

@scars Unseen

I'll try to keep this point tight and clear. I really like the style of Bloodstained's environments as we're seeing them now. I think they look great. I do not wish to see them changed to emulate any other work's style, be they Miriam's artstyle or another product's. There is no need for posting additional references for this particular exchange. Bloodstained is moving closer to having it's own art style and visual character that is surprisingly unique and interesting. No, I don't want the devs to reign that back because it isn't enough like other works.


There does seem to be an issue of character and environment agreement and I'm simply stating my opinion that I'd rather Miriam's realism/complexity be raised than the the environment's reduced. It's their choice and their judgement though, which I trust. So far it's gotten us to a point that's exceeded my own expectations.