I like the very busy and colorful environment, as well as the low-res textures and all that. It gives your renders a special feel. However, I think you should really work your lighting. Specially the library shots, they could look so much better with some light work. What game is that?
Viewing post in The Obligatory 3D Art Thread
Thanks! And it's an unnamed game I haven't finished yet and I just work on when I'm bored. Currently it's called "Top Secret Neon Pink Planet" (and that will probably also be its final name.)
You're right about lighting, I'm meaning to experiment with it more, although that library scene has been hard to get right, since most lighting either makes it look too dark and deep, or too flat. I wanted it to be well-lit, since it's meant to be a busy, public place. (At the very least, I'm glad you could tell it was a library.)
I'll practice lighting things better over the coming months, hopefully with this game, and see what I can come up with.
I love that you like it, and I experimented with a few techniques today to see if I can improve it, but they all seem to yield similar results right now. It's hard to get it to look muted and light while also well-lit. I'll keep trying over the coming months while also working on the model, and I'll post em in this thread, if I can.
Find a photo reference that is close to the kind of mood you want, and try to understand what creates it. Is it because the shadows are soft? Hard? Are things blurry in the distance fast, or do they remain sharp? Do they lose color as they are more distant, or does their color shift? If yes, towards which color (usually blue outside, grey inside). Etc. Also, you don't have to play with lighting only, you can fake lighting by drawing shadows in your textures for example.
What I'd do is take this image you have, and draw over it in some painting app to try to get the mood I want, then think how I could reproduce it with the tools I have. Again I'm not a pro by any stretch...But that's what I'd do.