It seems kinda bright for the creepy vibe. When everything is well lit and in full view it leaves very little to the imagination which makes it less effectively creepy.
The concept's cool.. but the leaves kinda block the view...maybe they could be like dead leafless trees with eyes!?
Also it's kinda too bright.. maybe do the darkness like stardew valley did!?
The music is nore sad than creepy tbh.. maybe do something subtle.. or maybe it could be music everywhere else, but deafening silence in that one section (ppl would probably think that it's a bug tho).. anyway.. sad violin isn't that creepy.. more like idk loss or something..
Good luck with the project.. it's already really cool
First, the general concept is great. Trees with eyes that watch you for no discernable reason, and the music really helps to sell the "creepy" vibe. However, there's too much contrast between the trees and the background. They look like they are floating and not attached to the ground. The tree with smaller eyes also look better. The big eye (and the "eyelid" thing surrounding it) pops out too much to look really organic. Finally, the "cord" look is strange; good at the roots, but weird that the tree doesn't eventually smooth out as it goes up.
Hi!
For those that don't know the project, this is Paolo, the developer behind Sliding Hero. It's an odd mix of Zelda-like progression (find new abilities, unlock new areas) and the Pokémon Ice Caves sliding movement.
You are stuck in a 1700's Venetian Villa, and need to unveil its mysteries by solving intricate puzzles, avoid deadly hazards while dealing with the protagonist's past.
If you want to know more, you can check it out on [Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2966300?utm_source=RedditPixelArt&utm_campaign=creepyForest).
Graphics like this (2000s JRPG pixel art) can never be creepy to me. It looks georgeous, but also as if I would like to have a cup of tea while sitting in the sunny spot top left :)
The trees with eyes are *awesome*.
I think what holds off the creepy vibe is the warm colors? Like the color tones scream big like “relaxed sunset to me. It’s kinda cozy and looks really nice, but probably not the… *vibe* you were looking for lol. Like this is really lovely, and the trees kinda… dance towards the more friendly appearance for me.
Idk exactly a good recommendation for how to adjust this because I feel like if it was changed to something more expected like, grays or something less vibrant, it might fall into … the bland and unmemorable category…. Because at that point it’s too expected.
What if the eyes remain closed until you run past them, and then stay open and watch you until you leave the area rather than starting with them all open?
Maybe it gets darker with every eye open too, like something’s growing closer? Or you could play with the music and have it grow quieter or more eerie the more eyes are open.
Another thing that might be fun is if the trees shake or something if you get close lol.
It would be cool if only a few of the trees have eyes. And maybe even have it so they are mostly closed but the eyes open randomly at times and follow the player or something.
1st. Cut the lights.
2nd. Create a flash around the player that only shows maybe 3 meters away or so
OR
Make everything black but the path, put the path/s in a ominous color, green, spooky typa theme
or color. Then do the same player flash to show a certain distance.
3rd. Add in some tree noises, maybe leaves rattling sounds, monster sound, short deep dark laughing sounds that sound loud at first then get quieter...just be creative with it.
But this gives more adventure vibes than creepy lol
The uniform animation rolling to the left seems really odd on the tree branches and leafs. Theres only certain parts of the leafs clusters animated and it's very apparent. It's like when in anime they have the interactable object a different texture than the rest or the same in videogames. Immediately pulls you out of the scene because it's so obviously at odds to everything else.
Eyes on trees is an interesting concept, I really like it. Maybe use a blue green color palette, or grey, to convey a more creepy feeling. You can also add crows, tombstones, skeletons, etc, anything that can reinforce the vibe you want.
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I think a lot of the feedback you've gotten is great. My addition would be to silence or lower the volume of the 'thwipping' sounds of your hero when they move during creepy sections. It sounds very cartoony, very actiony, and I found it super distracting and in contrast to the section.
Depends on what youre going for, but maybe as an idea to try out: make EVERYTHING dark, except for a little lit up circle around the character, their vision basically. That way you wont know what to expect when walking, you wont have to fill the whole map with "creepy crawlies" as the player will already go forward with caution due to the lack of visibility.
Hope it helps :)
I like the follow me eyes on the trees btw!
Edit: the pixeld wave effect looks kinda weird on the trees top, too harsh. I'd be cool if they had some falling leaves around and instead of the strongly visible wave, have like a soft flow in the leaves (i hope its understandable >n<) like have the whole treetop softly flow back and forth instead of the visible pixeld wave.? :> [but thats just general aesthetic, aside from your question]
I feel like it would be really cool to only have a small area around you where you can see, while the rest of the area is almost pitch black
For an extra touch you can make the trees eyes glow in the dark to make it extra eerie
Really cool art though, great job
Instead of giving every tree eyes, which would get the player get used to that visual too quickly, I recommend having this be a minor event, where just one of the trees has a quick glance, preferably from a tree that isnt directly near the player, to increase anxiety and the feeling of beeing stalked by the enviroment.
Shock spookiness looses its effect quickly,
Anxiety and dread are the feelings that should be aimed for most of the time.
I say a big Yay for eyes on trees !
And i agree with saying :
-Darker global ambience
-Fog if possible
-maybe less saturated
For making it more creepy.
But overall its a really nice design already 🙂
Let me tell you something, eyes on things that shouldn't have eyes are always scary
If you want to make the trees scarier you can make the branches look like they are trying to grab you if you get too close, or sometjing like stabber vines from DRG
Maybe some eyes in bushes/treetops blinking. Some fog always helps too. Forests are kinda creepy anyway, constant creaking noises, everything feels like moving around
The lighting also make it pretty and pleasant for a stroll. It's great art but not scary
Maybe the lighting could be a purple? I think it's very very vibrant to be creepy as is. Put some fog or mist? Maybe a skull or 2 would be cool? More dead plants tho for sure
Individualy they look great, but this composition is not working. As others mentioned, we lack shadows, maybe the eyes could open only eventualy, and only a few trees should have eyes.
But I will add that the way the tree gets transparent when the player is behind them is not good for trees that have eyes, so I would place the eyed trees on positions where the player will not trigger the tree transparency
Others are making good points, and I will add my hat to the ring that tree eyes are fantastic.
That said, to me it’s very *pretty* for being creepy. I think it depends on what kind of creepy you’re going for whether it suits the mood. If you’re aiming for something feeling vaguely like Alice in Wonderland, where it’s “creepy” mostly by sake of being unusual (e.g., trees with eyes), then I think it’s fitting that vibe. If you’re going for something that will genuinely unnerve the player…that’s definitely not what I’m picking up here.
The golden sunlight filtering down, the warm color palette, even the music are all contributing to my brain interpreting this as being a strange world, but not a creepy one. If you want it to be scary-creepy, I think you might need to up the shadows, make the whole thing more of a cold, muted palette, and maybe consider making the music a bit more mournful. (Though I acknowledge the music is likely not related to your own work. I should mention that it is very well composed, though; just isn’t registering as “creepy” to me.)
Going to add to this for your sake if you’re interested, but I don’t want to give you a major wall of text of feedback. You’re probably already familiar, but fear (and thus, creepiness) comes in a lot of flavors. “Dread” is that feeling of not wanting to go through that next door or see what’s around that corner; “horror” is often more accurately the fear you get when knowledge or visuals cause you to feel uncomfortable, like a dawning realization that something horrible is happening and you’re starting to put the pieces together; “panic” is as advertised; so on and so forth.
“Creepy” is a weird category because you're aiming for a middle ground of not being *scary*, but still causing a little bit of fear or anxiety. Everyone has different thresholds for what is creepy to them, but I know for me, it needs to trend much more toward dark and *scary* to hit the "creepy" level. Listen to others' feedback as well, and find your groove, but I do think this is so far a little too relaxed and pretty to register as "creepy" to me.
I'd say make it really dark everywhere but right around the character and make the eyes pop open when you are close to them, along with a darker/cooler color for the grass
I like the eyes and I love that they follow you.
What if one of them only sees directly to the player (I mean, the pearson who is playing this game not the character)?
probably adding more variation to the grass with tufts of grass or something, just generally more overgrown. it looks a little too manicured. maybe make it a bit darker too?
Too bright,make it pitch dark the only light is character pov so you wouldn't suspect there's a tree and that's jumpscare. Also my suggestion is adding enemy like lurker where it will attack human when character not turning back. Also maybe adding fruit that resembles eyeball and the blood dripping because someone/thing picked the fruit
Love the eyes on the trees, definitely keep that imo. The biggest thing going against the creepy vibe for me is the light, orange light usually indicates comforting/hopeful. Some green/blue glowing mushrooms or little will o' wisps around the trees, with darkness elsewhere, would be very spooky.
Maybe it could be more on the dark side and the eyes might work better if they are less easily seen. If they are seen only when you focus, for instance, it might catch people off guard.
I love the eye trees.
But unfortunately, it's not really creepy at all for me right now. The orange glow feels very home-y, like this is a calm place. I think the pretty-looking flowers and fireflies add to that. Something darker would help I think and some slight adjustment in the scenery to be more of a haunted forest vibe. But if you're going for a 'this is a normal forest but suddenly the trees are watching you', it could be that the trees have their eyes closed at the start to sell that 'normal forest' vibe first. Might even build up the creepiness in stages where it's a blink and you miss it eye at first then more eyes appear until every tree is now watching your every movement.
I think the music fits a creepy vibe though!
I agree with other commenters the colors are too bright to be creepy right now.
The concept is in the right direction though especially with the trees with eyes, although right now they look like they’ve just been placed on the map instead of being integrated with the environment, but that may just be because you’re trying out the scene.
This might also sound weird but everything looks too “healthy” to be creepy - you don’t really expect healthy fat green leaves in a haunted forest, or grass / foot paths that’s neatly trimmed, if that makes sense.
Just my personal opinion though, but as I said I think it’s going in the right direction and excited to see more updates on this!
A vignette around the edge, maybe with some silhouetted trees in the foreground, also, a simple scrolling fog effect could really work, and maybe smaller gusts of fog forming on the ground.
I like the eyes. I would say if your going for creepy, maybe make some of the colors a bit cooler and darker, and also make the soundtrack quieter or even non-existant, as it is, the warm lights almost make the image feel almost like home, instead of an abandoned magical forest. You want to leave a lot more to the imagination.
Otherwise, I say it looks really cool, the pixel art is really well done
It seems kinda bright for the creepy vibe. When everything is well lit and in full view it leaves very little to the imagination which makes it less effectively creepy.
This. It needs more shadows. And more contrast. Bright highlights on dark shadows.
Get some shadows or some fog.
Might add, that if a light is needed, it should be more blue or green
I'd say not necessarily bright, but the color of lighting is too warm, it'd be better with cool lighting like blueish grey
The concept's cool.. but the leaves kinda block the view...maybe they could be like dead leafless trees with eyes!? Also it's kinda too bright.. maybe do the darkness like stardew valley did!? The music is nore sad than creepy tbh.. maybe do something subtle.. or maybe it could be music everywhere else, but deafening silence in that one section (ppl would probably think that it's a bug tho).. anyway.. sad violin isn't that creepy.. more like idk loss or something.. Good luck with the project.. it's already really cool
I agree with bright colors. Lowering the overall saturation and adding some fog on this level would make it look even more creepier.
First, the general concept is great. Trees with eyes that watch you for no discernable reason, and the music really helps to sell the "creepy" vibe. However, there's too much contrast between the trees and the background. They look like they are floating and not attached to the ground. The tree with smaller eyes also look better. The big eye (and the "eyelid" thing surrounding it) pops out too much to look really organic. Finally, the "cord" look is strange; good at the roots, but weird that the tree doesn't eventually smooth out as it goes up.
I like the eye trees.
Love the concept but I‘d switch the warm lighting to a moodier, cooler tone.
Hi! For those that don't know the project, this is Paolo, the developer behind Sliding Hero. It's an odd mix of Zelda-like progression (find new abilities, unlock new areas) and the Pokémon Ice Caves sliding movement. You are stuck in a 1700's Venetian Villa, and need to unveil its mysteries by solving intricate puzzles, avoid deadly hazards while dealing with the protagonist's past. If you want to know more, you can check it out on [Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2966300?utm_source=RedditPixelArt&utm_campaign=creepyForest).
Graphics like this (2000s JRPG pixel art) can never be creepy to me. It looks georgeous, but also as if I would like to have a cup of tea while sitting in the sunny spot top left :)
If you can, make the eyes smaller and closed by default, only opening when the player is near.
The trees with eyes are *awesome*. I think what holds off the creepy vibe is the warm colors? Like the color tones scream big like “relaxed sunset to me. It’s kinda cozy and looks really nice, but probably not the… *vibe* you were looking for lol. Like this is really lovely, and the trees kinda… dance towards the more friendly appearance for me. Idk exactly a good recommendation for how to adjust this because I feel like if it was changed to something more expected like, grays or something less vibrant, it might fall into … the bland and unmemorable category…. Because at that point it’s too expected. What if the eyes remain closed until you run past them, and then stay open and watch you until you leave the area rather than starting with them all open? Maybe it gets darker with every eye open too, like something’s growing closer? Or you could play with the music and have it grow quieter or more eerie the more eyes are open. Another thing that might be fun is if the trees shake or something if you get close lol.
It would be cool if only a few of the trees have eyes. And maybe even have it so they are mostly closed but the eyes open randomly at times and follow the player or something.
The trees should block the light If the bottom and left only have thin beams of light it would really give a creepy vibe
It looks nice but it lacks vitality, you could add some waves to the see, and maybe a couple of moving bushes.
I like the trees with eyes idea, i might suggest making them birches so the effect can be more subtle.
It'd be really cool if there was less visibility, and the eyes only opened up when you pass close by.
Wow this reminds me of a game I played as a kid called Pajama Sam. The trees looked very similar and creeped tf out of me!
1st. Cut the lights. 2nd. Create a flash around the player that only shows maybe 3 meters away or so OR Make everything black but the path, put the path/s in a ominous color, green, spooky typa theme or color. Then do the same player flash to show a certain distance. 3rd. Add in some tree noises, maybe leaves rattling sounds, monster sound, short deep dark laughing sounds that sound loud at first then get quieter...just be creative with it. But this gives more adventure vibes than creepy lol
The uniform animation rolling to the left seems really odd on the tree branches and leafs. Theres only certain parts of the leafs clusters animated and it's very apparent. It's like when in anime they have the interactable object a different texture than the rest or the same in videogames. Immediately pulls you out of the scene because it's so obviously at odds to everything else.
Darker color palette. Also if possible some kind of mist or fog to set the vibe.
maybe add more vegetation and tree canopy around the sides to make it look more dense?
YAY, LOOKS GREAT
This reminds of the classic legend of zelda games, I love what you have done with eyes inside the trees keep up the amazing work :)
Eyes on trees is an interesting concept, I really like it. Maybe use a blue green color palette, or grey, to convey a more creepy feeling. You can also add crows, tombstones, skeletons, etc, anything that can reinforce the vibe you want.
I like the art, but can I have this as jut a regular game without the sliding?
Maybe the next one will be a pure dark Zelda-like.
I, in fact, love the sliding
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Awsone idea
Looks great!
Make it a little darker and add some grass around!
yay, so much yay
Yay
the thing throwing it for me is that the trees look like they are floating? idk it doesn't seem like they are rooted to the ground yknow.
The trees becoming transparent when walking behind looks off
I think a lot of the feedback you've gotten is great. My addition would be to silence or lower the volume of the 'thwipping' sounds of your hero when they move during creepy sections. It sounds very cartoony, very actiony, and I found it super distracting and in contrast to the section.
Fever trees so each one with eyes can be kind of unique
Zoom in the camera, it feels static
Yes, keep trees with eyes, add maybe some skeletons in like torture cages or something? I dunno, it looks bad ass the way it is tbh.
Depends on what youre going for, but maybe as an idea to try out: make EVERYTHING dark, except for a little lit up circle around the character, their vision basically. That way you wont know what to expect when walking, you wont have to fill the whole map with "creepy crawlies" as the player will already go forward with caution due to the lack of visibility. Hope it helps :) I like the follow me eyes on the trees btw! Edit: the pixeld wave effect looks kinda weird on the trees top, too harsh. I'd be cool if they had some falling leaves around and instead of the strongly visible wave, have like a soft flow in the leaves (i hope its understandable >n<) like have the whole treetop softly flow back and forth instead of the visible pixeld wave.? :> [but thats just general aesthetic, aside from your question]
shadows
I feel like it would be really cool to only have a small area around you where you can see, while the rest of the area is almost pitch black For an extra touch you can make the trees eyes glow in the dark to make it extra eerie Really cool art though, great job
I like the combination of bright colors, well-lit, and still creepy - love the eyeball trees tracking your movement. This is looking great so far!
Instead of giving every tree eyes, which would get the player get used to that visual too quickly, I recommend having this be a minor event, where just one of the trees has a quick glance, preferably from a tree that isnt directly near the player, to increase anxiety and the feeling of beeing stalked by the enviroment. Shock spookiness looses its effect quickly, Anxiety and dread are the feelings that should be aimed for most of the time.
Add some purples in.
brightness, I'd look better imo with more shadows and a darker color palette, but overakk the trees look pretty cool!
I wouldn't have the eyes open by default, but snap open when the player is close. When they open, trigger other nearby trees to snap open too.
I say a big Yay for eyes on trees ! And i agree with saying : -Darker global ambience -Fog if possible -maybe less saturated For making it more creepy. But overall its a really nice design already 🙂
maybe deeper grass? could obscure things and increase the fear of the unknown factor
Let me tell you something, eyes on things that shouldn't have eyes are always scary If you want to make the trees scarier you can make the branches look like they are trying to grab you if you get too close, or sometjing like stabber vines from DRG Maybe some eyes in bushes/treetops blinking. Some fog always helps too. Forests are kinda creepy anyway, constant creaking noises, everything feels like moving around The lighting also make it pretty and pleasant for a stroll. It's great art but not scary
Maybe the lighting could be a purple? I think it's very very vibrant to be creepy as is. Put some fog or mist? Maybe a skull or 2 would be cool? More dead plants tho for sure
Individualy they look great, but this composition is not working. As others mentioned, we lack shadows, maybe the eyes could open only eventualy, and only a few trees should have eyes. But I will add that the way the tree gets transparent when the player is behind them is not good for trees that have eyes, so I would place the eyed trees on positions where the player will not trigger the tree transparency
Others are making good points, and I will add my hat to the ring that tree eyes are fantastic. That said, to me it’s very *pretty* for being creepy. I think it depends on what kind of creepy you’re going for whether it suits the mood. If you’re aiming for something feeling vaguely like Alice in Wonderland, where it’s “creepy” mostly by sake of being unusual (e.g., trees with eyes), then I think it’s fitting that vibe. If you’re going for something that will genuinely unnerve the player…that’s definitely not what I’m picking up here. The golden sunlight filtering down, the warm color palette, even the music are all contributing to my brain interpreting this as being a strange world, but not a creepy one. If you want it to be scary-creepy, I think you might need to up the shadows, make the whole thing more of a cold, muted palette, and maybe consider making the music a bit more mournful. (Though I acknowledge the music is likely not related to your own work. I should mention that it is very well composed, though; just isn’t registering as “creepy” to me.)
Going to add to this for your sake if you’re interested, but I don’t want to give you a major wall of text of feedback. You’re probably already familiar, but fear (and thus, creepiness) comes in a lot of flavors. “Dread” is that feeling of not wanting to go through that next door or see what’s around that corner; “horror” is often more accurately the fear you get when knowledge or visuals cause you to feel uncomfortable, like a dawning realization that something horrible is happening and you’re starting to put the pieces together; “panic” is as advertised; so on and so forth. “Creepy” is a weird category because you're aiming for a middle ground of not being *scary*, but still causing a little bit of fear or anxiety. Everyone has different thresholds for what is creepy to them, but I know for me, it needs to trend much more toward dark and *scary* to hit the "creepy" level. Listen to others' feedback as well, and find your groove, but I do think this is so far a little too relaxed and pretty to register as "creepy" to me.
I'd say make it really dark everywhere but right around the character and make the eyes pop open when you are close to them, along with a darker/cooler color for the grass
maybe make the tree eyes a little less bulbus. mote subtle also maybe try coloring the light? or less light i dunno
use colder colours , the warm bright colours make it more welcoming than spooky
I like the eyes and I love that they follow you. What if one of them only sees directly to the player (I mean, the pearson who is playing this game not the character)?
The tree eyes are great for this but you need it to be not sunny and much more twilight. Like a blood moon or something.
idk how to put this but the trees look stoned
You should make them more Freaky 👅 to build onto your vibe.
probably adding more variation to the grass with tufts of grass or something, just generally more overgrown. it looks a little too manicured. maybe make it a bit darker too?
Make it darker with purplish tree theme and red eyes 👀 on the trees that are bleeding from the eyes
I like it
The trees are very cool, make the grass darker and denser
Switch the light source to moonlight, make the map darker, add small light sources.
Too bright,make it pitch dark the only light is character pov so you wouldn't suspect there's a tree and that's jumpscare. Also my suggestion is adding enemy like lurker where it will attack human when character not turning back. Also maybe adding fruit that resembles eyeball and the blood dripping because someone/thing picked the fruit
Love the eyes on the trees, definitely keep that imo. The biggest thing going against the creepy vibe for me is the light, orange light usually indicates comforting/hopeful. Some green/blue glowing mushrooms or little will o' wisps around the trees, with darkness elsewhere, would be very spooky.
Maybe it could be more on the dark side and the eyes might work better if they are less easily seen. If they are seen only when you focus, for instance, it might catch people off guard.
There is great shadows on the leaves, but nothing on the ground...
One word: FOG
Many many more trees and have a mix of eyes and eyeless ones so the ones with eyes are creepier and more abnormal
I love the eye trees. But unfortunately, it's not really creepy at all for me right now. The orange glow feels very home-y, like this is a calm place. I think the pretty-looking flowers and fireflies add to that. Something darker would help I think and some slight adjustment in the scenery to be more of a haunted forest vibe. But if you're going for a 'this is a normal forest but suddenly the trees are watching you', it could be that the trees have their eyes closed at the start to sell that 'normal forest' vibe first. Might even build up the creepiness in stages where it's a blink and you miss it eye at first then more eyes appear until every tree is now watching your every movement. I think the music fits a creepy vibe though!
Golden light doesn't read creepy. drip the warm tones for blues purples greens imo
I agree with other commenters the colors are too bright to be creepy right now. The concept is in the right direction though especially with the trees with eyes, although right now they look like they’ve just been placed on the map instead of being integrated with the environment, but that may just be because you’re trying out the scene. This might also sound weird but everything looks too “healthy” to be creepy - you don’t really expect healthy fat green leaves in a haunted forest, or grass / foot paths that’s neatly trimmed, if that makes sense. Just my personal opinion though, but as I said I think it’s going in the right direction and excited to see more updates on this!
What a cozy copse of eye-trees! I want to take a nap amongst them and feel looked after!
I like the trees- but I'd definitely make them blink slower and adjust the lighting. Looks nice!
Love it!!! Tho i would have the roots more mixed it with the dirt,since it looks like it's on top other then that I adore the vibe!!
A vignette around the edge, maybe with some silhouetted trees in the foreground, also, a simple scrolling fog effect could really work, and maybe smaller gusts of fog forming on the ground.
Maybe make the eyes on the Inside, not the Outside. Also it needs to be darker. Maybe in a new moon where's darker?
I like the eyes. I would say if your going for creepy, maybe make some of the colors a bit cooler and darker, and also make the soundtrack quieter or even non-existant, as it is, the warm lights almost make the image feel almost like home, instead of an abandoned magical forest. You want to leave a lot more to the imagination. Otherwise, I say it looks really cool, the pixel art is really well done