Blue Emerald

If I recall correctly, I built it off of Sonic CD's Palmtree Panic grass in an attempt to make it look more original. But that was a long time ago; the level theme's changed to be more unique, so now I'm thinking about a way to make the "grass" look more like a leafy canopy.

Coincidence? =P Anyways, I do like that checkered ground, and while the trees' leaves blend into the BG too much for my tastes, the rest of it looks pretty nice.

Thanks, Blazefire! Now that I see it all tiled together in one big wall like that, it looks pretty good. I don't think I'll be using those yellow diamonds with the brown ones, as it doesn't make it look much like tree bark, but I'll definitely try out that yellow palette for something else I'm planning; it's a nice, bright set of colors. I'll definitely try to throw something else in there to shake up that pattern -- maybe brighter/darker walls in the middle for added dimension, or I could even throw some plants or leaves in there to make it look more lively. Thank you for the feedback, it helped to give me some good ideas!

Delta: It is for Fate of the Master Emerald (though I think I'm gonna change the name to something less fangame-y). And thanks for the compliment; however, I'm only planning on using one of those three patterns (or something better, if anyone has any ideas).

Well, I've finally decided to work on some original level art for my Sonic game today, and I've had the hardest time trying to make checkered platform tiles that look like surreal, geometric tree bark. Tell me which one you think looks better: If you have any better ideas for something that looks like surreal, geometric tree bark that would work for a Green Hill-esque zone, go ahead and show it off.

'Cause no one's made this joke yet: What? Your baby is evolving! ... ... ... ... Congratulations! Your baby has evolved into Machamp!

I know what you mean! Last year, my grandmother's entire town was completely trashed by an insane tornado (part of three tornadoes; this thing was actually on an episode of Storm Chasers). She and her entire basement survived, and after about four months, she moved out of this condominium she was staying in for a time and into a freshly-manufactured house, which I recall was built over her old basement. These tornadoes are hitting more towns and cities than I can ever recall.

Well, even though he's not from an anime, TVTropes does say Coiffio from Perfect Hair Forever has anime hair.

*gasp* FRUITOPIA STILL EXISTS!?!?!?!?!? Seriously, I thought that was gone forever, 'cause I can't find it anywhere anymore. I used to love Fruitopia back when it was everywhere.

I have an idea. Since the castle in the one image appeared to be lit from below against the night sky, I added some searchlights behind the wall. If you were to add searchlights to the BG, it would remedy the lighting issue. I also replaced the black pixels on your castle with a very dark blue to blend it better into the horizon. Finally I dithered the shadow on the castle towers since I thought the original shadow looked too rough and didn't transition as neatly. It's a fairly rough edit, though, so feel free to build upon this if you want.

Oh, there's love for Scott Pilgrim -- it's just that many of us show it the most over at Retro. And the comics are pure gold. It has the best writing I've ever read in a graphic novel (granted, I don't read too many graphic novels) -- it's the first series I've ever wanted to read over and over again. BTW, Wallace is awesome; he's got some of the best quips and one-liners in the series. I've also seen the movie, played the game, watched the animated short, and even bought the T-shirt. I'm a regular Scottaholic. =P

Oddly enough, a lot of my great ideas occur when I'm taking a hot shower. In fact, a few months ago I had to develop an Unreal level for a college project and couldn't think of anything; after ten minutes in the shower, I had an entire three-story level thought up! No kidding.

I used to do zone-specific monitors with my game, but in the end, I felt just having a universal monitor felt more appropriate for a classic Sonic platformer. Not discouraging you from doing it, though; believe me, zone-specific monitors can look superb if done right. I remember seeing Sonic 1 custom monitors posted a few years ago for Project:SR, along with a few others built to match the project's planned zones, and those looked quite stylish.

I think you should make the tree purple so it stands out against the background (that is, if you're working with a fixed palette; otherwise, make it a much lighter blue) -- at first glance, it's easy to miss those trees. Otherwise, this looks fantastic!

Aww, dang! Missed it by two days! Anyway, Happy Birthday Nitemare!