Deep blue… Orange!

With the colors of Out of Line I tried to stay in the same area of many other games. Classic titles like: Ristar, Lion King, Super Mario Bros.,and many others, proven that color, is an essential part of their gameplay. Not only because of contrast, but also, in bringing the world up to life.

Above: consider the colors scheme of Super Mario Bros., Ristar, and Lion King. The color contrast is used in such a brilliant way!

It’s not a coincident, that in all those above mentioned classic titles, you can clearly spot the main character in the screen. This is due to the color contrast. It gives your brain a constant strong spot in the screen, highlighting where your eyes can quickly locate the character. Of course, this isn’t a lucky accident. For this to happen, you need to have at least one strong color in your main character, that contrasts with the background. A simple and elegant solution.

When I was developing the first concepts of Out of Line, I toke in consideration those examples. Long story, in short words: I decided to make San’s face more or less white, with a strong orange helmet, so that it would contrast with the blues and grays of the backgrounds. Using this clever trick, the player can quickly spot San in the screen. And in the platform genre, having an easy to spot character is essential.

Above: can you easily find San in the screen? I surely hope so!