Can I tell you a secret?

I have always, always wanted to direct a video game.

I've been under heavy influence of games in general lately. I've beaten 4 (4!!) in the past couple of months. The two that stuck with me the most, however, are ICO (I know, I know, I'm a little late on the uptake) and Knytt (Knytt is freeware and breathtaking--please give it a play!). You can probably see the influence if you look at Knytt's screenshots.

If I knew how to do it, this is the game I would make. It's called Thread.

The two little characters are Mina (right; the tall female) and Rook (left; the short male). They meet after a car accident and try to find their way to Rook's home so they can call someone. Rook doesn't live far from where the accident took place, but they have to go through some fields and woods to get there first.

It's an adventure platformer-puzzle game. Or it would be. You can switch back and forth between Mina and Rook. Mina is the fighter; she is a black belt and can solve the physical puzzles and protect Rook from harm. Rook, however, is the brains of the operation, and can solve the other, more difficult puzzles. You have to play as both to progress through the game. The other will follow along behind you.

I already have a story in mind and it has an ending. Unfortunately, I don't know the first thing about game programming, so I doubt this'll ever come to fruition! If any skilled platformer developers ever want a little side project, though, please give me a shout. ;D Not that that would ever happen.

So, after beating Knytt, this pair popped into my head, and I started drawing a scene. All of the shading is completely hand-done, as was the lighting. I drew each blade of grass individually. There are a couple of details throughout if you look carefully, including a crow on the wing and one perched in the tree. I have no idea how long this picture took me. Certainly well over ten hours.

This is my first large-scale pixel work so please, PLEASE critique me! I'd like to do another one of these at some point, but I really want to know how to improve. Useful criticism is appreciated; if you think it looks terrible then I'd like to know why, not just that it does and that's it.

I'll probably submit a picture of the sprites separately at a late date, perhaps zoomed in to show detail and accompanied by concept sketches.

I used Google Images for references, particularly for the sky. I used a few others as well, notably the crow (multitudes of different crow images) and the tree (same).

Anyway, I hope you like it. If you have read this far then please enjoy a virtual high-five from yours truly.

Thread, Rook and Mina are (c) me 2012. Please do not use without permission.