[NEWBIE] [WIP] [CC] Video game character

[BeckaMan]

Supposed to be a skeleton boy in a onesie, with a buster weapon (how does it read?).
Trying to keep it simple with NES palette and not too much shading. How can I make him look more like a cute skeleton. Any other advice on the sprite/animation? It goes from idle to shoot



Edit: Sorry, that wasn't the latest version. Here's one where I made him thinner in idle:

[MysteryMeat]

Some minor edits! That extra shade on the front of the hood wasn't quite working, and the face didn't really scream "skeleton" out so I gave him a more skeletal head.
I also changed up the form a bit, giving him more of a poofy look, and made it so his ankles turn to match his crouch!
In addition to that, I fixed his arm so it moves up instead of extending outwards like a stretch armstrong toy!

I also added those dark divider lines you put on his leftmost art on the rest of his limbs and around his neck!
There's more you can probably do here but hopefully this sets you in the right direction!

[BeckaMan]

Thanks! I'm really new to pixel art and art in general so this helps me a lot!

I was having trouble with making him look like a skeleton without making him look too scary as he's supposed to be a cute and cartoony kind of guy. But what you did works very well. The shooting face is a bit scary but some intensity when killing things might be appropriate when you think about it...
Bending the ankles works well, that's something I need to keep in mind for future sprites.

Can I ask why you put the purple part on the front leg when shooting? It looks a bit off to me.
I was trying to avoid "jaggies", but it seems you've added some to the back leg in idle and to the arm pit of the front arm in shoot . I guess they can be ok in a small sprite like this?

[MysteryMeat]

That was an attempt to keep the puffiness of his onesie intact. Skeletons can be hard to make cute but the blue onesie is probably the biggest factor selling the kiddishness of the design!

[BeckaMan]

Tried my hand at an animation. This is really difficult! : o

Idle:



I was going for a feeling where he is excited and just raring to go at it. I tried doing something with the boots too, but everything looked stupid.

Advice and edits are very welcome as this isn't looking very good : p
Should I maybe add a third, lighter, blue to act as a highlight?

[MysteryMeat]

This actually looks fine, just mess with your frame duration more! Give it some more speed!

[BeckaMan]

Thanks! Made it faster and it looks better. All frames are at 200ms


Edit: What do you think about an outline? (Tried lifting the heel up on the up frame)
Or a highlight?

Edit: And another one. I really should be working but I just keep picking away at this thing

[MysteryMeat]

Ooh, I like the shoe change! Looks like footie pajamas now! Outlines are also good, nice work!

[BeckaMan]

Ooh, I like the shoe change! Looks like footie pajamas now! Outlines are also good, nice work!

Thanks! With the footsie pajamas I'm thinking in terms of the story of my game he basically wakes up from bed during a surprise attack on his town so that's what he's going out on! And it looks cute and cartoony.

Should I move on to a run cycle with this basic setup or anything I should look into first?

Thanks for all the help and support @MysteryMeat!

-tangent-
...
I'm just starting in pixel and any sort of art really (at 31 for the first time!) so I need all the help/criticism and encouragement I can get. I honestly haven't put pen to paper to draw anything since high school (and I sucked at it back then), but I just got the art bug now later in life. I was one of those people who honestly can't draw a stick figure. But I figured if I can put the effort into getting my Master's degree on stuff I'm not nearly as passionate about as video games, I should be able to pull this off in 5-10 years too, right!?

I always loved video games but now I wanna make em! (starting simple of course, my goal is to get a small platformer with some metroidvania elements demo done in next 12 months from start to finish. Character with some abilities, 5 enemies and a boss fight or two. The code for collectibles, cutscenes, basic enemy AI, FX, HUD, Menus, Minimap, Player engine, projectiles, Room system, saving/loading and the subscreen are mostly done...)

[BeckaMan]

Ooh, I like the shoe change! Looks like footie pajamas now! Outlines are also good, nice work!

What do you think of the highlights frame to frame? It feels like they could be done better to show the movement of the character and how the light touches different parts? Do i need to add/subtract the highlight in some parts of the frames to better give off the illusion of movement?

[MysteryMeat]

Oh, I didn't even notice but I see it now, yeah! It looks pretty good, adds a lot to the leg definition.

On to other criticisms: The gun-arm doesn't really read as such right now, it looks more like a torn shirt sleeve. Perhaps some kind of gun barrel, attachment, or light of some sort to make it more clear?

[BeckaMan]

Oh, I didn't even notice but I see it now, yeah! It looks pretty good, adds a lot to the leg definition.

On to other criticisms: The gun-arm doesn't really read as such right now, it looks more like a torn shirt sleeve. Perhaps some kind of gun barrel, attachment, or light of some sort to make it more clear?

Yes, the buster was actually the next thing I was going to get to!
Of course the projectile FX is going to give it more of a weapon look, but the base arm cannon design needs some work. I'll get to it after the holidays. One idea was to make it "fatter" but I had trouble making it look round instead of a box because of the limited pixels. The original inspiration was Mega Man's buster, but it could be something different.

I do know I don't want him holding a gun in his fist. It needs to be an attached gun arm. He starts of as a skeleton who attaches robot parts to his body (weapon, armor, slide/dash boots etc. left over from his robot enemies [this ties into the story of him becoming "whole" and meeting his maker, your basic quest for identity story...]) I'll need to think about this...

Edit: Just an idea.. How about making all the upgrades "bone related". Here's the Carpal Buster!
(just a rough idea)
I wasn't thinking of adding an Ocarina style "Navi" character, but this Carpal skull dude could work well as a Morte (Planescape Torment) kind of dude making some quips along the way

[MysteryMeat]

Ooh, that's actually a pretty solid idea! The current design is neat too, has kind of a tumor-y look to it, but I encourage you to try out some other ideas, like maybe animal skulls!

[BeckaMan]

I'll think about the weapon later. Now I need to get the basic pose of the idle to be OK, so I can move on to a run cycle. I got some advice over at pixeljoint about the feet. They said both shouldn't be pointing to the extreme right.

I tried turning his right leg towards the viewer but I'm not sure if it reads as such...?


Shoot!


Should I do the shooting animation in two frames like that where first is just a standing one and then shoot. Or just use the one shooting frame and when player shoots it goes straight into the shooting pose from what ever idle frame it was in?

[eishiya]

Will the character be able to talk too? That might complicate the transition situation if you decide to do transition frames. I usually just go to the attack animation. With small sprites and small movements like most idle animations, the lack of transition is usually not even noticeable.

The attacks should probably be more than one frame. There could be a transition frame to show the character raising their arm, but most importantly I think you need some wind-down after the attack. Kickback, the character reacting to what they just did, that sort of thing. Otherwise, you're probably better off not animating anything, or it'll look weird. It's easier to accept that there's a different still sprite for different actions than it is to have something nicely animated, and have the attack not animated.

[BeckaMan]

He might have a few lines but I probably won't animate him talking. Might also just be a silent character, script is not nearly done.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm thinking maybe two frames for the attack: the one I have where he points the gun and a second one for a small kickback from the shot. Although, for example Mega Man (NES) only has one frame shooting and it looks fine...

Edit:
I tried something like this. Not sure if it would work very well when the character can rapid fire, though... Maybe for a slower shot it works and the basic mega man style shots wouldn't be animated

[MysteryMeat]

The lil hood tip should be behind the head, otherwise looks good!

[BeckaMan]

The lil hood tip should be behind the head, otherwise looks good!

I tried to make it look like it moves from the guns recoil.


Tried my hand at a run animation. This is tough...!



Edit: Shortened the legs and some minor edits

[BeckaMan]

Here's a run cycle while not shooting and one where Skully is blasting away:

"Come 'ere baddy!"


"Time to split!"


Reaching new heights


Edit: tested the jump in-game, it's going to need more frames. I don't know why Mega Man's jump looks just fine with just one frame but mine didn't? : /

[MysteryMeat]

Broken image link!

[BeckaMan]

What's not working? Any recommended tutorial for a simple jump anim?

[MysteryMeat]

Works now! I think the problem is you're trying too hard to ape the megaman jump. Try a more natural spread-leg pose, like this picture here!

[BeckaMan]

Thanks, that's what I was actually going to try next as the mega man pose isn't working. 

[BeckaMan]

This is completely unfinished, but would something like this work where there's 3 frames: squatting a bit to get ready to jump, flying up, falling down?



Edit: Just realized the squat might make the jump unresponsive... The jump should happen right when the player presses the jump button.

[Zizka]

Hello,

I find it's easier to give an idea when you use a .gif for people than just the individual frames to give them a better idea. This increases your chances of getting feedback about your art.

I have a few suggestions if you're interested:

*Have you tried using colors do define shape instead of a black outline? Black outlines are useful for games to make the sprite stand out from the background but have you tried not having them in the actual sprite? You're losing some valuable pixels that way.

*Some colors are so similar there's little point in having them together as the eye won't pick them up due to lack of contrast. I'm talking about the grey/white of the face here.

*Have you looked how other games did it? Mario is simply designed and can give good ideas:



or Mega Man:


Mimic his position:


*For the actual animation, if you're concerned about responsiveness, just don't use any frames pre-jump (like mega man and mario on the nes).

*There are some really great animators out there. Check out SF III for jump animation ideas. There are tons!

I practiced learning and jumping animation by checking frame by frame how capcom did it. Maybe it'll help you too.

P.S.: I like the character, reminds me of ice climbers on the nes.

PPS: Sorry, didn't read the previous post about Mega Man, my bad!

[BeckaMan]

@Zizka thanks for the feedback!
I'm looking at possibly simplifying the character even more to make development time faster on the game. Maybe I'll lose the shadows completely (like Mega-Man). It might not looks as good but I can get the player character and enemies done faster if I use minimal shadowing and less colors and it'll have that retro NES look.