Pixelation
Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: HTD on December 18, 2007, 08:17:18 pm
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This is for a new game I am working on called "City of Darkness".
Not being fresh to spriting I have already ran through some troubles on how to get the right flow for animation.
Im sure there are plenty of other things you could all help me with so please no holding back with your comments.
The sprite style is similar to the early Metal Gear games on the MSX, I've tried to edit the soldier to look less like snake.
Still I worry that if this still isnt enough I might have to try a different style.
(http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/7325/facesplitterzp8.gif)
(http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/2265/takidirectionsti5.gif)
(http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/5674/rosterlg8.png)
(http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/2018/detectivezv1.png)
Please feel free to respond
HTD
Updates:
(http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/8032/marineop5.png)
Updates:
(http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/455/rosterqo3.png)
(http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/2174/marineyg8.png)
Is this what you meant by spreading his stance Ryona:
(http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/2920/frkp0.png)
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First I'd like to say that the sprites look good. You certainly have a good handle on spriting little guys.
That said, I can't really tell if the guy in the first one is ripping apart his head. I'd say make him pull the halves further apart.
Also, his ligs a fixed in a rather feminine way with the thighs together like that and his feet apart. I'd suggest to spread apart the thighs too.
Another thing I've noticed is that the forward leg of the naked dude looks kinda fat. Especially the calves.
Also, I think some of the lines for your sprites could be darker to stand out more. Like the lines of the military dude's uniform for example.
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Really appreciate the advice.
I am revamping the face splitter and going to focus on the lines as you said for the marine.
I the naked zombie will get that touch up also.
This was an update I did before your reply. (See above).
Its a portrait of a Marine.
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The portrait could use depth. Looks too flat. Also the lines for the face are not bold enough. I'd say to use more tones in the portrait.
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Hope my updates(above) have been better than the previous attempt.
Id definately appreciate an update on them.
Thanks
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Yeah, the edits looks much better.
Bring up the calf on the naked guy's left leg (our right) up a bit like you did with his right leg.
Make the lines of the face in the portrait a bit bolder still. And the portrait could use more depth, unless you're going for a 2D look, which is fine.
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I noticed that you've giving your characters an outline that's a slightly darker shade than the made color. At this scale, wasting an entire pixel's width on an outline is really shooting yourself in the foot. You'd be better off using shadows and highlights, not outlines, to define your forms on such a tiny sprite.
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Thats something i will try, It will probably help me get my head around lighting more as well as teaching me to save those pixel for vital things.
I'll update after I have finished my newest piece.
By the way Im changing the topic title to City of Darkness WIP
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these sprites are similar to metal gear ones from msx, you know? i'd say that shading fails, but they are cute anyways...
(http://www.meristation.com/EPORTAL_IMGS/GENERAL/articulos/IMG2-149902/solid.jpg)
:)
did you used these as a reference? keep up the good work.
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May I suggest some simple top-down shading?
Quickie:
(http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/1917/marineyzf6.gif)
Just put some highlights on the shoulders etc, and darken the legs a bit.
I see that you have some degree of shading, but your color buffers are too samey.
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Whoa brilliant observations on the style being that of Konami's metal gear.
Technically I should try and make them slightly more original than this metal gear rip off style.
As for the shading that is something I will try and experiment with before I make any updates.
I'll let you know when I bump into anything I am unsure of, btw thanks guys its great to have help.
(http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/9026/menu2ea6.png)
This is my first time spriting a cityscape, here above is where im at so far.
If anything im doing at this stage is off let me know thanks.
(http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/6413/jonas2mq4.png)
and finally
(http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/8520/codplayablesoy3.png)
I am going to restart these images as I feel I am not getting the results I like at all.
As of now im going to take your suggestions on board and experiment with techniques to improve the sprites.
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May I suggest some simple top-down shading?
Quickie:
(http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/1917/marineyzf6.gif)
Just put some highlights on the shoulders etc, and darken the legs a bit.
I see that you have some degree of shading, but your color buffers are too samey.
Id love to hear your suggestions on a better pallette.
I tried to change the shading and make the sprite seem more um.. 3dish.
I am liking the results but would appreciate your opinions and advice all the same.
(http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/1015/revisedjonasqz8.png)
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Your sprites are really hard to read, I think it's because you need more contrast and I don't see any kind of lightsource on your sprites. I'll whip up something quick to give you an idea of what I mean.
EDIT: Here you go, I increased the contrast of the image and added a lightsource from up top (poorly):
(http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/1861/codzmgy1.png)
I also changed the BG to something easier on the eyes.
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Thanks Id appreciate that.
Yeah I still havent got lighting at the moment so hopefully through doing these revisions I can start grasping the concept more.
(http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/8359/revisedvh1.png)
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You still need to increase the contrast, until it's easy to see the shading and highlights at a glance. When you're doing something of this size, don't be afraid to use bright highlights and dark shades.
I did a little modification of the zombie guy, again added some contrast and changed the colors very slightly, and I tweaked his left leg:
(http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/305/revisedzmch9.png)
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(http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/6126/jonassy1.png)
I tried adding more contrast to the image but I still feel when I compare them to your edits that I am not getting it perfect yet.
thanks
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You have way, way too many colors on your sprite. 40 colors for something that small? That's pretty ridiculous. A lot of contrast and clarity can be gained just by merging all the similar colors and near-blacks together by hand (hooray PSP4's color replace tool). Taking this further and adjusting the contrast and hues between highlights and shadows makes it nicer to view.
I made an edit just for fun and hopefully it has some useful things to study in it:
(http://www.bananattack.com/images/art/edits/HTD_edit.png)
Down to 13 colors! (this image doesn't actually have transparency, supersorry.)
Anyway, good luck. Keep at it!
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(http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/3919/editioat0.png)
yours -> solid colors -> reshaped and simple shaded.
14 colors methinks.
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(http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/6528/jonaew7.gif)
This is a 16 colour version of the sprite.
Out of curiousity why is it more effective to have less colours for the sprite?.
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when you have a large amount of colors on on a small space, the colors will start to blur, and everything. it basically helps the clarity and contrast.
also, im still having issues with the latest sprite. you are using thick outlines everywhere and you really havent defined a light source.
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HTD>
I tried to make a edit on your latest sprite, but I went too far, so the original design got lost (the perspective too). But the same rules apply to every sprite I think.
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/markusrosse/pixel/jonaew7_edit.gif)(http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/6528/jonaew7.gif)
* One of the most important things is volume. In your original sprite there's nearly no volume information. It's mostly a good idea to block out the volumes in two shades (light/shadow). A good idea is to keep the surfaces flat and use hard edges to suggest more volume, like the old vector games.
* Internal lines in such small sprites is almost never a good idea. If you put two values against each other, theres automaticly a line (if the contrast is enough high).
* Rampmixing / Tinting. I haven't used it much in my edit, but I think it's always a good idea, because it give coherence to the sprite. Use the colors from the face in the shoes, use the darkest shade of the coat in he face and so one.
Keep pushing!
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Thanks for the tips
Let me show you what I got right now
(http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/2171/jonacv7.gif)
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(http://i18.tinypic.com/8apme52.gif)
You're using way too many colors on such a small peice.