Pixelation
Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: LoTekK on November 15, 2009, 06:06:26 pm
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Having just released Rocketbirds: Revolution (http://www.rocketbirds.com), an in-browser Flash game for which I did the majority of the background art [/shameless plug], I figured I'd use the down-time to start mocking up a shmup based on the characters from that game, and specifically, the circumstances in the intro. I haven't really figured how I want to handle the background (ie, whether to go for simple, parallaxing silhouettes, or something more detailed a la Aero Blaster or UN Squadron). So for now, the background and sky are somewhat placeholder.
For the sprites, I still need to go in and rejigger the palettes, since I did up Hardboiled (the chicken) with largely the same palette I used for the penguins (and you can clearly see the difference in color focus between them). Right now I'm also trying to sort out the working files, since they're a bit of a mess of layers (am I the only one that's underwhelmed/frustrated with how Pro Motion handles layers?). I'll likely have separate sprites for arms/weapons, body, jet plume, and the lighting from the muzzle flashes.
Style-wise, I'm more than likely going to stay away from any AA, except possibly some local buffer shading if absolutely necessary.
Not sure where this is gonna go, but once I get a few more assets together, I'll probably start prototyping in Construct. Whether it goes beyond prototype will depend on the bossman.
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/778345/rbshmup-mockup4.gif)
different weapons and orientations (for movement around the screen)
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/778345/rbshmup-hb.gif)
and a quick animation test
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/778345/rbshmup-hb1.gif)
Any c&c is more than welcome.
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i absolutely love the light up on the character when he shoots it looks really natural!
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Cheers Quazi. :) Hopefully when I get around to fixing up the palettes the lighting will look better, since right now the yellow is a bit over-saturated, and the secondary is pinkish :p
Did up a rocket-strapped kiwi (I'm thinking swarm-type enemy).
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/778345/rbshmup-kiwi1.gif)
edit:
aaand a quick AKM. Which upon looking at it again, is a tad undersized. (fixed)
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/778345/rbshmup-hb-ak.gif)
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Love this - really nice palette and lineless style. It does look odd that the giant flames on their backs aren't used as a source of light (where the gunfire is - in the animation anyway). Also, the flames - I expect them to be white in the middle, your shades seem reversed.
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with those rocketpacks being mentioned, I might also point out that those characters must have very hot feet looking at how close they are to the jet flames.... I think there's likely to be a third potential light source :)
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Cheers, guys. :) Good point about the missing lightsource from the rocketpack. I hadn't sorted out how best to approach additional lighting for that, in the interests of clarity. I'll play around with it some more, though.
Zoggles: Flaming feet could be a fun random effect. :p
Haven't had a lot of time to work on this, but recently started getting my feet wet with Construct (http://www.scirra.com) to get a feel for it. While there are aspects of it I like, I think I may switch over to a more code-based framework like pyGame or LÖVE. The inconsistent interface and relative inflexibility are starting to grate.
Short youtube vid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9vTxCB4A78)
(shell casings are probably a bit overdone :p)
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(shell casings are probably a bit overdone :p)
I personally love the look of the shell casings
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Looks nice so far. I too have no problem with the shell casings.
What I would do tho is make the player shot quite a bit bigger. Sorta like in Metal Slug.
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Reminds me of Team Fortress 2, I think you should make it more colorful, I tried making an edit but it really didn't do much, it just needs a bit more contrast and clean-up.