Pixelation

Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: Nitram on May 20, 2006, 08:45:12 pm

Title: Samus
Post by: Nitram on May 20, 2006, 08:45:12 pm
(http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a233/nitram354/samusyay.gif)


Progress:
(http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a233/nitram354/progress.gif)

Title: Re: Samus
Post by: Dhaos on May 21, 2006, 02:22:44 am
Found your way here have you? Like I said on pixeltendo, sprites good, just lacking a good pose. Also I just noticed you have light source comming from the upper left, because of that you may wish to remove the highlights on > side (or dim them a bit). Or else you could just center the shines or do nothing lol. Just some pixels for thought.
Title: Re: Samus
Post by: Nitram on May 21, 2006, 03:38:28 am
lol Yeah, I come here to get better C+C, because Pixeltendo doesn't always give good C+C, but the problem here people dont comment on my stuff D:
Yeah I'll do what you said about the lighting but as I said on Pixeltendo I'm gonna make an animation. This is mainly for size and looks just standing up so I can have the right portions during other poses/movement.
Title: Re: Samus
Post by: Nitram on May 24, 2006, 10:48:19 pm
(http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a233/nitram354/lookatsamus.gif)

(http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a233/nitram354/linesamus.gif) -> (http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a233/nitram354/sideblastwip.gif) -> (http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a233/nitram354/samussideblastdone.gif)
Title: Re: Samus
Post by: mixxedstuff on May 25, 2006, 01:00:11 pm
The form and color of these are quite good. However, there are a few things I would like to note.

The shoulder pads have been bothering me since I saw the first one. They seem a bit too plain and spherical for what they really are. Perhaps it is because I am still too accustomed to the Super Metroid era style of how Samus is drawn, but even on the newer Prime models, the shoulder pads are not complete spheres. They tend to flatten out a little towards the front and rear. You might adjust your lighting for that, it will help some in getting a more comfortable feel to your sprite.



Another thing I noted is how far back on her right arm her left hand rests. In most metroid games (2D at least), her hand is resting on her cannon a bit, not completley behind it.  It also makes her arm longer than it should be while she's crouched like that.

This made me notice her right leg in the crouched position. It seems almost devoid of shading, and is very light for a background leg- her foreground leg (left) is darker than it, which is odd looking.


But otherwise, nice work. You have the general proportions down quite well, and the color scheme is pretty good.
Title: Re: Samus
Post by: Dhaos on May 26, 2006, 12:07:14 am
I still really like this palette. Her new pose is positioned fairly well except I think her right leg should be pushed > way several pixels, it looks somewhat disconnected from the groin area. Also the chest area is hard to focus on, consider removing the lightest color from the chest so the arms stand out more (it makes the sprite easier to distinguish). Nicely done thus far, I'm glad you're doing these various poses of her.
Title: Re: Samus
Post by: Godslayer on May 26, 2006, 12:09:30 am
Something you should think about: This isn't a robot- Samus Aran is a woman. She has a body. See what I'm saying? Theres no way someone could fit in there.
Title: Re: Samus
Post by: sadrius on May 26, 2006, 12:15:29 am
Something you should think about: This isn't a robot- Samus Aran is a woman. She has a body. See what I'm saying? Theres no way someone could fit in there.

If I recall (I believe this was addressed in Metroid Prime 2), the interior of Samus' Power Suit is actually an alternate dimension.  This allows for Samus to enter morph-ball mode without her body getting crushed by the suit.

So, whether or not it looks like a woman can fit in the suit is irrelevant.  The dimensions in Nitram's rendition look pretty close to official art anyway.
Title: Re: Samus
Post by: Godslayer on May 26, 2006, 12:22:10 am
Really? Didn't know that, my bad. Perhaps I could put it another way: Such a thin waist would make her much more easy to dismember at the middle. But, I guess thats just a personal aesthetic that you don't need to listen to if thats how the games portray it.
Title: Re: Samus
Post by: Rox on May 26, 2006, 10:39:14 am
Actually, the suit is very much in this dimension, but with the 3D games, it was said that the morph ball function allows her to enter another plane of existance or something (though that explanationexists purely to explain 1. How the hell she can navigate in it, and 2. Why the inside of the ball is obviously empty save for a few lighting effects).

Want anatomy? Here's anatomy. (http://mdb.classicgaming.gamespy.com/sm/smart_sam03.jpg)


Now for some actual critique before I go back to work. I LOVE how you've shaded the first one, for the most part. Zoomed in it looks very much like a SNES type sprite. What I don't like is the colors you've used. They're far too bland and muddy. Too brown to be the Varia suit and too dark to be the regular Power suit color scheme. You could also work some on the anatomy of the suit, as it strikes me as somewhat disproportionate. The shoulders looks even bigger than they should be, and the hips are almost inexistent. One of the things that really serves to make Samus' suit characteristic is how it, despite the size and raw power of the thing, it still looks very feminine, with a large chest and hip area and a very thin waist.

I think what I mean to say is that it needs more curves...

This also applies to the second and third stance, but those also need a little more shading in some spots, like the inside of the thighs. Don't be afraid to go berzerk with gradients if you feel like it, there's really no reason not to when you're trying to shade a near-cylindrical piece of shiny metal.
Title: Re: Samus
Post by: AdamAtomic on May 26, 2006, 01:17:28 pm
I think she is supposed to fit in there too:

http://www.conceptart.org/artist/andrew-jones/images/andrew_jones_ca15/btight_line_samus.jpg

I think on the crouching side view you need to work on that thigh a lot - on her armor the hip joint is VERY wide, and the knee joints are very narrow - the thighs are almost like an inverted cone.  On yours the thigh is like some weird spaghetti thing :P
Title: Re: Samus
Post by: Helm on May 26, 2006, 01:28:31 pm
Haha this attempt (last concept art post) to make the samus battle suit seem more feminine is funny and also totally ruins the point that samus is a woman mercenary, concerned with survival and warfare and not being 'stylish'.

Title: Re: Samus
Post by: AdamAtomic on May 26, 2006, 02:00:36 pm
I guess...but I mean that concept among others was used to create the suits for Prime, so I guess he didn't miss the point TOO much... ;)
Title: Re: Samus
Post by: Nitram on May 27, 2006, 10:30:23 am
(http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a233/nitram354/bodyinsuit.gif)
I fitted a person in there, no?

Thanks for Crits Mixxedstuff, Dhaos, and Rox it really helps
Title: Re: Samus
Post by: Helm on May 27, 2006, 09:51:23 pm
well you fitted a liberal outline of a person, but not one that is anatomically sound by any stretch. hips too wide, shoulders too wide, hands in completely inoperapble position
Title: Re: Samus
Post by: AdamAtomic on May 28, 2006, 05:20:41 am
arms are different lengths too :P