Pixelation
Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: unclechristmas on December 31, 2012, 02:16:29 pm
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Hi everyone, I've got a couple of sprites I've been working on but I could do with someone else having a look.
The ship colours seem to be off somehow, and the shading in the middle particularly is confusing but I can't find a way to fix it.
(http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy53/slowninja/fighters_zps3eb83a58.png)
This one just seems flat, but I'm having difficulty creating depth?
(http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy53/slowninja/alien_zps860bb518.png)
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Fixed the ship a little bit.
(http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy53/slowninja/shipdev_zps7c1e49b2.png)
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Attempted fix on the alien-type-thing.
(http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy53/slowninja/enemy2_zps1cb03d6a.png)
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Right away I see some problems with banding and pillow-shading (http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g209/phototekcub/frontalpillow.png) through all of these sprites--problems which would show real badly against a black background. And when the ship rotates, the light even rotates with it as if it's "baked in".
These ship colors are pretty saturated as well, unusual for a space situation, where I would expect pretty much no hue shift, or a bit of a shift to blue. (You could pull off sprites with these colors though, but pillow-shading still needs to be addressed.) The latest sprites are a step up from the first versions though, but mostly detail-wise, while those other problems still persist.
EDIT:
(http://i.imgur.com/kTnTP.png)
Two quick edits actually, in two different styles just to show you some possible directions you could take. Or I might have just gotten carried away with it...
The first edit focuses more on simple shapes and the aforementioned blue shift in a duller palette, design wise it's basically a sci-fi bottle rocket, with wings.
The second focuses more on your chosen saturated palette, angles and detail, borrowing a bit from DodonPachi and other shooters in that vein--which are definitely worth looking at for reference.
Also, note how both demonstrate a clear light source, but simplified down to cylindrical bodies, with a slight cast shadow to the right. Maybe it's worth it to experiment with asymmetrical lighting?
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First of all, thanks for the help pistachio. :)
Now that I look at mine again I can see the pillow-shading and banding. Especially the pillow shading on top of the ships, although that's not what I was intending it to look like, I just have problems picking highly contrasting colours together sometimes for some reason.
I prefer the angular appearance on the top of your first ship, I might try to achieve something like that in the next version.
I shied away from using an obvious light source as I'm doing rotation on the fly if I need it for the game I'm making these for, and would rather not have to draw each facing.
I'm generally aiming for a cartoony look, ideally something like these screens below from Tatsujin Ou/Truxton 2:
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0GSKfnXScH0/T9J93lzAmjI/AAAAAAAAB6E/U7nYlsx-hHA/s400/2usa6wx.png) (http://paulmccaskie.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/truxton2022010.png) (http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/toaplan/Truxton%202/Truxton%202%2001.png)
or another Toaplan game I like called Dogyuun:
(http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/toaplan/Dogyuun/Dogyuun%2023.png) (http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/toaplan/Dogyuun/Dogyuun%2014.png)
Although I realise I won't reach this standard, at least in the time I plan to finish these sprites ;D