Pixelation
Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: pixelsforhire on January 07, 2007, 09:43:02 pm
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Hey, I'm working on a game with two other guys (both programmers.) Its a pretty straightforward Zelda/Gauntlet style action/arcade game with a twist. I won't go into details because I'm sure all you guys want to see is the pixels.
Here's a little mockup. I cluttered the room up a bit to show off some of the powerups.
(http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/7457/mockupjl3.png)
These are my tiles:
(http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/5079/tilesrm1.png)
I'm aware that the ground tile needs to be "de-gridded."
These will be used in a minigame:
(http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/5663/smeltpiecesyx2.png)
Anyways, let me know what you think. Also, in the game the character's colors are customizible (must choose a color from my preset pallet, though.) I just picked some random schemes for this mockup.
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I like 'em :D
The green blob looks a little flat though.
The tiles look really nice IMO.
The diamond on the bottom right kinda looks odd too, a little flat.
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I like how it ties together but I don't like the roundness of the heads.
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I like it. It looks kind of cute and kiddy. Problem I have is that it lacks any lighting really which doesn't help make the characters look like they are there. I would suggest some shadows.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/billiebonka/Edits/mockupjl3-edit.png)
There's a bit of a crude edit. I think Zelda did this but the whole perspective looks a bit off. You could try making the south walls and maybe east walls a bit narrower so it looks more in perspective but if you don't want to do that you could at least shade two of your directions so the lighting looks a bit more natural.
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Yeah, I was planning to put shadows on the crystal thingies and make them bob up and down in mid air, but I forgot. Maybe I should put shadows on everything. Thanks for the advice. Also, the round heads are kind of a theme. All the enemies look like those round heads. Stick some wings on a black one and you have a bat, give it legs and you've got a spider, make it kind of squishy and bam, a slime. I guess its too cutesy for some, though.
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That does look good. A little simplistic, but sometimes it's nice to look at something without a bunch of complex lighting and hue changes and whatever. I am a little worried about the lack of contrast between the floor and walls, though. It should be fairly clear in a game what's a passable area and what's not. You can tell in this shot because of the black emptyness around it, but I think it'd be confusing if there was a larger room with thin walls over the place.
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The objects and characters stand out to much, either brighten up the wall with saturations or lower it on the objects and chars, it makes it look bad... :huh:
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(http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/4715/mockupka4.png)
Just a fast rework. I put some black outlines on the walls and shadows on characters. I had trouble making shadows on the objects not look crappy, plus I was kind of trying to keep them all under 16x16 do to my stupid "pixel-artist-who-cares-too-much-about-outdated-resolution-restrictions-itis" (actual medical condition.) I also darkened the blob. The dark area is supposed to be on the ground with the rest of him being semi-see through. I guess that wasn't obvious. Probably still isn't. Still haven't fixed the cobblestone. Do the powerups need some way of standing out? I tried white outlines and shadows...
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The power ups are fine but i really like the old cliff less vibrant and just lower the saturation on all the objects and characters, un;ess you're going for a more cartoony look. I could tell from the very beggining the blob was slightly tanslucent.
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The 2d zelda perspective really makes stuff seem flat. You sure you want to imitate that? I guess it make tiling simpler because you can use the same wall tiles for every side, but that doesn't make up for how weird sprites and objects will look next to walls.
Maybe consider making the walls an orange or yellowish colour? the yellow or orange will pop out more to the eye making it more obvious that the blue-purple is in the BG, and you won't have a problem separating hte walls from the floor. Try and incorporate more hue-shift.
Looking nice so far, keep it up.
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(http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/1184/mockup3cg9.png)
Ok, I tried making the walls tilted upwards to make the items and characters not look so wierd standing next to them. I also added a shadow to the floor next to them to give some depth or some crap like that. Is this better? I'll fix colors and that stupid ground tile later; right now I'm coding like crazy because one of my programmers ditched me. So, should I forget the whole square grid and go iso? I'd rather not, but what are you're opinions?
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I like the perspective, though I wouldn't show the back of walls like you are now. I tried doing a quick check in graphics gale, and there is a big depth boost by not showing the back of walls.
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Oh very nice. If I understood you correctly, you meant something like this:
(http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/7591/mockup3ij0.png)
I suppose I could also straighten out the "away" walls like this:
(http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/3504/mockup2vl5.png)
Well, having posted it, I can tell its not going to work, but I'll leave it up there anyways...
I'm also considering making the puzzle pieces different colors. They can be a bit hard to distinguish in the fast pace of the minigame they are in. If you haven't deduced yet, the puzzle games are for item crafting purposes, so they are supposed to be metalic colors. Its tricky making different colors for metal. Right now I have grey, light grey, dark grey, and orange (bronze.) Any ideas of how to add some contrast?
(http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/5287/puzzlemockyy2.gif)
Yes, I already had different colors, but I was going to use the different colors all together in different puzzles. Oh, and yes I see that I fluked the transparency on that hexegonal one... oh well.
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I kind of took an extended break from this project, but I finally got off my butt and did some more. Here's the scant results:
(http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/498/walk3rb.gif)
(http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/9839/attack8ix.gif)
(http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/91/mockup30gt.png)
^Fixed the shadow mistake on the mockup.
(http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/3787/weaponmockup2jg.png)
I realize the walk cycle is a bit simplistic, but I think its passable. Also, do the "trails" on the weapon help? Should I make them longer in the second image? (90 degree arc?) Anyways, I guess I'm just wasting time. All my programmers quit.
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Walk cycle is fine, it reminds me of the Pokemon people.
I like the trails behond the swing, but I don't like how he swings twice, like he's trying to shoo something away. I don't know how close you're trying to copy Zelda, but if you look at it he always makes a single slash in one direction.
Also something that's been bugging me about the shadows from your walls is that it feels like the whole dungeon is floating above the ground, like so:
(http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/1374/untitled9be.png)
It's because all the walls are light and yet a shadow is supposed to be coming from them, so they feel like they're on a different plane. I liked it before when your walls were shaded. The black outlines are good, but just darkening those walls again could help a lot. I did this with a quick photoshop filter and I think it gets rid of the floaty effect.
(http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/1511/untitled15jb.png)
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That is fantastic!! I love the look of it.
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I like the trails behond the swing, but I don't like how he swings twice, like he's trying to shoo something away. I don't know how close you're trying to copy Zelda, but if you look at it he always makes a single slash in one direction.
Also something that's been bugging me about the shadows from your walls is that it feels like the whole dungeon is floating above the ground, like so:
(http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/1374/untitled9be.png)
As far as the swatting effect, I was thinking I could give the weapons "combo" ratings. Basically, you get a set number of attacks in a row before there is a delay. This mockup was with just two. I see what you mean. I may reconsider, it does look a bit odd in hindsight.
Speaking of, I actually thought the same thing as you about the walls. I did a fast edit and didn't like it, so I put it off for later and ended up forgetting. Here it is with the correct pallet. I think I like the darker one.
(http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/5629/mockup39kg.png)
(http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/7113/mockup45dl.png)
I also I forgot one wall on the first edit. Its a good thing this game is tile based, 'cause I keep missing stuff manually. I'll probably change the wall's thickness to make the shadow match the grid, if that makes any sense.