Pixelation
Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: Akzidenz on January 13, 2007, 06:06:37 am
-
My friend and I have been working on these for awhile now, and we're at the point now where some outside opinions & advice would be a huge help. These are the naked base sprites for four races, and are based on the sketches below (linked instead of img'ed because they're large):
Human race: http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/656/humanuf0.jpg
Fish race: http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/4651/fishnp1.jpg
Rock race: http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/4504/rockleqz8.jpg
Furry race: http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/285/furryou8.jpg
And, the sprites:
(http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/2144/humanzs1.gif)
(http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/7792/fishqy6.gif)
(http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/1560/rocklerh5.gif)
(http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/7523/furrybj6.gif)
Finally, some exploration done recently on the shading and shaping of the human sprite (original marked with an X):
(http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/752/humaneditslt7.gif)
We're looking for comments & critiques on any or all of them. I think we're at the point where we might be focusing on the wrong things, I feel like there are still some glaring errors in them but I can't put my finger on exactly what's wrong. We've just been staring at them for too long.. a fresh pair of eyes would really help. Edits are definitely welcome.
-
Yes please! Any and all criticism is incredibly welcome. We've pretty much started with no experience, but a lot of enthusiasm for the artform. We look forward to hearing from the community. ^_^
-
all the monsters could use some more contrast
and all the sketches look happier, more playful, i think you should try to get that in the sprites. thinks like the short legs and beady eyes on the human
i prefer the top right style of shading and outlining, gives the most pop in the depth, plus not everything is outlined
i think you should shade the human a bit more though, like under the arm, and the arm itself, maybe the crotch too
the rock doesnt appeal to me at all. seems like a blob with some parts sticking out, i suggest you restart on that one and make it a bit bigger as well
the fish has the best shading of them all i think. clear shapes, not too much or too little of each colour, nice balance
maybe add a bit of shade on the middle of the assfin, where there now is a highlight
put a bit of a line on the lower part of the eyes and work on the lips a bit maybe
allso add some more decal like the stuff on his head.
lastly he lacks toes
the furry is nice too, but he needs some eyesockets and better fur. have you tried using a bit larger spikes of hair? more trianglish and dont just mirror the shading, lazy bum =P
-
heh i feel picky today :)
the non human sprites have different light sources each time.
when you have them facing SW the light source is from top left.but when you have them facing NW the lights source comes from the top right :P
-
heh i feel picky today :)
the non human sprites have different light sources each time.
when you have them facing SW the light source is from top left.but when you have them facing NW the lights source comes from the top right :P
Well, yeah.. but when you're doing iso sprites, they have to flip (unless you feel like doubling your workload). Any suggestions on how to get past that? I'm pretty sure iso stuff from other games is lit in the same way, but it's not as noticable because the sprites are considerably smaller.
Should our lightsource be coming from a different spot? Should it be casting fewer shadows?
-
the green one look very kenneth fejer like, I love it the most.
your human design is very unique, looks fantastic.
-
(http://www.locustleaves.com/fishdude.gif) (http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/7792/fishqy6.gif)
pixel art is about pixel by pixel attention. The judo kredo applies here too: MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY. Play around with colors. Where can you reuse stuff. Check out aa... where could you do it more? Check forms and shapes, can something be made cleaner, neater and simpler?
-
I was JUST about to post this edit and I see Helm already did an edit with some ideas. I'll post it anyway and hope you get something out of it.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/billiebonka/Edits/fishqy6-edit.gif)
I ditched one of your grays and figured why not use some of the greens for the eyes instead? It doesn't hurt and in fact it might help make the transition between eyes and skin smoother. Added some spectral lighting, which might not be what you're going for but it's an idea.
Seems like it's not true iso, and I feel the pieces aren't all of the same quality or even style. Try to work on that a bit more. My biggest pet peeve is probably clashing styles. Looks good so far though.
-
Very good! Thanks guys for all the tips and criticism. It definitely helps to have folks with more experience give us some of the tasty cheese-like secrets. On crackers of illustrated examples.
-
Thanks so much for the comments, critiques, and especially edits - Helm & Delgneith, those will help tremendously.
Regarding the very simple shading of the sprites, I think that it was done for two reasons - firstly, because we're both fairly inexperienced, but also because they're all going to be heavily animated (on paper). We want to make sure that the draw > scan > trace > refine process is as simple and effective as possible. That's the main reason that, say, the fish don't have scales. But I think there's a shitton more work that we can do on refining these without making them overly complex.
One comment I was curious about was this:
I feel the pieces aren't all of the same quality or even style. Try to work on that a bit more. My biggest pet peeve is probably clashing styles.
Could you be more specific about what looks out of place, and what looks to have lesser quality? That'd help a lot when we go through and refine them.
-
Could you be more specific about what looks out of place, and what looks to have lesser quality? That'd help a lot when we go through and refine them.
Sure thing, I would say the best one out of the bunch is the fish guy. Had some fairly good shading, very appealing colors and was well thought out I'm sure. Then you take a look at the furry or rock guy and it just doesn't seem to match. All the characters have the same eyes, so if you're going for the pure white look on one, why not do it for the others? One having black beady eyes and the other the white ones just doesn't mash that well to me.
The furry is the closest style to the fish guy, but it suffers from poor texture in my opinion. Maybe I can find time to do an edit with any ideas but try for a bit more of a larger chunks of fur shading approach. You tried a similar lit outline approach but it doesn't fad so much as just the legs are really dark and contrasty and the rest is not. Try thinking about where the light hits it and lighten it up there. Also about the furry, the colors just don't quite seem up to par with the fish. Try shifting your shadows to blue and maybe work on your main base color too. It's a bit bland. Just noticed his hair is identical in both, that's a bit cheating no? Try adjusting it so ones the front and one's the back. Shouldn't take long but it'll do a lot for you.
The rock guy again with the eyes not matching the others and the outline thing mentioned in the last one. Outline seems more broken in this one and shading doesn't seem very thought out. No mouth and no moss/hair. Colors, I'm not so convinced you're doing the most with your colors here. Try some hue shifting to make it more interesting to look at.
The human seems fairly well done but strays quite a bit from the original design. I'd like to mention the eyes again but if you were to want to keep the white eyes to monsters that could work but it wouldn't hurt to try it on the character too judging by the sketches. If I were to have to pick which human most closely matched the fish (which I think is the style you should be aiming for because it turned out really well) I'd pick the top right one. Here you used the "full outline" with some lightening towards the top. Colors seem pretty nice on this one, wouldn't worry about those.
I hope that cleared some stuff up for you. Those are all just my opinions but I do feel that there's a bit of work done before these will look like they belong together in a game. You're off to a good start though :) Best of luck.
-
An update on the human and fish sprites. Old on top, new on the bottom. Tried to play with the palette a little more, tried to fix a lot of the iso perspective issues, changed the light source (supposed to be coming more from the top than the front now), mostly happy with the results. I feel like the posture on the north-facing human sprite is off, but I've been screwing with it for forever now and I can't figure it out. Maybe I've been looking at it for too long.
Any C&C/edits/etc are appreciated, I can't even explain how much your edits helped, Helm and Delgneith. Thanks yet again.
Human Old/New:
(http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/6871/humaneditce6.gif)
Fish Old/New:
(http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/8402/fisheditpk2.gif)
-
Fish Man:
First off, he lost some of his belly, and the chubbiness really added some character to it. Generally, the corners got sharper, too.
Second off...
...
Uhh... I liked the more saturated tones of the fish man more.
Also, are these for a game? They're awesome.
-
Fish Man:
First off, he lost some of his belly, and the chubbiness really added some character to it. Generally, the corners got sharper, too.
Yeah, the chubbiness is still there, but because the eyes and head changed shape/position a little it makes him look like he lost a few pounds. I'll fatten him up next time around.
What do you mean about the corners getting sharper?
-
What do you mean about the corners getting sharper?
In the first version you had, the curves are way more smooth than on the newest edit (which look rather angular)
I must say I prefer the old version of the fish overall. It had a better palette (at least from my point of view) and better shape.
And speaking of palette, I guess experimenting with colors wouldn't hurt. Right now you are using a monotonous color selection, and thus making the whole thing a tad boring. You could try adding subtle yellows, blues and reds and go wild. But since they are just bases, you could do it individually for each customization.
Also white highlights could be added to show that he is slimy or something. Just try to pull out the most you can out of the design, give them character rather than just coloring.
-
Very funny sprites! Good.
But something about race :-\, you fish race a very like as bird race. On you sketch (http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/4651/fishnp1.jpg) personage more fishy than on pixel. Because on pixel his mouth like as beak, and haven't bulging eyes. Want see distance between eyes maybe more bigger and mouth up to eyes. His hand too much long. Maybe my small edit help you:
(http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/4006/fish01kz9.gif)
With this eyes you did can more emotion for you character.
And color will be more fishy.
Also you must small work with shapes. :D
-
I for one think the 1st setup was totally cool shading wise.
I'm a sucker for solid shading as opposed to the dithering thing.
I think the eye on the right should go one pixel lower still for correct iso on your last version.
also in your last edit, you made his head blockier which I think makes him even less.
sorry
-
i thought that the dithering wasnt a good thing to have in such a sprite, just a hassle to animate and its not worth it imo. the pallette you have is very nice, but it could use spicing up if you desire. i made an edit, dont know how helpful it will be to you:
(http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/7462/fishko9.png)
-
Thanks again for all the wonderful and helpful input from everyone. I would agree that we wouldn't want as much dithering in our sprites for the sake of animation and keeping it simple. I made this update trying to maintain a solid shades and hilights while trying to keep the pallette small. I have no clue what to do with the lips though, but I'm still working on it as I post. Also posted for critique is the main character in a basic armor setup. Also W.I.P. and would appreciate help on that! Thanks again guys. ^_^
Fish Dude Omega Alpha Centauri Extreme Edition:
(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b131/wedgeismyhero/Fishman.gif)
Soon To Be Distraught Over Some Cataclysmic Event In Life Hero:
(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b131/wedgeismyhero/MainChar.gif)
-
Wow, I haven't done an edit in forever.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v157/Xionight/Fishman.png)
Messed with the lips (and some other very minor things). Do they look alright?
Oh yeah, and I liked the farthest fin arm thing better when you could see the tip. I'm not fond of the way it seems stuck to his side now.
-
Sweet edit Xion! Most excellent I think. ^^
EDIT: I really like how you popped out the lips and the area around it. Also you're right about the arm pulling away from the body. Thanks again. ^^
I'm not sure about the fish having a bellybutton (then again, fish don't walk and can't breath out of water etc.) but there should be something to put in that big flat color space. Maybe off colour markings? I'm going to work on them again and post updates.