Pixelation
Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: smiker on May 24, 2008, 03:17:17 pm
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I'm now doing a shooter platform game oriented to be multiplayer, with weapons like quake3 ones.
(http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/371/mockup1wt1.gif)
YES, it's referenced on a METAL SLUG sprite.
please c+c, i know the player sprite can be better, but i'm blanked now.
(http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/9379/plasmakz4.png)plasma
(http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/7053/rocketpt8.png)rocket
(http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/7267/rocketjumpey6.png)rocket jump
(http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/2072/shotgunhz0.png)shotgun
(http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/7326/consoletah9.png)console
(http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/6350/waterfxha3.png)water fx
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I think you'd learn more from making your own sprites instead of copying Metal Slug.
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I really can't tell if this qualifies as a rip or not. I mean the pose, keyframes, proportions etc are all nearly identical to metal slug's characters, but it is about 2/3 the size of the metal slug sprites, and obviously the metal slug sprites are not nearly so bland and pillow-shaded.
To be sure, this is too heavily copied to critique in any sensible way except "don't copy metal slug" and all the usual beginner character critiques. However, I'm not sure if this is a bannable offense or not!
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This looks like you resized and the completely defiled the Marco sprite from Metal Slug.
(http://ptoing.net/burn/smikerms.png)
What is your statement here? This is at best very heavily referenced at worst what I said above. At best this will earn you a strike at worst a ban. Will see what the other mods think.
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i recognize that i used TARMA forms and poses, but there's a lot of space between that and being a ripper, so dont offense me you all, first have a more strength reason for saying what you are saying
if the icons look like metal slug ones it remains at that: they look like each other, but therefore there are differences, where exactly are you saying i am ripping the sprite?
finalizing this post:
let me say how i did the sprite, after that, you can say anything you want about if YOU think im a ripper or not (sorry but i have been offended very much by that adjective)
PIXEL_PIECE HISTORY:
1-I need a 32x32 (¡32x32!) sprite for my 32x32 tiled engine, not like metal slug graphics.
2-I make a design of the subject on paper.
3-I'm trying to animate it on paper. I use as reference metal slug frames, from Tarma, being more concrete.
4-I success with the animation on paper, so i proceed with the pixelation.
5-I do the sprite frames shading them at the best i can in those moments.
6-I post a mockup here for optimizing the look of that sprite.
7-You all come here and call me ripper. Do i really deserve that? I don't think so. In fact, I think i only can be named at worst as inverse engineer due to the fact of reversing the process with the metal slug frames to TRANSFORM them on the design i had previously on paper.
I would like to see if you are yet thinking on that way, and if not, i'm still waiting for some help for the icon.
Thanks. Nice ppl here ¬¬
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What you are doing is not direct ripping, but you failed to mention your sources, and generally this is cosidered bad form for many reasons I always think are self-evident, but apparently they are not.
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ok sorry for the mistake, and sorry to you all too, i will put my sources (if any) when i post from now to the future.
i hope this misunderstanding is fixed.
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Glad to hear that. Tho you are still getting a strike for this (It says in the rues that you should state your reference if you do something like this).
Also, noone called you a ripper.
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anyway, whats exactly a strike?
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A strike is something you get if you break the rules. 3 strikes and you get banned. Read the RULES (http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=2002.0) and FAQ (http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=4265.0) asap!
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this game is going pretty well, so i'm gonna update this dirty post.
i think i'm not causing pain to anybody with my game, so i apologize for not having adverted that i referenced on metal slug, but this game is far away the metalslug concept. anyway, do yo everybody said in all of your human body pixelations you all were referencing in davinci's human proportions? i don't know if you know that, but all good human pixelations are too closelike that drawing. there would be unfair to tell everybody that they are rippers, huh?
:) just joking ;)
i'll update soon, just let me convert some files....
i forgot to remind the most parts are placeholders. there are two huds, one using text and one with graphs showing all player vars (higher level ones,course) but i havent done ammo meters yet.
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(http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/2072/shotgunhz0.png)
I find the lightsource a bit hard to identify. Rocks for instance are very close to pillow-shading when shown as if the main light was together with the camera.
You might want to work more on what-is-made-of-what-material, which isn't always very clear atm (imho, and i fear i'd have hard time at doing better than this myself). Metal for instance, might be more shiny compared to bricks (and this certainly apply to golden coins), and bricks could feel more "bricks" if they were less blurred.
Also, i have the general feeling that you're using dithering just to introduce intermediate tones while it also has an impact on how we perceive the material (more dithered -> granular/imperfect shape). So it fits well (parts of) rocks, but i'd discourage it in lava and golden coins.
And finally, the ladder could benefit from more spaced steps (imho)
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(http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/9379/plasmakz4.png)
You could perhaps try to separate your foreground and background elements more in the cave areas. As it is, the ceiling blends in with the back wall of the cave, and those stalactite spikes on the ceiling are barely visible. (I had to zoom in to actually see the little ones) I would argue this would be very bad if the spikes damage your character if he touches them.
I assume that you're trying to separate the back wall of the cave by making it darker than the foreground, which is not a bad idea. But the problem is that all the colors you have right now are all 100% saturated brown shades.
[edit:]
(http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/747/shooteredit1xv2.png)
By simply de-saturating the background layer to almost grey, I've already brought some definition to the ceiling of the cave and the other foreground elements. However, the darkness still makes the tones of the stalactites blend in with their surrounding area. So it might be better to lighten the entire background up some.
[edit:]
(http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/1222/shooteredit2ri2.png)
Now the stalactites are easily visible and hopefully easily avoided. :D
Of course, you may want to keep the background of the cave a dark brown color for aesthetic reasons, but you can still hopefully use my tips to add definition to the playing field.
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thanks a lot! although the spikes arent finished yet (i dont know how i forgotten to do them) the tips you gave me opened my eyes :) i will do it, and i'll post some updates. by the moment, i've added a soft-fx that 'reflects' the background to make a water-reflection effect. do you think it works?
(http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/6350/waterfxha3.png)
edit:
i've edited a bit the background tiles. is it better? i think so, but...
(http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/6325/snapshotjx1.png)
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Your screens could need some of the same hue shifts Helm has suggested in the past.
Simply make the backgrounds in a complementary color to that of the foreground.
Perhaps Helm can fill me in and explain better?
edit:
Regarding the metal slug animations I'm going to have to turn to heracy and say that the metal slug running cycles aren't that good really.
Nothing beats metal slug when it comes to idle animations and all those sub pixel stuff and all the slow movements like walks and stuff are awesome (the zombie walks are pure eye gravy) but the running animations for some reason are just strange.
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sorry about this question robotacon, but what layer of background are you talking about? the one inside the caves, the one showing the landscape or both bgs?
tnx a lot 4 the comments
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sorry about this question robotacon, but what layer of background are you talking about? the one inside the caves, the one showing the landscape or both bgs?
tnx a lot 4 the comments
Both. To avoid having a background that blends into the foreground you can play with either contrast or hue or texture or any other parameter that makes a visual difference.
My suggestion, that I've got from Helm when I was making a cave scene for Arcade Academy, is to use a complementary color for the backgrounds.
Check out the link in my sig and look at Helms suggestion.
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(http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/1622/snapshotoriggs7.png) original
(http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/8683/snapshotbff1.png) blue bg palette
(http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/100/snapshotgyj3.png) green bg palette (i like this)
(http://img381.imageshack.us/img381/7035/snapshotrbf3.png) red bg palette
what do you think?
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In terms of hue, the green is definitely the way to go, but I still think you'll need to change either the contrast or brightness of the background to separate it more. Additionally, you could re-do the graphic to have larger rocks and less small details. The foreground is abundant in small details, so to be lacking those smaller parts in the background could separate it easily.
Although not a pixel art game, Braid uses this same technique of lower detail backgrounds to bring out the foreground and make it clear what the player can and cannot interact with.
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I like the blue background for dank cave-ey ness, but in each you seem to have one, or two errant pixels that are just eye magnets, are the little stalactites important? because I think they still need brightening to show their potential damage.
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by the moment, i've added a soft-fx that 'reflects' the background to make a water-reflection effect. do you think it works?
This way waters and mountains seem to lie on the same plane (which would make reflections impossible), whereas they lie on perpendicular planes. To fix this, during the rendering of waters, just skip a line every other so that the waters occupy 1/3rd of the screen and the mountains 2/3rds - by the way, this also fixes the unusual effect that waters - a horizontal surface - occupy more space than the frontal background.
The progressively disappering sinusoidal waves effect looks fine :) - edit: on second thought: now that I look closer at the picture, it does not seem that progressive, but rather a 2-step process... is it so? mmm... it looks weird... I'd go for a continuously decreasing amplitude.
saimo
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what do you think?
The blue one for me, because of the better contrast with the foreground.
saimo
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what do you think?
The blue one for me, because of the better contrast with the foreground.
The green one is the one where you did the best job at picking the good color ramp, but i admit the blue one will read better (green one still "jumps" at my eyes, and green is the color we see the best, iirc).
Maybe try to re-work the color ramp for the blue one, e.g. going from blue to de-saturated dark blue (rather than your current purple-blue-green ramp that doesn't correctly change the luminosity.
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tnx a lot 4 all :)
i was busy fixing bugs on the engine, but i'll follow your advices to make this go well.
by the way i'm short of time cause i'm doing more than one project (one of them with US people in the well known BYOND'd DBO2. ^^ so i'm a bit stressed right now.
little edit of the brick tiles (i dont know if it went better but i like that 'dead' style for such a game like this one:
1 . do they look over-contrasted or they give the right effect that they are ruins? what do you think?
2. which laser beam is better at first zoom? im going to rotate that colors to give the doors a cool effect.
(http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/9893/snapshotbricksnewft3.png)
(http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/6236/snapshotbrickonnz2.png)
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Your bricks aren't even close to tile.
Half bricks and duplicated bricks that are stacked on each other kills the look.
Also the darker bricks that you put in there makes symmetrical patterns.
Try making them look more random .
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some video update to show the power of my engine. i know that it isn't any pixelart at all, but i cant move this topic to general or any category else.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crB_M06WUh8
that's an ingame video. will update soon.
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looks like you've come a bit... rocket physics seem very strange. like you shoot into the ground (without actually pointing the rocket launcher into the ground) and then 1 second after you can jump 4 times the height you could before.
Also the climbing animation seems out of place. The ladder is blended into the background so you can't actually see anything.
I'm guessing you didn't make everything since you don't even know the commands the console can handle.
but yeah, you're palette seems to need some work in order to make sure everything is visible.
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haha i do coded everything, the matter is that in the version showed on the video there are some commands that aren't implemented, they were implemented later....imo i think that pallette doesn't work....
Update: Now static lighting!
(http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/2067/snap6b.jpg)