Pixelation
Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: SolarStrings on July 05, 2009, 11:14:42 am
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Hi Guys!
Started to pixel again after a long time. This time i figured I wanted to try to animate the main character for my own game, currently a single player / 2player LAN/Internet co-op metroid clone, download and try:
http://forsblom.xieke.com/newproject/New_Project_0.2.9.rar)
Here's what I've got so far:
(http://forsblom.xieke.com/newproject/gfx/Alienrun3.gif) (< -new) (http://forsblom.xieke.com/newproject/gfx/Alienrun2.gif) (< -old)
Update on Latest Running animation.
(http://forsblom.xieke.com/newproject/gfx/alienproto7.png) - (http://forsblom.xieke.com/newproject/gfx/alienproto7-colored.png)
Alien front view lineart and colored version.
old running animations: (http://forsblom.xieke.com/newproject/gfx/alienruncycle2.gif) and (http://forsblom.xieke.com/newproject/gfx/alienruncycle.gif)
Head animation:
(http://forsblom.xieke.com/newproject/gfx/headanimation.gif)
I know I have to shape the legs and arms up to proportion. I also need to turn his head in the proper direction when running, instead of his "stiff" head pose atm.
C & C on what to improve & make better.
SolarStrings
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if it were from this planet, the arms and legs would move opposite to each other(left arm front, left foot back), but since this is an alien, it might work, especially if you'd have humans that would run properly, this might be really cool
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(http://forsblom.xieke.com/newproject/gfx/alienproto1.png)
1st colored prototype
C & C, how can I improve the piece?
Thanks in advance
SolarStrings
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I recommend you to pause on the animations for now, and first perfect your character.
I see this chest plate and think it yields no relation to the underlying shape, make it accentuate muscularity more.
Then the arms go into the outpointing part of the shoulder pads, but they come from the torso as a whole, try to look at the shape of a human shoulder girdle, and then apply your shoulder pads to that, so first draw the creature, before drawing it's armor and making misjunctions in the joints.
then the knees should go up a bit higher, and the main bulk of the calve could be placed more inwards, right now there really is a bulge on the front side of the leg which isn't supposedd to be there. So globally, although alien, look at human(oid) anatomy more and redesign this guy for the majority. Then start thinking about his armor again and make it make more sense in both shape and attachment to the body.
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Great job on the alien he looks really cool! I have a few things that I think might improve him. On the head, you can barely see the highlights that are there. I would brighten that up so it doesn't look like the same color. Also, when you shade darker, shift the hue to a colder color like blue or purple. When you add highlights, shift the hue to a warmer color like orange or yellow. On the armor, it is completely gray. Gray is very boring so i would recommend that you add a tint of red on it.
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(http://forsblom.xieke.com/newproject/gfx/alienproto2.png)
Update on the alien with armor.
Tried to add some more "shinyness", also added some dark blue to the armor.
C & C is welcome as usual.
SolarStrings
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I really like it. Only thing is that it's not proportionate. Well, it being an alien, but the body's buff, and he his... jsut... look at human anatomy. ^^
But i'm lovin it.
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Yes, I coded the game engine myself. Still have lots to do with it though. But 2player co-op works :)
-Need to program a universal slope routine that works for all objects, enemies etc in game. It's a "hack" atm.
-Add more enemies and code their AI
-Add bosses to shoot down
-etc etc.. ^^
(http://forsblom.xieke.com/newproject/gfx/alienproto3.png)
Changed the headsize a bit, he now looks more "human".
Better this way? Or can I go with my supersized head?
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Oh, nice. What language did you use?
and I think the smaller one works better.
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Programming the game in c/c++ with SDL (www.libsdl.org).
Runs in linux & windows (don't have a macintosh to compile on).
"and I think the smaller one works better."
Yes, I think so too.
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Yeah, that looks better. Personally, I would made the head normal and made the legs longer.
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Started working on turning him a bit. Just lineart atm:
(http://forsblom.xieke.com/newproject/gfx/alienproto4.png)
slightly turned view
c & c and tips on how to improve it. Edits are more than welcome!
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Got home from work, fixed a few bits and pieces in the lineart, and colored the piece
(http://forsblom.xieke.com/newproject/gfx/alienproto5.png)
The colored version.
C & C is welcome as always!
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to me, back step... alot. you've totally missed the best constructive criticsm you've gotten.
I recommend you to pause on the animations for now, and first perfect your character.
I see this chest plate and think it yields no relation to the underlying shape, make it accentuate muscularity more.
Then the arms go into the outpointing part of the shoulder pads, but they come from the torso as a whole, try to look at the shape of a human shoulder girdle, and then apply your shoulder pads to that, so first draw the creature, before drawing it's armor and making misjunctions in the joints.
then the knees should go up a bit higher, and the main bulk of the calve could be placed more inwards, right now there really is a bulge on the front side of the leg which isn't supposedd to be there. So globally, although alien, look at human(oid) anatomy more and redesign this guy for the majority. Then start thinking about his armor again and make it make more sense in both shape and attachment to the body.
retouch on that, then work on anything else
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Hey guys! (and ladies!)
Been trying to improve the anatomy now, and need some more sugestions on how to improve it.
Many thanks to TrevoriuS, who is trying to push me into the right direction. I was to lazy earlier to "fix" all the parts. Not sure if I managed to do that in this piece, so help me out some more.
(http://forsblom.xieke.com/newproject/gfx/alienproto7.png) (http://forsblom.xieke.com/newproject/gfx/alienproto7-colored.png)
New anatomy of alien. Quick coloring.
Fixed?:
- arms no longer "grow" out of the armpads.
- Knees higher positioned
- Tried to make him look more muscular.
- "hopefuly" corrected the calve muscles :D
C & C everyone, so I correct the last parts and then start "splatting" some armor on the guy! :D
Feel free to throw me and edit!
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Hi guys!
Here's the new running animation.
(http://forsblom.xieke.com/newproject/gfx/Alienrun2.gif)
Still need to tweak some more on it i think, but I'm somewhat satisfied with it.
C & C please.
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He seems to be punching with his right fist/lowerarm, which goes up too much.
When you look at the way you animated the left (foreground) arm:
the lower arm stays a lot more on a horizontal plane.
I think you should do this for the right lowerarm as well, which is now pointing upwards the whole time, making it look like he's punching.
Hope this helps!
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Firstly, he needs to be leaning foreward. When you run, you are essentially falling foreward, then catching yourself with alternating legs. Same with walking, just less of an angle. We use gravity to our advantage when moving.
Second, his legs need to show the force of the landing. Out of all the threads asking for help with their run animations, this seems to be the most common problem. The leg that the body is landing on needs to bend as the weight of the body is applied to it for the runner to look like he weighs anything. The best way to convey this is ha e one frame where the leg is extended, heel touching the ground, but no weight is yet on it. Then in the very next frame, the foot is flat on the ground, and the knee is bent. This makes it look like his weight was actually put onto that leg. In your animation now, the angle of his knees never changes from the extension to the next push-off.
The arms are a little wonky. When running, people usually keep their elbows bent at a constant angle, and the arm moves like a pendulum at the shoulder joint. The elbow angle may increase and decrease as the weight bobs around, but it stays more or less at a constant angle.
Keep up the good work
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Thanks for the good feedback!
If possible I would be happy if you could throw in an example of a good running animation from a game. This one is based on super metroid, where her back is straight while running.
I'll try to edit mine and make him lean forward a bit while running.
Many thanks.
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Tried to adress the critics I received:
(http://forsblom.xieke.com/newproject/gfx/Alienrun3.gif)
- Removed the "boxing" feeling to the right arm
- Gave "weight" feeling to the animation
Still need to make the character lean forward, but I might be to lazy to do that, we'll see.