When I create a walking cycle I find it is sometimes best to apply the depth on the further legs and arms also in the idle frames. This is because it can make the change from stationary to moving more smooth at times. However this isn't always the case I would say test out both and chose the one you prefer if it doesn't affect the smoothness of the transition between animations.

The newest one looks great, as have all of them so far. I think that the greener hue for the most prominent highlight on the skin looks great with the slightly bluer shade. The whole piece looks cleaner then all the previous ones IMO, and the fact its a slight green tinge makes it look more organic then the slightly bright hue (again IMO). My main quarrel with the blue skin was that it might distract from the game, as you can tell the piece looks best on a dark background, I'm assuming your going to give the environment a slight darkness, am i right? I attempted to edit your piece for improvement but only managed to find 1 if any, his left shoulder looks as though its to prominent/shiny, I also made the pants look slightly more separate from the body, but I think I overdid it a bit and that could probably be left. also made a number of ridiculously small changes that are barely noticeable. The piece is so good it's very hard to critique it well.

The run animation looks great, I think the highlighting on the shoe as it goes up might be a bit extreme. The edit helm provided for the shooting animation shows a lot of improvement, however the pose isn't typical of someone firing a gun. as its a stationary shooting pose I would think that he would be poised more side on with his other arm up resting the gun for accuracy. Alternatively you could take another look at this wonderful piece http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=2348.0 the problem with using that as reference is that in Pawige's the hand that you are using as free is not if you add a sword however...

In regards to adding a sword if you chose it to be in hand at all times then it can act as a weight, or he can sling it over his shoulder whilst shooting. Both these poses are good and convey the swords weight. If not in hand place it on his back/hip to support it and do the first pose i brought up, if this is the case you may alternate between running frames with the sword out or gun out. Flashback is good reference as it has no significant highlighting, adding lighting is often where animations get to look choppy if not done right so it is important to get the poses and flat 'mask' of the animation right. Hope i have been a help good luck with this piece.

Ive received that comment from a number of people actually, the likeness was completely unintentional but I can certainly see the point. I didn't use any discernable reference except for actual peoples faces to get the idea of dimensions (my reflection every now and then etc.) but I did spend a ridiculous amount of time on the original getting the facial anatomy and shading right. This greatly helped with my edits you might notice the original conveys a slightly more blocky look as I spent most of the time on dimensions and not enough on how these dimensions incorporate into the face (hence the rather sharp lighting and corners of features). This blockiness becomes a much more softer look with my edit despite having no references except for thought as I could use those dimensions as a guide.

(got removed as i put it on pixel joint then removed it to replace it with the somewhat minor edits  ) but pretty much looks the same as the final one except it had jaggered edges and poorer lighting
thats the closests I could get to an edit back.


here is the very first version of it I posted anywhere for reference of how far it has come however. My understanding of how to create a good palette has improved a lot since then.

I had made this piece ages ago and have not done anything to it for so long so I decided to make an update to see how far I have come. I like the skin in particular it seems to look too red for a moment then suddenly perfect after you look at it for a while. I would say that the hood is the area needing most improvement, any suggestions on how to make this piece better would be most appreciated.