I saw your post on tigsource.com: so it's going to be a space adventure game? have you designed any of the aliens yet?

Not yet, the game is in the early stages.  I want to have different aliens for different planets, so you have to strategize how to defeat them because they are all different.

https://imgur.com/gallery/s9vWOR4

Here is some progress I made on the project.  I have a goFundMe hoping to gain support for this game.  Thank you!
https://www.gofundme.com/f/space-adventure-game-all-black-characters

Hi Rydin, thanks for the reply.  I've narrowed the idea for this project to either making a fantasy/medieval game (in which case yes I would be using the Merchant Song and other fantasy music I have composed) or a space arcade game where the characters collab to conquer planets (and the music would probably be made with synthesizers).

Right now, I'm leaning towards the fantasy/medieval.  I would like to hire other pixel artists for:
- character outfits and accessories
- animating horses (running, galloping, trotting, etc.)
- castles, environments and backgrounds
- special effects
- character actions (running, walking, fighting, etc.)

To hire, I need to start a Kickstarter campaign, but I want to make sure I have enough support first so the campaign will be successful.

So this is my first character sprite.  I first rendered him in grey scale then went back and added color.  I'm using asesprite software and this is the third file I've attempted.  I couldn't figure out how to switch color modes, so I copied and pasted him into a new sprite file.  The painting on the right is the reference I used to make him.

Eventually I want to animate him dancing around and singing to get people to buy from his cart.  He's a traveling merchant so I will be adding a horse and cart eventually. 

My questions are these.  I want a minimalistic style so I don't want to add too many colors and details to describe the character.  Do you think I found that balance or would you make changes?  Do the colors work?  I really want to make the feather on the hat iconic, any ideas how to enhance it?  I'd like the character to spin around and dance and jump to a song I wrote.  Do you know of any reference sprites that I could study?  Finally, how do I make the character look less generic and more iconic?  The painting shows a lot of personality and I'd like to show personality in this character as well.  Thank you!

ronaldaam