If you AA the outline to pure white, it'll look weird on darker backgrounds, so i'd suggest not doing so.

I agree When you set your sprite over a dark BG, it'll have a weird outline...

You can paint the BGs no problem, I think some games have done that... It's not going to look bad unless there's noise or the colors blend.
Just try it out and fix the things that look bad as you go, but it's not going to look bad just because of the clash of different "mediums".


As for the field sprites, you just have to "tilt the base" away from the viewer.
The typical top-down view has the characters tilted slightly downwards (you can see the top of their heads and the top of their shoes).

You don't look at them from the side (as you have them right now) nor do you look at them from the top (where you would only see their head and some shoes sticking out)
It's kind of like a 3/4 perspective, except here it's vertical tilt and not horizontal

Pix3M, very nice Props for sticking to a reference picture that I would have a hard time with.

Dyluckk, that arm is getting a lot of exercise



#gamedev #squashAndStretch #epicSwag

It is not as intimate as a 'gift' if it is just a general pixel painting for anyone.

I second the likes/dislikes being a major bonus. I find the best part is challenging myself to make something they would like regardless of my feelings toward the subject matter.

[...] making a gift and not knowing who it's for would feel so impersonal, which for me defeats the whole purpose. I dunno. :/

I support these opinions.

Possible solutions:

Merit system: people who have successfully delivered on previous Secret Santas will have more possibilities of being paired with each other, while people who failed to deliver and new-comers will more probably end up paired with each other.
Cons:

• More predictable to know who will have to gift who.
• Sense of elitism (which some people already feel about this forum, without further provocation )
• Doesn't ensure that everyone gets a gift, just that those who didn't were the ones that deserved one the least.
• All-around revengeful and discouraging for new-comers

Mid-check system: People will have to show Crow or other admins their work, in a preset mid-point between the assignation and the day of presentation.
Cons:

• Just looking at a half-done work doesn't say much about it being done in time.
• Sense of Big Brother surveillance. Double deadlines probably mean double pressure.

...and the one I actually like:
Clandestine deadline system: Same as above, but like a week before presentation. Those who haven't done theirs will already be disqualified. Crow/admins will secretly ask, from the pool of those that will get a present, to whip something up (maybe even collaboratively?) for those unfortunate enough to not receive a present.
Cons:

• Probably hard to set a balance where there is enough time before the deadline, and not too little time for clandestine damage-control.
• Maybe most people will refuse to work for the unfortunate? (Or be even more driven, having become magical secret shoemakers )

• When having two clearly (not gradient) separate shades on the same face, you negate the possible feeling of 3d direction, I think.
• Faces should be shaded according to their direction towards light.
• The white stuff is like some kinda "paste" holding the faces into place, I assume. I changed it into a dark color, since I think it fits better (since these narrow edges don't usually get enough light to be white) although right now it looks kinda bad. If I had kept editing, I would have made the lines thinner, probably.

Quick edit, not very good but it kinda illustrates my points. I would have used more shades for the faces, to try and make it feel more 3d, but I stopped here