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Messages - rustEdge
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1
Pixel Art Feature Chest / Re: [WIP] 16 colour strategy game mockup
« on: March 10, 2010, 08:44:27 am »
I'm glad you're fulfilling a literal dream, hehe. It's looking pretty nice.

Little suggestion on the cannon. You could add some recoil along the barrel's axis. A purely vertical bounce almost suggests that it's mounted on an unstable mount.

I shifted the frame with the white flash backwards by one pixel. It's almost imperceptible but I think an extra motion like that would help imply the power of the cannon.

Again, great job. I'd love to try this out when it comes out in beta.  ;D

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Pixel Art / Re: Gamer WIP
« on: March 02, 2010, 08:22:49 am »
Well, if it's a new piece it deserves its own thread, ehehe. Is he holding a handheld game machine? Maybe putting some details from an actual system would help reinforce that idea. (i.e. a cartridge slot like the gameboy)

Is he not looking at the game on purpose? It's almost like he's looking forward in a daze.
Either way, it's got a really good mood to it.  :)

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Pixel Art / Re: Tight Living
« on: March 02, 2010, 08:15:43 am »
Agreeing with everyone, ehehe. As what Manupix mentioned, the hedge, (or are those low-lying clouds?) could be trimmed down to balance out the composition. No need to add more elements, really.

I tried a little edit:

I tried thinning out the clouds to the right to serve as a softer transition from the high houses to the picket fence. The moon is an optional focal point  :P

But yeah, it's an excellent piece. It's wonderful to see such simple yet beautiful pixel art once in a while.  :)

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Pixel Art / Re: [C+C] Amazon Warrior Baby (you heard me!)
« on: March 02, 2010, 07:59:31 am »
Hrm, I think you should add a bit more motion from the shoulder when she moves the staff. It'll give a stronger connection between the staff slam and the jiggle of her body. Also, looking at how much her belly bounces around, intensify emotion of the moment. Maybe have more lines to suggest the motion, or a slight shift in posture. There's just this bit of disconnect between just standing and the extra animation.

The greenish color does make her look menacing. Or just plain creepy. Actually reminded me of the fetish creatures in Diablo2 for some reason... Nice concept, btw.  ;D

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Pixel Art / Re: Little character with over-powered weapon
« on: February 22, 2010, 06:54:30 am »
The delay before firing looks cute, and it could work for a cutscene or for an enemy's attack.
But if it's for the player's actual attack, it'll put the player off, as munkee mentioned.
Here's a quick edit I did. The one on the left is your original; mine's on the right.


For the buildup, the more abrupt it is, the stronger the energy transfer would appear. Think of it as a power surge when lightning hits an electrical pole. To do this I removed the slow buildup animation. I replaced it with a white arc coming from the trident to the charged shot, instantly boosting it to its final size. I also added a bit of an overshoot with the energy transfer to exaggerate the energy surge.
I also added some energy arcing between the trident and the ball. While it makes the ball look way more unstable, it reinforces the connection between it and your weapon. (More variants could be placed here. stronger primary energy bolt, more prominent color transferred from the trident to the ball, the trident having its own progressive animation, etc.)

Can't wait to see your updates. This looks like a really interesting game.   :)

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Pixel Art Feature Chest / Re: [WIP]-Female Anatomy-[nudity]
« on: February 20, 2010, 05:31:13 pm »
Hrm, the book itself is actually good. It's just that the specific shot you used as a reference isn't the best one on portraying a female body... As a supplement I'd recommend you check out Ron Lemen http://ronlemen.blogspot.com/. He's done some excellent tutorials in ImagineFX, and his gesture drawings are simple enough to deconstruct. He put me back on track in terms of anatomy.

A lot of art isn't exactly about what's real. What matters is the perception of reality; what we think is real. A bright red blob in a fruit stand will be seen as an apple. If it were a green apple, chances are you'd see it as some vegetable instead. It's the same with stylized anatomy. Females are more curvaceous, males have more straight lines. Females generally have lighter frames, males are stockier. Hybrid body types are much more difficult to portray, so be extra cautious when doing them until you're comfortable with the known archetypes (hybrids would include muscular females, effeminate males, fantastical humanoids such as half-elves, cyborgs, etc.)

Hoping to see your progression here, hehe.   ;D

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Pixel Art Feature Chest / Re: [WIP]-Female Anatomy-[nudity]
« on: February 20, 2010, 03:44:07 am »
That is a fair amount of detailing. Just remember, boobs don't make a woman. The current musculature you have on your sketch is totally male.
The broadness of the shoulders, the lines of the arms, the shape of the torso, hips to thighs to calves to feet.

Take note of the darker brown lines. Instead of outlining the figure, I drew according to how each muscle or body part flows from one segment to another. Even if you're drawing a muscular woman, almost all of the lines flow in continuous curves.
I'll try and do some comparative analysis for you in a few days.

Keep on researching. After a while you'll really be able to notice the subtle nuances of the human figure,

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Pixel Art / Re: some robot thing
« on: February 13, 2010, 02:46:54 am »
One issue might be the level of contrast between elements, and contrast between the colors in your palette. The brightness value of the colors in your palette are pretty similar, so things blur into each other even if they have different hue values. With a sprite that small, adding differently colored pixels against each other would result in unintentional dithering, so some of the detail gets lost. You just need to practice simplifying your character into its key features.

The teeny sprite also looks pretty masculine. I wouldn't have guessed that it was female until you posted the larger version. The upper part of the body is much larger than the legs, giving that inverted triangle silhouette that more males have. I know Samus from Metroid was shaped similarly, but it was done so you wouldn't expect a girl to be inside the suit until the big reveal at the end.

Here's an edit on your super-deformed sprites.


I've pumped up the palette contrast, removed two colors, removed some of the dithering, and added some definition by adding some black between the chest plate and the (character's) right shoulder armor.
I've added a more feminine version too. Reduced the shoulder armor's size, brought emphasis to the chest, slimmed down the torso, widened the hips, and thinned the legs and feet.

Your character has so much potential. Don't give up on it just yet.  ;D

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Hrm... The black line thing might be an issue when you start placing it in an environment. Could happen that it'll feel like it's not meant to be there. We can't really judge that until we see mock-ups. Try a non-outlined version just in case.

As for the blade, will it be spinning? If that were the case it might be better to have lines that run around the surface. Most likely from wear and tear it'll develop scratches as it spins. It'll also give the suggestion of brushed metal or something similar. Here's a rough version of what I mean.


Great work on the characters. The choice of hairstyles, postures, and clothes are of a consistent style yet each is pretty unique. Hoping to hear more updates from ya.  ;D

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Pixel Art / Re: I want to improve (Cranky Jack WIP)
« on: February 05, 2010, 07:36:19 pm »
As Shrub and Olonthor have already mentioned, simplify.

Some people would disagree on this, but dithering is an advanced technique. A lot of newbies fall into the trap of thinking that dithering or anti-aliasing would automatically make their work look good. I've done an edit on your character, only using 5 colors. A little beefier than your original, but I hope you get the picture. There's almost no detail besides the chin and eyes, and there's absolutely no dithering. You MUST ensure that this stage is good before you start putting all the little things. Otherwise you'll find yourself putting all these pixels into your piece without knowing why it looks off.



Practice on the forms before working on details. In art and design work, roughly 90% of what makes a piece feel right is form. Detailing only accounts for %10, and you'll find yourself spending 90% of your total time on it. Sketches, doodles, things like that would definitely help in regard to this thing.

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