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Messages - PixelPiledriver
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891
Pixel Art Feature Chest / Re: Princess Piledriver
« on: May 13, 2012, 07:57:15 am »








rikfuzz! Mike! Sohei!
Thanks for a wide variety of great edits!

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rikfuzz's edit address the main issue I have with all the sprites: a lack of contrast and saturation.
I agree the palette could use some tweaking.
Soon!

892
Challenges & Activities / Re: The Photopalette Activity Thread!
« on: May 11, 2012, 10:05:21 pm »



Still a big mess.

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Thank you for the nice custom brushes, PPD!
No problem!
Happy to help.

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Still searching for a composition that works...
I Like the new direction of the backdrop.
You ended up with some really sweet colors.

893
General Discussion / Re: What are you worth?
« on: May 11, 2012, 05:57:28 pm »
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I'm never sure what to say when someone emails me and asks me how much I'd want to be paid for pixelling some project or other.
Negotiate.
I like to offer them a range.
The range is usually wrapped around the exact amount that I want.
Most of the time when you present someone with a min-max situation they will instinctively choose the mid distance.
If you want $15 say $10-$20.
If you want $25 say $15-$35.
The range should have an obvious increment of some sort that isn't too large.
A silly exaggeration would be to ask for $10-$100.
Most people will not want to choose the mid distance of $50 in this case (yes thats fuzzy math, but thats the point).
They will just wonder why you are willing to take $10 for what could possibly cost $100.

I'm not as familiar with freelance work.
Most of my experience has been fixed pay or salary.
Around where I live artists start at $35,000 - $60,000 a year based on job, skill level, experience, etc.
Programmers start at $50,000 - $90,000 a year.
If you're not making that kind of money, after converting to whatever that is hourly, then I'd say you are significantly underpaid.
A good trick I've heard and used is "Take the cost of your rent and triple it. Ask for that".

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and felt a bit wrong taking the money.
Unless you are forcefully stealing you are not "taking" money.
You are trading product for payment.
Making enough money to continue to hone your skills in the field, as opposed to on your own time, is a good thing.
Art and programming are important skills.
Entertainment is play, but it is also business.
Personally I dropped about $80,000 on my education (that I didn't have, all loans), so making money is a must.
There's no shame in paying bills while trying to float a reasonable profit.

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but I still felt like it was too much money for something some other pixel artist could probably have done far better.
This kind of depends on who's paying you and how much they are turning around and using your product to sell their product for.
Bigger companies want good talent, but they also want to pay the least amount possible and make the highest profits.
They will have no problems with signing a contract that underpays you if it's your idea to be underpaid.
That will only make their numbers better, and that's what they want.
While it's not good to be greedy or ask for unreasonable amounts, it can be good to ask for something a little high and say that it's negotiable.
Like I said before I like to give a range so they feel like they are choosing what to pay, not just trying to talk me down from a single number that is way too large.

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Furthermore keep in mind that when a high visibility & skilled artist such as you undersells their talents because of confidence issues, they're hurting the market for the rest of us.
I've fallen "victim" to this many times.
For some of the more seasoned veterans in the pixel art world this means that they might not get paid as much as they should from a job.
For someone like me that falls squarely into the mediocre bucket it means that I have no chance of getting the job at all.
Can't count the number of times that I've heard back "Yah so, we looked on the internet for about 30 seconds and found tons of people that are better than you for cheaper. F'off pleez".
I'm not one to point fingers, and I'm certainly not now.
My skill level and ability to get work is no one's responsibility but my own.
But I've often thought that there is an ecosystem of artists and programmers that is affected by many variables.

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I haven't actually accepted many projects at all though in the past few years due to various reasons (this confidence thing being one of many)
I've stumbled across your art over and over.
Your stuff is great.
It's obvious to me that it is not the quality of your art that makes you lack confidence.
However no amount of ass patting will likely change a personality.

It's a little rude to say, I really shouldn't, but it's kind of a shame.
Personally I think art (this includes all art forms from food to education to videogames) is for the people.
It comes at a cost, which ideally a fair to generous portion should be given to the people doing the work, but it's meant to be shared.
Of course I understand that this is not everyone's view or ideal.
I would not go so far as to say it is your duty or fate to make art for others.
That would be demanding and cheesy.

I have a very strange sensation from entertainment.
When I enjoy something I appreciate it.
I think "Hey some dude made this game/image/whatever, and it's fun. He had some good thoughts here. Thanks dude".
Your art has that quality.
It's fun to look at.
It's fun to enjoy.

All of this makes me curious what your Myers Briggs personality type is.
I've been taught to use it as a way to understand how to work with the individuals of a game team effectively.
Initially I had no interest in such a way of defining personalities.
But after playing with the idea of using it to interact with others in a positive fashion it's hard to deny how effective it really is.
While MB is something like a horoscope, which makes me giggle, it can be a healthy reflection of self.
My assessment struck me as "man that IS how I am" and helped me mentally reinforce my strengths and work on my weaknesses.

I can understand where you are coming from.
Being humble is a quality that I constantly strive for.
It helps me to keep peace of mind.
I'm not the best.
I'm not the smartest.
But I'm willing to try my hardest.
And I have full confidence in whatever that may accomplish.
Even if it lands short in my own or others eyes.

894
There's already a lot of good info here so I'll try not to re-iterate too much.

I use Google Docs to keep track of pretty much everything these days.
Spread sheets are the most useful format for how I like to lay out information.
It's cool because everyone on the project has access from any computer.
When we want to figure stuff out we do a Skype call to communicate faster. (we work offsite)
It's what me and my team mate like to call "Multiplayer SpreadSheeting".
It can be surprising how simple and fast it is to make something like this with 2 dudes typing stuff in at the same time.
And extremely useful.

Some example images for you.
I've censored out the sensitive information with black bars.

Measure your game with different scales of time.
Make a Milestone timeline that prioritizes what is important at each stage of the project:


We send this to our publisher at the end of each week.
Theres also a Next Week list below not shown:
It helps us keep track of what we did and need to do next, and it keeps them happy.


Make an asset list with simple notes about function.


Everything in a game has purpose.
Purpose can be incredibly important such as "Allows player to open locked door".
But it can also be as simple as "Ambiance".
With purpose clearly defined creating assets is much more fluid.
If the assets purpose is unclear, work on something else that is more defined.
If the purpose continues to remain undefined, then there is no need for it.

I try to boil almost everything I design down to a single keyword.
Types, Classes, Actions, etc.

It makes it easier to define the objects in your game and talk about it with your team mates:
"So how about that Suicide Robot?"
"Yah we should balance his speed and damage radius"

They will also become the words you use to teach players how to play the game:
"Fire defeats Undead, and Hammers defeat Robots"
"The Gold Door is locked, you'll need to find a Gold Key"

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I may feel the first animations are sub par to the latest ( this will inevitably be true if the likes of pixel piledriver keeps dropping wisdom bombs on my thread)
Sorry!
My advice is somewhat out of context.
I'm explaining pure animation technique in isolation, not in relation to production time or how to finish a project.
It's not my intention to be pushing you to redo the same animation over and over.
There is definitely a balance that must be struck between time, speed, quality, education, and experimentation during a project.
With practice you'll be able to use animation techniques in bite sizes.
It's not important (or time effective) to force EVERY principle into EVERY animation.
It's a bit like trying to use EVERY composition technique in a single piece of art.
Doing passes over multiple assets is good practice.
Even if your latest stuff is out of sync with older stuff, that's normal.
Just find simple ways to improve the stuff you aren't satisfied with.
It's almost always better to error on the side of "That's probably good enough".

I mentioned this somewhere else but, a couple projects ago we did an ASCII game.
We were able to get away with 0 animations for the player.
Instead he would flash colors, make sound, and spit out particles.
Under time constraints simple solutions can be very effective.

Your first complete game on your own can be really hard.
Creating a personal project is a privilege but also a curse.
There's no pressure to meet deadlines.
You have complete creative control.
These are good things of course, but can easily lead to the project stretching out unlimited.

All the stuff everyone else said.
Simplify, organize, communicate, prototype etc.

There's plenty of other things to consider.
But I don't want to suffocate you.
Game projects are a lot of work.

895
Challenges & Activities / Re: The Photopalette Activity Thread!
« on: May 07, 2012, 05:42:48 pm »








Still a ton to do.
I'll put some more time into the other 2 I've started as well.

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big picture of disgusting bug! (though I personally think it's cute)
I agree!

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I also haven't used all the 16 colours (should that be required?)
If it makes it more fun, then yes.
I used all 16 for this one.

@Facet:
Thanks so much for the edit and advice!
I really love how far you pushed the color balance.
The skin tones in the the water, as well as the water tones on the skin, work really well to show reflection.
There's a bunch more changes you made I like.
When I get back to this piece I'll be using it as ref for sure.
Thanks!

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Also, yo!
Yes! It's all about the Yo!
 :lol: :lol: :lol:

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PPD you seem to draw with brush like pen, is there a trick to it, I too use GG but my pen is only 1px.
I tend to think more in terms of volume instead of line when I sketch.
Flat pens cover a lot of ground making it quick block things out with broad strokes.
But it just depends.
Sometimes I start out with line as well.

I made a collection of pen shapes that I like better than the default pens.


You're welcome to use them if you like.
I've uploaded them to here.
Click File->Download in the top left to get the zip.
Unzip into the folder listed below.
Open the pen selection and scroll down.
All custom pens appear alphabetically after the default pens.


If you'd like to make your own pens here's how.
This is from the documentation:

You can make your own Pen and tile shapes.
the BMP must be a monochrome(1bit), the size of a pen must be 32x32, and the size of a tile must be 16x16.
In a pen, white area will put a color in the canvas. In a tile, white area will be replaced with the first color, and black area will be replaced with the second color."

Pens and tiles must be placed in the folder named "pen" in the following folder.
WindowsXP: C:\Documents and Settings\(Windows user name)\Application Data\Humanbalance\GraphicsGale
WindowsVista: Desktop->(Windows user name)->AppData->Roaming->Humanbalance->GraphicsGale (AppData->Local folder for Fullversion)
Windows98: C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Humanbalance\GraphicsGale


Use the exact dimensions and format listed or your pen won't load.

Cool images!
Sorry I don't have time for crits at the moment.
Will drop my thoughts later.

896
Challenges & Activities / Re: The Photopalette Activity Thread!
« on: May 06, 2012, 05:37:08 pm »
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Looks fun, I might try. Is it alright for other people to try this here as a group thing, or do you want to keep this your own thread?
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Which would actually make this an activity thread, which, as noted, I'm all for!

Sure I don't mind at all.
Just realize this forever means your art will be filed under "[Nudity] Fish Bone Girl"!
Actually... I think I can change the topic name?

Since this isn't official there's no strict rule set.
The more rules you follow, the more it's like a game.
But the less rules you follow, the more its like a process tool.
If it becomes an activity we can do something more strict.
Everyone has the same topic but can choose their own photo.
Or same photo but choose your own topic.
Or everyone has the same of both.
Something like that.

Cool to see that this is interesting to others.
For now just grab an image and have fun with it.

897
Challenges & Activities / Re: The Photopalette Activity Thread!
« on: May 06, 2012, 02:57:56 pm »
It turns out I find this process to be really fun.
I decided not to cheat on this one, all of the colors are unchanged:





Also since I messed with the original palette of the fish girl anyway, I thought I'd at least try adding some colors and tweaking contrast/brightness.
It's up to 24 now:


I may continue to work on it from here instead of staying completely restricted.
The original idea of this was "to change the way that I start an image".
I think following strict rules or just using it as a base are both beneficial.

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maybe it's better to choice the image knowing what you want to pixel after, to make it a bit easier.
That's certainly one way of going about it.
For these I came up with the idea after.
I like a little bit of unnatural color in art anyway, so it seems to work out not knowing what I'll draw at first.
But there's a pretty good chance I'll be drawing a female form of some sort.

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I like the idea. This concept could work as a challenge/activity, no?
If more people are interested it could be fun.
The exact rules could be done many different ways.
Even if it doesn't become an activity give it a try.

898
Pixel Art Feature Chest / Re: Project Entropy
« on: May 06, 2012, 06:01:54 am »
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One question though, does it allow for layers/ onionskinning?
Yup, it has both.
I cover Onion skinning here.
I'll throw together some images on layering for you a little later.

899
Challenges & Activities / The Photopalette Activity Thread!
« on: May 06, 2012, 04:18:05 am »
In an effort to break away from how I usually start an image I came up with an exercise.

Go to Google.
Find a photo or image:


Drop it into GraphicsGale.
Reduce to 16 colors:


Whatever colors you are dealt, use them.
Even if they are not the best colors that's what you get to work with.

The idea is that if the image you found is still legible after being reduced, and almost always is, then infinite legible images could be created from the same colors.

So I started out with something really plain:


And then just continued to work with it.

I've even cheated a bit.
I added 3 or 4 colors and kicked some out.
Here the current color pal is at 15 colors:



A trick to it is that the image is not actually "random".
You yourself get to choose the image, so you can effectively choose your color range.
Choose an image with people and you're bound to get some skin tones.
Choose an image with more reds and yellows if that's what you want to work with.
Choose an image with high or low contrast.

The element of surprise comes when you reduce to 16 colors.
The balance is not always what you expect.
Of course if the colors are really unappealing to you just go find a different image.

I'm kind of back and forth about the strictness of the exercise right now.
Obviously these colors aren't the brightest, but then again the idea was to use what I was given.
But I've added some, so why not just change them all?
Or just add another 16 on top so that the current dim colors will make the new ones shine even brighter.
But what about a 16 color limit?
Well... hmmm...
I'll have to create a series of rule sets in the future, ranging from extremely strict to extremely flexible.

Basically it boils down to this.
The more rules you follow, the more it's like a game.
But the less rules you follow, the more its like a process tool.
The choice is yours.
Both degrees are beneficial exercises.

The original palette can also be seen as a base.
Since I've already cheated some, here I've added colors and changed the contrast/brightness.
At this point I'm up to 24 colors:




This is about 6 hours work (yes I'm super slow).
There's plenty of messy areas and things that could be changed.
I plan on dropping in some more to finish it off.
Crits and edits are welcome of course.

Ideally you should post:
1. The photo
2. Reduced photo with original palette
3. Current palette
4. Your art!

If you get some time try it yourself!
It's an interesting exercise.

900
Pixel Art Feature Chest / Re: Project Entropy
« on: May 05, 2012, 05:23:19 pm »
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I was actually hoping there was a way the frames could magically be made going in reverse order

Select the range of frames you want to reverse:


Copy them:


Paste To Right means to the right of the currently selected frame:


Select the newly pasted frames in a range and reverse:


Magic!


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I find copying and pasting full frames in promotion very unintuitive
Never tried Promotion.
But in gale I'm able to work with frames extremely easily with just the keyboard and my left hand.

E = Next frame
Q = Prev frame
1 = copy
2 = paste to right
4 = delete
5 = reverse

I find them really fast and easy to press.
But its up to you.
Goto File -> Preferences -> Key tab.

Only thing that can't be done from the keyboard is sorting, which you have to drag the frames around in the UI with the mouse.
Or sometimes I just do a work around by copy, paste, delete instead.
For selecting ranges you need the mouse as well, like shown above.

Cool animation!

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