AuthorTopic: TBS RPG sprites  (Read 8921 times)

Offline Trub

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TBS RPG sprites

on: March 02, 2010, 07:16:11 am
I am making a turn-based strategy game with rpg elements. Basically, these are the first sprites I have ever made (apart from tiles) and criticism would be appreciated. I have spent alot of time on the main character and he seems alright. But the enemy spearman could defenitely be improved. I think his head seems a bit plain but I don't know what to do. By the way the enemy is meant to be some body living or undead that has been possesed by tortured souls that roam the land. Kind of like a shade in Eragon if you've read it.





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« Last Edit: March 13, 2010, 12:49:14 am by Trub »

Offline bengo

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Re: TBS RPG sprites

Reply #1 on: March 02, 2010, 09:25:33 am
I have made quite a drastic edit but bear with me as I try to explain why I did what I did. I do not expect you to try and make your sprite more towards what I have, more, understand the steps I took and apply them to what you have.


Your sprite is missing some things, the following are:
- A good, strong, dynamic pose. Does your goblin really feel like he's about to fight? Does he look ready to take on an enemy? Does he look menacing? Give him character through his stance.
- A sense of form. Is your light-source defined? Is there a high level of contrast to make it feel like its popping out? Are the lines really helping with making your goblin pop out? A well defined strong light-source is your best option for making something pop-out.
- A good, clean, color palette. Do ALL your colors serve a purpose? Can some of them be taken out? Make sure you have a good, diverse palette where all colors serve a purpose.
- Readability. Do you think everyone will be able to tell what everything is? Since you're (especially) at this small of a field to pixel, every pixel you make counts.

I highly suggest using reference, as well as making sure everything is well thought-out, take your time, theres no rush.
(EDIT: While you can use lines, I wouldn't suggest it, its very hard to pull off well especially this small.)
« Last Edit: March 02, 2010, 10:16:27 am by bengoshia »

Offline Trub

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Re: TBS RPG sprites

Reply #2 on: March 04, 2010, 07:28:10 am
Thanks for your advice but I have decided to compltelely revamp the enemy. But I have changed the pallette on the hero a bit plus some additional lighting. Problems Im having is how to configure the face.

Offline EyeCraft

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Re: TBS RPG sprites

Reply #3 on: March 04, 2010, 08:37:41 am
Thanks for your advice but I have decided to compltelely revamp the enemy. But I have changed the pallette on the hero a bit plus some additional lighting. Problems Im having is how to configure the face.

You really need to review the points bengoshia has made, as they are very valuable towards any spriting you are going to do. Your hero sprite suffers from the same problems just as much as the enemy.

As for the face, maybe take a look at how games with pixel art tackle those problems. It requires emphasis and some exaggeration to get the idea of "face" across, generally, at this scale canvas. Keep the eyes pretty much symmetrical, I say. It also depends on what kind of rendering you want. If want to communicate form, youll need to shade the face in accordance to a lightsource, which will require some study of shading. Take a look at how bengoshia approached the face of the enemy in his edit for ideas.

Offline Trub

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Re: TBS RPG sprites

Reply #4 on: March 06, 2010, 12:02:08 am
Ok attempting to really get the lighting right I have made some changes. Plus I chenged the face using Battle for Wesnoth sprites as a reference. Lghting could still probably be improved but the main think I can't seem to get right is his left arm.

Offline bengo

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Re: TBS RPG sprites

Reply #5 on: March 06, 2010, 01:15:23 am
It looks like you're playing a guessing game with your sprite, Trub. This new update doesn't look much if at all better than the previous ones shown. It seems like you're new to art, I suggest you learn the fundamentals, grab a pencil and paper, do it the right way. This will be the last reply I give to you until I see you're able to dissect and understand critiques given to you, we can't help you because you don't understand the fundamentals. Pixelling is just a medium, it won't make you any better at art, especially if you don't know the fundamentals. Its like trying to help a person improve on how to write a story when they don't even know what nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc. are and how to use them properly in a sentence. I wish you luck on your endeavors, friend.

Helpful books to look for:
The Famous Artists Course
Figure Drawing for All its Worth by Andrew Loomis
Fun with a Pencil by Andrew Loomis
The Fundamentals of Drawing by Barrington Barber
Gesture Drawing for Animation by Walt Stanchfield
Perspective! For Comic Book Artists by David Chelsea
(You can find some of these on the net but you're on your own for that)

Offline Trub

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Re: TBS RPG sprites

Reply #6 on: March 06, 2010, 01:41:20 am
Well you're right I am new to art I am actually more a programmer but I have done art before so thanks for your patience. Ill try and check those books out but since this isn't a high quality game I don't know if that will be any time soon. I guess what I should try and do then is draw my character like he would in real life before making it this small. By the way, I knew my goblin was dodge, I was just trying to get him done which is why I said I was going to drastically change it.

Offline Trub

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Re: TBS RPG sprites

Reply #7 on: March 07, 2010, 02:21:09 am
Ok so I haven't done more art but I have actually done some thinking. I know you said you wouldn't post until I understood art but I think the reason my sprite wasn't improving was because I didn't apply the advice you gave me as EyeCraft suggested. So what do you think:



I used this sprite sheet http://www.spriters-resource.com/gameboy_advance/dbzsuperwar/sheet/14493 to help me with the pose. Added more contrast and improved ligting, maybe a bit too pillow shaded in areas? Much happier with him now. Improvements are that one leg sorta seems larger than the other, chest seems one pixel off but thats where I start guessing. Probably begin to work on other sprites and build my experience now before I improve him though.

Offline McClaneGames

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Re: TBS RPG sprites

Reply #8 on: March 07, 2010, 05:07:14 pm
I think that before you even start to change colors and shading, you should work on your form.  Right now there are many problems with proportions, but your pose in this one is better than the previous.  Check out some anatomy resources and see if that can get you anywhere.

Offline Trub

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Re: TBS RPG sprites

Reply #9 on: March 08, 2010, 05:33:06 am
Yeah thats true which is because Im not an artist. Ill check that out, but the head was meant to be intentionally bigger since its a side top view but I knew I didn't convey that well enough.

Offline EyeCraft

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Re: TBS RPG sprites

Reply #10 on: March 08, 2010, 08:59:54 am
Yeah thats true which is because Im not an artist.
I'd dispose of that kind of thinking. If you're working on art, interacting with an art community to gain ideas and receive critique and reviewing art theory to improve your technique, you are an artist.  ;)

Quote
Ill check that out, but the head was meant to be intentionally bigger since its a side top view but I knew I didn't convey that well enough.
The angle is generally referred to as 3/4 oblique, or just 3/4 view. Making the head bigger/body smaller is a perspective method known as foreshortening, but it doesn't really apply to oblique projections because lines remain parallel to the axes regardless of distance from the viewer.
Typically sprites have larger heads because there's not much canvas space to convey facial expressions at such low resolutions, so the artists  alter the proportions to maximise the space they have to work with.

Bit of an edit:


Colour unification, clarity of face and hair, more defined shading. Maybe try taking a look at Chrono Trigger sprites for ideas.

Offline Trub

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Re: TBS RPG sprites

Reply #11 on: March 08, 2010, 10:13:17 am
Wow Thanks! Your right I am an artist just not an experienced one. Thanks for the technical advice. But yeah I always found the skin colour tough to work with. Yor edit shows me that is was too yellow (porabably partly because I started off using the default GraphicsGale's pallatte). Was probably going to change hair as well but I was trying to work on other things, unfortunately I love pixel arting too much. those blue pixels in the pants seem off-putting to me? Also do you know any sprite tutorials that explain colour unification? I've heard of it but never read how to do it.

Offline Trub

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Re: TBS RPG sprites

Reply #12 on: March 09, 2010, 09:12:17 am
Ok this is my final (probably shouldn't speak to soon) sprite. Need to work on others! This time with less help.

Offline Lizzrd

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Re: TBS RPG sprites

Reply #13 on: March 09, 2010, 09:15:58 am
Doesn't look that finished at the head. The hair looks too blobish.
Photocopier: the fact that arne can also code so well
Photocopier: is horrificly unfair

Offline Trub

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Re: TBS RPG sprites

Reply #14 on: March 09, 2010, 10:25:54 am
Your right. I knew I could improve the hair but I just can't seem to get it right.

Offline Trub

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Re: TBS RPG sprites

Reply #15 on: March 12, 2010, 10:53:17 am
Final?



Should I make hair more like this? (Battle for Wesnoth)

http://units.wesnoth.org/trunk/C/Rogue.html one on left
« Last Edit: March 12, 2010, 11:07:57 am by Trub »

Offline Lizzrd

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Re: TBS RPG sprites

Reply #16 on: March 14, 2010, 02:07:29 pm
The hair is much better now.
Photocopier: the fact that arne can also code so well
Photocopier: is horrificly unfair