[WIP] Run-n-gun game sprites UPDATED 8/18

[Rybar]

Current WIP:

   



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ORIGINAL POST:



Working on sprites for a game for which I'm also a developer for; looking to the pros here for some initial critiques before I attempt any animation... which brings me to a few questions about spriter's methods..

When creating an animated sprite, do you move from finished frame to finished frame, or do you start rough and add details later?

When working out the motion do you pixel finished extremes and then go back and do in-betweens?

I know theres no 'right' way, just interested in what artists here have found to be most efficient.

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OLD STUFF:

     

7/10 resolution change, first draft


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8/15 In which I scrap the whole thing because I hate it, admit that doubling the resolution was a bad idea, and start over with a completely different style of sprite:



8/17 Idle animation



8/18 firing animation

[bengo]

I like your style Rybar, yearning to learn, wanting to get things right, if you really wanna tackle animation, its pretty tough to do, I highly, highly suggest you pick up The Animators Survival Kit by Richard Williams. There's gonna be quite a bit to learn but I can tell you in the end it should be worth it (speaking of animation, I should probably starting reading that book more myself and doing more animated pieces ). Anyway as for the initial sprite, it reminds me a lot of Out of This World or Flashback, I'm likin it, but I've tried to address a few issues as seen here in this edit:

I've tried to put down the color count down a bit, up the contrast, kinda give it a feel for an actual light source hitting it, "beef" things out i.e. try to give them depth. Hope this edit helps, good luck with your game.

[ErekT]

When creating an animated sprite, do you move from finished frame to finished frame, or do you start rough and add details later?

Start rough, definitely! Draw a stickman the size of your sprite and animate that first. Then, when you're happy with the stickman movement you can begin adding a solid colour on top of each stickman frame to sketch out the outline for your sprite.

The sprite you have is a good start but the gun is kinda hanging I think, like its melting or something.

[Rybar]

@bengoshia:  I love your edit!  Besides the flesh tones being a solid improvement over mine,  he's a couple pixels shorter, which seems to have solved the issue I was having with his body proportions, and will also give me a bit of play for his run cycle (head bob).   I see you have given him a nose as well; I was debating on whether or not the sprite's size warranted using a pixel for facial features, but it looks pretty good.

 I actually already own a copy of Richard's book; have you seen his DVD set? The book is awesome, but seeing his principles in motion is amazing.  Its very pricey, but if you don't frown upon help from pirates, it can be obtained elsewhere.

@ErekT: I redrew the gun like 10 times lol... this is his 'idle' pose, guns at rest, so he isn't supposed to be pointing it straight ahead, but I see what you mean about the gun. I kept struggling with making the gun's body appear straight without pointing too far down or 'melting' it as you put it.  bengoshia's solid highlight along the top edge seems to solidify the gun alot.

Thanks for the help guys, I'll keep you posted on on my progress.

[Rybar]

Update: Reworked the first, kept the kneepads (I like them), did an aiming/guns-ready pose.



What are your thoughts on idle animations? It seems everything I might do with a sprite this small would be too much movement.

[Rybar]

Update (Also in edited first post) - run cycle



This is a 12 frame run, meant to play at 24fps, but the GIF plays awful slow in-browserin chrome for some reason.  I'm using Pro Motion 6.  Can anyone here shed some light on what I'm doing wrong? It plays fine in promotion, even when I reopen the GIF file.  I guess its easier to spot errors when it plays slow.. let me know what you think.

*EDIT: GIF's apparently don't play at their correct speed in Google Chrome. 

[NaCl]

Not bad. Two things i'd do were to lean him forward, and show the impact in the leg when the bodies weight lands on it. When you run, then you are essentially falling forward and catching yourself, over and over. The faster the run, the farther forward you lean, pretty much. As for the impact, you are sticking one leg out in front and then your bodies weight is falling on it, so the foot should be flat on the ground and the knee should bend. Currently, the heel touches, then the leg starts sliding back before the foot flattens.

[st0ven]

Id agree with salt...err NaCl. The motion of the legs has too circular of an arc, making it look very cartoony and removing any sense of weight from the figure or the mean looking gun he is carrying. its not very practical in the first place to be carrying a gun near your face if you were running. regardless if it were a light or a heavy gun youd still have a high probability of knocking yourself in the face with it quite often depending on how much upper body strength you had, but regardless you certainly wouldnt be able to hold a straight shot.  if you were to bring the gun down from his face while he ran it might allow you to animate your run with more body expression and realism.

[Rybar]

Ok, I've added a couple frames just before and after contact, and moved his body forward a bit; I also added a bit of delayed motion on the arms and gun to show its weight a bit better.


@St0ven: I see what you're saying about running with a gun near your face, but I'm not too concerned with being super-realistic, it is for a platformer game after all.   Lets just say he has super-human upper body strength and a steady-cam rig built into the gun. 

[ErekT]

Looking good The elbow could be pointier I think.