AuthorTopic: RPG Case Study  (Read 10681 times)

Offline Olothontor

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 238
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

RPG Case Study

on: August 16, 2010, 06:15:32 pm
I've been working, messing around with contrast and such. I recently started a case study of the old PSX/PS2 game Alundra, and my very first attempt after my research was a simple RPG-style jelly.



From left to right: Basic movement, basic attack, death, idle, and knockback.

I'm not at all happy with the death animation, but I'm not sure what I can do to spruce it up and improve. If Jad or anyone else with any animation knowledge please help?

Of course any other hints and tips are welcome. I'll be posting any further work on this case study, since I'm more than certain I'll run into a great many things I'll need assistance with. Thanks in advance!




UPDATE: Fixed the death animation up a bit, added an idle animation (yeah, it's supposed to look kinda like it's breathing), and posted the spritesheet so far for an easier analysis of the parts for those interested in seeing.

UPDATE: Added a knockback/jumpback sequence. Started work on the trolls of Sin.
« Last Edit: August 17, 2010, 06:02:52 pm by Olothontor »
"In a mad world, only the mad are sane." - Akira Kurosawa

Offline voidSkipper

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 17
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: RPG Case Study

Reply #1 on: August 16, 2010, 06:30:29 pm
I would assume that an RPG-style jelly dies when it is no longer able to maintain the surface tension that defines it as a creature. As such, I imagine an RPG jelly is somewhat like a water balloon, and can die in two ways:

-Evenly distributed loss of surface tension (eg, the jelly melts smoothly into a puddle)
-Catastrophic loss of surface tension (eg, the surface tension suffers a perforation and external pressure destroys the rest of the membrane)

Considering that most RPG jellys are low level, and therefore smote by physical impact, the latter is more likely.

Ostensibly, the reason your death animation looks off is because the creature loses volume in the middle of the frame, only to regain it as it becomes a puddle. Perhaps a case study of my earlier comparison would be useful. This has the most impressive aesthetic, I think, though this is probably more relevant (on a flat surface).

The walk animation is very cute, by the way. It has a lot of personality.

Offline Olothontor

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 238
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: RPG Case Study

Reply #2 on: August 16, 2010, 06:42:57 pm
Ostensibly, the reason your death animation looks off is because the creature loses volume in the middle of the frame, only to regain it as it becomes a puddle. Perhaps a case study of my earlier comparison would be useful. This has the most impressive aesthetic, I think, though this is probably more relevant (on a flat surface).

Well, I figured since most jellies are magical aberrations and the like, their death would not resemble the classic jelly death. I want something with more character, and so what I went for was the jelly sort of eating itself and then splashing to the ground and dissipating. I think the membrane burst is actually a good idea, though, I'll mess around with that.

The walk animation is very cute, by the way. It has a lot of personality.

Thanks! I did try.
"In a mad world, only the mad are sane." - Akira Kurosawa

Offline zez

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 97
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: RPG Case Study

Reply #3 on: August 16, 2010, 07:02:16 pm
Ostensibly, the reason your death animation looks off is because the creature loses volume in the middle of the frame, only to regain it as it becomes a puddle.
Well the rest of voidSkippers post is 100% valid, if you are genuinely going for an implosion / the jelly is eating itself from the inside, he really shouldnt magically regain all of his volume on the last few frames.
I would also suggest some upwards movement to make the animation appear more circular, and less like you are just removing pixels in a semi arbitrary spiral.

Offline CharlesGabriel

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 160
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • Veritas Omnia Vincit
    • View Profile
    • CG Artsenal

Re: RPG Case Study

Reply #4 on: August 16, 2010, 07:44:40 pm
Wanted to clarify something... both Alundra 1 and 2 are for the PSX. The slime on the images are not from alundra, I know I've seen them but I can't recall if these are part of one of the packs made by this one japanese guy (can't recall, but will look for it) for the rpgmaker scene, or one of the rpgs for the snes / genesis... lol looks like Tenshi no uta quality.

Alundra:


I've located you the images of the slime of Alundra here:


By the way... what is this RPG case study you're doing? you mean studying rpgs graphicwise or going into other details beyond graphics?

Offline Olothontor

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 238
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: RPG Case Study

Reply #5 on: August 16, 2010, 07:59:52 pm
I have that exact image, Antifarea. It's what I used as inspiration in the first place  ::)

As for your last question, it's doing an overall study, since I'm making one myself with a few partners. It's going to be based off of the old Final Fantasy games and the Golden Sun and Fire Emblem series', but that doesn't mean I can't take inspiration from other places (like Alundra, in which some of the graphics caught my eye, particularly their buildings and scenery).
"In a mad world, only the mad are sane." - Akira Kurosawa

Offline CharlesGabriel

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 160
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • Veritas Omnia Vincit
    • View Profile
    • CG Artsenal

Re: RPG Case Study

Reply #6 on: August 16, 2010, 09:05:30 pm
I have that exact image, Antifarea. It's what I used as inspiration in the first place  ::)

As for your last question, it's doing an overall study, since I'm making one myself with a few partners. It's going to be based off of the old Final Fantasy games and the Golden Sun and Fire Emblem series', but that doesn't mean I can't take inspiration from other places (like Alundra, in which some of the graphics caught my eye, particularly their buildings and scenery).

Ouch for me. You made the slime yourself... I was confused, I thought you grabbed the image from somewhere else in order to get help study it. Haha my mistake. Anyways, yeah a lot of inspiration comes from commercial rpgs.

Offline Olothontor

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 238
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: RPG Case Study

Reply #7 on: August 16, 2010, 09:47:23 pm
Updated with a new death animation (hope this one suits better :y: ), an idle animation, and the spritesheet so far.
"In a mad world, only the mad are sane." - Akira Kurosawa

Offline buddy90

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 95
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: RPG Case Study

Reply #8 on: August 17, 2010, 12:51:37 am
I think the death animation looks fine, but it does look like a popped balloon. As if the inside was hollow. But a slime wouldn't be hollow, and assuming the thing is thicker than water...

It's hard to say what to do to make it look more like a slime bursting, but, you could try to record something like that. Get a water balloon (or better yet, fill it with something thick like pancake syrup) and burst it, recording it ofcourse. Then use that as a reference. Or see if a video like that is on youtube.

Offline Olothontor

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 238
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: RPG Case Study

Reply #9 on: August 17, 2010, 01:01:33 am
Perhaps if the slime inside was a different color then the membrane? That way I could show both the membrane and the fluid, and if I was careful, I could do it just well enough that it'd work with a minimum of visual confusion.

I'll see what I can do for you.

Anyway, added another animation sequence for being knocked back.

« Last Edit: August 17, 2010, 01:49:55 am by Olothontor »
"In a mad world, only the mad are sane." - Akira Kurosawa