[WIP] Scientist sprite

[Pancaek]

Hi everyone.  I have delusions of one day being able to make graphics for an RPG loosely based on the SNES style.  Here's a scientist:



It's meant to be viewed at at least 200%.  I intend to make a full sprite set (walking in 4 directions, various fighting animations, etc.), but first I'd like to see if anyone else thinks this looks okay.  There's 27 colours (not including transparency).  I tried doing an overhead perspective and a very slight amount of hue shifting and selout (i.e. at least the outline's not entirely black).  I used Lucca from Chrono Trigger for reference.

I admit that I don't know much, so feel free to tear it to bits from any angle you want.  From what I see right now, his arms bother me the most.  His left arm looks like it's fused to his torso, and his right arm looks like it's bent weird or the shading's off somehow.  His hand is supposed to be in his pocket.

Thanks for your help.

[NaCl]

Hey Pancaek, making sprites is no delusion, just takes a bit of work. Right now he looks decent, I wouldn't say he looks good though. There are a few problems, which I'll try and point out, as best as I am able.

- I believe that you're using too many colors for such a small sprite. I see what you're trying to do but shading in that manner on such a small sprite can either make it look blobby or confusing.
- Don't do a slight amount of hue shifting, go wild with it. Experiment, and then reign it in. Without the hue shifting then it's going to continue to look flat and plastic-y.
- Try and get a solid silhouette. It can be hard on smaller sprites, but a good silhouette will make the sprite much more readable.
- For the most part you have good contrast, except on the face. The glasses blend in with the skin too much.

I've tried my best to integrate these suggestions into an edit:



Edit: Modified my edit

There is still a lot I would do, but I think that edit is sufficient to show what I was talking about. Hope it helps some.

[Pancaek]

      

Original - original shape with hue-shifted palette - new shape with colour reduction and hue-shifted palette.

I tried making his legs a bit skinnier, which does seem to help his silhouette a bit more, but I've found I don't really care for colour reduction.  The difference could lie in how we perceive colours.  To me it looks like I just have six colours with a couple different tones.  If more people think the colour reduction is an improvement, though, then I guess it's something I should work on.

[buddy90]

It looks better.

This is still a pretty small resolution. Remember to try to imply details at this size level. Alot of his parts looks very baggy because they take too many pixels, especially his pants and coat.