[WIP] Shump Ship

[Ryuza]

Hello all, this is my first time posting around here, I happened to pass by a couple times and saw some cool stuff and decided to join up .

Anyways, I've been working on a Shump game (Shoot 'Em Up), programmings been coming along well but not so good on the graphical side of things .
This would be the main character's ship, its supposed to be a rogue ship originally owned by the enemy which is why I tried to make it seem more suited as an enemy. It is controlled with the arrow keys but moving the mouse would cause the ship to spin so that the eye and the opening are facing the mouse at all times, left and right click would each cause a different type of attack, the eye in the center is supposed to be something like an orb of energy that generates the different attacks.

I've got a basic concept I'm working on at the moment, was hoping I could get a bit of C+C on the design and some opinions on the shading:
v1: v2: v3 - Current:

I kinda wanna go for a bit of a retro style, still working out the colors too.

Thanks in advance .

Edit: Added the most recent version.

[ponjanes]

    Tell us something more about your proyect, something like a shoot 'em up can be... anything. I myself don't know what I'm looking at, is it the main ship of the game? If it is, it seems interesting to make a very minimalist protagonist for this genre, but it can be polished. Remember that memorable characters aren't just good looking, they are interesting to watch and follow throught their mission.

    I don't know if is this monitor, but the screw-like dots you are using are almost invisible, try more contrast, if you want to keep them, as they give a coarse-scrap looking. Of course I  just keep on writting without knowledge, but to get a good idea of futuristic minimalism, think about something like, mmm, Eva, fron Wall-e, she is clean, and soft, and have smooth shadows... try making some shading to give it a round effect (think about a cilinder), and as the action (proton cannons emitions and things like that) probably occurs up in the screen, it probably would be better to draw the shadows in the lower part, maybe giving a more dramatic looking.

    Don't forget contrast (don't excess either)! If you try to draw those shadows, you probably want to make that darker area in the middle-low part a bit more brighter.

    Also, is there some limitation in the color palette?

[Ryuza]

Ah, I guess i should have been a bit more specific about the character, yes it is the main characters ship, its supposed to be a rogue ship originally owned by the enemy which is why I made it seem more suited as an enemy. It is controlled with the arrow keys but moving the mouse would cause the ship to spin so that the eye and the opening are facing the mouse at all times, left and right click would each cause a different type of attack, the eye in the center is supposed to be something like an orb of energy.

Not really running with any palette limitations at the moment, just wanted to pick some general colors before posting, and yeah, I hadn't noticed before but the bolts are a bit hard to see. Thank you very much for the great comment I'll get started on some of the changes you suggested.

Also, I added a bit more info to the first post along with a second version:


I'm not too sure about the shading right now, I think while trying to make it look like a cylinder like you were saying I ended up with a bit of pillow shading.

[voidSkipper]

It's still an improvement but yes, you did end up with some pillow shading. You need to consider a light source. Right now it's like the lightsource is positioned exactly above each panel, each panel is concave, and the lightsource is very weak/narrow.

Consider how the shape would be lit as a whole, rather than panel-by-panel.

[ponjanes]

I actually feel that every panel is convex, as a pillow, but that's just perception.

I have made a quick edit to show something like I was thinking about the light. Also made some retouch in the transparency of the orb.


P.D.: now that you have tell me what's about that ship, it seems good to give it a junky look. Consider that usually primitive based looking space ships tend to move a lot, like making spinnings and things like that.

[Ryuza]

Thanks for the help so far you guys, made some edits to the shading along with a slight change to the design based on your version ponjanes.


I think its starting to look pretty good, any comments?

[ponjanes]

I guess it's ok, try some animations, like the orb with diferent intensity, like a candle; depending on how you do it, it can improves the junky feeling

[questseeker]

The ship design is remarkably original and coherent and, apart from the lack of any sort of weapon or engine, rather sensible.
However, some details of the drawing might be improved.

• There is no clue about what little cross in the middle of the orb is and it disturbs the little shading the orb has. Is it meaningful, or just an arbitrary mechanical detail?
• Spending 4 or 5 pixels across the whole width of the hull for the bevel between hull sections and the rivets is way over budget for my taste: without the rivets you would have room for more distinctive details (e.g. a less donut-like hull shape) and/or better shading. The horizontal bevel is well made and, with a size of 1 pixel, affordable; the oblique one in the back is a bit too thick.
• There is a severe pillow shading effect, especially in the horns. I understand the light source is from above (rarely the most interesting choice), but only the shape of the central orb is compatible with its shading.

[Ryuza]

Well, the weapon for the ship would be the two orbs at the tips of the ship, they'd be generating the attacks between them, and the orb in the center was supposed to be an eye which directed the attacks, the eye would look towards the mouse (cross-hair) at all times and the ship will spin to match the eyes general direction. The eye on the orb isn't really necessary though, but in-game the ship would function as a stolen enemy ship and the enemy ships were going to follow along with that same theme, each having an eye as their energy source and the source of their attacks.

As for the light source I had actually planned for the orb in the center to be the major source of light and the small lights along the sides as well as the two at the top as minor sources. Were you suggesting I remove the lines separating the paneling on the ship in favor of another type of detail or am I misunderstanding?

Also, thanks for the very detailed and helpful comment

I'm at work right now but I'll see about making a few changes when I get off.

[Stava]

You could add some highlight to the edges to make a 3D effect.