AuthorTopic: 3Stage - A Space Shmup!  (Read 3997 times)

Offline Lashloch

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3Stage - A Space Shmup!

on: January 02, 2011, 03:26:54 am
Space shuttles have always fascinated me with their multi-stage launches, so I thought a space shmup using the principle would be kind of neat too. It's not a real game, since I am not a programmer, but I like to mentally invent games for my art to be in.  ::)

I have this vague concept of a desperate group of astronauts launching from Earth amidst a war with robots - yay, cliches! - in order to find help somewhere in the cosmos or maybe just colonise another planet. Anyway, you'd start out with your fuel tank (the orange thing) and two booster rockets at the beginning of each level and you lose one each time you take damage from enemy ships/AA/whatever.

I guess the story isn't too important, so here's the pixels! I'll update with the enemy craft and ship upgrades I'm working on later.


Offline Phlakes

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Re: 3Stage - A Space Shmup!

Reply #1 on: January 02, 2011, 06:15:57 am
One of the biggest things I can see is that there's not much contrast in the sprites, and the shuttle and side containers seem to be pillow shaded.

Your outlines should be well below the middle shade, and you may benefit from using less colors and maybe relying less on solid and consistent outlines.



Notice how on the side containers, the shading seems to be moved over one pixel, so the outer outline is lighter than the one near the middle. Also, the middle orange part only uses four colors which gives it more contrast a less plasticy look. Now, I made this in about thirty seconds, so it's not perfect and I didn't edit the ship, but it should help.

Offline Lashloch

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Re: 3Stage - A Space Shmup!

Reply #2 on: January 02, 2011, 08:50:17 pm
Oh, okay. I see what you're doing with the shading. I'm working on it, but the going is slow since I can't use MS Paint. (Mac... I hate the alternative programs.)

What do you mean by the middle shade, though? I'd like to know before I start work on the ship itself.

Offline Phlakes

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Re: 3Stage - A Space Shmup!

Reply #3 on: January 03, 2011, 03:06:57 am
I mean a base shade, 128 Luminosity in Paint, just a regular color, not dark or light in any way. On the orange part, the darkest shade was too close to solid orange.

Offline Lashloch

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Re: 3Stage - A Space Shmup!

Reply #4 on: June 01, 2011, 04:23:28 am
I realise it's been a long time since I last updated this, but I got the pixel art munchies and felt compelled to dig up Project 3STAGE. I've tinkered with the ships a little bit and have two candidates.

Which is better? (they could be equally awful, I suppose)

Ship 1:


Ship 2:

EDIT: I can't see the images on this computer. I hope you can.
« Last Edit: June 01, 2011, 04:26:40 am by Lashloch »

Offline Phlakes

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Re: 3Stage - A Space Shmup!

Reply #5 on: June 01, 2011, 05:01:31 am
Nope, images are broken because you're linking them from a gallery.

Use these links- http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/9945/ship1.png and http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/8501/ship2.png





Also, it looks like you're getting somewhere with the second one. Losing the outline on a sprite that small adds a lot of readability and space for details. Now, you should try shading it, but avoiding pillow shading. Just choose a light source and stick with it, thinking about it as an object rather than regions.

Offline Lashloch

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Re: 3Stage - A Space Shmup!

Reply #6 on: June 01, 2011, 06:16:17 pm


I've attempted to shade the ship with a light source positioned directly behind the craft in mind. I don't know if I'm pleased with my first try here. What do you see wrong with it?

EDIT: I think I like this one better.



EDIT DOS: Far happier with this shading attempt, subtle though it may be.

« Last Edit: June 02, 2011, 02:02:26 am by Lashloch »