AuthorTopic: Hutch the Rabbit [Early WIP]  (Read 7902 times)

Offline redballoon

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Hutch the Rabbit [Early WIP]

on: May 03, 2011, 03:23:56 pm
I've been asked to produce some pixel graphics for a platformer with a design style of my choice. So, this morning I did a quick sketch then pushed some pixels resulting in the following :

Not spent any time on the colouring as I was just trying to get a 'feel' and I'm humming and hawing over the black outline, which I've been asked to keep (and I've always had a liking of black outlines due to my ZX Spectrum graphics). How do you think it's going?

Offline DtFM

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Re: Hutch the Rabbit [Early WIP]

Reply #1 on: May 03, 2011, 07:33:22 pm
Maybe I am just slow but it took me too long to figure out what the hell I was looking at.

Offline Hawk

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Re: Hutch the Rabbit [Early WIP]

Reply #2 on: May 03, 2011, 08:31:54 pm
Well, it doesn't really resemble a rabbit, except for the ears and teeth.

It looks cute and simple, but perhaps a few more details? To avoid confusion such as DtFM's.

If it's the protagonist, perhaps making him a little more attractive. Right now, it kinds of looks like a first level enemy, that you kill by jumping on it, I guess  :-X

Offline Puppet

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Re: Hutch the Rabbit [Early WIP]

Reply #3 on: May 03, 2011, 08:58:03 pm
I couldn't really tell it was a rabbit apart from the ears and feet.
I made an edit because I couldn't really see an arm. Although I later then figuoured out where the arm was.
This was a really quick edit so it may be totally useless it's just what's in the picture, by defining a arm you define it more as what you want it to be.
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Offline Hawk

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Re: Hutch the Rabbit [Early WIP]

Reply #4 on: May 03, 2011, 09:10:21 pm
Oh, I guess now I get it.

It doesn't have arms, does it?
What looks like arms are the tip of his left ear.

I see that you didn't want to do a "default" bunny! haha

What you should do, instead of putting arms and tails, is to make it a little bigger, a couple pixels high, to avoid confusion.

Offline pistachio

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Re: Hutch the Rabbit [Early WIP]

Reply #5 on: May 03, 2011, 10:13:10 pm
Maybe I am just slow but it took me too long to figure out what the hell I was looking at.

Agreed. I don't think it's because you're slow, I think it's because it's not readable. I've probably been staring at this longer than you and I still can't figure out what that thing on his face is supposed to be.

Either way, body's too short. The whole thing seems to be horribly unbalanced, so I have no idea how it manages to stand up.

So editing... Hmm...

Offline redballoon

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Re: Hutch the Rabbit [Early WIP]

Reply #6 on: May 04, 2011, 08:26:44 pm
Well, here's an edit and a latest version.


- Changes to the colouring
- Arm added

I think the main problem was that there didn't seem to be any real obvious separation between head and body.

So, yeah, he's a rabbit. Nose, and his buck teeth on his face.
Quote
Either way, body's too short. The whole thing seems to be horribly unbalanced, so I have no idea how it manages to stand up.
??? but but but but.....it's a cartoon character for a video game..it doesn't have to be anatomically correct and all that stuff  :) I mean, I can't imagine Jim Davis's publisher saying that the cat he's just drawn for his cartoon strip just wouldn't be able to stand up with that large head and the smaller fat body...or Warner Bros telling the artists of the Looney Tunes characters...well, you know  :hehe:
« Last Edit: May 04, 2011, 08:32:47 pm by redballoon »

Offline Puppet

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Re: Hutch the Rabbit [Early WIP]

Reply #7 on: May 04, 2011, 08:57:55 pm
I personally preffered him yellow.
And I know your friend wants you to keep the black outline but I think it could really benifit without it.  :-\
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Offline pistachio

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Re: Hutch the Rabbit [Early WIP]

Reply #8 on: May 04, 2011, 10:22:53 pm
So, yeah, he's a rabbit. Nose, and his buck teeth on his face.
Quote
Either way, body's too short. The whole thing seems to be horribly unbalanced, so I have no idea how it manages to stand up.
??? but but but but.....it's a cartoon character for a video game..it doesn't have to be anatomically correct and all that stuff  :) I mean, I can't imagine Jim Davis's publisher saying that the cat he's just drawn for his cartoon strip just wouldn't be able to stand up with that large head and the smaller fat body...or Warner Bros telling the artists of the Looney Tunes characters...well, you know  :hehe:


I like to think of it this way: if you have to explain what everything is to people who don't get it--and the majority of people who look don't get it--it's not very readable, and you'll probably have to redo it.

First off what Puppet said about ditching the outlines is kinda right. From experience I find that black outlines don't really look good. On a draft of the sprite, perhaps.

Then, do you really need dithering on a sprite this small? IMO, dithering should only be used on larger sprites, or if you have a low palette of only a few colors or less.

One thing to note, the feet follow what seems like an isometric perspective of sorts. This is partially lost on the body, and completely on the head. See this guide?



This is what I mean.

Let me try to fix it...



...Well, I tried to fix it. (Also redid palette.) Not entirely satisfied with the result--I think I lost the proportion of the character a bit--but you get the idea. (And added a mouth as well, so the buck teeth are more readable.)

Offline Hawk

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Re: Hutch the Rabbit [Early WIP]

Reply #9 on: May 04, 2011, 10:40:07 pm
I agree with Pistachio, the dithering doesn't really match. And, if it's a sprite in a game, it really sucks to animate something with dithering!

I did an edit too, based on Pistachio's edit:


Fixed the ears... Like it was before, it was more like antennae... ._. And spread the legs a little.