[C+C] Beat em' up game sprites

[timeatscookies]

Hi everyone,

I'm a new member here and would like some feedback/comments on some sprite work I'm doing for a game. So far all I have done is the idle animation for one of the playable characters. Please tell me what you think (: I'll be adding more as I go.

[Decroded]

Hey its a cool style. Something about his  face/head makes me want to be one of the bad guys though lol. Also his left (our right) hand moves to far and fast compared with the rest. and the belt area needs somesome movement try also rotating the belt buckle a touch see if it looks any good? and if u can do something subtle with the feet.
Look forward to seeing more mate ;-)

[8bitbeard]

I think the fact that his hip is not moving at all adds some stiffness to the whole piece.
I like your style, however

[yrizoud]

You'd rather check as soon as possible that this particular anatomy doesn't get in the way of the intended gameplay : Such character can't dodge a punch by crouching. He can't bend his head forward (after getting kicked in the shins for example) without causing a serious headbutt
You can expect it limits you to rather vertical stiff poses, and the characters need to be physically very close for their hits to connect, much like River City Ransom (NES).

[timeatscookies]

Thanks Decroded for your advice on the hand and belt area. It still needs a lot of work and I think I'm willing to perfect this sprite with the help of this forum, considering I am no expert at all. I had also tried to animate the feet in a subtle way as u suggested, but didnt have much luck :\ maybe someone could help me in that area?

As for the anatomy, I had considered shrinking the head's height a bit overall but I don't want to rip off Paul Robertson's style too much. I feel like I'm already ripping off his body style, and I do want the game's art too look somewhat unique. Also, about the crouching to dodge an enemy punch, I could probably have the character block instead and have an almost equivalent result to avoiding damage and/or hits.

And the problem with the hip, I agree, does make the piece look quite stiff. The legs and lower region need some serious improvement I would say, which is why I came here. I haven't been able to really fix some of these errors yet, but am looking forward to more advice the more I update.

Thanks again, all of you, for your comments. Please continue to share wisdom and advice with me for this piece. I'll update it as soon as I feel like I've made some improvements to the animation

EDIT:
Oh, and I forgot to mention, any tips on how to minimize limitation on gameplay due to the character's head size nature would also be much appreciated! For example, shrinking the head size a little, or another method? I want the game to still have the feel of a classic beat em' up game and hope to not be limited to vertical stiffness as yrizoud said.

[pistachio]

Looking unique VS. Making sense!

I'll have to agree with yrizoud here, and most of his points actually are something to listen to. There seem to be a number of things this sprite can't do without coming off as either defying gravity, or, heck, just defying physics. So fiddling with the proportions (no, not to make the head bigger) wouldn't hurt IMHO.

Other than that the legs seem to be completely static. In a fighting stance, I'd expect to see more bouncing back and forth, in the legs especially if you want to exaggerate it that much. Nevertheless, it's far too subtle especially compared to other animations like this. Proportion aside, you might want to look at some of the animations from other fighting games, such as the Street Fighter series, to get a good idea of how to properly animate a fighting stance. Even look at Paul Robertson's work if you want to (Scott Pilgrim?).

Sprite-wise, it has a lot of outlines, but the animation's something you want to look at first.

[timeatscookies]

Thank you pistachio for the advice. I'll try my best to take heed to sensible proportions with this character, probably in majorly modifying the style or size of the head.

You mentioned looking at some animations from fighting games such as Street Fighter. Well, I'm ashamed that it wasnt noticeable that I actually tried to base the animation off Cody from the Street Fighter series (Alpha 3?) I probably did a poor job.

Also, I was indeed referring to Scott Pilgrim when I mentioned Paul Robertson. I really don't want to make a Scott Pilgrim clone, and I'm afraid if I change the head shape it might appear that I am. However, I want the game/graphics to make sense and would sacrifice a pointlessly over-sized head for that. Please offer any advice you think could help, especially in this said anatomy defying physics area.

[Psiweapon]

You'd rather check as soon as possible that this particular anatomy doesn't get in the way of the intended gameplay : Such character can't dodge a punch by crouching. He can't bend his head forward (after getting kicked in the shins for example) without causing a serious headbutt
You can expect it limits you to rather vertical stiff poses, and the characters need to be physically very close for their hits to connect, much like River City Ransom (NES).

Ummm, sorry, but I have to disagree! 

Not completely, though. The head is really, in truth, XBOX HUEG, but remember: cartoons can do anything!

It isn't realistic to begin with, so what matters if the movements aren't realist either? Think Cow&Chicken or something similar, it doesn't matter if you make him strech his arms a bit or whatever. Hell, just think JoJo's Bizarre Adventures! (my f god, is that game awesome!)

About the head when crouching, all you have to do is *not* give the head a red hit box 

Making the art more realistic is indeed one answer for the question, but the other one is to make the action more cartoony.

[timeatscookies]

Okay so over the last few days I have been struggling with this sprite a lot. I finally was able to come up with something that I am somewhat content with. As before, comment and critique please (: Let me know what you think (honestly).

@Psiweapon: I understand what you mean about the cartoon nature of this character and how the game could feature more cartoon based action. However, I probably will stick with something more simple and less exaggerated with the head xD. Hopefully the new look will read better than the older one.

[yaomon17]

I think it could have more contrast overall. Also, there are some colors that were unnecessary.

[timeatscookies]

I think it could have more contrast overall. Also, there are some colors that were unnecessary.

I agree with you about the contrast of the palette. The current palette isn't final so I can work with that. However, the basic colors are probably final (the blonde hair, blue pants, etc.) I'm not sure which colors are unnecessary  I'm not very good with colors and such. I like your edit a lot, especially the left (our right) hand being turned slightly. Your light source is also definitely way more apparent than mine. One area I actually struggle with hugely is lighting/shadow. Thank you lots for taking your time to make an edit; it's been quite helpful.

[yaomon17]

The darkest shade of the hair is extremely similar to the color that is the darkest skin shade that is used for the dithering. One can replace the other. This also goes for the second shade of the hair and skin. They are also very similar. Some other colors can be changed and reused.  Good luck. 

[timeatscookies]

Latest attempt with this sprite. I tried giving him a gray shirt, but still think the palette needs major tweaking; I think it looks so washed out . Also, the hands look weird to me. Requesting C+C from you brilliant pixel pushers, in especial regarding the palette.

EDIT: Oh I almost forgot to mention; the dithering that yaomon17 mentioned was actually 5 o'clock shadow. I guess that didnt read well 

[r1k]

I tried a minor pallete edit, though I think I should have used a bit more contrast on the shirt now that I look at it

I gave the light part of the shirt a bit of a warm hue and the shadow on it a greenish hue.  Shifted skin shadows a bit redder and replaced the black outline with a dark blueish one. 
Increasing the contrast a bit and a bit more hue shifting could add some more visual interest to it.
I didnt see yaomon's edit before I did mine but I think the way he shaded the face added a bit more volume to it, which helps the whole sprite pop out a bit more.

[timeatscookies]

 Thanks many much for the tips, r1k. I'll try out the palette tweaks as soon as I can. I'll also be experimenting with the shading around the face. What about the rest of the shading? Does it need major work? I feel some-what okay with it, but I dunno.. I might've gotten used to something crappy.

[timeatscookies]

I have recently reworked the art of my project and settled with a more River City Ransom style of sprites. There's still a lot to work through, and this latest quick punch animation is still a WIP. But, things are progressing, and in a good direction. This single small animation is all I can share for now. The palette I kept the same from the last version of this character, mostly so I could focus on redrawing the character from scratch. I based this animation off a Guile punch sequence I saw.

Please point anything that looks weird/suggest improvements. It's still not really finished, so I want to finish it soon; hopefully with the help of some good criticism. A friend of mine said the character's left (our right) leg looks like its bulging, such as a muscle flex. I need some help with that because it's suppose to read as if the hip were slightly rotating.

[Kragagam]

I need some help with that because it's suppose to read as if the hip were slightly rotating.

From where I am sitting that's exactly what it looks like  Looks like the body turns a bit with the punch.

I like the added contrast and the updates on the characters body (especially the head) the new shorter character looks more like a fighter in my eyes.  Keep up the good work! 

[timeatscookies]

Thank you so much Kragagam for the positive and encouraging comments. They really help, a lot. I also like the new shorter character. He looks much more like a fighter to me too.

I've got some minor things I'm gonna try to tweak up as soon as I can. I might move on to other sprites for the time being, so I don't bore myself too much with this one.

Once again, thanks for the comments. I'm glad you liked it!

[timeatscookies]

Since I'm having a lot of trouble with this next female character, I figured I'd just post the very early stage of what I have and maybe get some help. The hair is only blue to fill in the color for now. It'll change later to brown. I need a lot of help with this. The face seems too narrow to me. And the hair just doesn't look right Please help me any way you can. I want to get this right before moving on.

All comments and criticisms are welcome