[C+C] Top view tank

[Fickludd]

Following my previuos thread http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=13271.0, a tank is under contruction, destined to populate the same city.



Soldier size reference to the left, two advance wars 2 tanks to the right, my tank in the middle.

So the idea is that the tank should occupy 2x2 16x16 tiles, while one soldier would occupy 1 16x16 tile. I'm having a hard time making all the perspectives match up with the tank. Also the soldier and tank style perhaps don't work to well together... comments / suggestions?

[PypeBros]

You have no outline anywhere in your previous art, so personally, I'd drop outline of the tank: that'd make them fit together better quite easily.
I note that your soldier's helmet doesn't read very well over the road. You may want to do a coloured outline for that specific part, and maybe reinforce the shadows near the feet.

Perspective-wise, your tank look quite high to me. Maybe you could do experiment with plain block-shaped things to find the right sizes that match your perspective before you add details.

HTH.

[Mathias]

Try outlining, whether totally or selectively, all sprites and leave background tiles non-outlined.

[Tourist]

Ouch.  Too many different perspectives.  i agree with PypeBros, figure out the dimensions of a simple cube, and then make the rest of your elements match the ratios of height to width to depth.  I don't think your tank even matches itself (wheels vs hatches on the back).  Time to break out the math!



I think this is it.  For a cube of side X, the height squared + the depth squared will equal the width squared.  Note: this only works for cubes that face the screen.  For an angled cube like a typical iso view, the width and depth are diagonals across the top face of the cube so the math needs to account for that.

The good news is that the numbers don't have to be perfect.  Looking at a sample spaghetti crate (or is that pizza?), I see dimensions h = 7, d = 14, and w = 16.  7^2 + 14^2 = 245, which is close enough to 16^2 =256 that it works ok.  But keeping a ratio of 7: 14: 16 across detailed objects like your tank is difficult.

Maybe use a different ratio of numbers that you like better.  Anything with less than about a half pixel error should be ok, I think.  Just keep it consistent across the image.   

Hope this helps,
Tourist

[Fickludd]

Ouch. 

Heh, ok I think I see what you guys mean. Gonna redo from some basic shapes studies as soon as i find the time, and then mess with outline. Stay tuned and thanks for the feedback!

[Fickludd]

Ok, followed tourist's advice and did some pondering on what actual perspective I'm using. This eventually resulted in two things: a completely new tank shape, and revisiting of soldier to better comply to perspective.



You can see the old (mk I) sprite, and I tried to remodel it with proper shape which turned out ugly (mk Ib). So yeah, hows this working?

[PypeBros]

Much better, perspective-wise.


A small edit, fixing lightning on the helmet (imho), and using coloured outline at the top of the helmet to better separate dude and road.

Adjusted lightning on the tank so that only 2 edges emit top-light (you had 3), and casting some shadow from the turret onto elements that sits below it. I had to introduce a new colour to avoid black outline on the turret.

At a second thought, I'd also have dropped those light pixels on the feet and favoured completely dark feet... but that's too late: it's uploaded now
I missed my attempt at a "crate" nexto the dude. Imho, I failed to respect the lighting contrast between top and side faces. Never thought it'd be so important 

[Fickludd]

Dropped the pixels at the feet, fixed helmet, added details and fixed edges to tank. I think your crate is good except for too little value difference between the top and front.