[WIP] Platformer Main Character

[mitDebo]

Hey guys! New to the forum here, though I've lurked around a few times.

I've been working on a game for a little while, and I decided that I want to up the resolution of it. My original character was just 16 pixels high, and this new one is going to be around 32. My experience with pixels is pretty limited (I've dabbled), as is my experience with art in general (no formal training, just a lot of drawing on my own). So I thought I would get some feedback!

The premise of the game is the player is an intern for Death in the afterlife, having to go about doing menial jobs for him.

Here's the little guy now:



Here he is x3, for those of us that still have the blurring larger image issue:



Here's a shot from the game before I decided to start redoing the graphics:



My main concern is that originally, he looked kind of adorable. I dunno if that really comes across in his twice as tall version. (Originally, also, in my mind at least, he was supposed to be in a cloak, like Death traditionally is. My girlfriend, having heard the plot of the game, apparently always thought he was in a suit. When I started to redo him, she demanded he be in a suit and not a cloak, and I think it's actually better for it).

So critiques? Suggestions?

[numlock]

I think little one looks lot cuter and it probably would be easier to animate, also if you polish the tilesets game would look quite awesome with that little character (I'm guessing youre going to make something like knytt stories)
oh and suit on little one could look better if you can pull it off, but I wouldn't make it brown, and I wouldn't use new character but if youre determined to use big one at least try to make him cuter like your first one

also I'm new at pixel art too so don't just take my word for it

[corix]

I have to disagree with numlock, your character looks great. I think he still have the "cute" look on him. If you wanna take him to a cuter level I think you should try to change his palette to a more colorful one.

Oh, and I'm in no way a pro pixel artist, just started trying out some things as you. There are a hundred of guys here with a more solid perspective than mine.

[mahhov]

i would suggest you make the painting less saturated so it blends better with the background and doesn't popup, assuming it's not supposed to be intractable. Also, maybe add some non-distracting variance to the background wall. You could also add shade to the "cloud-folds" as I tried doing with the bottom cloud.
I'm really new to pixel art too, so my suggestions may be totally wrong.

[slym]

rather than making the painting less saturated, give color to the background.

[mitDebo]

Thanks for the input guys! I actually didn't intend for the screenshot to be critiqued, because all that art is going to be scrapped anyway. I just wanted you guys to see what the character originally looked like. But thanks for the input regardless! I'll certainly take it to heart when I get back to redoing that section.

I spent the few moments I could during the weekend trying to animate my character. This is my first attempt at any real animation, so please please tell me where I've got things wrong so I can improve!

(All of these are at x3 the size, of course, which is actually probably around the size most people will be playing the game)

First, we have my character's idle animation:

First, you may be asking why a skeleton type character would be breathing. My answer: I don't really know myself! I'm not 100% sold on how his hands go out during the breathing cycle. I kept taking it out and putting it back in, then figured I'd at least ask. Anyone else see anything glaring that's really sticking out?

I also roughed in a run animation:



This is my very first traditional 8 frame run animation, so I'm sure there's tons of faults with it. I figured I'd get the basic movement down before I went into detail on the sprite, so again, if anyone sees any glaring things that stick out, please let me know!

Thanks again for the feedback, guys! It's helping a lot!

[mitDebo]

Oh, almost forgot, here's the sheet if any of you want to make edits:

[mitDebo]

Hey guys, more progress to show!

In order:

• My character's idle animation - the heads a bit narrower to give it a more skull feel. Still not sold on the hands.
• The "completed" run animation, probably still needs a little work.
• Jump, with transition into fall.
• Lastly, his wall slide pose.

I've also begun work on tiles:


I'd love any feedback for improvement guys! Let me know what y'all think!

[Charlieton]

Why do the .gifs show every frame at the same time? It makes it hard to discern how the animation actually looks. Am I the only one with this issue?

[mitDebo]

It shows in my browser as one continuous animation, but it may be something wrong with the way I packaged the gif. I'll look into it.

What browser/os are you using? I'll see if I can recreate the problem.