Post-Apocalyptic Zombie Horror Madness

[Cure]

Yea, so this is my first post at this site, I've been at pixeljoint (ThereIsNoCure) and I'm not quite sure why I put off joining here so long.  Any way, here is the piece at present:

comments/criticism/suggestion are more than welcome.

updated version:

[Meta|Fox]

First let me say "welcome to pixelopolis". now for the C+C the scene looks very well done. i really like the look of the dead guy on the right. a few crits though. you need to work on the alleyway alot, compared to the detail of the rest of the picture it really looks out of place. also the hand of the "skinny" zombie looks weird. apart from those small things its looking really good.

[rabidbaboy]

at first glance, i'd say that came out perfect. it's nice to see you added "cracks" to the walls, and i really like the way you did the blood all splattered from the dead guy.
a few things though: the windows, i don't know, but they look wrong.
the "alleyway" between the two buildings looks very wrong.the street there should be seen, right now, it looks wrong. the street should be angled in the alleyway.
also, it'd be better if the policeman's hand was seen lying somewhere in the scene, makes it more interesting...
overall though, good job, hope to see more.

[Tremulant]

I really, really like this. I've only a few minor crits.

The main thing that jumped out at me was the car (which, btw is looking phenomenal). The fact that it is foreground, though, and blends in so much with the background throws me a bit. I fell like it should pop more than it does, and could benefit from maybe the same outlining as the characters to give it more definition. The alley, as Meta|fox mentioned sticks out, too, but where it's (I'm a assuming) a WIP, that doesn't bug me.
The shadows on the side walk could be quite a bit darker. On the road, the shadow is almost black, but on the sidewalk it's near invisible.

The little details in this piece are great, especially the shards of glass. You'll be smashing up the windows on the far right, I presume? Anyway, great stuff.

Oh, and Welcome aboard!

[AdamAtomic]

sweet!  The wrecked car and fat zombie are by far the best elements.  both the hero character and thin zombie look awkward and unnatural to me.  The hero should look more dynamic and threatening, his pose is turning me off as is.  great start!

[Darien]

This is looking pretty great.

The people are looking nice and unique, I like em a lot.  Their shortness of the legs bothers me, but I guess you could argue style on that one.  As said the car could pop out more, maybe even give it it's own colors instead of using the background colors.  But it looks great as well.

I can't really comment on too much until it's done, can't wait for it 

[Ryumaru]

maybe an outline as well, on the car?

[Xion]

Hello. Haha, this so reminds me of, like, my first (maybe 2nd) art posted on the old pixelation...only better.

The skinny Zombie's near leg is too thick.
Aside from that, everything else has pretty much already been said. This is very nice, BTW.

[Cure]

Thanks for all the constructive criticism, thats the main reason I ended up joining.  DevArt is basically "ZOMG kewl" and pixeljoint is much better, but I found this site to have the most useful feedback.  I think I'll make a slightly darker outline for the car, but nowhere near as dark as the characters.  And yes, the alleyway and windows are extremely WIP. I may also change the colors of the car.

[Cure]

update:

Like/hate the changes?  Suggestions welcome.

[big brother]

I love the style, but I would question how appropriate this pastel pink tint is for a zombie game. It's not exactly gritty, but that's probably your intention. Just know it sends a contradictory message.

[InvaderLupus]

The one zombie with his arm hanging off looks a bit odd, because the broken arm looks a lot longer than is other one. The alleyway lacks detail, and really sticks out to me as something in drastic need of chage. Add trash cans or something to help define it as an alley more, and change the color for the ground there. The fact that your reused the color from the walls just makes it look like an extension of them, and looks really light and akward. Other than those few problems, I think it's an excellent piece. The little details are what really make this one stand out.

[Turbo]

I think the dark tone of the road steals the attention from the rest (both sprites and other bg), since it's darker than any dark tones used elsewhere. I'd apply to it the color you've used on the shadow of the broken window, and add a few lighting effects for further volume.

Otherwise, i'm lovin it.

[Cure]

Any better?

And I apologize for the alleyway, I've done no work on it thus far, but I'll start now.
Turbo, these lighting effects you speak of, could you elaborate?

[Turbo]

Much better The lighting i was thinking was something along the lines of very subtle, lighter shades near the middle of the road converging towards darker ones near the sidewalks, to indicate a bit of a curve in the asfalt (i think roads have a bit of a curvature, at least the ones over here do).
Or add some shadow cast from the sidewalk, some gutters, etc.

[Xion]

Yeah, that road is better.

Just a design thought, but wouldn't the windows by the zombies be broken, rather than the one by th person. Like that pawn shop. Since zombies seem to make a mess when they ravage, and they're coming from the right, I would expect there to be more broken things.

Turbo makes good points about street details. This is coming along nicely.

[Tremulant]

Wow, lovin it even nmore than I did before. The changes are all positives, far as I can tell. You still should do something about the hero and the first thin zombie.

The hero, especially, looks off balance. Probably mainly because, far as I can tell ,the back leg should be.. farther back, if you get what I mean. A complete pose revamp might not hurt (make him look more ready/design it with attack/idle/walk animations in mind maybe?), but at least balance him a bit.

The cop zombie, well... I can't really pinpoint anything, but somethign about it seems.. off... the hand's position is too stiff, or his body's too far leaning given the position of his legs, or.. something... Sorry this isn't  much help, but... I dunno, maybe someone else can help me get the words out.

The car is totally sex. God, I love that car.

[rabidbaboy]

it's getting along nicely!but that alleyway ruins the whole thing, you gotta do something about that.
and the hero's weapon, looks like a baseball bat to me, but it could also be a slingshot (the cloth kind?). maybe if you made it more parallel to the ground?but not so much.Also, Xion has a point about the windows...
i'm really liking the blood splatters.^^

[Cure]

Update:



I've started work on the alleyway, just to let everyone know it hasn't been neglected, and busted up the windows on the left as well. The zombie officer's right leg has been moved up, and the hero has a slightly different stance.  Please feel free to point out any negative changes I have made, and I'll be sure to fix them.

[rabidbaboy]

yey!put bricks on the wall of the alleyway too, as it's the same building.
a foot/hand sticking out from those dumpsters wouldn't hurt either, but i guess that's up to you.
kudos on this great piece!

[Cure]

Updated:

Probably not too much more work to be done.  So critique the hell out of it, and I'll see what I can do.

[Xion]

That shadow being cast by the building onto the dumpster is incorrect. The shadow should be coming from the corner of the building and should cover most of the alley. A zombie feeding on a carcass in that alley would be a nice touch, BTW. Some obscure shapes in the buildings would also make them match the detail of the rest of the scene.
Rabidbaboy made a good point about the baseball bat(?). It would look better parallel to the ground, pointing in the direction the guy's facing.
This is turning out to be pretty pretty.

Now when you finish this, animate the individual sprites walking, attacking, and dying.

[Cure]

Yea, the shadow bothered me a little too.  I'll get to work on that and the bat thing.  I've never animated a thing in my life, and never planned to get that indepth with the project.

[Xion]

I just think this forum needs more animation/animators. Not necessarily for a game, just in general.
And it's never to late to try.

[Darien]

Looking good.  I think the porn shop needs some adverts on it, those places always have tons of posters and crap.  Not necessarily somthing at a size we could read, though.  It would add more color to the piece too. 

I just think this forum needs more animation/animators.

hear hear!

Someone should set up a regular animation challenge... maybe I will if I think of something...

[Cure]

Yea, I wouldn't really know what the exteriors of porn shops always look like.  I like the idea, but I'm not sure I'm willing to expand my small palette.  Maybe a bad move on my part, but, eh.
@Xion: would you mind elaborating on these obscure shapes to be used in the buildings?  I think I get the basic idea of what you're saying, though.

Edit, update:


I decided I'd cut all the building action anticipation bullsh*t and whack a zombie.  The pose could probably use some tweaking, I'll work with it a little bit and maybe add some more detail before wrapping this piece up.  Only downside (for me) is that since I had to move the main character, I had to get rid of that reflection/shadow deal he cast on the window, which I personally liked.

[Pawige]

I definitely like it better with him smacking the zombie, it's a lot more interesting. Perhaps a bit more blood and brain matter would be nice though, to give it a bit more impact. If the zombie's a bit decayed his head would probably just explode like a melon.

I'd add a zombie reflection to the pawnshop window, I never really noticed the reflection before, and with the distance it is from the guy it almost looks like someone behind the window. You don't really need to add any colors to make the posters, just pretend you're doing it in greyscale and it should look fine.

Some highlights on the tips of the broken glass bits might make them look sharper.

Some skid marks behind the car would probably be cool.

You might be able to get a cool effect by darkening and saturating all the reds, make them stand out a bit.

The main character's hair could use a bit of work, it doesn't have much volume. The lady zombie's hair is great.

Some debris in the alley would be nice.

The zombie cop's hand could use a bit of work. It's just a weird blob right now.

Great work so far!

[Xion]

By obscure shapes I meant maybe some single-color silhouettes of aisles or more zombies inside or something. Just something to break up the large, blank space that now makes up the broken windows. And, in agreement with Pawige, the action makes it much more interesting.

Oh, and the dead person in the window is great.

[InvaderLupus]

I really like the dead guy in the window. I still think you should have like a dead body in the trash can, or a legless zombie crawling around in the alley.

[Cure]

updated:


*added bottles in alley
*upped the saturation/darkened the red
*added the teddy bear, as it seems a little too random, I might add a dead little girl (I'm sick, I know) clutching it. Thoughts?
*added a hot dog vendor cart (yes, it ISN'T a washing machine).  Leave it/remove it?
*added those small highlights to the points of the glass.

[Crazy Asian Gamer]

It looks to me like the Hero is preparing to swing the bat, and have not just swung it and knocked the guy's brains out.
His waist augments to that illusion be looking like it's wound up and preparing to unleash great force to support the swing.
I say yes to the dead little girl. We're not about ethics here. 
The alley wall feels new. Crack it up a bit (more).
I love that color ramp.

[Cure]

Another update:

Added the dead girl, added condiment bottles, adjusted the main character's pose, added skidmarks (not sure if I like them, opinions?), toned down the highlights on the edges of the jadded glass just a tad.

[Aleiav]

I like the skidmarks. They're cool. Another car might be interesting? Or maybe just the skeleton of another car? Oooor, you could have a bunch of zombies attacking and eating the brains of people in a car?

At any rate, this is really awesome so far. I like the pallate.

[Meta|Fox]

I disagree with you Aleiav I think any more in this picture would make it look to busy. at the moment, the composition is working really nicly and more objects would ruin that.

Cure, This looks so good now. i wouldnt change a thing about it. good job

[Cure]

You both make valid points.  I may make another scene of equal size, I've got some good ideas for another anyway.  Don't bet the farm, though, its only a possibility.

[Esker]

He still looks like he's about the hit that zombie, rather than just hit it. Still I love this and that car reminds me of my old Clio.

I wouldn't put anything else in this if I was you either.

[Meta|Fox]

Don't bet the farm, though, its only a possibility.

Oh noes! my farm!

Anyways

It looks both like he has just hit it and is about to hit it again to me. maybe put some blood flinging of the bat near the end of the swing to imply more motion.

[Aleiav]

I disagree with you Aleiav I think any more in this picture would make it look to busy. at the moment, the composition is working really nicly and more objects would ruin that.

Maybe if he made it more horizontal and wider it could be interesting. I suggested that on PJ.

[crab2selout.png]

First I'd like to say you've made some really great improvement over the original. It's looking great. The one thing I don't like very much about this new one is the pose of the hero swinging his bat. He looks like he's in a ready to swing stance more than an already swung stance.

http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/who/people_specific_attributes/gender/472497_home_run_swing.php?id=472497
http://www.deviantart.com/view/22082236/(Paul Robertson's batting animation which you might like looking at to see a pixeled animation)

Here's some references for you to look at and decide.

[Dusty]

A powerful swing of the bat(which it looks like he's charging up for in the picture now) would leave the end result of the bat under his hip, not above it. Most bat swings go from above the hip (like you have now, which would be the start, so keep that animation) to progressively downwards.