AuthorTopic: [WIP][C&C] General pixel-art  (Read 42837 times)

Offline AshCrimson

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Re: [WIP][C&C] Medieval Fantasy Characters & Classes

Reply #10 on: May 15, 2014, 06:43:30 pm
I wasn't thinking of making them come from differing parts of the world or armies, but you've given me the idea that i should try that, to vary them up. Either that or keep them consistant as you said.

Oh, just to be super clear, I might want to add that it's mostly the colors and shapes inside the shield and not the shape of the actual shield. (They'd vary in function for different classes anyways). Guys with the golden cross on an azure background design suggests belonging from a different army than the crossbowman with his diagonal stripes. (research I'm doing right now tells me that the cross shape is also known as the Nordic Cross flag. Who'd knew?)

I think they can be compared to today's national flags the more I look at heraldic designs and today's flags.

Hope this edit addresses your concerns:



Included my progress with the armour as well. I'm thinking of adding more detail to the crossbow-man (like i did with his shoulder-armour and helmet) but i am worried about how readable it would be and since readability is so crucial i may have to skimp on it.

At this moment, im not sure what to do with the bases; whether i should wait for more advice or continue?



So i've started working on said mock-up (at least the map view) and this is it so far:



I'm not too sure on the pond (the tile with multiple "ponds" and green shapes is my attempt at a marshland tile) as well as the river/water, so i will probably be revisiting those as well as the dirt-road tiles, of which i notice there are some issues with.

My main aim is to keep it as simple as possible, hence why the grass tiles are simply a flat-shade of green to help readability of the smaller unit/class sprites. Very early on into making it, readability became an issue and so a dark outline was needed to ensure it didn't blend in.

Apologies if this is the wrong place to put it, but i didn't want to start another topic when it's tangably related to this one thats already open and still active.

Edit:

Some new stuff:







« Last Edit: May 23, 2014, 07:14:38 pm by AshCrimson »

Offline AshCrimson

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Re: [WIP][C&C] Medieval Fantasy Characters & Classes

Reply #11 on: June 04, 2014, 07:57:50 am
Bit of a big update:

So i decided to try animating smaller sprites instead, as i found it much easier and it kept the style consistant/

Here's some of them (some of them need to be updated like the archer one):









Tried making some non-human enemies; some zombies, Skeletons, Goblins/Lesser Orcs and Orcs. Wasn't sure what colours i should use for the zombies, either that or use different colours for more powerful zombies.

For the Skeletons, Goblins/Lesser Orcs and Orcs the first column is unarmed/basic units (standard weak ones) second are warriors, third are ranged and fourth are magical or holy units. Might actually make more, to distinguish between magical and holy units.



Tried my hand at some horses as well; first row are the forms i tried, with the last being the final(for now maybe?) product, second row are the various colours:

Offline AshCrimson

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Re: [WIP][C&C] Medieval Fantasy Characters & Classes

Reply #12 on: June 21, 2014, 07:58:31 am
Update

I've been thinking more about making the human unit's more diverse, by splitting them into 4 different factions with differing appearances based upon different historical cultures

I wanted to show a chart that displays what units are available to four factions, as well the potential promotions/class changes available. Not all factions have access to the same classes.



I tried making each faction different in terms of the units they recieve, for example Blue recieves more Ranged units, Green recieves more Melee units and is more geared towards offense (and has a Melee/Magic hybrid Spell-sword), Orange has a balanced range of units and Purple are balanced as well, receiving an extra melee unit at the expense of one-ranged unit and are more defensive in comparison to Green.

Tried making an example mock-up of how movement/action would be dealt with:



I wanted to go with a simple design, although it's obviously subject to change.

I hope this is an improvement over my previous attempts at attack animations (Specifically the spear-thrusting knight):



Previous version (Sixth Row):



I tried making him look less static and tried to put more oomph behind his thrusting of the spear. I'm unsure of what to do with the shield, but i don't think it should remain in place, especially after such a thrust, like it did in the previous version as it made it look more static in my opinion.

Also; should i cut the frame where he's turning the spear 90 degrees? Or do you think it adds to it? I'm currently restricting the frame limit per unit to 8 frames, since that's what i feel comfortable working with at the moment.

I currently use frames 1-3 to get the unit in place, such as raising a sword, lowering a spear, raising the staff etc, Frame 4 as a build-up to the attack, frame 5 as the actual attack although this can vary between 5-6 especially with the archers and in this case the knight, Frame 6 where they complete their attack, with melee units moving slightly forwards to suggest this and frames 7-8 as recovery, with units moving back to their original place if they've moved. For archers, they usually fire on the 7th and return to their original stance on the 8th.

Here's an update:



Tried reducing the sliding of his legs and the pole whilst he is thrusting, and tried making him walk forwards. Not sure if an improvement, but i have been trying to do a walking animation so i can at least improve my animation(s).

Update:

Tried also re-doing the swordsman's attack:



I've probably got it wrong, but it's a start.
« Last Edit: June 23, 2014, 08:48:33 pm by AshCrimson »

Offline AshCrimson

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Re: [WIP][C&C] Medieval Fantasy Characters & Classes

Reply #13 on: July 07, 2014, 09:28:11 am
Another update, been mainly practising movement of the limbs (mainly arms and shoulder) and trying to update some of the attack animations:








Not much of an improvement, but it is what it is.

Offline Cakeprediction

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Re: [WIP][C&C] Medieval Fantasy Characters & Classes

Reply #14 on: July 07, 2014, 09:40:56 am
Can't say too much about it(since I'm really not that advanced in pixelart), but this might help you a little bit:

I just removed the third frame and added a frame after the slash with the bulrrything. This gives the slash a little more impact. Just did it with the sword guy, but you can do it with every slash animation

Hope this helps :D

Offline AshCrimson

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Re: [WIP][C&C] Medieval Fantasy Characters & Classes

Reply #15 on: July 07, 2014, 08:07:24 pm
Can't say too much about it(since I'm really not that advanced in pixelart), but this might help you a little bit:

I just removed the third frame and added a frame after the slash with the bulrrything. This gives the slash a little more impact. Just did it with the sword guy, but you can do it with every slash animation

Hope this helps :D

Thanks for the advice! I tried what you said but it seemed a bit too fast in terms of progression if i deleted the 3rd (I think you meant 4th btw?) frame, so i compromised; kept the frame but also added the frame you mentioned.

Here (Also slightly changed the blur-animation for this one solely, to make it consistant):



Also included, updated two-handed attack with what you said applied to it:



Further update:



Just a further re-working of it
« Last Edit: July 07, 2014, 10:02:25 pm by AshCrimson »

Offline AshCrimson

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Re: [WIP][C&C] Medieval Fantasy Characters & Classes

Reply #16 on: July 21, 2014, 09:50:29 pm
So here's some more animation edits:

Spear:



2-Handed weapon:



1-Handed weapon:



Non-Animation stuff:

A bit burnt out from animating (I was finding it more of a chore than something i actually enjoyed) so decided to give animating a rest for now whilst i go back to my bigger bases that i left behind sometime ago and see if i can improve on them with what i've learnt, here's an update:



I guess what i am struggling with the most on this is the arms and how to make them look like actual arms. I tried avoiding the straight arm look but it ends up looking wonky like in the edit.

Offline kriss

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Re: [WIP][C&C] Medieval Fantasy Characters & Classes

Reply #17 on: July 22, 2014, 08:35:09 am
Sorry but your 1 hand animation show weapon used with 2 hands  ;D

Offline AshCrimson

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Re: [WIP][C&C] Medieval Fantasy Characters & Classes

Reply #18 on: July 22, 2014, 09:33:55 pm
Sorry but your 1 hand animation show weapon used with 2 hands  ;D

Are you sure? In the frames it only uses one hand...

Here's a further edit of the bigger base, also included two different poses that i felt were appropiate:

Offline kriss

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Re: [WIP][C&C] Medieval Fantasy Characters & Classes

Reply #19 on: July 23, 2014, 11:43:25 am
Quote
Are you sure? In the frames it only uses one hand...

Sorry i mistanderstood  the text and picture ^^