Help with my 8bit style game

[shane.poole]

EDIT: I'll be sharing more than just mock-ups from now on.
Hey guys. I've been trying to improve my pixel art skills and I'm learning how to program in C# recently, so I decided to make a mock-up. However, I feel that this mock-up needs a lot of work... If you can give me any advice, it would be much appreciated!

I'm trying to go for an evil, unsettling, yet tranquil feel with this mock-up. I realise that I'm not keeping within the NES restrictions well, but that's okay. I'm giving myself a little bit more freedom with this project.

Thanks in advance!

[Manupix]

I like this!

Some problems I see:
The black outlines are overwhelming, they bring down readability in the sprites, mostly the small one.
The bg is as or more saturated than the fg, hinders perception of depth (although I like the colors).
The skyline (left half) and the ground tiles are too busy/noisy. I like the tiles textures but I'd insert some quieter tiles for eye rest.

[FrostPumpkin]

I like this too, very charming !
The things that doesn't seem to work for me are the small dithering parts you made on the tree, try keeping it plane for the shadows.
Also, I had to observe it for like 5 minutes before realizing these were brains at the end of the branches. I thought there were like big fruits or something.
I really really like the mechanic 16x16 tiles, you can make a few 32x32 blocks for some variety as well

[Ryumaru]

Yes, this is actually pretty good, in fact, except for some random hidden colors, the assets are pretty much fine. In some cases, sprite overlays would be added to give the main character one or two extra colors ( I think megaman does this?)

Your tiles only use 3 colors, when they could actually use 4 ( always including black as the background color). Go for more variation in the tiles- you could easily create a tileset that would allow for these meta squares to be 8x8, 16x16, 24x24, and 32x32. Additionally, you could create some variations that would allow you to make some fall into darkness more than others to break up the space and busyness.



I played around with the tiles, lowering their brightness and saturation while giving the character more. Embrace the restrictions, I think you will find that you actually create more interesting aesthetic choices when under the pressure of them.

[shane.poole]

That's some great advice, thanks guys!

@Manupix - You're definitely right about the depth perception problem. I'll do something about this. Thanks!

@FrostPumpkin - Those are actually big fruits, but I kind of made them look like brains for reasons that are related to the story behind the tree. In later iterations, I will definitely improve it. Thanks!

@Ryumaru - I didn't want to make the character's skin too light for certain reasons, but I'll play around with more colours to make him stand out more. I may add some more colours, too. As for the pic you posted, what you did with the fruits definitely looks more what I was trying to go for. Grotesque and kinda gross. As for the desaturated tiles, looks rad. I'll play around a bit more and post an update in this thread later this week.

I may post some animations of the character as well, so if you guys are interested, please check back and crit my work!

Thanks guys!

[YellowLime]

This is amazing and I love it.

Disagree with the point about black outlines. They are usually a beginner's artifact, but they look great in lo-fi contexts like this.
The complexity of the floor (greebliness, as Arne would say) is ok as long as it's contained in an easily-approachable shape (a big long rectangle). The 'big chunks' that Ryumaru introduced add to the variation that I find pleasing.

Love the colors (both yours (hot pink) and Ryumaru's (more balanced)), the composition, and the concept.
From the OP I assume you are going to make something with this, and I approve whole-heartedly

[rikfuzz]

Really really love it. 
Do think the 2x size blocks work well, and darkening the white blocks makes sense too, though prefer the original palette for the most part. 

Also disagree on the comment about the outlines.  Obviously a huge part of the style and it's charm, and wouldn't look like sumi-e without them. 

Really wish I could see this on a messy CRT TV through the eyes of a 10 year-old with no cultural knowledge of Japanese art. 

[Manupix]

To clarify my outlines comment: I didn't mean there shouldn't be any or they shouldn't be black, I mean there's too much of them, locally, for readability. The character lower half; some parts of the boss such as the face on the lower trunk.

[shane.poole]

Here's a running animation of the character:


And a 1x size one just in case:


I changed his skin to a kind of odd yellowish colour. This has to do with the story that I have in mind, I'm not implying that East Asian people are yellow! (Which would be ridiculous!)
In the beginning of the game, he's skin colour will look "normal" and it will gradually change along with the rest of his body or (potentially) clothes. I'll keep the rest a secret for now.

I'm having some trouble with this animation as I'm simply not satisfied with it. If you guys can give me any pointers, it would be much appreciated!

I'll probably upload another mockup/screenshot in the next coming days, after I have implemented a tilemap system into my game.

As we say here in Japan, Yoroshiku!

[Rosier]

And a 1x size one just in case:

IMO, he looks more like he's power walking rather than running.

His body should be leaning forward a bit more and the ponytail should be going up and down rather than idle to forward.
Also, I feel like there's too many frames if that makes sense.  It's slow for a run. 

[shane.poole]

You're making a lot of sense! I'll edit the frames and framerate and play around and see what I can do. Thanks!

[PsylentKnight]

One big thing that's making it look like a power walk is that at no point does both of his feet leave the ground at the same time.

[JustinGameDesign]

What's meant to be happening to the character's hair as he walks? Moreover, what is that hairstyle supposed to be?

Here's a running animation of the character:


And a 1x size one just in case:


I changed his skin to a kind of odd yellowish colour. This has to do with the story that I have in mind, I'm not implying that East Asian people are yellow! (Which would be ridiculous!)
In the beginning of the game, he's skin colour will look "normal" and it will gradually change along with the rest of his body or (potentially) clothes. I'll keep the rest a secret for now.

I'm having some trouble with this animation as I'm simply not satisfied with it. If you guys can give me any pointers, it would be much appreciated!

I'll probably upload another mockup/screenshot in the next coming days, after I have implemented a tilemap system into my game.

As we say here in Japan, Yoroshiku!

[Ambivorous]

Disclaimer:
I've never animated any pixel art of any kind - whatsoever - ever before, so what I'm saying comes purely from reading other threads here on Pixelation about running animations and may thus be horribly incorrect.

So I started by blatantly and unashamedly stealing this running animation I found by googling "ninja running animation":
Spoiler

From which I made this base:

I coloured the one leg a little bit blue so that I could tell which leg was which (for readability).
Then added a body with a little bit of head and arm bounce:


Coloured his pants and skin without any shading:

Added hair (with bounce) and some shading:


Finally I tried to animate his robey thing, but it just makes things pretty unreadable because I suck at animating and cloth is sooooo damn difficult to animate (next to yours for comparison):

There is no polish, but at least it looks like he has weight and is running forward with all his might.


Important things I learned from this:

• He needs to be angled forward. The faster you want him to run, the more forward (up until a point of course) and his pushing leg (the hind leg just before it leaves the ground) usually forms a straight line with his spine at that exact moment.
• To add weight, objects need to behave after an action has occurred. So one frame after his lowest point I make his head and fist drop compared to his torso. Similar stuff for his hair and eventually his robe. The animation happens after the run changes his legs and torso.
• When running yeah, both your feet have to leave the ground at some point.
• When in doubt, stickmen.

Other than that you should just search these forums for running animations because a lot of the guys here have written some really impressive replies to peeps asking how to animate running.
The fact I could actually animate this little guy is a testament to that, because honestly I've never even tried this before, but my results seem decent enough. Everything I did was based on stuff I've read here.

Hopefully this helps you out to make some sweet running animations.

[shane.poole]

@Ambivorous - That running animation looks really cool, but unfortunately I won't be using a ninja running animation for my character... That being said, I learnt a lot from your post. Thanks for the advice! 

Here's a newer running animation. It still really sucks, but it'll have to do for now. I want to focus on programming for the next few days.

I may be going crazy, but it looks like he's running backwards...? I really suck at animation. I've been reading some of the other threads about the subject, but it seems like I still have much to learn...



The character is supposed to look like this, but i'm finding it hard to translate the hair and sideburns to pixels. I'm not the greatest artist in the world...



unfortunately, I'm an extremely busy person so updates will be very slow... It's also hard for me to give other folks advice since I'm a beginner myself. Anyway, thanks for all your great help! I'll try and post something again soon!

[CombustibleNate]

I may be going crazy, but it looks like he's running backwards...? I really suck at animation. I've been reading some of the other threads about the subject, but it seems like I still have much to learn...



The character is supposed to look like this, but i'm finding it hard to translate the hair and sideburns to pixels. I'm not the greatest artist in the world...



unfortunately, I'm an extremely busy person so updates will be very slow... It's also hard for me to give other folks advice since I'm a beginner myself. Anyway, thanks for all your great help! I'll try and post something again soon!

The running backwards is an optical illusion that you can't avoid. See http://www.maniacworld.com/Spinning-Silhouette-Optical-Illusion.html. When you character is clearly moving forward, people's brains will see it as doing so. I see it as moving forward even in static form.

As for the "ponytail", try moving it more towards the front of the sprite. Not but a couple pixels. Even looking at your hand drawn pic, it's more vertical than the sprite's version of it.