Disco Slicer Mk1

[Andy Tran]

 It's a sword that I just thought of. Used for slicing anything. Even wood, rock, and anything. It's called Disco Slicer because it's based off of the word "disc".

 

[terminal_arcade]

First, notice how the handle is moving, apart from everything else. Physically move your hand like that. Dosen't feel natural, does it? It actually moves up through the course of the slicing motion. Try making it move downards in an arc through the course of the animation like it would naturally.

Second, the direction/shape of the light reflecting off the sword will change if the sword changes place. This is why you can't simply rotate to get a new frame.

Lastly, try to blur the blade. If you've never done this before, go find some references from basically any commercial game where the main character has a blade (except the really low-res ones like the first Zelda ones). At only 3 frames, it's really the only way to give it a smooth feel.

[Terley]

^ said it perfectly..

I think it would look much better, if the animation was less jerky, it looks like you're using 2 frames with this, make the most of those 3 frames to make the animation as smooth as possible.. but if it's quick and sharp animation you're looking for do what terminal_arcade said and look at other games to help with the slicing motion.

It'd help if you created a character to hold this sword because its hard to imagine the movement of a sword without someone holding it, its all in the way the character moves his body with the sword..

If I find any sword weilding characters I'll let u know. 

[Andy Tran]

 Thanks for the tips. It's actually 3 frames really. I think it would be much more easier if I included a sprite sheet of it, of course.

[robalan]

I have quite a few comments on this:
-To me, it looks like you just rotated the whole thing in mspaint or something.  The middle frame has random pixels coming off of the crosspiece, as well as having a horribly jagged outline. 
-I'll agree with earlier comments about awkward hilt motion, strange shading shifting, etc.
-The shading doesn't really make sense, either.  What kind of lightsource would cause that kind of gradiential shading across a flat surface?  I'm aware that that's how stereotypical sword shading is done, but just because it's stereotypical doesn't mean it's right.
-I would recommend losing the internal black outlines.  The crosspiece is only three pixels thick, and two of them are outline.  Surely there's a better use for those pixels?
-This blade does not look all that sharp, and certainly not sharp enough to cut through "wood, rock, and anything".  In fact, the blade this most reminds me of is a butter knife.  Perhaps it's the blade shape, but that's what sprung to mind when I saw this.

Overall, I can't think of much good to say about this.  It looks like a rushed job that needs a lot of work.  Frankly, I think you might be best off starting over if you are trying to make a sword that is as sharp and cool as the described sword is.

P.S. What does this have to do with the word "disc"?  I see nothing disc-like in the design, and would like to be enlightened as to the source of this name.

[Xion]

Thanks for the tips. It's actually 3 frames really. I think it would be much more easier if I included a sprite sheet of it, of course.

I think Terley was saying that, despite it being 3 frames, it still looks like two due to the lack of difference between the last two frames. Utilize your frames to show the most movement possible.

-To me, it looks like you just rotated the whole thing in mspaint or something.  The middle frame has random pixels coming off of the crosspiece, as well as having a horribly jagged outline.

MSpaint can't rotate...
Can it???
But yeah, otherwise agreed.

[CrematedPumpkin]

Yes, MS Paint can rotate, it just looks really...bad.
On one of the frames, the hilt comes apart...there are random pixels sticking out of it. Other than that, just do what everyone else said.

[Andy Tran]

 Thanks everyone! Hopefully I can post an update sometime. I am busy with a lot of stuff right now. Finishing a pixel novel.