AuthorTopic: [C+C] [Newbie] Help me get on the right track!  (Read 10100 times)

Offline Alvarop

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[C+C] [Newbie] Help me get on the right track!

on: November 11, 2014, 04:17:26 pm
Hello everybody,

I'm pretty new to pixel art and I was wondering if you guys could give me some tips and feedback to get better and not get into bad habits.
Here's what I've done for now. General tips are also welcome.

Mockups for a reverse metroidvania I'm making





I'm aware this one might look weird to you because it has two pixel sizes. My mistake, I mixed two images together without realizing this was a bad thing.



Practice













Alright so, don't be shy and hold no punches. I want to get better and I'm making at least one piece a day (I don't always save them because they suck)
« Last Edit: November 11, 2014, 04:20:46 pm by Alvarop »

Offline PixelPiledriver

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Re: [C+C] [Newbie] Help me get on the right track!

Reply #1 on: November 11, 2014, 06:11:08 pm
Quote
I'm pretty new to pixel art
Welcome to Pixelation!   :crazy:

Quote
(I don't always save them because they suck)
WHAAAT!?  :wah:
Save all your work, even "crappy" stuff.
It's good for comparative progression along your pixel journey.
You can even dust off old files and improve them later if you want.

Don't have time for a long post right now.  :blind:
And knowing that it is, we seek what it is... ~ Aristotle, Posterior Analytics, Chapter 1

Offline Alvarop

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Re: [C+C] [Newbie] Help me get on the right track!

Reply #2 on: November 11, 2014, 07:06:03 pm
Quote
WHAAAT!?  :wah:
Save all your work, even "crappy" stuff.
It's good for comparative progression along your pixel journey.
You can even dust off old files and improve them later if you want.

That's a good idea and I think I'll start doing that from now on. Thanks!



Tried making a little slime-guy. Can't figure out how to shade him / make his body look any good.

At least my lines are not that terrible? Not sure...





Also tried to make some 32x32 px tiles.

« Last Edit: November 13, 2014, 08:41:40 pm by PixelPiledriver »

Offline Decroded

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Re: [C+C] [Newbie] Help me get on the right track!

Reply #3 on: November 13, 2014, 11:37:59 am
i haven't read much so not sure if ur going for a minimalist style, but here's some ideas if ur not.
     



Offline Alvarop

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Re: [C+C] [Newbie] Help me get on the right track!

Reply #4 on: November 13, 2014, 12:18:31 pm
I actually was but I should try to go for something more complex to learn some more. I'll try to improve my tileset and post another version later on.

Offline hobbler_toppler

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Re: [C+C] [Newbie] Help me get on the right track!

Reply #5 on: November 18, 2014, 09:33:22 pm
Honestly, I've played plenty of little games which managed to keep me immersed with this type of minimalist artstyle. If your goal is to make a small game, then I would just go ahead and do it, despite your tiles not looking anything like Decroded's edit. You'll be happier with a completed game on your resume even if it has super-simple graphics. I know it sounds like I'm telling you to be complacent, but I'm kind of getting the impression that you got intimidated by Decroded's cool looking edit and gave up. My suggestion is to take that grass tile, add another complementary tile (maybe some blocks or stones) and show us a mockup of a hypothetical game. The key to making good, but very simple pixel art is how it all ties together, which is why mockups are more telling than individual tiles. Here's hoping you didn't give up!

Offline Maki

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Re: [C+C] [Newbie] Help me get on the right track!

Reply #6 on: November 18, 2014, 10:04:46 pm
The key to making good, but very simple pixel art is how it all ties together, which is why mockups are more telling than individual tiles. Here's hoping you didn't give up!

Although what Decroded did looks wonderful, you probably can't go straight with that if you're new. Not that it would be impossible for you to make it, but it would take you much more time and you'd be therefore wasting tons of time without learning much. Basic pixel art knowledge can still be tested on way easier graphics.

Take a look at these, they're simple, more than having to do extremely awesome shaping, textures and colours, you gotta get the feel of depth in my opinion. Ofc art will start to look good once you're able to do all of the above on a decent level.

Some promised samples to look at.
http://i.imgur.com/FXtiTvk.gif

http://images.pocketgamer.co.uk/FCKEditorFiles//Deep%20Dungeons%20of%20Doom%20Image.jpg

This looks like something you could do with the way you're doing your art atm. It has a little bit more depth, but it's still sidescroller.


Hope this helps.

Offline Alvarop

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Re: [C+C] [Newbie] Help me get on the right track!

Reply #7 on: November 18, 2014, 10:12:37 pm
Hey guys, I did not give up on pixel art! I'm practicing a little every day whenever I can. I will study those examples you sent my way Maki, I really like how they look and I hope one day I'll be able to do something like that. I'm currently working on a piece for pixeljoint's weekly challenge, I'll post it soon :)

And while I may have gotten intimidated ("I'll never be able to do that!"), I actually got motivated to see what I might be able to do one day, so no worries about that. I'm reading more and practicing so I'm understanding some things better. I can't quite get what I have on my mind in pixel form, but I've improved. Again, I'll post an example later.(I'll edit this)
« Last Edit: November 18, 2014, 11:59:54 pm by Alvarop »

Offline Maki

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Re: [C+C] [Newbie] Help me get on the right track!

Reply #8 on: November 19, 2014, 03:55:44 pm
I can't quite get what I have on my mind in pixel form, but I've improved.

I've had about the same problem at the beggining. I knew how I'd like to have the final outcome, but then it just seemed impossible to get anywhere with pixels. So once again, start small, get along with all the techniques and ''rules''.

Here's some that are pretty similar to what you've done so far. Try to work with colours as well, to get better with the palletes/colour choice.
You might wanna check out this game. It's simple, but the graphics look well all together.

I believe it's called Elliot Quest, it's good for learning cause there's 2 different views in game and it's pretty basic.



Offline Alvarop

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Re: [C+C] [Newbie] Help me get on the right track!

Reply #9 on: November 20, 2014, 01:23:26 pm

Keepin' it simple. A couple of slimes. I don't know how to do the outline / shading yet.... Trying out stuff. Gonna try to animate these guys eventually. Basically it's the same slimes as in the first post, but with twice as much pixels.

I've read a few tutorials on lighting and shading but it never comes out like I'd want it to. I guess that's because I'm no artist and I need practice. I think I'm going to try and do simple shapes : cubes, spheres, etc. and light them differently to try and understand how this works. Is this a good idea?


edit : Here's a guy I'm doing for the pixeljoint weekly challenge. I have no idea what I'm doing  ??? ??? ???


trying stuff out


Looks even worse with transparency?
« Last Edit: November 20, 2014, 07:50:14 pm by Alvarop »