AuthorTopic: [C+C][WIP] Dino Platformer mockup  (Read 3948 times)

Offline fily

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[C+C][WIP] Dino Platformer mockup

on: July 20, 2015, 03:12:49 pm
 Hi everyone, long time lurker on pixel joint looking to start out in pixels.

Here are some game mock ups I've worked on and I'd like to know how to take them to the next level.



Things I struggled with:
Tiles
Colour choices
Consistent style
Background

And the lil' raptor character looked really off so I edited him to have cute chunky feet as he looks like he's on roller skates or stilts or something....


Any comments would be really helpful to get me started again.

Thanks
« Last Edit: October 30, 2015, 08:58:12 am by fily »

Offline Fizzick

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Re: [C+C][WIP] Dino Platformer mockup

Reply #1 on: July 20, 2015, 03:22:20 pm
i like the chunky feet, and in general the pixeling is v appealing. i would say you need to harmonize your palette a little more and link/merge the different color ramps. you have a slight contrast between some very clean lines and some sketchy, almost yoshi's island type lines. One of them probably needs to get a little more like the other (i'm partial to the sketchy lines)

Offline Jim16

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Re: [C+C][WIP] Dino Platformer mockup

Reply #2 on: July 20, 2015, 04:02:54 pm
Oh, these are great! They kinda remind me off some stuff TomF made in the past, maybe an inspiration of yours? The raptor in the HUD and the sprite itself particularly looks similar to a mock up he made. Just be careful to not stay too close to your references, otherwise you might be under some scrutiny. All the other environmental tiles and the backgrounds are fantastic, you're pretty talented.

As for the legs of the raptor, I don't think the side-on legs look right, because the rest of the sprite is facing us slightly and the legs don't seem to share this. Just a minor perspective thing I guess.
« Last Edit: July 20, 2015, 05:35:57 pm by Jim16 »

Offline Seiseki

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Re: [C+C][WIP] Dino Platformer mockup

Reply #3 on: July 20, 2015, 04:35:33 pm
I think you can give the dino more shape and character..
I played around with it and now he looks more like a baby t-rex than a raptor.. :-\ I'm not even sure if it looks better or worse, but maybe it will give you some ideas..

Offline Jim16

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Re: [C+C][WIP] Dino Platformer mockup

Reply #4 on: July 20, 2015, 05:52:31 pm
I agree with Seiseki, change the raptor up a bit and grab a reference too. While you might not be going for a realistic dino, it might give you ideas about how to change the sprite and move in the right direction.

I made an edit too.

Offline Parkerbaby

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Re: [C+C][WIP] Dino Platformer mockup

Reply #5 on: July 20, 2015, 07:56:43 pm
For the top left portrait of the dino, you had such a good opportunity to invoke emotion and detail and expression into the character. It does not look like nearly enough attention was paid to making its portrait visually appealing. I would break it down into smaller and more complex planes, and add more detail so it doesn't look like just a resize with resolution adjusted.

Offline Ambivorous

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Re: [C+C][WIP] Dino Platformer mockup

Reply #6 on: July 23, 2015, 07:34:24 pm


You neglected a few of your background elements. The dinosaur skull on the floor needed better shading from the light, the round cactus looked a little off and your twisty tree on the left has too many odd forms in it (I changed some of the shading in two parts to illustrate better that there were branches covering other branches better).

Also changed your dinosaur head to fit the dinosaur better and stuck your large foot version in because I like it significantly more.

Good job, looks awesome, keep up the excellent work.
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Offline fily

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Re: [C+C][WIP] Dino Platformer mockup

Reply #7 on: October 30, 2015, 09:30:14 am
Thanking you all for the comments and edits - Great feedback! This forum rocks.

@Fizzick: I love the Yoshi's Island art direction so I think I'll try push that more in the next pass.
@Jim16: Very keen eyes, Tom's my brother so having access to all his old work, his advice, and sharing the same influences it looks pretty similar. Totally agree I need to find my own voice though, so I'll keep pushing! Sneaky lizard's given me an idea for a different project...

So after an accidentally long holiday:

The pre- pass of edits I tried, I was thinking I could use the lil purple fella for something later on:


The second pass:


Apologies for the retarded working method (laying out all the changes) but I tend to push pixels on an existing thing then hate the changes I've made so I like to keep previous iterations, I'm certain this will go away as I get better at making design and pixel decisions!  ;D

Under the blue >> different outline styles (colour, black, thick), went for central, but so easy to change just as it's just the icing on the cake for when I get the forms and colours down.
Under the pink >> most improved? maybe the one with a larger head (up+right) is better. still not sure about that 'snout' either (Is it called a snout on a dinosaur?), perhaps idle frame turn towards audience, potential spikes (I'm not a fan, I want cute not badass!)

and under closer inspection a few random grey pixels > epic fail  :-[