[WIP] [C&C] WrestleBot Character

[heyguy]

Hey all! So I'm working on some Mega Man type game and I've drawn a bunch of anime-style robot enemies. This guy is sort of like a Sumo wrestler or regular wrassler, slightly inspired by E. Honda.

I'd appreciate any and all critiques regarding the character. Right now, I've got a little white skirt thing going on around his waist and I'm not sure if I like or dislike it. Not sure it reads properly. It looks better in my drawing. Also, the face...not very Mega Man or anime inspired. Guess I need some googly eyes maybe? I will animate this guy too. Idle, belly flop, shoulder charge/dash, thousand hand slap E. Honda style, grab move, turn. That seems enough animations for a boss I think.

Anyway, would love some thoughts and comments on how this can be improved. Thanks!

[Gil]

The shading doesn't make a lot of sense. You need to pick a light source and shade accordingly. When you just fill in the parts with gradients, we call that "pillow shading" and it's a Very Bad Thing (tm). The pillow shading also causes "banding", another Very Bad Thing (tm).

I'm digging the overall design though, so I'd certainly stick with it and try to get that shading just right. Maybe you can go for a more luchadores style mask and then try to do that in Mega Man style? Might work.

[heyguy]

Hey Gil, thanks for the great feedback! I totally forgot I was doing some hardcore pillow shading. I kept banding in mind but I know I have banding, especially around the neck. I'm going to take another crack at shading later tonight!

[Gil]

I like the shading on the left arm (his right). You can probably match the rest of the sprite with that.

[heyguy]

Here's an update. The light source is coming from the upper left. What does everyone think? I tried to match the lighting of the right arm. Changed the face too to a more mask-like look.

[Joe]

The levelness of the shoulders kind of imparts a sense of flatness. I agree he should be stiff but also a little movement in there.
The hands could use work. I think some fingers are a little too thick, the shading on the right hand is confusing, and the banding is obfuscating.
You could easily make it more metal with reflected light.
I am not a fan of that midpiece. It's busy and I don't know what's going on.
On the whole, I quite like the character of it.

[heyguy]

Aww hell yeah man! Thank you for the edits! I love what you've done! Especially the face and the little reflection of the left arm. The reflection is a tiny touch but really sells the metallic robot look!

I still feel sort of nervous about using colors other than black when it comes to outlining or creating detail on inside the character, such as the mask and the left chest area, as you can tell.

Yeah, the mid piece is definitely weird looking. I'm probably going to change it to a simple belt or maybe some sort of robot cooling tube thingy or something. I'll experiment with the hands more too. The hands were one of the hardest thing to get right in my eyes. The perspective, anatomy and such. I've checked out a lot of Mega Man bosses and a lot of them seem to have big ol' powerful hands. Not all though. Again, thanks for the help! Gonna work on this guy more tomorrow.

[Gil]

This is starting to come together. Joe pretty much nailed the luchadores mask I was suggesting. I wish I had time for an edit, but you guys seem on top of it.

[heyguy]

Some updates. Made a few different mid-pieces. I'm leaning toward maybe one of the first three, the belt looking ones. They're also pretty much pixel completed. I'm experimenting with the skirts and one piece. I'm not happy with any of them to be honest. Maybe the very first one and possibly the last one, the one piece wrestling singlet.

I really want to start animating this. Can I just go with the first one and call it a day?

[Joe]

I agree that the first one's best.

I still feel sort of nervous about using colors other than black when it comes to outlining or creating detail on inside the character.

With the exception of stylistic choices, like imitating megaman for example, try to change the way you look at it. Since pure black is such a powerful color there should be a very good reason to use it on the inside of a sprite.