AuthorTopic: [WIP] Post Apocalyptic Robot  (Read 4959 times)

Offline Yeet

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[WIP] Post Apocalyptic Robot

on: February 20, 2017, 04:30:36 pm
Hey there!

This is a follow-up post on a sprite I made about a week or so ago.
I took into consideration the feedback I was given, and it helped me a lot, but I still feel it could be better, so what do you guys think?

The gun still looks like it needs something more, I can't seem to get his hands right, and the vertical arm just looks kinda off; so any feedback on these as well as anything else you notice would be great.
Oh, and I know the characters pose is quite plain and simple, but I plan to use the sprite in a game, and this is its passive stationary stance.

Here's the image:


Thanks in advance :)
« Last Edit: February 20, 2017, 09:40:11 pm by Yeet »

Offline rocifier

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Re: [WIP] Post Apocalyptic Robot

Reply #1 on: February 21, 2017, 12:40:53 am
Hey I was following the old thread before and think the design is really cool. I think it's better to keep posting follow-ups in the same thread so they can easily be read through.

But since it's here (maybe an admin can move it), I would say that this design and style is really awesome. You just need to keep pushing it to sell it. Make it look like it is standing in an environment - add some background and more unified and interesting lighting. Work on the silhouette a bit - if that is rusted metal it would have parts completely corroded off it. Otherwise if it's a good condition robot it wouldn't be fully rusty. Really try to get that kind of thought cemented in the piece.

I think the hand is fine, just needs some shading. Maybe the wrist could be a little thinner.

Also in terms of design, that gun is cool, but I don't think it matches his japanese influence - it's a bit too much of a stretch. Maybe shape the gun more to look like traditional japanese swords or items, or get rid of it altogether for more traditional weapons.

Offline Jehannum

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Re: [WIP] Post Apocalyptic Robot

Reply #2 on: February 21, 2017, 01:09:10 am
I think the opening for the gun barrel and the sight (?) is a bit too big  because the shading on the rest of the gun suggests it's being held horizontally. The black curved shaded part underneath kinda makes it look like it's tilted the opposite way that the barrel hole suggests.

I'd recommend adding some shading to angle the gun rather than altering the barrel+sight though.

The white rectangle on the gun looks odd too, even if it's based on something realistic (is it?)
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Offline rocifier

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Re: [WIP] Post Apocalyptic Robot

Reply #3 on: February 21, 2017, 01:30:10 am
I think the white rectangle is a hole. But it is a little strange that you don't see his hand behind it.

Offline Jehannum

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Re: [WIP] Post Apocalyptic Robot

Reply #4 on: February 21, 2017, 01:57:37 am
I think the white rectangle is a hole. But it is a little strange that you don't see his hand behind it.
Ahhhh I completely missed that. So the gun should be holding the lower handle really.

the right arm (robot's left) could be a pixel or two to the left and then angled accordingly so the hand reaches the handle. The entire perspective of that shoulder pad seems wrong, as part of it should be in front of the robot's chest. I think the size and heavy shading is what makes it look like it's not set in front really.

I guess it could be the other shoulder that's "wrong" though :D

anyway I'm still learning like everyone else, so if anyone thinks I've called it incorrectly, feel free to educate me too haha. It's certainly easier for me to judge other people's work than it is to make something comparable.
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Offline Cyangmou

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Re: [WIP] Post Apocalyptic Robot

Reply #5 on: February 21, 2017, 02:33:11 am
I think it looks pretty static and lifeless.
You overemphasize vertical and horizontal lines and tha's why the result feels pretty static.
I mean you can use those principles for stuff which should be static, like houses.For characters which are alive iit's usually better to try to make them feel alive.
Even if it's a robot you can try to apply some realistic posing.
Try to capture some weight.
If people stand they usually have more weight on one foot.
It doesn't even need detail. All you need to improve can be done by the shilouette alone.

also make the gun aim in the direction the guy is shooting.
Also for a game the spritesize is incredible hug. I personally would not recommend to use sprites taller than 96 pixels.

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Offline Yeet

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Re: [WIP] Post Apocalyptic Robot

Reply #6 on: February 21, 2017, 08:26:25 am
Hey I was following the old thread before and think the design is really cool. I think it's better to keep posting follow-ups in the same thread so they can easily be read through.

But since it's here (maybe an admin can move it), I would say that this design and style is really awesome. You just need to keep pushing it to sell it. Make it look like it is standing in an environment - add some background and more unified and interesting lighting. Work on the silhouette a bit - if that is rusted metal it would have parts completely corroded off it. Otherwise if it's a good condition robot it wouldn't be fully rusty. Really try to get that kind of thought cemented in the piece.

I think the hand is fine, just needs some shading. Maybe the wrist could be a little thinner.

Also in terms of design, that gun is cool, but I don't think it matches his japanese influence - it's a bit too much of a stretch. Maybe shape the gun more to look like traditional japanese swords or items, or get rid of it altogether for more traditional weapons.

Ahh okay, I'll keep that in mind next time.

I definitely will keep pushing it, every time I post something here it really helps me to do that. I also like your idea about the rust, I'll work on making him look a little damaged.

I see where you're coming from with the gun, as it definitely doesn't look very Japanese, but I think his design is leaning further away from the Japanese influence, and the gun would make more sense within the context of the game. You say it looks out of place with the Japanese influence, but does it look like it matches the sprite within reason? The whole idea of the gun is that it's not his, but another robots, so I wanted to make it look less similar, but still consistent with the style, if you understand what I mean.

Thanks for the reply.  :)

Offline Yeet

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Re: [WIP] Post Apocalyptic Robot

Reply #7 on: February 21, 2017, 08:34:23 am
I think the opening for the gun barrel and the sight (?) is a bit too big  because the shading on the rest of the gun suggests it's being held horizontally. The black curved shaded part underneath kinda makes it look like it's tilted the opposite way that the barrel hole suggests.

I'd recommend adding some shading to angle the gun rather than altering the barrel+sight though.

The white rectangle on the gun looks odd too, even if it's based on something realistic (is it?)

Will do, I did think it looked kinda off.
I'll change the black part so it looks less like shading and more like a design, and try shading it like you've suggested.

As @rocifier mentioned, the white rectangle is supposed to be a hole where his hand goes, and yes, it does look odd, but it's because I was hoping someone would help me figure out how to make the hand fit through it without looking strange. And no, it's not based off anything.

Thanks for the feedback. :)

Offline Yeet

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Re: [WIP] Post Apocalyptic Robot

Reply #8 on: February 21, 2017, 08:49:42 am
I think the white rectangle is a hole. But it is a little strange that you don't see his hand behind it.
Ahhhh I completely missed that. So the gun should be holding the lower handle really.

the right arm (robot's left) could be a pixel or two to the left and then angled accordingly so the hand reaches the handle. The entire perspective of that shoulder pad seems wrong, as part of it should be in front of the robot's chest. I think the size and heavy shading is what makes it look like it's not set in front really.

I guess it could be the other shoulder that's "wrong" though :D

anyway I'm still learning like everyone else, so if anyone thinks I've called it incorrectly, feel free to educate me too haha. It's certainly easier for me to judge other people's work than it is to make something comparable.

The look I'm trying to go for is one in which the shoulder pads appear to be coming from the sides of the robot, not the front, so I would say it's probably the robots right shoulder that needs work. I'll try making that look better. Any suggestions on how, now I've said what I'm trying to make it look like?

Offline Yeet

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Re: [WIP] Post Apocalyptic Robot

Reply #9 on: February 21, 2017, 08:57:42 am
I think it looks pretty static and lifeless.
You overemphasize vertical and horizontal lines and tha's why the result feels pretty static.
I mean you can use those principles for stuff which should be static, like houses.For characters which are alive iit's usually better to try to make them feel alive.
Even if it's a robot you can try to apply some realistic posing.
Try to capture some weight.
If people stand they usually have more weight on one foot.
It doesn't even need detail. All you need to improve can be done by the shilouette alone.

also make the gun aim in the direction the guy is shooting.
Also for a game the spritesize is incredible hug. I personally would not recommend to use sprites taller than 96 pixels.



I agree, I've always struggled with breathing life into my sprites without them looking heavily deformed, so it's something I'll have to work on.

Can I ask why you wouldn't recommend that height? I was deliberately going for a strange, kinda lanky looking robot.

The redraw you've done, to me, looks amazing. It's really cool to see my idea in a different, very lively form. Looking at that now, I'm definitely considering redrawing my sprite(kinda annoying since yesterday I spent a long time splitting it's parts into layers for animation  :D). What do you guys think? Should I?

Thanks for the feedback :)