[WIP][C+C] Robot warrior

[Linaru]

I created this sprite today and id like some input on improving it both visually and in the characters design,
the character is meant to be a feminine robotic warrior from a somewhat dark setting,
trying to find a balance between something that looks like Norse armour and something that looks 'sci-fi-ish'

in addition, I am trying to restrict my colours to a Mega-Drive/Genesis palette
This means selecting 16 colours from a 9-bit 512 colour palette max.

All of my colours are picked from this colour reference chart I put together.
Spoiler

I was taking inspiration from Norse mythology and trying to convert ideas to a sci-fi look- however, it ended up looking more medieval than Viking.

[Tensur]

Isnt this from Spiral Knights?

[Curly]

Looks cute and cool. And yeah it looks like a character from Spiral Knights (no problem though)

The blue parts look a bit weak. Specially because I read them as glowing stuff.
There are 1024 colors in that image if I did the maths right, so I guess it's kind of the same as picking them from scratch? xD

[Linaru]

actually, There are only 512 colours, some of them are repeated in various shapes as it makes it easier for me to pick shades from the selection.
its based on the Megadrives 9bit RGB colour capabilities

unfortunately, a spiral knights character was not my intention. I was just aiming for an armoured robot, the eyes I wanted large enough that I might use them for expressions later on.

I guess I need to refine the design somewhat.

Played around breifly with the proportions and style to try and make it seem less 'sprial knight' like..


I'm not sure if that's better or not or which style to go with

[Rydin]

Which pieces of Norse mythology were you using as inspiration?

These two colors look almost the same at 1x1:


So hue shift the colors so each pulls its own weight:


Added highlights make everything shiny metal and get rid of banding:


 


EDIT:
Also, for some reason, IrfranView adds compression to screenshots, kind of neat looking how everything blended together, kinda like a CRT filter, but different:

[Linaru]

after some playing around I decided a slightly different set of proportions would work better, the smaller 'cute' style was too cluttered and I feel this new taller large style gives me more room to work, I also took the opportunity to accentuate some of the more feminine character traits

I took your advice and reworked the colours a little, however, I am still limited to the 512 colours from the palette in my original post, and can only use a maximum of 15 colours so I tweaked it a bit.

I was using images I found on google of Norse Warriors clad in green cloaks and chain mail armour.  of course converting things o robotic metals affects the look, as the leather commonly sen is now a copperish coloured metal plate.

I also reworked a lot of the shading to try and improve the highlights on the metal and give a shiny look as you suggested.



It is definitely an improvement but I think it still needs work



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Edit:

I have played around a little and created an alternate head style something a bit more like a Norse helmet.. however, I'm not sure which I like better

[eishiya]

Neither version really looks like a helmet to me, to be honest. They look like beanie hats, they don't look rigid, and they look rather small, and don't offer any face protection.

[Linaru]

Neither version really looks like a helmet to me, to be honest. They look like beanie hats, they don't look rigid, and they look rather small, and don't offer any face protection.

I mean, it is not supposed to look exactly like a helmet, the character is meant to be a robot after all ..
their head is just 'helmet-like'

[Linaru]

Okay,

so after a lot of playing around with colour palettes, proportions and styles I have to decide to first draw my self a proportional profile to get a better idea of the shape of the character I am trying to draw and how to shade the details without it appearing too cluttered

This is my attempt at a base



shading metal is proving quite difficult for such a small detailed space particularly on the arms and legs but I think I have managed something somewhat metallic looking.

[eishiya]

I think if you increase the contrast, it'll look more like shiny/polished metal. In addition, metal reflects what's around it, so making sure the colours take on the hue of the environment would really help (this sort of thing is why it helps to design characters along with the environment).
If your goal is more of a dull/brushed metal look, then the current contrast is fine, but again, consider the environment. I know it's just a base, but working some of that background grey in there will probably help the base feel better to you while working on it.

[Linaru]

thank you for the advice, I've attempted to improve the colours and adjust the contrast, have now decided to scrap the Megadrive palette and simply limit my self to 16 colours as my intention was to make a fairly dark and gloomy theme, which the Megadrive seems to lack a good range of dark colours.



I did not want to raise the colour palettes to look too bright as the intended environment is a dark worn down the abandoned spaceship ship interior.   despite that, I did tweak the hue and contrast a little to try and improve the shine.

I also picked out the colours for the green cloth and copper panels when I did this.


I think I'm going to take your advice and try and work out the details of the environment before I progress with the copper armour and details.

[Rydin]

Lookin' good Linaru

Don't be afraid to use white, or almost white (like the bright blue in the eyes) to add glittering highlights to your metal:

[Linaru]

Okay, I've done a small mockup of the kind of environment we might have in the background and picked out some colours. it still
need s a fair amount of work but is enough to use as reference I think.

Mostly the shadings have been done as though the lighting is coming from slightly behind the tiles as then I can do foreground elements in a plain dark silhouette



I also played around a little with the characters shading but I'm still not quite happy with any of my experiments.


Addition:

I have now fleshed out the front on the pic a lot more, I'm struggling a little with the shading of the green fabric.. not sure how to make it look fabric-y in such a large area.

[Linaru]

okay, I took a short break to clear my head and then came back and attempted a new side on pose using my front on proportion to help work things out.



this would be the standing pose for a side on platformer so I attempted to turn it a little more to the side than the original, I also added a bit more shape to the legs as the original ones looked more like tree trunks.

I tend to go a bit pixel blind after a while tinkering so any thoughts or pointing out issues with the new silhouette would be appreciated.

Edit:

Made further adjustments to the overall pose, however, something just does not sit right with me.. I feel like the characters leaning forward but the body is tilted and I cant work out quite whats wrong about it.



Fixed what was bothering me with the standing posture, and started playing with basic standing animations.. not sure how to do this with a robot as they dont really breath.. but at the same time i dont want the character to seem to inhuman