AuthorTopic: Sprite Critique  (Read 3752 times)

Offline IHate

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Sprite Critique

on: October 30, 2018, 07:59:11 pm
These are the different sprite versions I've come up while trying to find a good balance between facial expression and small size. Since I'm a total noob on pixel art I thought going small and simple was the best choice so I started animating the sprite I got, but soon after I started worrying about my ability to define different animals which such a small amount of pixels and since I come from the more traditional medium, I thought that maybe going bigger could help me because I can draw better than I can pack pixels.


I don't know how to keep improving it, guess the next step is to add colours but I would like to have a solid base first.
What's bothering me the most are these 2 pixels that are lacking outline because the whiskers are in the way.


How could I fix this?
żDo you think I'm getting somewhere?
żDo you see anything else that looks off? Please let me know, thanks.
Also if you have any idea or critique about the design and things that can work and can't please let me know.

This is the previous version in case someone want to see it:


The times are all wrong for some reason...
« Last Edit: October 30, 2018, 09:55:13 pm by IHate »

Offline Zanorin

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Re: Sprite Critique

Reply #1 on: October 31, 2018, 10:58:42 am
I really like the very few colors you used, it reminds me of Game Boy graphics.
When looking at your first and current designs, I gotta say I prefer the first, smaller one. You really managed to pack an impressive amount of detail into such a small sprite.

In your bigger design, there are some outlines forming straight angles (which is generally a big no-no in pixel art), particularly on the ears, I edited them to eliminate that problem:

Half a noob figuring out stuff.

Offline IHate

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Re: Sprite Critique

Reply #2 on: October 31, 2018, 03:46:10 pm
Thanks for the reply! I was also more content with my previous version but I was unable to characterize different animals on that size.

About the straight angles or double lines, I know it's not that common, but for some reason, I was drawn to do it like that, it felt more accurate from my point of view to draw them that way. But I may say that when you look at it at 100% it looks way worst but the final display will be a 200%

I don't want the face to look too rounded

I've done another round of these tell me your impressions.
  • First Image has the straight angles and removed whiskers
  • Second one has straight angles and whiskers
  • Last one has no straight angles and added some further details

Gif


        1               2               3

I wanted to make it work with this palette but maybe once I have more colours I'll be able to do some kind of AA on those lines idk...

Let me know your thoughts thanks again.
« Last Edit: October 31, 2018, 03:56:37 pm by IHate »

Offline Zanorin

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Re: Sprite Critique

Reply #3 on: October 31, 2018, 03:57:39 pm
Quote
About the straight angles or double lines, I know it's not that common, but for some reason, I was drawn to do it like that, it felt more accurate from my point of view to draw them that way. But I may say that when you look at it at 100% it looks way worst but the final display will be a 200%
The last decision is always yours, but I would recommend you stick with what you just did : replacing the inner black pixels with a mid-grey, whatever the end size is. (I googled "pixel art common mistakes" just to check, and the first mistake in the first youtube video I found talks about that, it's apparently called "doubles")

Quote
I was also more content with my previous version but I was unable to characterize different animals on that size.
Have you actually tried doing other animals? Could you show me?

I prefer B1 on third image!
Half a noob figuring out stuff.

Offline IHate

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Re: Sprite Critique

Reply #4 on: October 31, 2018, 06:04:03 pm
The last decision is always yours, but I would recommend you stick with what you just did : replacing the inner black pixels with a mid-grey, whatever the end size is. (I googled "pixel art common mistakes" just to check, and the first mistake in the first youtube video I found talks about that, it's apparently called "doubles")
I know about that, that's why it's so difficult to decide... Guess I'll keep the cleaner ones and come back after doing some furniture, BG and UI stuff and once I've improved enough I'll check it again to see what can be done.

Quote
Have you actually tried doing other animals? Could you show me?
I scratched most of my attempts but here I have some, the problem with the small ones is the front view it doesn't let me put as much detail, therefore, is difficult to make them distinguishable, at least in the bigger sprites I can work with more different expressions and ear shapes

The animals on the small sprites are: dog/fox, red panda and turtle.
Quote
I prefer B1 on third image!
I'll work around that concept thanks!
« Last Edit: October 31, 2018, 06:10:28 pm by IHate »

Offline Zanorin

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Re: Sprite Critique

Reply #5 on: October 31, 2018, 07:21:22 pm
I like the cat ! You should do a fox too ! :D And I suggest making the cat's tail visible even from the front. I find him kind of fat though, but maybe that's on purpose.
Half a noob figuring out stuff.

Offline IHate

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Re: Sprite Critique

Reply #6 on: October 31, 2018, 07:31:55 pm
Foxes were in my aim, there'll be a good variety of different animals and yes the cat is kinda chubby that's why it has the coloured cheeks, idk about the tail tho, idk if I'll have space to put it in, I'll have to try I don't want to make it bigger just to add a tail, we'll see...

Offline Zanorin

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Re: Sprite Critique

Reply #7 on: November 01, 2018, 02:40:11 pm
I think you could add the tail without making it bigger :
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Offline IHate

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Re: Sprite Critique

Reply #8 on: November 01, 2018, 03:45:41 pm
With bigger I mean the overall size of the sprite but it seems doable, I think  I'm going to stick to the bigger sprites as you can see the small cat sprite you did could also be a mouse :s

The tail makes for nice idle animations, these probably need better timings: slower tail waving and more in-betweens with cat's ear shaking. I'll add somebody movement too once I fix those timings. (Cat won't be wearing the same clothings as the rabbit.)

2 Versions:

This is more exagerated

Offline Zanorin

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Re: Sprite Critique

Reply #9 on: November 01, 2018, 04:51:59 pm
Your animation is quite brutal/violent ! Especially for an idle animation which is supposed to be quite subtle, here the tail is fine but the head and ears twitch too violently, it almost looks like your cat is having a seizure xD
You should look into subpixel animation, which is a slightly more complex aspect of animation, but following that tutorial could help with your idle here :)
Half a noob figuring out stuff.