Zelda Style Sprites

[pixelsforhire]

Ok, I tried making the walls tilted upwards to make the items and characters not look so wierd standing next to them. I also added a shadow to the floor next to them to give some depth or some crap like that. Is this better? I'll fix colors and that stupid ground tile later; right now I'm coding like crazy because one of my programmers ditched me. So, should I forget the whole square grid and go iso? I'd rather not, but what are you're opinions?

[crab2selout.png]

I like the perspective, though I wouldn't show the back of walls like you are now. I tried doing a quick check in graphics gale, and there is a big depth boost by not showing the back of walls.

[pixelsforhire]

Oh very nice. If I understood you correctly, you meant something like this:



I suppose I could also straighten out the "away" walls like this:



Well, having posted it, I can tell its not going to work, but I'll leave it up there anyways...

I'm also considering making the puzzle pieces different colors. They can be a bit hard to distinguish in the fast pace of the minigame they are in. If you haven't deduced yet, the puzzle games are for item crafting purposes, so they are supposed to be metalic colors. Its tricky making different colors for metal. Right now I have grey, light grey, dark grey, and orange (bronze.) Any ideas of how to add some contrast?



Yes, I already had different colors, but I was going to use the different colors all together in different puzzles. Oh, and yes I see that I fluked the transparency on that hexegonal one... oh well.

[pixelsforhire]

I kind of took an extended break from this project, but I finally got off my butt and did some more. Here's the scant results:






^Fixed the shadow mistake on the mockup.



I realize the walk cycle is a bit simplistic, but I think its passable. Also, do the "trails" on the weapon help? Should I make them longer in the second image? (90 degree arc?) Anyways, I guess I'm just wasting time. All my programmers quit.

[UncleSporky]

Walk cycle is fine, it reminds me of the Pokemon people.

I like the trails behond the swing, but I don't like how he swings twice, like he's trying to shoo something away.  I don't know how close you're trying to copy Zelda, but if you look at it he always makes a single slash in one direction.

Also something that's been bugging me about the shadows from your walls is that it feels like the whole dungeon is floating above the ground, like so:



It's because all the walls are light and yet a shadow is supposed to be coming from them, so they feel like they're on a different plane.  I liked it before when your walls were shaded.  The black outlines are good, but just darkening those walls again could help a lot.  I did this with a quick photoshop filter and I think it gets rid of the floaty effect.

[Skull]

That is fantastic!! I love the look of it.

[pixelsforhire]

I like the trails behond the swing, but I don't like how he swings twice, like he's trying to shoo something away.  I don't know how close you're trying to copy Zelda, but if you look at it he always makes a single slash in one direction.

Also something that's been bugging me about the shadows from your walls is that it feels like the whole dungeon is floating above the ground, like so:

As far as the swatting effect, I was thinking I could give the weapons "combo" ratings. Basically, you get a set number of attacks in a row before there is a delay. This mockup was with just two. I see what you mean. I may reconsider, it does look a bit odd in hindsight.

Speaking of, I actually thought the same thing as you about the walls. I did a fast edit and didn't like it, so I put it off for later and ended up forgetting. Here it is with the correct pallet. I think I like the darker one.






 I also I forgot one wall on the first edit. Its a good thing this game is tile based, 'cause I keep missing stuff manually. I'll probably change the wall's thickness to make the shadow match the grid, if that makes any sense.