[WIP]isometric "zombie" scene, for a personal project

[Orbs]

Hello everyone, I'm new here. I'm actually a 3D artist in life, so pixel art is kinda new to me. This is I guess my first attempt at that art so I'm here to get some feedbacks, maybe ideas, or tips that could help me. Or generally how it feels, what works, what doesn't.

I while ago I had a game in mind, something along the lines of an action survival rpg, heavily story driven (fallout 1-2 style). Obviously I could've go for a 3d look, but I like the speed and flexibility pixel art gives me but also the retro look. I started this little scene as a test of how the game could look like.

The zombie is a bit temp, I made him to test aseprite that I bought recently (his animation is ultra fast haha XD) But I'm also curious about how I could improve readability, colors etc.

Thank you!



here's the zombie a bit slower 

[Orbs]

is this post working?...

[Orbs]

here's a bit my process for now, for the character:

I started testing two different scales, I went with the smaller dude (easier to handle in the long run)

then I made a 3/4 front view, that I can use as a guide to make a quick 3D model


this was my first pass, once I had a 3dmodel, I used it to redraw my character proportions, this is how he looked in my first test
I didn't quite like his head been so low, so I reworked the 3d model, and also tilted the head to look up more.
I ended up with this 3D model that I now use to make my Rotoscoping.


so this is how the "3d model" at the bottom left and spinning, compares to my original drawing (at the top). I'm quite happy with it, I think it capture my initial drawing pretty close. I'd be curious to know what you think about the turntuble, I feel like his head isn't perfect yet

 

[Chris2balls]

Really great work so far, and that 3D to pixel art workflow's going to be so helpful with the perspective.

Only critique is a bit more contrast for the details on the characters, for instance the nose. Keep us posted on progress 

Ah et tu es français ? Bienvenue 

[falz]

The 3D to 2D is an interesting workflow but I think it should be limited as a pixel-by-pixel guide. For instance, I am not fond of the long vertical lines and the side of the torso and the right leg. I prefer those areas on the older version. The perspective on the head does look improved though. Maybe use some selective outlining techniques to accentuate a curve in the leg?

[heyguy]

Looks great! I feel the old 3/4 character looks a bit better than the new one. The stance seems more dynamic. The angle of the face is "correct" but with the old character, the face had potential for more detailed expressions.

For the zombie, maybe give him a more colorful outfit if readability is a problem. I gave him a yellow shirt and I thought it looked good. Other zombie models could have a variety of hair colors. Blonde, blue, red, white stick out to me.

[Orbs]

Hello, here's some progress, just to be clear because all these pics could be confusing.

this is the original I had, next to the "polished from 3d render".


 I won't be able to do a lot of tweaks per sprite case, because my goal is to get as close to my drawing without having to redraw too much. This guy's gonna have a ton of different animations, each with 8 directions, that's a lot to draw (kill me lol)
It needs to get close enough. I can tweak the model tho, so I added a bit of curve to the legs so the render pics it up.

I made the low poly and rig this weekend, so I now have a full puppet that I can animate. I also baked a world space normal map, in case I want to it that later in the game for lighting effects.


here's the first walk pass!



keep in mind that he'll look like the one in the left once all the sprites are redrawn with the render guiding it, just like my 360 turntable.

Also, should I create a topic on "projects" forum? I feel like it's a better place than wip, I'm not sure now :O.

Thanks for all the feedback, I carefully note everything, even if I can't work on everything , so I always appreciate.

[Orbs]

So after the walk, i did 2 idle animations, the head turn will be more rare. My goal is to mock-up all the animations he can do, to test in game, and tweak gameplay and feedback/feel before drawing anything. It's really easy to go back into any file and re-adjust things on the fly.

so here's the two idle spritesheets



Next: running and melee

[Orbs]

run finished! I actually feel like I should tweak back the walking now...he bends his knees too much and stomps the ground strangely.

[Mathias]

This is going really well! I dig it. Did you do the environment tiles, too? Looks awesome.

Hope you don't mind the lack of feedback around here. That's what happens when you post work that's better than 90% of posts. The level of quality doesn't leave a whole lotta room for crit. But that's GOOD news, for you.
If you're keen on posting regularly about this project as you go I might suggest doing so in the Devlogs board instead - https://pixelation.org/index.php?board=27.0

Overall, this is working quite well visually, imo. Crazy good for someone's first isometric environment attempt.
Has any code been written yet? Typically you want to get a working prototype up and running asap, before finished art assets are needed, but that's a different subject. Or maybe you're just practicing iso pixel art techniques.
It does look cool essentially, but I don't really understand what all the white drippy stuff is. If it's paint, then the painters were insane and they need to go back to wall paintin' school. It reminds me of glitched pixels or redraw garbage. That said, it does make the brick walls much more interesting. But I wish I could tell what it's supposed to be.

I'm really interested in your 3D workflow.
What is your pipeline like for going from 3D to 2D, specifically the pixel conversion stage - when the rendered 3D animation gets turned into a pixel art animation.
What about squash/stretch, adding wind-up frames to increase impact, and smears for weapon swinging frames?
These things are inherently difficult to pull off with rigged 3D character animation, so I'm guessing you have a plan to incorporate such enhancements in your animated sprites during the pixel art redrawing stage.

Idea - black out walls cross sections and remove noisey edge highlight, too.


Will walls' visibility be toggled when player walks behind them so he doesn't get lost?

Have you thought about adding dynamic lighting or other non indexed pixel art effects (NPA)?