Some sprites, need help with animation.

[tocky]

Okay. You're going to have to imagine the transparency because I haven't yet found a animating program that is both free and not retarded. It took a long while to figure out that the free GraphicsGale doesn't output gifs. These were put out by Microsoft GIF Animator, which is pretty far short of an ideal situation.
run:

swim/fly upwards in bursts:

(with wings, for the flying. those aren't done yet.)
Basically, I'm trying to do it so that the top ends of the sprites are pretty static, and without arms, so's I can paste stuff over the top of the sprites and have everything still work.

[smiker]

ehrm....did you test WELL microsoft gif animator?
it's free, quick and allows you to make transparencies...didn't you found out that option? it's under the  'image' tab...

[bengo]

With so few colors I'm sure you could make the animation alot smoother. Readability at 1x is almost impossible, what size will these be?

[Akira]

err... are you seeing the same images as me bengoshia cause i think these read fine at 1x...
I think for the limits you are imposing on yourself, these are great. The run conveys the motion well even though it doesn't convey the motion well... if that makes sense...

[tocky]

Smiker, I had the transparency going, but I couldn't figure out how to make the undraw work. I ended up with something like this:

I can see how I'm meant to do it now, but still, in order to make the transparency work you have to turn it on, pick a colour to get rid of and an undraw method, and do all of that separately for each frame, which is silly. Why not use the same settings for every frame, as default?

Bengoshia, I'm thinking these should display at 2x or 3x. It's kind of arbitrary, because it depends on your screen resolution. So, uh, how do I make the animation smoother?

[smiker]

ehr...set "background restore" on each frame

[rabidbaboy]

The running needs a frame where his left foot is going backwards, and his right foot is moving forwards.

Right now, it looks like skipping.

And the shading looks like a WIP?

[smiker]

yeah, i think you should shade it more definitely, are you planning to use only 4 colours?

[tocky]

I'm worried shading would change the style too greatly. Some older stuff:



^I don't want too many crits on these, though feel free if you think it'll help. I just want to give an impression of what I'm trying to do.

[bengo]

Personally, I think it should be at 2x, if you're gonna leave it at 1x, give your guys more contrast.

[tocky]

Bengoshia, I'm thinking these should display at 2x or 3x.

[bengo]

Ah, well good idea then didn't notice that you said that before, I think since not alot of detail can be put into everything, make a good looking background to make everything else come together or at least not make it just one color for the BG, add some more detail to the water if possible.

[tocky]

The running needs a frame where his left foot is going backwards, and his right foot is moving forwards.

Right now, it looks like skipping.

old->new


He's supposed to change legs in between steps.


All I've changed is one frame, the first/last one. I was using the idle feet before.

[Dusty]

Cave story inspired? The guy actually looks a lot like a monster from Cave story. Anyways... I think the lack of shading on the character is fine. The other monsters could definitely use some sort of depth though, like the dragon.
I think the backgrounds need a lot more work, they don't even really sit well as a stylistic choice because everything looks so flat.

[tocky]

Cave story inspired?

Cave story, Knytt, Yoshi's Island, Castlevania, Ico..... but I have to admit, the graphics are pretty doukutsesque.

The other monsters could definitely use some sort of depth though, like the dragon.

Heresy! It has to be all shading, or none. All the characters/enemies should be consistent.

I think the backgrounds need a lot more work...

Agreed. I have stuff planned, but mostly I want to get the basic animation down right now.

[bengo]

Tocky, your new animation flickers, also, you don't have to add more colors/depth, just add more contrast.

[tocky]

How about:

which runs like: