AuthorTopic: Gameboy Attempt  (Read 7667 times)

Offline elise

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Gameboy Attempt

on: August 01, 2007, 07:01:35 am
I wanted to try my hand at making a gameboy mockup and felt like making it ridiculously cute and all that... and I tried to stick to what I know of gameboy specifications. The key word being 'tried' because I'm pretty sure I messed up when it comes to sprite and tile size. It's my first time doing games/sprites/tiles so I'd love to hear any c&c.

Anyways... here's the cluttered version:


Without the sprites:


And here's my sorry attempt at a running panda sprite:

Offline Sherman Gill

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Re: Gameboy Attempt

Reply #1 on: August 01, 2007, 07:10:30 am
Awesome, but not very readable. Don't know how you could make it more readable though... Maybe have thicker outlines on the characters? I 'unno.
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Offline Xion

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Re: Gameboy Attempt

Reply #2 on: August 01, 2007, 07:51:05 am
Hey, these are pretty groovy.

Like Sherm said, sort of hard to see what's going on and all. I bet this would look pretty sweet animated though, with everything in motion. In the walking animation, the far arm gets too long when outstretched. I think the ground tiles could be simpler.
Were you just pixeling things in the same style and throwing them all into one scene, 'cause that's what it looks like in the first one. Thundercloud next to happy cloud above conifers by a cactus? But you said it was the cluttered version so I'm sure you're well aware of the fact that it's...well, cluttered. The 2nd version looks more game-feasible. The bunny's eyes look kind of soulless and creepy.
But...
Um...
Uh...


...


I really like this...I...I have nothing more to say. Great job. Make some more animations, or possibly add a couple more frames to the one you have.  :y:

Offline robotacon

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Re: Gameboy Attempt

Reply #3 on: August 01, 2007, 10:57:08 am
Super cute!
...but shouldn't you atleast go for a GB-Color palette?

Offline ndchristie

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Re: Gameboy Attempt

Reply #4 on: August 01, 2007, 01:20:53 pm
No reason to make this in color unless you really wanted to from the start.

I agree that thicker outlines are needed to make the characters stand out more.

tilesize is 8x8, usually seen as 16x16
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Offline Vertigo-zero

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Re: Gameboy Attempt

Reply #5 on: August 01, 2007, 02:18:50 pm
maybe thickening the outlines isnt needed.
If the background scrolls by (at different speed than the foreground) it is readable enough

Example: (Snake had the same problem but solved it that way)
http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=3732.0

Offline ndchristie

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Re: Gameboy Attempt

Reply #6 on: August 01, 2007, 02:26:11 pm
Mh, i would call that "patched" rather than "solved."  It's always better to make it so that your screen actually reads rather than rely on motion to distract the player from noticing how much it doesn't.
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Offline Overkill

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Re: Gameboy Attempt

Reply #7 on: August 01, 2007, 02:53:05 pm
Just screwing with it over the course of a few minutes, it looks like thicker outlines do improve readability somewhat.


Aaand for the hell of it, using the CGA palette (with the gray brightened to white)

Offline elise

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Re: Gameboy Attempt

Reply #8 on: August 01, 2007, 03:31:44 pm
Thanks for the feedback. :) I tried to make more readable versions...

Here's one with the outlines:


And one where I just removed the darkest color from everything but the the characters and things you can interact with:

Forgot to put the villians and balloon back in that one... whoops...

And the original just for comparison:


Anyways, which one do yall prefer?

Xion - yeah, I kind of just threw everything into one scene just to see what it would all look like. I'm not great at animation but I'll see what I can do.  ;)
« Last Edit: August 01, 2007, 03:38:53 pm by elise »

Offline garsh

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Re: Gameboy Attempt

Reply #9 on: August 01, 2007, 03:43:34 pm
I really love this stuff and can't find any fault with it. Your style is incredibly cute, but different from typical cute styles that we used to see in games of this kind. Your style has its own personality and it's good. The rag doll look of your characters is especially awesome. For the record, I prefer the originals -- before the thicker outlines.

Instead of a thicker black outline, if you really feel like something needs to be done for readability, you might take a cue from real designers who worked with that hardware. There were many games back then, especially in the later years of Gameboy's lifespan, that used a "white" (lightest shade of cabbage green) outline, tracing the "black" outline. Does that make sense? I'm sure I could dig up an example if you need it, there were plenty.

The only problem is you'd either have to reduce the size of your sprites by 1 pixel on each side to account for the extra outline, or just throw the sprite size limitations out the window. You said you didn't think you were exact with that already, though, so it may not matter. Anyway, that would be my suggestion, if you think you need something to improve on perfection.

Otherwise I say congratulations. This is the kind of game I would have played for graphics alone. That's a real accomplishment when you're working with 4 shades of cabbage.