AuthorTopic: Platform Game Graphics (Dumpish thing)  (Read 7558 times)

Offline infinitegames

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Platform Game Graphics (Dumpish thing)

on: September 29, 2007, 02:18:34 am
Hey everyone. I look here every once in awhile because the art here is just so good. I hesitated to put my own sprites up here, though, because I know I'm not very skilled.

But then I saw what Doppelganger did in Camdog's post(http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?PHPSESSID=4added782200853ec08c502a4bffbbce&topic=5098.0) and I would really appreciate that amount of help, because I think I'm probably at a good level where I'll understand what you're talking about but have yet to evolve my pixel skill. Also, I didn't do 100% pixel art, so I'll let you know when I used some Photoshop techniques.

This is the main character (Tom)
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I used a little Photoshop for the wood grain.
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This is supposed to be a dirt background. I had a better one, but I can't find it. I used a pattern (that I made) in Photoshop.
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I definitely did not pixel every frame. I used the perspective tool in Photoshop.
 • A donut block.
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I'm probably proudest of this one. For some reason I spent an inordinate amount of time on it.
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This is probably my biggest non-pixel offense. I used some layer effects for the drop shadows. I drew them, but I used the multiply layer style. I also applied the pinstriping as a pattern so I wouldn't have to do every line by hand. It was just so big, but I know it somewhat suffered from my inability to give it the time it needed.
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This one was hard. I really wanted the graphical style to make everything look a little dirty. Paint chipping and grime and stuff, but I couldn't figure it out.
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Ignore the ultra flat grey ones. I don't know where the updated version of this tileset is.

Here's a link to the game as it stands currently, so you can see everything in action: http://gmc.yoyogames.com/index.php?showtopic=320837. Made in Game Maker!

I'll post more as I find more, and I really would appreciate any comments, critique and especially giving examples like on the page that inspired me to post here. Just putting these up have made me think about how flat they look. I guess that's what I wanted at the time, but I know you guys do better practically in your sleep. Lend me your wisdom  ;D.
« Last Edit: September 29, 2007, 02:36:23 am by infinitegames »

Offline pkmays

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Re: Platform Game Graphics (Dumpish thing)

Reply #1 on: September 29, 2007, 06:05:39 am
Hi and welcome to the forums.



I chose this piece as we both seem to find it to be one of the strongest. It's got a good foundation, which makes it relatively painless for me to improve upon. The stongest part of the sprite is the balance of the shape and silhouette. There's a smooth, almost whimsical flow to the post, and the arrow has nice round and bumpy edges, which add to it's character. I also noted the weaknesses, such as the lack of contrast, saturation, and the large amount of colors used. These issues are addressed in the commentary.



Now time for the play by play.

1. First things first, I get rid of the RETINAL BURNING MAGENTA. Although I was unable to show it here, I am constantly changing the background color as I work. It lets me see how the sprite will feel with different hues and values. I'll go with everything from very dark to near white, with both heavily saturated and extremely pale colors. Constantly testing different surrounding colors helps to balance out the sprite's color composition and spot errors in contrast and readability.

2. I use black and dark brown to strengthen the outlines. You'll often see this used, where the outline gets slightly lighter in areas where the light hits it. The difference is subtle but it makes the sprite softer than if it had been made with completely black lines. I'm focusing primarily on blocking out the forms here. Also, note the huge discrepancy in color saturation and contrast. This and all the other sprites suffer from a washed out palette. Make some bolder color choices to really get the images to pop.

3. Here I add a shade to insert some grain into the wood. The color isn't a simple darker shade of brown, there is some blue thrown in there. In real life, all natural shadows have some blue in them due to the sky.

4. I add a buffer, or a shade between two existing shades to smooth out the transition from the lightest brown to the darker tan. This also allows me to pull out some more highlights in places.

5. I address the leaves. Again, saturation and contrast are the keys here. There's also a good amount of blue in the shadows.

6. I dip into the darkest black and use it to start adding more detail to the wood, and to add anti-aliasing to smooth the outlines.

7. Now I go back to the dark tan and use it to smooth out areas and add more form to the sprite.

8. The final tweak step is the longest and least organized, but probably the most important. I go in and fix anything that's bugging me. I was unhappy with how straight the top of the arrow was looking, and the largest changes to the sprite are here. It required changing both the position of the bolt and the flow of the grain. It was a bit more work, but worth the effort.

Something I didn't touch on was making every color count. In a lot of these, you have too many shades that are so similar that they really aren't making any difference. A lot of it may be due in part to Photoshop's tendency to smooth pixels whenever possible.

So there you go. I may have a hankering to have a go at something else after resting. Hope this helps.

Offline Blackbeltdude

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Re: Platform Game Graphics (Dumpish thing)

Reply #2 on: September 29, 2007, 06:18:10 am
Whew, that's a lot of stuff...

Personally, I don't think it's a big deal if you use photoshop for a few short cuts. Though, this IS a sprite forum, pixel forum really, so I'm sure there's going to be some people who will. Oh, also, I think it'd help if you divide up your tiles so we can see them better.

I do like the hand drawn style that the tree gives off though. (As well as some of the other stuff that gives off that feel).

Ah, but if you still want to go with that door, I suggest you make the door knob... not flat while it turns. :P

Really, I'd recomend just getting a Wacom pad, and drawing all the stuff that way. It's really not a pixel game right now anyhow, might as well just go with a literal hand drawn look.

But I guess that guy should probably be a sprite... could be one anyhow. What kind of style are you going for? It feels like this stuff is kinda like what a story book would be like. (Yoshi's Island for example). It's hard to say how to change Tom, because I don't know what style you're going for... I'd say it wouldn't hurt to add some folds in his clothes though, or at least use some basic pixel techniques. Such as, AA and Sel-out. (Dithering could work for this, but could make animating a little harder).

In any case, it seems important to point out that his upper body is facing use head on, while his legs are at about a 3/4 view. Personally, I like the 3/4 view, so I think you should turn his upper body. And usually, HIS right foot is pointed at the screen more.

Clearly you're going for a cartoony look. I think this tutorial might give you some better ideas:

http://www.karmatoons.com/drawing/drawing.htm

This is a cool tut I found one day. I think it's a better approach to cartoons than what you've got right now.


(And as I was about to post, pkmays posts an awesome critique).

Offline baccaman21

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Re: Platform Game Graphics (Dumpish thing)

Reply #3 on: September 29, 2007, 08:17:39 am
hey blackbbeltdood... that's one brilliant link... tis like an abridged version of the book I support in my sig...

well found.


As for this thread... I really like this style... it's nice and clean and quite naive in lovely charming way... I agree with pk but I think i'm leanign more towards BBD's suggestion... and yeah... strictly speaking it's not pixel art like what we do... but it's nice nevertheless.
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Offline infinitegames

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Re: Platform Game Graphics (Dumpish thing)

Reply #4 on: September 29, 2007, 05:29:49 pm
Thanks a lot everyone :).

Pkmays, thanks for spending so much time and effort to show me what you did. I almost think the colors might be too saturated for what I was going for, but I definitely see what you mean, and I really like what you did with shading (especially in the grass and the added wood grain). Sorry about the retinal burning magenta. I just use that as my final transparent color because I know that I'll never use it ;). I'm glad you pointed out the blue in shadow thing, because I keep hearing that but never use it. I think I'll start. Oh, and about having too many similar shades, I actually  turn off antialiasing in Photoshop because it just looks so cheesy when you use it, so that's all my fault. And if you do want to have a go at anything else, that would be really cool.

Blackbelt dude... that's an awesome link! And the style. I guess I should've mentioned it before, but it's children's book and Yoshi's Island that I was going for, but I've gotta say that I really, really like the style of the guy on the left in this picture that I found yesterday:

So I'd really like to go for that style. It fits mine in a lot of ways (like being pretty unsaturated and feeling weird) but it's a lot more refined.
It's interesting that you say I should just draw with a Wacom pad, because I actually scanned and traced some graphics, but didn't put them here because I didn't consider them pixel art enough.

Baccaman21, that's a really interesting thing to say and I think you really hit the nail on the head. But I'd still really like to hear any critique and see any edits to my work. I'll try to post more things as I go along.

oh, and does anyone have any advice for giving things a little grime? I know that's a weird question given the "cuteness" of the style, but it's really important to me and I just have no idea how to go about it.
« Last Edit: September 29, 2007, 05:34:15 pm by infinitegames »

Offline pkmays

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Re: Platform Game Graphics (Dumpish thing)

Reply #5 on: September 29, 2007, 11:14:23 pm
Yes, I did sort of loose the spirit of the style with that edit. I can have another go tonight or sometime tomorrow.

oh, and does anyone have any advice for giving things a little grime? I know that's a weird question given the "cuteness" of the style, but it's really important to me and I just have no idea how to go about it.

Hmm, can't quite wrap my head around the look you want. Post an attempt at what you're going for, and we can go from there.

Offline infinitegames

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Re: Platform Game Graphics (Dumpish thing)

Reply #6 on: September 30, 2007, 12:21:09 am
Thanks, I'd really appreciate that.

and as for that look. The star and this were the closest i got.



This is supposed to have peeling paint and I guess the star was too. I'd also put moss on the door and tree etc if I could manage it.

Offline infinitegames

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Re: Platform Game Graphics (Dumpish thing)

Reply #7 on: September 30, 2007, 04:01:22 am
Hey, I found some more sprites on my hard drive.

These are the coins that are scattered around. In the game it doesn't change like a slideshow, but I just saved them as an animated GIF to make it easier.

These are the bridge tiles above, but they're colored.

This is one of those bouncy ball things:

I didn't include this one earlier because it's pretty ugly, but I think you guys could help me out a little  ;).


Here's a tree. I drew this and then scanned it, then drew over it.


Thanks  :)

Offline Rydin

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Re: Platform Game Graphics (Dumpish thing)

Reply #8 on: September 30, 2007, 04:21:59 am
Not exactly sure what sort of style you are going for, but it's probably always best to, rather than soft, fuzzy coins, have shiny coins....you can do this by adding highlights...which will also help you with your contrast issues.

Just a quick edit/fiddling with colors--study it, it might help:


Good luck!   ;) :y:
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Offline infinitegames

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Re: Platform Game Graphics (Dumpish thing)

Reply #9 on: September 30, 2007, 05:26:47 pm
Not exactly sure what sort of style you are going for, but it's probably always best to, rather than soft, fuzzy coins, have shiny coins....you can do this by adding highlights...which will also help you with your contrast issues.

Just a quick edit/fiddling with colors--study it, it might help:


Good luck!   ;) :y:

Thanks :)

I honestly don't know how to explain the style better... I guess I'd just say that the style I had was the style I was going for, but now I'd like to go for the style of that sprite I showed.

Nice edit. Your edit added a lot of depth and looks great. I don't know if I'd use the same colors you did though, but that's minor to the shading.
« Last Edit: October 01, 2007, 01:56:37 am by infinitegames »