My Game-Graphics for a 'Lost-Vikings'-Clone

[Seele07]

Hello,

here are very talented pixelartists on board, as far as i can see that 

i'm reading here for a few month from time to time, and now i did the impossible thing: i registered here 

now let's have a look at my graphics for "Free Vikings":

i first have to say, that i love the original game 'Lost Vikings' because of its puzzle-elements and gameplay.
later i found the Clone "Free Vikings", done by a czech programmer, but the graphics were poor, i thought, and decided to create some new ones for his game.

current redone graphics by me:
 
(apple)

(energypoint)

(switch)

(one viking - baleog)

more game-graphics will follow

c&c welcome

Greetings,
Ingo

PS: sorry for my sometimes 'bad' english - it's my second language, but i'll try my best

[CrazyMLC]

Long time Lurker,
Short time Poster?
heh

I love your Art, but theres one problem, you need to dither. i used to not care about dithering but it helps a lot actually. Try it on the apple or something.

[Seele07]

huh? 

please have a look at the apple. i used dithering on the apple and the viking. it's hard to see without a screen-magnifier, i guess 

thank you for your comment 

oh, and, btw. this is the Project-Website: http://freevikings.wz.cz/ (the graphics shown there are the old ones, done by the programmer)

[CrazyMLC]

thats weird. it looks like you didn't...
ah, well, I'm half-ish asleep. I'll download em and check.
 

EDIT:
ok, i just checked, and i don't know if its your style, but you dithered, but you didn't use the dark color as well.
i mean, you mixed the light and dark colors, but you didn't use the dark color un-mixed.

by the way, great improvement from the old graphics of the game

[Seele07]

maybe i used it (dithering) the wrong way? 

btw. i used the DOS-Version of GrafX2 and theGimp for creating the Graphics  if someone wants to know that.

Greetings,
Ingo

Edit: heheh , you were faster with your edit yeh, i didn't use the darker color, because i'm more or less new to 'pixel art', but i draw on paper from time to time, which is a good practise for general skill and for pixelart too, i think.

[CrazyMLC]

since this is kinda turning into a chat, where only you and me are talking, I'm going to stop here and just say that i agree, i am great at drawing with a pencil and i think it helps me a lot with pixel art. it helps with method, styles, all kinds of great stuff.

[Dusty]

If you used dithering and it looks like you didn't, you used it the right way. Though in this case, dithering is not needed(unless you have a really tight budget on the color count of that apple). You're using it the same effect that you would by just having another shade there.

[yosh64]

hey

I see the dithering fine.

Hmm, your viking seems to lack proper shading on their pants, beard, and part the body. I also think the lines of the upper shoes need to be brighter, why not use the darker shade on the side of the foot?

At first glance I wasn't even sure what the shoes were, but with a closer look I think they are meant to be sandles? but the straps seem to be odd? Another thing is that I think you should put the feet in a more natural position, rather than side to side like that. I think that's hardly possible without bending your knees out sideways, hehe.

Anyhows that's it for now.

cya

[Seele07]

@Dusty:
i do not really know, how much shades/colors i can use for the whole game graphics (256 colors or more), but i'll ask the programmer.

@yosh64:
yeh, the shoes and legs are a problem, i realize now. I'll fix that asap

@all:
if you wonder, what the original game looks like, please visit my (simple) lost vikings fanpage:
http://home.pages.at/wavebreaker/
there you'll find Screenshots, a playable demo and so on 

Greetings,
Ingo

[yosh64]

hey

and

Well I done an edit to better show ya what I suggest , hope ya don't mind? Hmm, well it could be improve far more than this, but I think this covers my main points. BTW, I wasn't sure what the metal thing around his body was :\, I was thinking it might be a chain, but I dunno.

cyas

[Seele07]

hey ho yosh64,

that looks good Thank you for doing this edited version 
yes, the metal-thing on his body should be a chain or something like that. but i, for myself, are unsure too - just looked at the original and started to draw a version in my own style.

btw. the graphics are licensed under this license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ , so, if you want to edit or share them, please read the license first, thank you.

Greetings,
Ingo

[Faktablad]

Hmm...is he supposed to have circles for his face and hands?  It looks like you just went "OK, I need a beard, so I'll do a yellow blob!  I need a head, so I'll use the circle tool!" You need to think about what a face actually looks like, how a beard grows off of the face, how hands attach to arms and how arms attach to the body, etc.

[ilkke]

Circles are OK if the sprites are tiny, but these are not tiny, they're huge! You really might want to go into a little bit more detail with hands. If it's too troublesome then better leave it with circles than have crappy hands, tho
As for the whole dither issue, I really recommend adding more shades. 256 colors is A LOT, and you will need several blues, greens, browns, grays, fleshtones etc.

[Seele07]

if i have finished the house for Pixelplaza, i'll try to fix all the problems dicussed here (if i can do so)
maybe it's okay to show some of my pen-and-paper-drawings in the offtopic-section, so you can see a better overview about my general drawing-skill? 

Thank you for your C&C 

i'll try harder to pixel the new viking. My problem is, that i am most of the time powerless and so can't sit on one image for a longer time 
maybe i need to walk a bit after lunch, because i think it's the lunch that makes me powerless.

Greetings,
Ingo

[CrazyMLC]

try listening to music while you sprite if you feel like stopping or something. it helps a lot actually.
if you sprite in a populated area, on a laptop, or at work, then use headphones

[ilkke]

Maybe you just overeat or eat too fast?

[Seele07]

@CrazyMLC: i listen most of the time to music, if i'm at the Computer.

Maybe you just overeat or eat too fast?

Yeh, in the last weeks i eat relatively much of food  but i'll a small person. I heard about my medication, that it quickens the appetite  that's the reason, i guess.

[ilkke]

Try to eat several times a day, but eat less each time.

[bengo]

Sloppy edit, I like how you break things up into simple shapes but they're not THAT simple. A hand for instance, isn't a giant ball but a complex structure filled with many ovals, rectangles, etc.
Also work on those colors, they're too uh, saturated.

[JJ Naas]

Also work on those colors, they're too uh, saturated.

I agree the pants at least could be less saturated, but high saturation on the other hand is the Lost Vikings style.

[Seele07]

Okay Ilkke, i'll do that, thanks.
@Bengoshia: the programmer told me in the last days, that it is ok, if i use a less saturated colorsheme.
@JJ Naas: thank you for posting the Screenshot. Yes, lost vikings used/uses high saturation.

Greetings,
Ingo