2D Fighter RPG (Updated fighter idle)

[Souly]

Ah see, I knew I had it wrong.

Besides the head scale, how's the anatomy on this?
I know it's just a stickman and all, but are the limbs too short at all?

[Souly]

Melee stance got worked on over the morning.

[AlexHW]

lookin pretty good so far, what will be your next step once you are settled with this stage?
just asking because a fuller form (such as the head) would help you animate/pixel it better than simply a stick figure.
you may want to try filling out the shapes while you are visualizing the movement so you can get a better feel for how things will look.

[Souly]

I'm going to try and make all the idle animation wire frames for every weapon style.
Hopefully I can cheat a bit and using the same legs with some changed made depending on weight.
Next will be one handed sword and secondary weapons.
Secondary weapons being, sheilds, grapple guns... ect.
After that I will try and work on the over all style of the base, and continue with wire frames for the first attack for each weapon.

[Souly]

Sorry for the double post, but update on the two handed sword idle.

Edit: Reversed the frames look better?

[Helm]

Do you think a fighter would move their knee up and down like that while keeping their pelvis straight? Stand up and try it, perhaps. What purpose does it serve a fighter to be this 'animated'? I'd stand still, personally. It's one thing to follow video game tradition and another to do it over reason. A sword fighter would stand still and try to control their breeding while waiting for an opening to attack. Swordmen are not boxers.

[AdamAtomic]

Even if its done just for the sake of style and tradition, I think having the sword stay at such a perfect angle is very out of sync with how stylish the rest of the body's movement is.  If he's gonna be bouncing around, I think he'd be waving the sword around a bit too!

[Souly]

Does this clear up anything?
I'll see what I can do to make it less dramatic.



One handed sword

[Helm]

control their breeding

haha learn to type Helm. Breathing. Breathing, not breeding.

[ndchristie]

well since you've asked about anatomy, i think i should recommend a few subtle changes to the wireframe.  the one you're using right now is very simple, which works for setting up basic anims, but i'm afraid that it's leading to some pretty "gumby" type characters (at first i thought this was a style thing, then i noticed the anatomy references you made)


i added in shapes for the ribcage and pelvis that are still easy to manipulate, but will give a better sense of what can twist and what cant (basically, only the little section in between them is capable of real turning, and then the skin gets pulled over the frame).

I added squares for major joints, which remind to give them form as well as space.  your initial sketch is cluttering the joints in some places and forgetting them in others.  this is extremely important where the arms join the collar, where it's important to treat them as semi-autonomous (aka they can actually move a bit independently of the shoulder axis and have their own form).  I've also pulled the neck just slightly away from the shoulders to help show this.

the yellow shapes just show easy point references that i like, gleaned from a renaissance stone-carver's template.  the star points to the adam's apple top, the ends of the collar bone, the edge of the ribcage, and navel (bottom) duh, not navel, solar plexis.  see what i mean, not what i say.  the navel would make this star like five feet across   i find that the star is best for adult men, as it's a little wide for youths and women.  I think i may just like drawing stars.