AuthorTopic: My game's graphics (Updated June 26th)  (Read 16770 times)

Offline PypeBros

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Re: My game's graphics (Updated June 23rd)

Reply #20 on: June 24, 2008, 06:42:16 am
if you can afford it, i strongly suggest you shoot movies of yourself doing attacks with a staff and study them. while you have nicely put more movement in the shoulders, the feet remain unrealisticly static. And if you can find movies of real swordmen, it will probably be even better. Check out Ben2Hedge's latest combo move in the "skeletroids" thread, you'll see what i mean ;)

Offline Masked

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Re: My game's graphics (Updated June 23rd)

Reply #21 on: June 24, 2008, 01:33:50 pm
I'll see what I can do.   :'(

Offline Masked

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Re: My game's graphics (Updated June 24th)

Reply #22 on: June 25, 2008, 03:53:09 am
Final version up! Improved the footwork and added another attack. I've decided he's going to have a short combo as he's supposed to be a powerhouse. His weapons are now more characterized as katanas than heavy swords. I'm all psyched to work on my other sprites so... expect a lot of updates this week.



Removed old versions from main dump.

Offline robotacon

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Re: My game's graphics (Updated June 24th)

Reply #23 on: June 25, 2008, 09:47:22 am
1. Turn his right foot when he raises the sword (on frame 2 or 3) so that he's got a better attack stance for the chop.
    You don't have to worry about the front of the shoe staying at the same position for this just turn the foot instantly without the passing frame you got now where to shoes points straight at the viewer.

2. Lift his left foot earlier (on frame 4)

3. Lean forward for the chop.
    If you look at the back it's currently shaped is an S-shape. This is because you're a lazy animator and you're just moving things around. The bump on the back is actually his chest that hasn't twisted around.
    If you lean him forward you get more power to the attack and the back will be straighten out.

4. Keep both hands on the sword at all times.
   Letting go of the sword with one hand when it's supposed to cut through flesh and bones makes no sense. This is what makes him look like a tennis player that strikes at a ball weighing two ounces.
   Drop the turning of the blade that you currently do when the right hand is catching up with the sword.

5. His facial movements aren't working for me.
    Act out the movements yourself and think about what faces you make when showing strain etc.

I hope I haven't discouraged you since I think you are an extremely good pixel artist. 
I'm looking forward to see more of this character.
« Last Edit: June 25, 2008, 05:07:21 pm by robotacon »

Offline Masked

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Re: My game's graphics (Updated June 24th)

Reply #24 on: June 25, 2008, 02:36:12 pm
I'll see what I can do. :ouch:

Offline Corsair

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Re: My game's graphics (Updated June 24th)

Reply #25 on: June 25, 2008, 07:28:01 pm
Final version up! Improved the footwork and added another attack. I've decided he's going to have a short combo as he's supposed to be a powerhouse. His weapons are now more characterized as katanas than heavy swords. I'm all psyched to work on my other sprites so... expect a lot of updates this week.



Removed old versions from main dump.

Argh. I still thinkhe should just hold onto the thing. It would make the transition smoother for real.
Try getting up and swinging something in that position. it's...uncomfortable at best


DEPTH!  also if he's a powerhouse, he ought to look the part.

Now don't get me wrong,  i'm not trying to be confrontatonal - and this is very much a case of the pot calling the kettle black mind you, but you're really being rather lazy with it,  whichis really only bothersome to me because it's obvious that you are capable of doing better.

Anyways, a simple technique that you can use toanimate better is start with just the basic "blobs"then add details as they are needed. you'll find that much detal gets lost in the motion and your brain will automatically 'draw' some of it in. Like th way i've done thsi you can "see" the shoulders without them being well defined. of course when you do add in those details it'll only look that much better.



Offline Masked

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Re: My game's graphics (Updated June 24th)

Reply #26 on: June 26, 2008, 01:18:07 am
Don't get me wrong... that mock up version you did looks better but... I don't really want to make the entire thing two handed. If I was making a stand alone animation I'd definitely make the revisions you recommended. But I have to do like a billion other animations. My game's going to have 8 characters in your party, not to mention monsters and tiles and stuff. Also, his weapons are no longer heavy swords. They're katanas. From now on I'm going to draw his swords thinner. It matches his stance more too. And they aren't as heavy.

I'll see what I can improve though.

Offline AdamAtomic

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Re: My game's graphics (Updated June 24th)

Reply #27 on: June 26, 2008, 01:23:05 am
I think if you've got this huge workload of animations, your best bet is to do limited, ren & stimpy style animation, versus this like "mostly copy and pasted but 25 frames of a smooth sword swing" approach.  If you animated your sword swing by just drawing the 3 most extreme poses, you'd have plenty of time to shift the characters weight and make it a really impressive, beefy attack with NO copy-pasting I bet.  Then, in-game, you can slide those frames around in the code to add extra smoothness to the animation.

I think that would look much more impressive and powerful!  Basically, copy-paste animation LOOKS like copy-paste animation.  If you are squeezed for time, just be realistic, and drop the number of frames you use for attacks - don't fall back on copy-paste!

Offline Masked

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Re: My game's graphics (Updated June 24th)

Reply #28 on: June 26, 2008, 01:54:35 am
 :'( But I think it looks good....

Updated


However, if you think a small number of detailed frames would be better, I am willing to try it. I don't understand what you mean by slide the frames around with code though. I really need advice or a tutorial or something. I can't get this right.
« Last Edit: June 26, 2008, 02:04:27 am by Masked »

Offline PypeBros

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Re: My game's graphics (Updated June 25th)

Reply #29 on: June 26, 2008, 07:54:32 am
well, let's say you would like instead to animate a jump. There are two way you can bring in animation: create a new picture for the next frame, or keep the previous picture, but move it around. I think AdamAtomic's point here is that you will get something much more interesting by using only a few distinct pictures that show dynamic poses that keep the spine of your character rigid during the whole jump but have a distinct legs position that shows a very smooth movement of the legs while the rest of the body is barely affected by the move.

Yes, you made good-looking pictures and a smooth animation, but from an animator's point of view, your animation is flawed because you do not take into account masses, inertia, pivot feet, weight placement and things alike. And the reason it is flawed comes from the very technique you've been using for animating it.

i don't have pictures of someone using a katana right now, but i feel if i was to hit someone hard with that kind of weapon, i'd be "charging" my musular energy and then "unleash" it just like if i was striking with a baseball bat. So here come some kick baseball images:
->->--
Okay, the move is not exactly the same, but note the "idle-charge-unleash-decay" process. Note too, how much the shoulders and hip lines are involved in the process. If you do the move yourself, you'll feel how your weight is transfered on your back foot and then back to your front foot in the process, and that's an important thing to show in an anim to get some "realistic" feeling (imho).

I perfectly understand your process though (or at least i think i do, because i did the same with ulgier results): you're kinda proud of your initial (still) picture of the character and you'd like to see him animated, though you had hard time coming with that level of detail and you fear you cannot redo the same level on +16 distinct frames.

This is exactly why the process of animating by drawing fresh frames suggests that you stick to very simple shapes until you've got a convincing move, and *then* progressively bring back details.

(now, that being said, i still suck at drawing people and wouldn't be able to come with a decent sword animation without tons of practice and sketches)