AuthorTopic: Vertical shoot em' up sprites.  (Read 6136 times)

Offline Q.K.

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Vertical shoot em' up sprites.

on: February 13, 2006, 11:43:22 pm
So I'm working on an indie game (If you could really call it indie).  It's a vertical shmup that's only been in development for about a month or so. I've got a good portion of the level/game design planned out and I've started working on sprites.


This is your starter ship, the Corvus. I could really use some C&C for this so it looks more... well, so it pops out more, like in most shmups. If you know what I mean.


This is a small 16x16 explosion... C&C would be nice.This is the final version. Note that I have changed the palette.


Alright, here's the latest explosion.

Please note that these will not run as fast as they should in your web-browser.
« Last Edit: February 24, 2006, 05:09:46 am by Q.K. »

Offline Crazy Asian Gamer

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Re: Vertical shoot em' up sprites.

Reply #1 on: February 14, 2006, 02:35:29 am
Ship: Very detailed, but the detail on the wings may be what limits the "popping out" factor. Either lighten up the lightest colors and darken the darkest colors on the wing, making the tiny wing segments more separated, or use larger divisions.

Explosion: I'd keep it simple. Use a sort of circle for it. Blue-gray scale what you have now and dissipate it a bit so a forms a ring. Keep the explosion simple and use the smoke ring to follow up. It's something I'd do, but really, it's up to you.

Offline Q.K.

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Re: Vertical shoot em' up sprites.

Reply #2 on: February 24, 2006, 05:10:17 am
I've added another explosion, if anybody wants to see. I could use some C&C please.

Offline Andy Tran

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Re: Vertical shoot em' up sprites.

Reply #3 on: February 24, 2006, 08:32:06 am
 I agree with CAG, has got a lot of details.The ship also looks really great. Here are some tips on making some futuristic weapons. Attach gun or guns to the exterior and make their barrels cube or boxed shape with corners cut off diagnally. It will give a mechanical barrel to it to make it futuristic. Hope that helps.

Offline Lick

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Re: Vertical shoot em' up sprites.

Reply #4 on: February 24, 2006, 08:47:44 am
The second explosion: WOW! It looks real good. I think there can be more orange at the start though.
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Offline Silver

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Re: Vertical shoot em' up sprites.

Reply #5 on: February 24, 2006, 09:27:06 am
The second explosion: WOW! It looks real good. I think there can be more orange at the start though.

Yeah , the second one is real good
I actually liked the first one too!
goodluck!

Offline Opacus

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Re: Vertical shoot em' up sprites.

Reply #6 on: February 24, 2006, 06:51:25 pm
I love the seccond one. Though I don't agree on giving it more orange in the beginning,
instead give it less. Explosions start with  burst then slowly they decomposite.

Offline Dhaos

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Re: Vertical shoot em' up sprites.

Reply #7 on: February 24, 2006, 09:35:18 pm
Quite nice. The explosion animations are great. Like you said, the ship should pop out more, I've provided an edit for some ideas:



[STEP 0]
-optimized the pallete
-merged several of the dark tones (like 5 or so O_o) and several of the lighter tones (too close together)
-contrasted the remaining colors
-working with fewer colors tends to make a pic much more contrasted
-the optimization tends to really...fsk up the look of the ship at first heh...eh...ew

[STEP 1]
-deblurred the cockpit area
-deblurred tail of ship, also gave it a more oval shape (lopsided towards the back end)
-contrasted the two 'lines' right above it

[STEP 2]
-cleaned wings up by 'flattened' the wings using 3 or so tones, I did this to prep for detail
-elliminated darkest color

[STEP 3]
-decided to make the wing-edge and the center represent the major wing details
(when designing small objects you must decide which details should stand out and which don't, or stand out alot less. This variation is easier on the eyes, and helps guide the viewer through your sprite)
-extruded the edge a bit for a tiny bit of extra detail

[STEP 4]
-decided to mute the other wing details
-made the inner portion of the wing stand out a bit
-contrasted the inner portion of the wing detail by removing one of the lighter tones
-reworked the detail on the wing engines/boosters/cylindrical objects XD

[STEP 5]
-detailed the main engine a bit more
-had to modify the back portion a bit to allow for more detail in the engine
-decided to merge the are where the wings connect to the ship's body

[STEP 6]
here I just pretty much fondled the whole design to my own sick and perveted tastes, (just use this last one for inspiration on other designs I guess or trash it XD)