AuthorTopic: My first pixels - character in a puzzle game  (Read 5355 times)

Offline StAidan

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My first pixels - character in a puzzle game

on: June 15, 2009, 03:07:00 am
This is a character I've been working on for an XNA game - he's a gardener. The look is somewhat modeled after early Pokemon characters in shape. I'm limiting all of my sprites to 4 + 1 colors (generally aiming for NES-style graphics, but I guess I'm cheating a bit with the extra color).

CURRENT:





ORIGINAL:









The animations are a little rough (not sure how to make the head turn quite correctly), but I think the idea is right. Also, I'm still considering ways to give him a slightly more unique look - some kind of special feature that makes him appear less generic.

Suggestions are certainly welcome :)
« Last Edit: June 15, 2009, 12:17:41 pm by StAidan »

Offline eckered

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Re: My first pixels - character in a puzzle game

Reply #1 on: June 15, 2009, 03:19:43 am
the head should turn in the opposite direction of the shoulders, thats what looks wonkey

Offline JonathanOfDrain

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Re: My first pixels - character in a puzzle game

Reply #2 on: June 15, 2009, 12:00:20 pm
This is a really good start for your first pixel art.
I don't mind having an extra color in that sprite, I think it does have a NES feel to it. With 2 more colors it could probably still have a NES feel. Though right now it looks like you're using 4 colors because the skin and the white are so close. If you're not using the NES palette I suggest darkening and saturating that skin tone.

Arne had a really in-depth thread going on not long ago about a pseudo-NES project. He didn't have the NES palette but he stuck pretty close to the same restrictions. Since you're using XNA (I assume this is intended for computer or XBLA) the game doesn't need the exact restrictions. You might want to consider using those restrictions as a rule of thumb.

Arne's thread.

Offline StAidan

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Re: My first pixels - character in a puzzle game

Reply #3 on: June 15, 2009, 12:20:41 pm
Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I am actually working off the NES palette, but I don't mind making some color changes as long as I can preserve the feel.

Anyway, here're my modifications. Changed the head to swing opposite the shoulders, and darkened (probably not enough) the skin tone...





Won't get a chance to work on it further until I get home tonight, but I'll play around and see what I can come up with.

Offline ndchristie

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Re: My first pixels - character in a puzzle game

Reply #4 on: June 15, 2009, 05:45:25 pm
the head should turn in the opposite direction of the shoulders, thats what looks wonkey

since people don't really turn their heads as they walk, there's not much "should" here, but I agree that the head moving rigidly with the shoulders here is wonky.
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Offline Mathias

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Re: My first pixels - character in a puzzle game

Reply #5 on: June 15, 2009, 08:06:49 pm
Not a big fan of the mixed resolutions - I guess you could call it: You've created these sprites at 4x 2x, yet included 1px detail.
Nice first attempts. N00bos usually start out with peices entirely different, not so focused on pixel art itself.
« Last Edit: June 16, 2009, 01:33:29 pm by Mathias »

Offline Cow

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Re: My first pixels - character in a puzzle game

Reply #6 on: June 15, 2009, 08:42:31 pm
Not a big fan of the mixed resolutions - I guess you could call it: You've created these sprites at 4x, yet included 1px detail.
Those are just GIF artifacts. What program are you using to save these? You may need to change some settings, as it saved in a lossy way.

Offline StAidan

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Re: My first pixels - character in a puzzle game

Reply #7 on: June 15, 2009, 09:12:55 pm
Made the graphics in Paint.NET, but since it doesn't do anigifs, I copied the frames over to (ugh) Microsoft GIF Animator. Ancient piece of garbage, I know.

As far as the 4x vs. 1x pixels go, though, yeah, I could easily scale down to 1x, which I admit is more "proper." Easier to see at 100% zoom this way, which is the main reason I did that.

Offline Mathias

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Re: My first pixels - character in a puzzle game

Reply #8 on: June 15, 2009, 09:28:18 pm
As far as the 4x vs. 1x pixels go, though, yeah, I could easily scale down to 1x, which I admit is more "proper." Easier to see at 100% zoom this way, which is the main reason I did that.

It also better emulates the NES/famicon look, so it's good to do that when displaying them here, so people see the sprites as intended, regardless of how the game will eventually process these gfx, either by supersampling them 4x 2x or just using pre-scaled graphics arranged at 4x 2x in your sprite sheets. I'd keep it 4x 2x.
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« Last Edit: June 16, 2009, 01:34:12 pm by Mathias »

Offline Cow

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Re: My first pixels - character in a puzzle game

Reply #9 on: June 15, 2009, 09:38:55 pm
I haven't used that program in a long time, but I think to get rid of the artifacts you have to change Import Dither Method from Error Diffusion to the other choice. I don't have it on this computer so I can't be sure, but feel free to try that out if you'd like.