[wip] Character design remakes take 2 or 3 or something

[1up]

i might try this again in 2010, but this will *probably* be the last time I revisit these characters for a long time

none of these are finished obviously, but crits on the anatomy especially on the big goon, i kept the leather jacket in the '08 version as an excuse to avoid having to actually pixel an arm with defined muscles, but i'm feeling a bit better about it this time. went without a reference though so it's probably looking pretty weird. there won't be as much black on the arm when it's completely finished, just used that when i was blocking out the muscles i was aware of

probably going to switch out the flames coming from the third guy's fingers for a giant 'aura' deal, never pixelled one of those, and despite being more cliche they have more of a MANLY MAN feel to them than the tiny finger-flames, and seems to fit better imo. might have to mess with his arms if i do that though. OPINIONS


ANYWAYS, MORE CAPS LOCK

ALSO AN IMAGE


edit:
finished the first guy and messed with the colors a bit

[Kren]

hmm it looks nearly the same from 2008, you should try to mess more with the pose or with the lighting atleast with the first guy, actually it looks more like you took the outline and started colouring it again.

[1up]

i actually had been messing with the colors a bit more after i posted


also!!!

the first guy is really the only one i wasn't planning on making any *major* changes too
the point of me doing this was really just to fix all the things that are bugging me about the last ones. like, i know they were *good enough* but


i hate them.
 i really didn't try as hard as I could have on them/didn't make them as good as they could have been and that's bugging me
there won't be changes as extreme as the ones from the 07 to 08 versions because a) i'm essentially just 'finishing' the 08 versions, and b) i pixelled way more in the gap between the first two and as a result I was able to improve fast enough to make something that much better than the originial

/slightly irrelevant rant

[Crow]

I don't think the first guy is finished yet. I believe there's not enough contrast on his jacket, or rather, not enough shadows, or shadows which aren't dark enough, whatever. I prefer the darker look of the jacket in the '08 version.

[1up]

tried darkening up the jacket

might have ruined the hat with the added grey but idk



big guy is no longer yellow
edit: his skin color is still weird though, :F

edit:

started sketching out some shading on the big guy

[skittles.loli]

Is the  blonde character a boy or a girl? I can't tell.

Other than that I think they all look really great, can't really think of any advice atm..

[1up]

Is the  blonde character a boy or a girl? I can't tell.

Other than that I think they all look really great, can't really think of any advice atm..

the blonde one is a guy, yeah
i'll have to try and make him look less androgynous this time through

started cleaning up the big guy(still not 100% on the arm anatomy, if anyone wants to help with that it'd be great) and cleaned up the flames for the 3rd guy

decided against an whole giant aura deal because i actually like how these turned out

edit:

[ndchristie]

While I like what you're doing with color, in terms of character and technique i can't really consider these guys an improvement.  They continue to have a lot of the problems of the '08 versions (radical differences in rendering and anatomical forms...the hard part of character designing isn't making guys that look different, it's making guys that look different but feel like part of the same world!) without so far as i can tell brining much new to the table (except the color stuff which is fun and partially successful....although i'd urge you not to simply alternate temperature with each step on a ramp, it becomes predictable and "jagged" (not the right word but it's the closest i can think of...) rather than subtly fresh).

Oh and the flames shouldn't darken the pants when they reflect.  Light does not stain.

You got a ton of good crits in your old thread, but the spirit of them (attention to consistent detail and emotive presentation) needs a reread.  We could go on for a while talking about the pixels here but I think there's a cognitive roadblock that needs addressing first.

[1up]

While I like what you're doing with color, in terms of character and technique i can't really consider these guys an improvement.  They continue to have a lot of the problems of the '08 versions (radical differences in rendering and anatomical forms...the hard part of character designing isn't making guys that look different, it's making guys that look different but feel like part of the same world!) without so far as i can tell brining much new to the table (except the color stuff which is fun and partially successful....although i'd urge you not to simply alternate temperature with each step on a ramp, it becomes predictable and "jagged" (not the right word but it's the closest i can think of...) rather than subtly fresh).

Oh and the flames shouldn't darken the pants when they reflect.  Light does not stain.

You got a ton of good crits in your old thread, but the spirit of them (attention to consistent detail and emotive presentation) needs a reread.  We could go on for a while talking about the pixels here but I think there's a cognitive roadblock that needs addressing first.

forgot about my old thread completely fffffffffffffffffffffffffff
i'll go look over that now


also
first post/title worded it kind of weird i guess, but

the point of me doing this was really just to fix all the things that are bugging me about the last ones. like, i know they were *good enough* but


i hate them.
 i really didn't try as hard as I could have on them/didn't make them as good as they could have been and that's bugging me
there won't be changes as extreme as the ones from the 07 to 08 versions because a) i'm essentially just 'finishing' the 08 versions, and b) i pixelled way more in the gap between the first two and as a result I was able to improve fast enough to make something that much better than the originial

pretty much sums it up
i didn't really intend to completely redesign them
i just want to remake the old sprites so that they aren't lazy half-attempts (they probably don't really look like it, but as the person who actually worked on them, i feel like I didn't try as hard as i could have on them)



but yeah i'll go look for that thread now


edit: apparently i left this out of my post
i understand the problems going on with them, the body types really share no similarities at all
the problem is


i have absolutely no clue how to fix this, the only thing i can really think to do right now would be to make the top hat guy have more of a ripcage/wider upper body and hope that is somehow magically fits in
but i need sleep, i'll try to think of something tomorrow

[xegnma]

This edit below covers where I think you might be having trouble with the big guy.


I feel that he needs more definition and volume on his triceps and shoulders. Got rid of that curvy bit
near the upper torso as well (it made him appear somewhat effeminate). Added a bit more flare to the
pants as well.