AuthorTopic: [WIP] RPG Sprites from Concept Art  (Read 7465 times)

Offline Free Camera

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[WIP] RPG Sprites from Concept Art

on: October 22, 2009, 05:46:02 pm
Just looking for a critique on some characters for an rpg I'm making.  Basically it's coming down to me interpreting the concept art I've drawn into size restrictions.  You'll notice the use of whites and gray outlines along with a bit of anti-aliasing outside the borders (this will be modified depending on the backdrop), these kind of fit into a 'hand-drawn' aesthetic that I'm going for.  If anyone wants to critique or edit anything, please go ahead, I'm here to learn.

Firstly, some antagonists and their concept art.  I'm still contemplating the girl's palette, it's too saturated right now.  



Recent concept art of the hero and a sprite with his older look.  Having a bit of trouble interpreting his hair on to that sprite.


What do you guys think?
« Last Edit: October 31, 2009, 01:46:16 am by Free Camera »

Offline Jad

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Re: RPG Sprites from Concept Art

Reply #1 on: October 22, 2009, 11:16:02 pm
Their concepts have wider heads and longer legs.

I like that. I think you should work that into the sprites, get less stale representation and more emotion in there, face-wise.

That's all I've got at the moment.

Edit: Synopsis - wider heads, longer legs, please. And also Welcome to the forums, new guy! I like your style lots!
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Offline Free Camera

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Re: RPG Sprites from Concept Art

Reply #2 on: October 24, 2009, 02:14:56 am
Thanks for the welcome, Jad!  Gotta stop lurking sometime.

I had somewhat larger versions of the sprites I was toying with, and after a close look, I was indeed off with the concept proportions.  I made another sketch and scanned it, this time I think I'm quite close.  Here's the sprite I just finished, (this particular character is rather lanky):




Trying to mash that lankyness into a small sprite was kind of challenging.  Think I'll stick with the bigger one.

Offline lollige

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Re: RPG Sprites from Concept Art

Reply #3 on: October 29, 2009, 12:11:45 pm
It'll be interesting to see if anyone responds to this. Usually, no one will pay attention to something like this from a member with only 1 post.

I bet you know as a 3 post guy posting spam.


Free Camera, I love this stuff and its fresh colors! However, those tiny sprites, at what size are they supposed to be shown? They really are unreadable (especially their faces) on 1x, but they do work great at 2x and 3x!

At what size will they be shown in the game?

I agree that the girl is now an overdose of saturation.

I made an edit to show how you could make the sprite more readable at 1x

Offline miascugh

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Re: RPG Sprites from Concept Art

Reply #4 on: October 29, 2009, 12:15:11 pm
Quote
It'll be interesting to see if anyone responds to this. Usually, no one will pay attention to something like this from a member with only 1 post.
Your reply is unconstructive, negative and vague. If somebody thinks there's something useful to say about this piece, he or she will, this has got nothing to do with post count. Taken care of, paid spammer

And as to not further derail this thread, my suggestion would be to create a mockup screen to see how the characters blend in with the backdrop (as you already mentioned). As for the style suggestions, all in all, good improvement, especially when it comes to likeness. The new version does look a lot more like the sketch, although I prefer the long sleeve version. The pose is a little idle and doesn't convey the same feeling as the sketch. Try for a more expressive one, even if he's just standing still.. because he doesn't look like a character who can stand still for long ;). Have him tap with his foot for example, shifting his weight on one leg, arms crossed. Also, I like the scarf better in the drawing. The hair's shape could be be defined some more, it kind of just sits there like crest around his face, lacking depth somewhat.


The latest version reminds a bit of Aachi and Ssipak by the way :)
« Last Edit: October 29, 2009, 01:06:59 pm by miascugh »

Offline Ben2theEdge

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Re: RPG Sprites from Concept Art

Reply #5 on: October 29, 2009, 01:02:05 pm
I think the concepts for your characters have a lot more life in them, the sprites are all pretty much generic mannequin stances. RPGs are a very old and slow-growing genre and there are a lot of conventions that are simply taken for granted with them since the very first Dragon Warriors and Final Fantasies - such as giving all the characters that same tired "soldier-standing-at-attention" type pose. Chrono Trigger briefly challenged these ideas, look at how energetic those character's poses are! But for reasons beyond me that game's artistic innovation was tossed by the wayside and completely forgotten. But there's no reason to submit to these ancient restrictions unless you're using an antiquated engine that demands it. Either way I don't think it does justice to your character designs, although the pixel work is fine I'd love to see some of the energy from the original concepts.
I mild from suffer dislexia.

Offline Free Camera

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Re: RPG Sprites from Concept Art

Reply #6 on: October 30, 2009, 02:33:52 am
I think the concepts for your characters have a lot more life in them, the sprites are all pretty much generic mannequin stances. RPGs are a very old and slow-growing genre and there are a lot of conventions that are simply taken for granted with them since the very first Dragon Warriors and Final Fantasies - such as giving all the characters that same tired "soldier-standing-at-attention" type pose. Chrono Trigger briefly challenged these ideas, look at how energetic those character's poses are! But for reasons beyond me that game's artistic innovation was tossed by the wayside and completely forgotten. But there's no reason to submit to these ancient restrictions unless you're using an antiquated engine that demands it. Either way I don't think it does justice to your character designs, although the pixel work is fine I'd love to see some of the energy from the original concepts.

I couldn't agree more with what both you and miascugh are saying about how this particular stance is rather idle and doesn't contain much emotion.  I have two responses in that regard.  The first is probably obvious to the both of you, this is just a simple template I've used to make sure the proportions of the subject are accurate.  By no way assume that this will be his actual idle stance in the game. I'm attempting a more simple, vibrant cartoon aesthetic to shift the focus unto animating as much about the characters and their environments as possible, things will become very alive in due time.  Secondly, I've pondered this idea of vibrancy as opposed to dry rpg conventions in game for some time now.  My solution is that exploration will be 'traditional', but actual object and character interactivity will be more cinematic nature, ala zelda.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNZlW15uZ9U
a random video, but it conveys the idea.  when interacting, things will get more cinematic w/ zooming in/ camera editing, etc, just imagine it in an animated sense.

Anyway, this is diverging some from the actual pixel art, but I just remembered I have the WIP larger sprite of another one of the characters I can post.  I was having a bit of difficulty with army jacket pockets, maybe you guys can help me out. (this is about a week old, I won't touch up on it)

I'll post in next to the smaller sprite.




Also, @ lollige, those sprites would be displayed @ 320x240. A lot more readable at that resolution.

Edit:  While I've kind of given up on using the smaller versions, I'll keep at them anyway.  Here's a new edit.





« Last Edit: October 31, 2009, 01:45:12 am by Free Camera »