AuthorTopic: [WIP]Sprite Base  (Read 7478 times)

Offline Jeff

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[WIP]Sprite Base

on: November 23, 2009, 12:53:37 am
Start: 2nd: 3rd: Current:

I'm making a sidescroller and this is the base sprite for the hero and all of the npcs


so yea, i'd just like to get c+c
« Last Edit: November 25, 2009, 04:51:25 pm by Jeff »

Offline WayneMatthers

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Re: Sprite Base

Reply #1 on: November 23, 2009, 03:44:13 am
I can really hardly tell a difference in the 4 skin colors at all, and for a larger sprite you really should go for 5 with a outline of that color, try to add more contrast.

Offline EyeCraft

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Re: Sprite Base

Reply #2 on: November 23, 2009, 03:49:07 am
Very big sprite, what's the intended resolution of the game?

Will be a lot of work to animate.

I say drop the sprite size to at least a quarter of that (half width, half height). Your palette is essentially flat in value difference (as well as saturation and hue, for that matter). When you're blocking in your forms, use very strong differences in value. This will force you to decide exactly where the shadow and highlights are (the planes, to put it another way). If you use a near-flat palette you're being too vague to yourself. You're not forcing yourself to really process the subject.

Head is very big and spherical. I say it could be smaller in proportion to the body, and follow more the implication of the cranium + mandible nature of a human head.

Arms too short, hands too small. Ears too small.

You're gradient shading. As I said before, I think using much starker tones will reveal this to you, but I thought I'd just mention it specifically. Shade in accordance to a lightsource, defining areas of light and shadow.

Offline Elk

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Re: Sprite Base

Reply #3 on: November 23, 2009, 04:42:50 am
I know how you're feeling, you have this sudden feeling to create a sprite and then you're thinking
"man, this would be an awesome sidescroller"

But believe me, the animations, monsters and environment, GUI, layout, icons, npcs, spells(if, assuming so) would take a load longer, and until then you will have lost motivation!
(way to destroy it, huh)

According to the sprite, you were possibly playing Maple Story or similar when you suddenly had this idea, but lets move on.

The sprite lacks shading, look at Animefaces (preferably Chibi, in this case)
to see the plasticity, I would also overwork the general shape giving it a more organic form (axis being more S-like)
(It is adviced to look at normal anatomy aswell)

I also agree to the others, 4 tones and having this little gradient is a waste of colors, use them wisely.

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Offline Jeff

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Re: Sprite Base

Reply #4 on: November 23, 2009, 11:12:46 pm
Wayne:
Haha yea, I guess it looked better to me before, but now it does seem pretty flat, I'll work on that, I actually had a fifth color but I erased it before uploading,
Eye:
I think I'll shorten his torso and shrink his head a little, but not too much, not going for the realistic look
Elk:
I've never actually played maplestory but I've seen their art and i'd say it was what this sprite is based on (although I wasn't actually intending it to be that way, i just wanted a big head guy that looked semi-cartoony, but I guess that is the style of that game...)
I'm more interested in programming than actual artwork, but I've done games in the past with 32x32 flying blank red squares shooting 8x8 blank yellow missiles at 32x32 blank green enemies, basically this time I'd like a little art. The process was actually code->art for me anyways, this character was just something to do when I didn't feel like coding

Will probably work on this some more tomorrow, but I won't be able to upload anything because I won't have my laptop

Offline Jeff

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Re: Sprite Base

Reply #5 on: November 24, 2009, 12:21:49 am
Wayne:
Haha yea, I guess it looked better to me before, but now it does seem pretty flat, I'll work on that, I actually had a fifth color but I erased it before uploading,
Eye:
I think I'll shorten his torso and shrink his head a little, but not too much, not going for the realistic look
Elk:
I've never actually played maplestory but I've seen their art and i'd say it was what this sprite is based on (although I wasn't actually intending it to be that way, i just wanted a big head guy that looked semi-cartoony, but I guess that is the style of that game...)
I'm more interested in programming than actual artwork, but I've done games in the past with 32x32 flying blank red squares shooting 8x8 blank yellow missiles at 32x32 blank green enemies, basically this time I'd like a little art. The process was actually code->art for me anyways, this character was just something to do when I didn't feel like coding

Will probably work on this some more tomorrow, but I won't be able to upload anything because I won't have my laptop

Edit: I've shrunken the sprite and tried some shading, also changed the palette so that the colors were darker and added another color for shading purposes, made it less cartoony because i did some muscles to help me shade - i think i like it though. My shading may seem a little random (particularly on the legs), but thats just because I'm not that good at it, tips please? I tried to make his head more spherical but it turn out octagonal + there are some black pixels on his head that are irritating me because they give his head points and jags



ps. i didn't mean to quote my last post, that was an accident, i thought i was editing it
« Last Edit: November 24, 2009, 12:26:46 am by Jeff »

Offline EyeCraft

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Re: [WIP]Sprite Base

Reply #6 on: November 24, 2009, 03:28:51 am


Get really stark with your working palette. Think more like black and white kind of extremes (compare colour 1 to colour 2). Your shadow should be clearly dark, and your highlight clearly bright.



I know this edit is kind of creepy weird skull man... sorry... but the point is, think of light rays being cast from the light source and hitting the surfaces of your subject. Depending on what angle the surface is to the light will dictate how bright that surface will appear. Using this concept you block in where the highlight and shadow will be. Getting cartoony involves simplifying the surfaces, but the concept is the same.

Offline Jeff

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Re: [WIP]Sprite Base

Reply #7 on: November 24, 2009, 03:37:13 am
haha i like the creepy skull man
seems like when there's a lot of contrast the anatomical issues shine through, I'll work on this some more tomorrow when the break starts, thank you btw

EDIT: how do you get the transparent color on this website?
« Last Edit: November 24, 2009, 03:45:20 am by Jeff »

Offline EyeCraft

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Re: [WIP]Sprite Base

Reply #8 on: November 24, 2009, 04:32:56 am
No problem :)

You need imaging software that allows you to define a transparent colour. Paint can't do it (if that's what you're using). Transparency is a property of the image, not the site.

Offline Jeff

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Re: [WIP]Sprite Base

Reply #9 on: November 24, 2009, 11:10:02 pm
did another update, added some red to the colors and darkened a little



looks really sloppy to me and need to get a mouse, i don't know what do do with the legs, i was trying to make them seem round by adding the sahdes but that didn't work, i also shrunk him so his chest muscles weren't so far from his head