Sprite Jam - Fantasy Creature, ends 2/20 (ITS OVER)

Darius Poyer · Mon 08/02/2010 22:32:58

Lets get another one of these going.

The topic is 'Fantasy Creature', this could be anything as long as its not something we find around us in the real world. It could be something from your own imagination or something from, say, a film or book.

Pixel artists: You can only use 6 colours (not counting black, white or the background alpha-colour), this also includes shading colours.

Digital painters: You can use 6 base-colours (not counting black, white or the background alpha-colour), as with pixel art, shadows and highlights should be accounted for in the base-palette.

bonus points for colourfull creatures!

Final note then, remember that this is supposed to be something usable as an asset in an AGS game.

Trophy-stash:

Misj' · Tue 09/02/2010 12:40:59

Quote from: Darius Poyer on Mon 08/02/2010 22:32:58there is one rule however, it must only contain a total of 6 colours. Less is fine but no more than 6.

Does this include anti-aliasing?

Theme · Tue 09/02/2010 19:13:06

Green Dragon for 640x400 ags game

o/

Darius Poyer · Wed 10/02/2010 02:30:19

Quote from: Misj' on Tue 09/02/2010 12:40:59
Quote from: Darius Poyer on Mon 08/02/2010 22:32:58there is one rule however, it must only contain a total of 6 colours. Less is fine but no more than 6.
Does this include anti-aliasing?

that would technically be adding more colours. I would suggest using dithering, like Exsecratus did.

Jakerpot · Wed 10/02/2010 05:33:32

But if it is digital painting? Then the antialias will not count will it? *Beacauae anti aliasing is automatic in digital paint, not pixel art*

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Wed 10/02/2010 06:43:55

You can turn off aliasing in every art program I know of.

Misj' · Wed 10/02/2010 09:14:17

Quote from: ProgZmax on Wed 10/02/2010 06:43:55You can turn off aliasing in every art program I know of.

Corel Painter, Digicel Flipbook...both used extensively by professionals (the former for digital art, the latter for animation (including by Disney)). Both used extensively by me. And neither of them can (really) turn off the anti-aliasing effect.

Which was why I asked. If I'm limited to 6 colours in the final image (rather than 6 colours in my base palette (as it would be for digital painting)) then my drawing-style is effectively excluded (which - if I had more time - might be an interesting challenge, but unfortunately I don't have that much time on my hands at the moment)...and we're back at the infamous discussions on setting rules that apply both - but differently - to pixel art and digital painting (which I really don't think needs to be rattled up again).

Darius Poyer · Wed 10/02/2010 10:36:20

I didn't expect thins kind of thing to crop up at all.

Ultimately though, I feel like a contest labeled as "sprite jam", sprite being the operative word, is a pixel-art contest. I don't think I've ever seen something referred to as a sprite being anything else. So ill go with that.

Jakerpot · Wed 10/02/2010 14:53:27

I'm almost sure Exsecratus didn't pixelated all this thing, you can see some traces in the wings that make me feel it was drawed normally in the computer and then reduced the pallete with dithering... I don't know, just saying, just saying...

Theme · Wed 10/02/2010 15:34:35

yes. I dithered with software
o/

Chicky · Wed 10/02/2010 15:49:14

Using 6 colours in a base palette and then using them to paint digitally is not using six colours, any way you look at it. What do i get if i mix red and blue? Blue and black?

Sprites aren't just specific to pixel art thought, it's a term used to describe any interactive media within a game; 3D included. Normally it's specific to two dimensional media but plenty of modern games call their interactive 3D objects sprites.

Misj' · Wed 10/02/2010 16:26:39

Quote from: Chicky on Wed 10/02/2010 15:49:14Using 6 colours in a base palette and then using them to paint digitally is not using six colours, any way you look at it. What do i get if i mix red and blue? Blue and black?

By 'base colours' I didn't mean colours before mixing. My meaning was closer to 'flats' (as comic-artists would refer to it). I think the confusion arose because I used the term digital painting rather than tradition animation art.

If you look at this image that I did for a last-year spritejam:

From a traditional animation art point of view, the final palette of the image (the base colours) was 9 colours. However, from a pixel-artist's point of view my palette is much bigger and I use way more colours.

The reason why I used the term 'base colours' was to make the distinction between these and shadows/highlights (which I often draw as a single colour on a separate layer and then mix with the downstream layers).

Anyway, Darius clearly stated that the current spritejam is restricted to pixel art. And since he's the organizer of this bi-weekly jam, he's allowed to set that limitation. It just means that I'm too restricted to join (maybe next time...). But I don't doubt that others will send in many truly nice entries.

Jim Reed · Wed 10/02/2010 23:28:07

A sword wielding goblin:

3x

I decided to leave it be, maybe I'll make another entry.

Crimson Wizard · Thu 11/02/2010 00:27:37

Quote from: Jim Reed on Wed 10/02/2010 23:28:07
Don't know how to make that blue transparent. Anyone?

Umm... make it transparent and save as PNG with transparency.

Darius Poyer · Thu 11/02/2010 05:05:15

Id just like to say that i cannot deny the fact that I did not fully understand the issue at hand. Ultimately it may be unfair to not allow digital painting as it is a very prominent part of many AGS games. I do not want to exclude anyone from entering because I declared something haphazardly and in ignorance.

Because there are two very distinct categories of AGS game-art I will refine the rules regarding color as follows.

Pixel artists: You can only use 6 colours (not counting black, white or the background alpha-colour), this also includes shading colours.

Digital painters: You can use 6 base-colours (not counting black, white or the background alpha-colour), as with pixel art, shadows and highlights should be accounted for in the base-palette.

Jakerpot · Thu 11/02/2010 05:17:42

OK guys, so select 6 collors, and paint, paint, paint and don't worry about the rest! If you have choosen only 6 colours in the pallete, you don't have to worry!

Is that right, right?

Jim Reed · Thu 11/02/2010 05:20:55

Quote from: Darius Poyer on Thu 11/02/2010 05:05:15
Pixel artists: You can only use 6 colours (not counting black, white or the background alpha-colour), this also includes shading colours.

Why, thank you, I'll add some colours tomorrow, considering the leeway you just anounced.

abstauber · Thu 11/02/2010 10:40:35

Jurassic Chicken Dude watching stuff

x3

6 colours + b/w = 8 colours 8)

Arboris · Thu 11/02/2010 10:45:02

Quote from: Jim Reed on Wed 10/02/2010 23:28:07
Don't know how to make that blue transparent. Anyone?

I usually use GIMP for that (It's free!).

1. Select the background you want to make transparent with the 'fuzzy select tool'. You can select multiple area's by pressing and holding the Shift key. (Note: Fuzzy select's threshold should be standard on 15 I believe, otherwise you need to set it lower if you're more 'fuzzy selecting' then you want).
2. Hit your 'Delete' key on your keyboard. You should now see a checker pattern for the parts you deleted
3. 'Save as' either a .GIF or .PNG

Viola, transparent background

Darius Poyer · Thu 11/02/2010 11:15:13

I made this genie creature.

Just for the sake of it, its not an entry.

FSi++ · Thu 11/02/2010 11:40:03

Quote from: Darius Poyer on Thu 11/02/2010 11:15:13

I made this genie creature.

Just for the sake of it, its not an entry.

Reminded me of this:

Mad · Thu 11/02/2010 14:09:08

When toad falls for toadstool...

cat · Thu 11/02/2010 14:12:23

@fsi Me too, and I love this movie!

Arboris · Thu 11/02/2010 20:00:26

Remind me never to draw one of these again, they're a pain in the arse to create.

Dualnames · Thu 11/02/2010 22:16:02

2x

Never knew how to make a sprite's background look transparent in those forums.. :

Anyway:

Stealthy Wizard:

A class used by both men and women (here). It's a dual~~names~~ class, and wizards that decided to take the art of theft and lockpickery are forever banned and blinded.

"Take those lockpicks you master of locks"

SinSin · Fri 12/02/2010 13:27:37

HEY DARE YA TO STAND OVER THERE
Some sort of carnivorous Lizard/plant Warts and all lolz

X2

6 colours + black

Edit

Cheers Arboris

Arboris · Fri 12/02/2010 13:43:51

Quote from: Sinsin on Fri 12/02/2010 13:27:37
Using Graphicsgale and dont know how to make transparent

Maybe this will help.

i stole your car · Fri 12/02/2010 13:51:05

Quote from: Darius Poyer on Thu 11/02/2010 11:15:13

I made this genie creature.

Just for the sake of it, its not an entry.

Looks awesome, reminds me a lot of Spirited Away.

EDIT: Just realised there was a second page to this post and that was already pointed out

SinSin · Fri 12/02/2010 13:55:07

Quote from: Arboris on Fri 12/02/2010 13:43:51
Quote from: Sinsin on Fri 12/02/2010 13:27:37
Using Graphicsgale and dont know how to make transparent

Maybe this will help.

Thanks for the tip but im only using FreeEdition which won't allow Saving as Gif

Arboris · Fri 12/02/2010 14:01:33

I always create transparency in GIMP, which is free to download

Jim Reed · Fri 12/02/2010 18:15:57

EDIT: touched it up a little.

Jim Reed · Fri 12/02/2010 18:18:19

Arboris, why do those legs look so pokemonish? =P

SinSin · Sat 13/02/2010 18:31:09

Quote from: Jim Reed on Fri 12/02/2010 18:18:19
Arboris, why do those legs look so pokemonish? =P

Lol

i'm sure they will pass

Jakerpot · Sun 14/02/2010 00:36:15

wow arboris, this look fucking great

I will try to do something like this for my RPG game... *Cough* If i... *Cough* need help *Cough* I know where to search for

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Tue 16/02/2010 06:03:49

When the Phobos Grand Arena demands high stakes opponents for its star Gladiators money becomes no object as they sweep the land for the most exotic and dangerous creatures.

Today they have found a highly dangerous One-Eyed Grakk, and to up the stakes they've starved the poor creature to the point where it will literally tear apart anything it gets its massive hands on.

6 colors (ignoring transparency):

GLADIATORS, MEET THY FOE!

JimmyShelter · Tue 16/02/2010 08:16:55

Nice, euh... details... ProgZmax.

Misj' · Tue 16/02/2010 08:31:36

Quote from: ProgZmax on Tue 16/02/2010 06:03:49Today they have found a highly dangerous One-Eyed Grakk, and to up the stakes they've starved the poor creature to the point where it will literally tear apart anything it gets its massive hands on.

Nice entry ProgZ...and now I'll just throw out all the cyclope-sketches I made de last few days

Maybe I should go back to what's really important in Fantasy Art: half-naked women with big swords (or at least that's what a colleague of mine always reminds me of).

If only I had more time...

SinSin · Tue 16/02/2010 11:27:32

Quote from: JimmyShelter on Tue 16/02/2010 08:16:55
Nice, euh... details... ProgZmax.

I dont know where to look :

Nickel · Tue 16/02/2010 14:40:49

I overdid it! When I was about to finish it, I counted the colours to be sure, and I only used five.

So here is my Harpy. 5 colours + b/w.

And remind me never to draw one of these again, they're a pain in the arse to create. :

Jenn · Tue 16/02/2010 17:12:55

satyr / faun in 5 colors

JimmyShelter · Tue 16/02/2010 19:55:25

Inspired by the entries so far, I decided to whip up something quick

It's been a while since I pixeled, so I'm not to happy about the shading, and turned out a bit small.

Darius Poyer · Tue 16/02/2010 20:03:07

The entries so far have really blown my mind and all of my expectations.

I have prepared a trophy to the winner, the golden stash:

truly, a trophy fit for a hero-artist.

abstauber · Fri 19/02/2010 13:29:37

Hey Nickel,
have you been a former employee of CinemawarE ?

With its very amigaesque palette Harpy just blows me away.
(and since this isn't critics lounge I simple shut up and admire all those other terrific sprites!)

Misj' · Fri 19/02/2010 15:09:49

I wanted to join this one but I can't find the time...unfortunately. Great entries (so far) guys, and hopefully I'll be competing again sometime soon.

SinSin · Sat 20/02/2010 11:37:07

Todays the day :o a good turn out this time with some cool entries

Darius Poyer · Sat 20/02/2010 16:58:55

The Jam has ended!

here are the top 3:

Nickel: You pulled off allot of interesting features with a very small amount of colours. For one its the shape of the feathers on the wings, the blend from skin to wing and the overall shading. Just a great piece of work.

ProgZmax: Very nice colours and all that, great actually. But what I enjoyed the most was the staging of the characters. It doesn't so much tell a story as it displays a moment. good stuff.

Arboris: The thing that makes me appreciate your entry in a different way than both Nickel and ProgZmax is the size of that bird. It looks great, nothing really feels off at all so the fact that its such a large piece of work is impressive.

The winner is Nickel!
So, take this;

, and start the next Sprite Jam!

SinSin · Sat 20/02/2010 17:33:44

a well deserved win there good stuff people

Matti · Sun 21/02/2010 21:39:36

Nickel's internet connection is currently down and he may not be able to start a new competition within the next days, so maybe ProgZ should host the next one..

Calin Leafshade · Mon 22/02/2010 00:09:30

Since I plan to enter the next one lets make it something simple.

..preferably a cube.... or a line...

Darius Poyer · Tue 23/02/2010 07:55:35

I don't know if I'm comfortable making a call on that Mr. Matti. I certainly don't mind the wait, even though there isn't mush going on right now.

Nickel · Tue 23/02/2010 18:52:10

Thanks!

I can start one next week.