Ye Olde Sprite Jam - TOLKIEN OVERLOAD WINNER

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

I'm making this an extra day because I'll be busy the 2nd, so without more ado:


IT'S TOLKIEN TIME!

Yes, I'm sure many you have read the books, many more have seen the films, and everyone at least knows that it's about.

Take a favorite character from any of Tolkien's published fantasy tales and bring him to life as a real, playable game sprite!  That's right, kids!  This is your chance to make that LOTR game you always wanted, or to show Tom Bombadil in all his silly multi-colored glory!  Or how about all those weird things from the Silmarillon?  The choice is entirely yours, with a few caveats:

1.  The final sprite must use no more than 64 unique colors and no fewer than 4.  Color reducing is allowed, though depending on how it's done the quality may clearly suffer, so it's up to you.

2.  The sprite can range from 32x32 pixels to 200x100 pixels.  This should allow you to make anything from a Hobbit to a dragon!

3.  A description of the character for the uninformed explaining who they are and where they fit into Tolkien's works.  Remember, it must be a pre-existing character.

4.  You must have fun.


Good luck, and please try to visualize these characters yourself rather than translating them directly from Peter Jackson's films or something else.  This is about your imagination bringing one of Tolkien's characters alive!

[Ghost]

Let's start with the Nazgul then- formerly noble kings owning lesser rings, now enslaved by the power of the One Ring. They make a formidable outline against a cloudy sky no matter what time of day, they are bound to find the One Ring...

Very minimalistic, but somehow I like the end result. It's actually pretty close to the version we see in the Jackson movies, with a few alterations. Personally I always imagined the Nazgul having eyes- glowing red eyes- and NO FEET or even legs. I imagined them floating and flying around, and hidden under that cloat there would be just a ribcage and skeletal arms. Imagination is a very SIMPLE think when you're around twelve and read the book the first time.
And they would have magic. Firebolts and Thunderbolts. Heck, they are some sort of Demigod at least!

I included the "Witch King" helmet/mask because I really liked the look of it.

Nine colours (excluding background) and 92x105 pixels.



x2

[Misj']

Thought the Hobbit was boring...never managed to get through the Ring-trilogy...read most of the Silmarillion and truly enjoyed it. To me it is by far the best in the Middle-Earth series.

Draugluin the first Werewolf (not a shape-shifter though, just a wolfsbreed inhabited by an evil spirit sent by Morgoth). Draugluin is part of the story of Beren and Lúthien as written in the Silmarillion. He is also the ancestor of all werewolfs as well as wargs on Middle-Earth.

Some design-considerations I made: Since he's not a shape-sifter, I wanted him to have both Wolf and Man like features. My first goal was to create an overall stance that captured both man and beast in a simple skeleton (this simple skeleton would also benefit the traditional animators later on). In the original pen-and-paper sketch I felt his face was too rat-like so I adapted it in the final version. I decided to add some jewellery, armour, and cloth to give him a more sentient (and interesting) appearance...some might say this is beyond the character as presented by Tolkien, but I think it was the right and more interesting decision. As for colouring...his name means Blue Wolf, so it wasn't much of a decision.

Traditional Art: black lines (135x93, 9 colours)

--- click image for 2x enlarged version --

Traditional Art: coloured lines (135x93, 17 colours)

--- click image for 2x enlarged version --

Note: remember that colours are counted differently in traditional art than in pixel-art. In traditional art you count your palette before you export rather than after. Versions where I reduced the colours after exporting the image to 64 colours can be found here and here. If you know where to look (and if you know the originals) you can see some loss of quality. I added these versions just in case ProgZmax wouldn't accept them as an entry otherwise.



As you may know, I'm in somewhat of an experimental phase at the moment, where I'm experimenting with different techniques that are not common to me. Especially for ProxZ I decided to give a shot at pixel-art, so I took the same image I presented above, and adapted it to a style similar to several of Ghost's pieces (since he went for a different style himself this Jam).

Pixel art: coloured lines
(66x45, 17 colours)

--- click image for 3x enlarged version --

Pixel art: shaded
(66x45, 24 colours)

--- click image for 3x enlarged version --

Multiple entries...but there was no rule against it, so I hope ProgZ accepts it

Misj'

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Very nice!  It's good to see one of Tolkien's lesser-known characters getting some visibility!  Also, I tried reducing the black lines/ colored lines versions to 64 colors and I noticed that in the black lines version there's an awful lot of wasted colors inside the image, almost like it was jpeg'd and converted back.  In the colored line version this doesn't occur and it reduces very nicely down to 64 colors without any real quality loss and clean lines and interior.

[Misj']

... I tried reducing the black lines/ colored lines versions to 64 colors and I noticed that in the black lines version there's an awful lot of wasted colors inside the image, almost like it was jpeg'd and converted back.  In the colored line version this doesn't occur and it reduces very nicely down to 64 colors without any real quality loss and clean lines and interior.

Both .png's were created in exactly the same manner (without any jpeg-steps) using the same software...so it shouldn't be any different. Apparently it is, so that leads me to conclude that computers are weird.

[abibliophobe]

I decided to have a go at Morgoth, the first dark lord and pretty much the source of all evil in Middle-earth. He had a huge collection of servants, including (but not limited to) Sauron, the Balrogs and the Dragons (and Draugluin, as Misj' pointed out).

With a collection of servants that he sent out to fight for him, Morgoth instantly reminded me of a series of games we are all familiar with...

So here is my Pokemon Trainer Morgoth.


(62x66, 18 colours)

and 2x...



"I choose you! Glaurung!"

[loominous]

Ancalagon

Morgoth, see above post, evidently enjoyed breeding dragons.  Ancalagon was the first of the winged "fire-drakes", bred to be the mightiest and most powerful of dragons. We follow him from his early, not very powerful, days:



With a background:


And to accommodate the well motivated size and colour restrictions, here's a reduced one:

[Kastchey]

King of the Mountains aka King of the Dead.
A former king of the mountain people, cursed to turn undead when he refused to aid Isildur despide his oath. He and his army of ghosts would not find peace until they fulfill their promise and aid a rightful king of Gondor in battle.




64x100, 39 colors.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Yay, it is time to choose a winner so I have chosen Misj for bringing Draugluin to life!

[Ghost]

Nice jam, ProgZ, and congrats, Misj'!

[Misj']

...I have chosen Misj for bringing Draugluin to life!

All entries were great, so I'm proud to have won this one!
I can only hope that the quality and quantity of the next Jam will match this one.