Artwork from a newbie - a screen and some walk cycles

[Teh Crabe]

I only downloaded AGS a couple of days ago, but I'm already knee-deep in it.  I've started doing some backgrounds and character animations.  I also have a loose plot that I may put into a complete game.  

These are from an as-yet nonexistant game called "Minion 13", about a supervillain's rebellious henchman.

Whaddya think?

Edited: Apparently my free web space don't like direct links.  Here's some URLS:
http://www.geocities.com/colintheriot/

[TheYak]

Excellently done!  The character reminds me a bit of Little Johnny Evil.  Since you've obviously got the skill, how 'bout a touch more detail in the pic?  I can't offer useful criticism, sorry.  It's nifty.

[Rincewind]

Oh, nice pictures - The background looks excellent, and I can't really comment on anything, but the character could perhaps use some changes. Instead of just having his hair move while he walks, try moving his head up and down as well, to create a "bobbing" movement.  

But as I said, great stuff! Don't be afraid to show us more of your art.

[veryweirdguy]

What time is it kiddies? Time to 'flip a D'!







Anyway, I agree with the above two. I'd also like to see a mouth (perhaps a frown?) on the guy.

[MrColossal]

hey, i like what i can see of the background but it's so jpggy that it's really hard for me to look at with any clarity

can you post a GIF or PNG?

i tried editing your sprites and this is what i came up with:





i added a bob to the downward walkview and i... appear to have missed a line of pixels... but i bent his knees a little more and took out the standing first frame.

on the right walkcycle i took out the first and last frames, fixed his arm on the new last frame cause the highlight appeard out of no where and i moved his feet around so they looked a little different.

also, there are a LOT of colours in there, not that it matters really just wondering why cause looks quite messy. 254 colours in the down walking cycle. wowzers

eric

[ravenfusion]

That's better, on the original right view, it seemed that he kept tripping over himself...

Anyway, I like the art, strange you put newbie in the title when you're better than me.

[n3tgraph]

great changes eric!

It really looks good now

[Igor]

Yep, animation looks much better now with Eric's corrections.
Btw, why not add a little up&down movement to the right walkcycle too? Animation will look more consistent that way.

Anyway, great work Crabe- love the background.

[agsking]

The cave background is awesome.  Looks very hand painted.  :o

Nice character also, could use a mouth though.

[Teh Crabe]

Wow, thanks for the corrections.  This was the first animation I'd ever attempted, and the walk cycles were a first draft of sorts.

I'm going to implement the bobbing walk and the increased bend in the knees on the downward view.  I'm still not happy with the sideways walk, so I'll work on it some more.

As for the abundance of colors, I'm going with a hand-painted look rather than the retro-adventure game look.  Are there issues (performance or filesize wise) I should be aware of with using too many colors?  I'm going to go with high color.  I paint everything in Painter 6, then bring it into Photoshop to scale it down and clean up the blurry edges.  I'd like to keep the finished game in its entirety under 20 MB though.

When I said I was a newbie, I meant at making games and animation, not at art.  I draw for a living.

With the character design, his mouth appears mainly when he talks.  I'm trying to keep the main character vague facially as its a cartoonist's trick to help people identify themselves with the character.  The other character sketches have more detailed faces.

I'll post more stuff to this thread as I move along with the game.  

BTW, are there any resources for guidelines for designing the actual game, plotting, puzzle-design, etc.  I've tried searching here and googling, but maybe I'm not hip to the proper terminology for those things.  Also, I'm no musician, but I'll ask around when I get to that point.

Thanks again, all.

[MrColossal]

the reason i didn't add bob to the side view was cause it was 5 in the morning and i was tired as all hell

the abundance of colours isn't a bad thing really, just editing the sprites was hard and it looked like he has white lines around his eyes where photoshop adds white while scaling down, what if you scale him down with... okay there are 3 ways to scale, bilinear, nearest neighbor and... the middle one.. i forget what it is

that usually gets rid o the white for me

eric

[ravenfusion]

The animation is better than I could do aswell. lol

[TheYak]

maybe you're looking for Bicubic, Mr. C?  Anyway, I hafta disagree with the face comment.  I really like the bland-face look.  It's rather distinctive and allows for some liberties to be taken with animation.  If you (Crabe) can pull off a decent "surprised","angry" or "excitied" animation without having to add a mouth, so much the better.  Most people here are all for 320x200 games (I prefer them myself for the most part).  However, with the hand-painted backgrounds I would so love to see these in higher-res.  

On another subject, have you considered doing a background tutorial?  Very few of the talented people around here are willing to share their knowledge.  

[Teh Crabe]

maybe you're looking for Bicubic, Mr. C?  Anyway, I hafta disagree with the face comment.  I really like the bland-face look.  It's rather distinctive and allows for some liberties to be taken with animation.  If you (Crabe) can pull off a decent "surprised","angry" or "excitied" animation without having to add a mouth, so much the better.  Most people here are all for 320x200 games (I prefer them myself for the most part).  However, with the hand-painted backgrounds I would so love to see these in higher-res.  

On another subject, have you considered doing a background tutorial?  Very few of the talented people around here are willing to share their knowledge.  

This game is at 320 x 240 as well, but I may consider doing the higher res stuff.  As far as a background tutorial, I don't think I'm doing anything special that I wouldn't do for any other piece.  I made it in Painter with a digital drafting tablet, which makes it pretty much like actual painting.  I'm not opposed to giving painting tips, but I'm not doing anything special to make this a "background" or anything.

I am considering scaling back the artwork for the sake of being able to produce a game quicker, but the way I produce my work it would involved basically creating the work as normal, then simplifying it, so I may not really be saving time that way.

Got a couple more backgrounds I'm working on.  Keep your eyes peeled.

[KANDYMAN-IAC]

YES... yes it does remind me of "little jonny evil".... mmmmm sue!!... copyright infringement!!! copyright infringement!!....


hehehe... it looks cool man keep up the good work.

just dont rip me off  ,  

[Teh Crabe]

YES... yes it does remind me of "little jonny evil".... mmmmm sue!!... copyright infringement!!! copyright infringement!!....


hehehe... it looks cool man keep up the good work.

just dont rip me off  ,  

I haven't played your game yet, but I will.  From the plot synopsis though, there isn't much similarity.

Here's my plot:

Tonight's the night Professor Destruction's evil plot goes into effect.  He's going to hold the moon for ransom.  I fhe doesn't get paid 12 bajillion dollars by midnight, he'll carve his skull insignia into the moon with his gigantic laser.  And since his fortress is protected by the most advanced and evil security system on earth, there's nothing the League of Good can do about it.

However, to make sure his plan doesn't cruble from the inside, The Prof. decides to clean house.  He cuts back the staff to only key personnel.  Minion 13 is let go for not being evil enough.  

That's the intro.

The first chapter of the game involves you cleaning out your locker and trying to recieve delivery of the pizza you ordered just before termination.  In the process you will turn off the security system,at which point the League of Good will bust into the fortress and start with the thwarting.  

That's going to be the demo.

The rest of the game will involve getting back into the fortress, defeating the members of the League of Good, and successfully holding the moon hostage.  I have a few different endings in mind, depending on how Evil you can prove yourself to be.

Who wants to play?

[KANDYMAN-IAC]

don't worry, im kidding. There isnt much similarity... just a tiny bit in the evilness of the face.

[Gord10]

I only downloaded AGS a couple of days ago, but I'm already knee-deep in it.  I've started doing some backgrounds and character animations.  I also have a loose plot that I may put into a complete game.  

These are from an as-yet nonexistant game called "Minion 13", about a supervillain's rebellious henchman.

Whaddya think?

Edited: Apparently my free web space don't like direct links.  Here's some URLS:
http://www.geocities.com/colintheriot/

Lol I am a newbie on AGS too, and the name of my game is "Number 13"