I got into AGS a few months ago, and started my first game, but I hit a fairly large roadblock with the artwork, especially the rooms, causing production to slow severely. The sprites, I feel will be easier for me to get right, so I can get more practice that way.
I wanted to have Lucasarts-style portraits, but if they just look crap, then I might abandon that idea, so if you could tell me how to improve what I've got so far, or just inform me that I need to cut my losses, that would be ok too ;D
The main character, Malcolm, was the first one I ever made, so I ended up using Trilby as a template, and I just modified Malcolm to make the Captain, so they have the same look to them. The others had different posture and height, so I did them from scratch. Any help is appreciated. Thank you.
(http://scarab117.webs.com/photos/null/Declan1.PNG)
This is Declan, the loveable old man who Malcolm connects with on an emotional level. He kind of looks like what I wanted him to in the portrait, apart from shading etc. but every attempt to recreate the face smaller made him look like a rodent of some kind.
(http://scarab117.webs.com/photos/Caspian/speech1.PNG) (http://scarab117.webs.com/photos/Caspian/speech1.PNG)
This is the speech frame for Malcolm sporting a Wheres Wally/Waldo hairstlye, and with, as you can see, fairly rudimentary shading.
(http://scarab117.webs.com/photos/Caspian/Standing1.PNG) (http://scarab117.webs.com/photos/Caspian/Standing1.PNG) (http://scarab117.webs.com/photos/Caspian/Standing1.PNG) (http://scarab117.webs.com/photos/Caspian/captain.PNG) (http://scarab117.webs.com/photos/Caspian/captain.PNG) (http://scarab117.webs.com/photos/Caspian/captain.PNG)
These are the standing frames for Malcolm and the Captain.
(http://scarab117.webs.com/photos/null/Melanie1.PNG) (http://scarab117.webs.com/photos/null/Melanie1.PNG) (http://scarab117.webs.com/photos/null/Melanie1.PNG)
This is Melanie, a mechanic/maintainance woman, she's supposed to be wearing overalls with the upper section wrapped around her waist, but it doeasnt really look clear. I also was going to have her hair in a ponytail, but every attempt came out crap. I also think she looks a bit 'man shouldered'.
(http://scarab117.webs.com/photos/null/walkcycle.PNG) (http://scarab117.webs.com/photos/null/walkcycle.PNG)
This is the walkcycle for Malcolm, I cant make a .gif out of it, but when he walks it seems really awkward.
Any helps appreciated, thanks in advance.
Peace ;D
Scarab
p.s. is there a way to enlarge pictures you post without them going blurry?
Your first sprite looks like Nixon. :P
I like his pose, and I think he could made more natural looking but straightening up his arm with the cane. My dad walked with a cane once, and you generally hold it pretty close to you.
The picture of Malcom is good, if the chin is a bit small--or is it the forehead that's a bit big? You'd need to ask someone a little more familiar than I am. He also looks a bit like Tom Deslongchamp.
Anyway, it's pretty good for a first shot.
They look pretty good as a starting point :) To improve them, I think you need to concentrate on giving them some more shape and volume by adding some shading, as well as cleaning them up a bit (removing double pixels, keeping outlining consistent etc.).
As a general comment, I recommend using a canvas that's a more neutral colour, as extremely saturated colours (as well as pure white and pure black) can throw off the perception of a colour. The colours of the sprites look like they could use some desaturation, but also increased contrast.
I made a quick paintover to hopefully illustrate what I mean. I kept it very close to your sprite, it just has some extra shading and cleanup, and some parts moved around.
(http://theindiestone.com/crabshackgallery.com/edits/scarab1.png)
Hope this helps, keep at it :)
@Cpt.Lex
Lol, I actually started with a picture of Nixon as my inspiration (It was a caricature, so I had to un-eggagerate the features a fair bit :))
@Mashi
I know what you mean, I was using saturated backgrounds as transparencies when I imported them into AGS, and just forgot to change them to post here.
I'm experimenting with different looks based on the pallette you gave me, and I should have a re-do of Mel up in a bit, I just have a heap of calc homework I need to finish first. :(
Thanks for the help so far, keep 'em coming
Peace ;D
Scarab
I have been working on these sprites a bit more. I completely re-did Malcolm, and MashPotato's paintover was so good I just decided to run with it for now. Below is Melanie with a new haircut, and a side view to match, and the new and improved Malcolm. C&C Please
(http://scarab117.webs.com/photos/Caspian/Melanie3.png) (http://scarab117.webs.com/photos/Caspian/Melanie3.png)
(http://scarab117.webs.com/photos/Caspian/MalcomNew.png) (http://scarab117.webs.com/photos/Caspian/MalcomNew.png)
Any help's appreciated
Peace 8)
Scarab
He looks much better now, but his shirt could use some shading. Also, his trousers shading looks rather random and makes little sense. You should make that similar to Melanies shading.
Re-shaded his trousers, I was going for sort of a pattern on them but it didnt work put that well, so here he is: Malcolm, Mach III:
(http://scarab117.webs.com/photos/Caspian/MalcomNewpants.png) (http://scarab117.webs.com/photos/Caspian/MalcomNewpants.png) (http://scarab117.webs.com/photos/Caspian/MalcomNewpants.png)
P.S. shading on shirt to come, it just ends up looking really awkward unless i find the perfect shade of grey to go with the white, oh, and can someone tell me how to fix the arms? They just look wierd to me...
C&C
Peace 8)
Scarab
I now have front and side views with shirt shading and a belt for the 3/4 view.
I'm really trying to get these finished and perfected quickly so I can begin the animation phase, so, as always, any suggestions are appreciated.
(http://scarab117.webs.com/photos/Caspian/Front%203quarter%20side.png)(http://scarab117.webs.com/photos/Caspian/Front%203quarter%20side.png)(http://scarab117.webs.com/photos/Caspian/Front%203quarter%20side.png)
Problems with the side view I have been trying to fix but have been unable to thus far:
Shoulders seem very square, and really don't match the others.
The head looks quite different to front and mid, and I'm trying to find an alternative to a one pixel button-nose that looks good.
I'm finding it hard to make the legs visibly seperate from one another whilst maintaining consistant shading.
Peace 8)
Scarab
P.s. I do realise that I basically said I don't like the head, torso and legs of the sprite, which is quite unfortunate considering the significant amount of time I have spent on the devious little emmerdeur. I need HELP!