making a childrens game. which sprite should i use?

[lilemX]

hi there
im working on a game called mixies adventure. a childrens fun learning game!
there is the main character mixie and then 3 friends. im currently working on one of the friends Sunny (yes the sun)!
so here are my attempts feel free to play around with them if nessisary! id just really like to know if i am on the right lines and if they are any good ..and possibly which one u think is the best out of them! i have labeled them A to P so its easier for u to reference them!
thanx 


as you can see i have done different styles but could mix and match certain parts if you think that would make it better (ffor instance the eyes of A with H would look good)
thanx alot guys (and girls) 

[Babar]

Make it bigger! The main body is barely 20x20 pixels! And instead of 'rays', you could have a curvy, sawtoothish, 'aura' around it.

I had a quick go at showing what I meant. It's certainly not perfect, but you should get the idea:


4x

[pslim]

I prefer J and K, though D could work as well.

All of these have personality and seem fun and inviting for a children's game. My only real criticism is that their features would be more discernible if you upped the contrast. 

[lilemX]

I had a quick go at showing what I meant. It's certainly not perfect, but you should get the idea:

thanx for showing me what you meant  but the rays I'm not sure about  I'm gonna have a think about it at the minute though I'm not keen on the idea (no ofence intended)
I'm working on inlarging one of the suns at the minute (its proving harder than i thought  )  hopefully should be finished soon
thanx babar   

also pslim  please could you give any reason to why you chose them particular ones (I'm soo picky sorry  :'() i mean like.. is it because of the sun glasses do you think that they add to the character  etc  (I'm quite pleased with your comments by the way glad you like them and that they have come across (at least to you) how i wanted them to)

thanx again 

[pslim]

also pslim  please could you give any reason to why you chose them particular ones

Well, it's really hard to pick because we don't know what the character's personality will be like. We can make inferences, but if you told us more about his demeanor it would help.

I picked J and K because, to me, they read most clearly as being The Sun. Part of this is certainly the sunglasses, though not necessarily because they add anything to character... more because we're accustomed to seeing the sun wearing sunglasses, so when we see that we are immediately prepared to see the sun. Whereas, the toque on L - O is cute but not something we're used to seeing on the sun. Hope that helps. 

I'm not saying I think you should stick with the expected sun accessories, just that at this level of detail and contrast, those accessories help to identify the character as what it's intended to be.

[lilemX]

thanx  i understand now! sorry im a girl and need constant reasurence (so i have heard anyway  ) 

ok  erm to hopefully make it easier   here is a bit about sunny 

he is male! he is all about fun and thinks that whenever he is there, there should be fun .. soo if you were working you should stop as he is there to bring the fun! (that is his belief) he is very friendly but not very talkative he believe's actions speak louder than words! his favourite colour is red (ok to you that isnt important but to the game it is) and he loves the number 1 as he feels it best discribes him the one and only! he can come accross as big headed at times although this isnt what he wants to come across as (hopefully that makes sense).

not sure if u need any more than that if you do please let me know 

[Babar]

Given your description, I'd say give him 'hair' also, kinda like the rays. Maybe some orange or blonde messy hair, like a surfer dude.

[lilemX]

Make it bigger! The main body is barely 20x20 pixels!

ok so i had ago at makeing one bigger  .. for now though i have just stuck with the basic face as i can add to it later once i have decided which one i am going to use! so here it is (this is the biggest that this sprite will ever be in the game) needs work i know the part i really need help with is the mouth i just cant seem to get it right at all if u have any tips please let me know 



let me know what you think thanx

[Afflict]

The cheeks seem to be denting into the face, move the eyes inner and just draw the bottom of the nose. Use a more varied pallet and less colors. I wouldn't be afraid of using red in the mouth remember kids relate to bright colors so the best advice I can give you at the moment is to Google some images along the lines of "toons" + "sun" or "cartoon" + "sun"

The face to me feels to "stiff" & posed at the moment. After looking at some cartoon expressions in general (from the Google results) try and spot easier ways of drawing the face. (It doesn't need to be sun cartoon pictures it can be normal cartoon character pictures too all you want is reference)

Lastly I should of mentioned this sooner, when you choose your more varied pallet use the darker yellow (as you have around the sun now) for the main features, if it doesn't look good with the line art only it won't look good colored.

I wish you success with your game! The sprites look awesome so far.

~ Afflict

[Stupot]

H was my favourite.
I didn't really like the ones with shades or caps and of the 'naked' ones H looks the funnest... he's the one I'd want at my party.

[pslim]

I had some fun with this guy as a nice break from what I'm working on. 




It's rough because I didn't "finish" it, but I played with an idea of how to do the hair/flames and played with his expression.

I gave him some eyelids so he looks less surprised or scared, and brought his eyebrows down a pixel or so in the middle to help with that.

I made his teeth show more under his lip (just copied and pasted the teeth already there a couple of pixels higher).

I did some work on his cheeks and nose to give them more definition and shape.

I played with the contrast and saturation to try and get something that was easier to make out.



There's some really good pixel work on the sprite you posted, but it's very difficult to make out at such a low contrast, and as a result of the colors you used. I especially like the outer edge and the eyeballs. The things I changed were really just to give you ideas of things you could do with it.

[lilemX]

you guys are soo helpful really i just wanted to post a big thank you   

i am loving the hair/flames! Stunning i may pinch this idea (if thats ok?) LOVE IT!
again with the mouth  i agree it looks alot better the way you have done it but it is still not right i have been working on mouth shapes all day    and i took Aflict's advise and went on google searched images etc  found a few that really caught my eye but when i came to doing it my self.. again i found my self lacking. i just cant seem to get the right shape at all (maybe this is just me if you like it let me know maybe I'm too picky)

gonna play with the eyes some more and put eye lids on (heck ill just use your sprite pslim  (of course i wont do that I'm not a fan of cheating it never works))

i really took afflict's advise and have started working on doing what he has said, like moving the eyes in and only drawing the bottom of the nose etc   and I'm gonna post a very simple one  here just to make sure i have understood what he has said


as i said i just went very simple just to see if i am on the right lines with Aflict's opinion

the only thing which i am a little confused about is the palet at the minute  how many colours do you think i should be using? i wanted the sun to be quite bright. but by the looks of it if  i am to make it the best it can possibly be i will have to darken it   is there any way in which i could use the bright yellows and still have the best effect or by doing this will it just make my picture less effective?

again all your help is much appreciated! i just hope I'm not being a perfectionist too much or annoying anyone with my complete lack of knowledge on art work

(its a good job that i have all the time in the world to do this game as i feel I'm gonna need it  )

thanx 

[pslim]

the only thing which i am a little confused about is the palet at the minute  how many colours do you think i should be using? i wanted the sun to be quite bright. but by the looks of it if  i am to make it the best it can possibly be i will have to darken it   is there any way in which i could use the bright yellows and still have the best effect or by doing this will it just make my picture less effective?

I'm far from an expert, but what I think the original really needs is contrast, not necessarily to be darker. If you want to keep him light, you'll probably want to use white (or almost white) for the highlights, instead of yellow.

You don't really have to worry about the size of your palette if you're using the hi-color option.  8)

But of course there are people who will tell you that you can make a better, more detailed sprite with 4.5 colors, and then to prove it they'll do it. I'm not that magical, though.