Well I love adventure games and have played a lot made with AGS. I have an idea for my own game but I need to learn how to make good sprites before I can start. :)
Here is my first attempt at my main character Snow. She is an Ice elf so she has light blue skin and white hair. She is based off of my character from the oblivion game. Screenshot here (http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b139/Spike4072/SnowContest1.jpg)
Anyway here is my sprite. Doesn't look like much right now :-\
(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b139/Spike4072/WoW/SnowSprite1.png)x1
(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b139/Spike4072/WoW/SnowSprite1x2.png)x2
Edit
(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b139/Spike4072/WoW/SnowSprite4.png)x1
(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b139/Spike4072/WoW/SnowSprite4x2.png)x2
A striking resemblance to Ulysses31, a fav cartoon of mine ;)
(http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/2539/a173211mv5.jpg)
I like the concept, but you should try and get rid of the typical "mirrored look" of low-res sprites. By making the front view asymmerical you'll already greatly improve the look.
The simple shading and the colour palette are nice and easy on the eyes, and you will find animation much easier with a small palette.
What puzzles me are her clothes; if this is a fantasy game you probably should alter the looks to fit your world (for example, few people in Oblivion wear surfer shorts ;) )
It's a nice, clean first sprite, and I can totally picture it in a game, so good start!
Thanks I will see what I can do about the "mirror look." :)
For the shorts what I had in my mind is some ragged cut off/ripped pants but it didn't come across very well in a sprite. I will giver her some different pants.
You could try a much lighter shade of the shorts' color at the bottom to suggest cutoffs.
EDIT: On seconds thought, I didn't realize just how small that sprite was. I'm sure there's a way, but I don't know it.
My only other suggestion for now, is give her more face. It's a very short face right now. her mouth and eyes are very close.
Yup, if you want more detail you have to make the sprite bigger.
sorry again for what happened to your mouse
OT: Ghost I love Ulysses 31 and actually a few months back (around the summer) I went and bought the DVD... case (3 DVDs I believe). It still didn't lose the magic... :)
Well for size I was going by this background from KQ4. Its 320x200 but I guess I could go for 640x400 to make the sprite bigger.
(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b139/Spike4072/WoW/SizeTest.png)
Ok I made her pants longer and upped the size for more detail.
(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b139/Spike4072/WoW/SnowSprite2.png)x1
(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b139/Spike4072/WoW/SnowSprite2x2.png)x2
I still need to work on the symmetrical problem but better?
much better! :)
I would also get her more straight, she looks tired,
good work
Better alright! Prettier, less square :)
She looks hunched forward, to me. :-\
Since you upped the size of the character, make her pants wavy instead of being straight lines. Some knees might be nice too.
Quote from: Ryan Timothy on Sun 30/03/2008 23:41:52
Since you upped the size of the character, make her pants wavy instead of being straight lines. Some knees might be nice too.
I second very much the knees, give the woman a pair of legs, fgs!
Hmm about the hunched over look. She has a top part on her shirt that drapes over her shoulders. I guess that is what makes her look hunched. Any ideas on how I could do it differently? I'm not real that good at art stuff.
Ok I will work on the pants some more. What is FGS?
Ok third edit :)
I think i got rid of the slouching I hope and played with the pants a bit. This spriteing stuff is harder than it looks :P
(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b139/Spike4072/WoW/SnowSprite3.png)
(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b139/Spike4072/WoW/SnowSprite3x2.png)x2
Interesting sprite - however the colour scheme feels a little dull to me.
Here is a mockup with a more vibrant colour scheme:
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/Ulysses.PNG)
Hope this is useful.
EDIT: Just reread your first post and checked out the reference image, realising how far off the mark I was ;).
Here's an edit based on your reference picture:
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/Ice_Elf.PNG)
Should've known ben with his crazy blue people fetish would come along and draw this totally exceptional character. She's got sex appeal (with clothes and without), in a weird blue alien-like way. :P
But she doesn't look poor like Spike had kinda suggested by saying she was wearing torn at the knees pants. But the boots help give a poor image.
She still appears to be slouching. I think the main reason (to my eyes at least) to why it appears that way is that the shoulders are wider then the hips, and the hands are infront of the legs versus parallel to them, or even behind them.
I say try bringing the shoulders in a few pixels, and not bothering with thumbs. Since the sprite is that low-res (even at that size) digits aren't needed to be pronounced like that.
Quote from: Ryan Timothy on Mon 31/03/2008 03:32:27
Should've known ben with his crazy blue people fetish would come along and draw this totally exceptional character. She's got sex appeal (with clothes and without), in a weird blue alien-like way. :P
But she doesn't look poor like Spike had kinda suggested by saying she was wearing torn at the knees pants. But the boots help give a poor image.
Hehehe, I have a blue person fetish? This is most interesting!
I did the character based off the reference pic, which is where I got the undies from. I could give her a pair of daisy duke shorts, but I'm afraid rumours of my blue person fetish would only spread ;).
Wow Ben that mockup looks great :o
I still don't see how people can get such great detail in such a little space.
I see what you are saying about the arms now EdLoen. I think I may just redo this one from scratch. it looks horrible next to Bens sprite lol.
I don't think it looks "horrible", but I'm sure you'll be able to improve with a bit of practise. Keep working at it and let us know how you go :).
Blue skin. White hair. Even StarTrek has some alien race with that colour sheme. And everybody knows ST fans take their fetish serious ;D
Your first (selfmade) improvement looks good, Spike- and doing all these changes alone will always make you happier (and more comfortable) when it comes to walkcycles and such. Keep it going!
Ok redid the whole thing. I am still not happy with it but I think it is a lot better.
(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b139/Spike4072/WoW/SnowSprite4.png)x1
(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b139/Spike4072/WoW/SnowSprite4x2.png)x2
Wow, nice work. If I could make one suggestion: Use more contrast in the palette. I know I made the point before, but if you are going to use shading, make it so that we're able to see it. I've done a quick edit here:
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/Icy_elf.PNG)
I don't think that this edit is the best looking thing ever, but it might give some indication of how to adjust your shading :).
To be frank, I'd like to see you working at a lower resolution. Low res is great fun because you can get your sprites looking good a lot quicker, and the game takes way less time to make. However, if you're going to work at higher res, good stuff and keep up the nice sprites :).
Ah yes I see how the contrast helps a lot.
Hmm well I had worked at a higher resolution because the first few post said I needed to to make the sprite detailed. :-\
The term 'detail' doesn't always refer to resolution.
If we take a look at your first sprite, and compare it with your latest effort, we see the first one was very square, and the new one is very curvy. You can get curvy with low resolution but!
I tried to do an example of a really low resolution, high detail sprite, but wasn't overly happy with it, so here's an example of some of ProgZmax's sprites (hopefully he won't mind me referring you to these):
(http://members.cox.net/veradin/simmonsnewconcepts.gif)
These were his concept sprites for the unconfirmed sequel to Dance To You Drop, and I'd like to point your attention to the level of detail here and to the fact that these sprites are smaller than your first sprite.
I'm not saying you have to be ProgZmax, I'm saying that higher resolution does not necessarily mean your sprite will be more detailed.
BTW, ProgZ, if you read this... please make the sequel ;D.
It might just be me but I like this version of the woman.
(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b139/Spike4072/WoW/SnowSprite2x2.png)
Just fix the slouch/Mr. Burns posture. ;D
I also prefer the first lass,
I think her arms are slightly too long, though, which may account for the slouching.
Also, perhaps if you added a pixel or two on the outer side of each breast, so that it looks like they are in from of part of her arms... this may combat the slouching effect, and it will also make her tits bigger ;);)
Ok well I have bounced all over with this sprite but I agree with Ben304. A smaller resolution will be easier and I don't want to over complicate things for my very first game attempt lol.
(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b139/Spike4072/WoW/SnowSprite1Remake.png)
(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b139/Spike4072/WoW/SnowSprite1Remake.png)x2
I gave her a dress because I want her to look more like a peasant girl. You think the dress will make it harder to animate? Maybe the arms are a bit to short?
Did a little messing around to try and remove the slouch look, also reworked the chest area as I felt it was too dominant. To much Shadowing on the chest I think is what made it top-heavy.
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w285/nitricacidx/bric-a-brac/SnowSprite22.png)
Slap that and reverse it.
The right pic was a first render.
The left pic is what I finally ended with.
Alright first try at animation. I am not sure how to get the proper arm swing with such tiny arms :-\
(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b139/Spike4072/WoW/SnowSprite1RemakeSteps.gif)
(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b139/Spike4072/WoW/SnowSprite1RemakeSteps.gif)
*EDIT*
Hmm how is this for arm swing?
(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b139/Spike4072/WoW/SnowSprite1RemakeSteps2.gif)
(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b139/Spike4072/WoW/SnowSprite1RemakeSteps2.gif)
The shading-based arm swing sort of works, but the legs look like pistons going in and out of the dress. Try shading them too.
Looking much better!
I agree - add some shadow to the legs as they move under the dress to make them seem further away. You could also scale them a little bit to show perspective :).
Thanks :D
I will add some shading to the legs and try to scale them like you said.
Hopefully now that I have this character mostly worked out the others wont be so hard. :) I have quite a few planned for my game.
thnx, Spike! One more sprite for me to undress! ;D (I'm not pervert! No, I'm not!)
I'm not the pro but some hints from me:
Make her hands longer.
Try to avoid lines. Make curves. Even teens and elves have some... ;)
my short paintover:
(http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/6172/elfe001fe1.png) (http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/6172/elfe001fe1.png) 3x(http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/6172/elfe001fe1.png)
Haha thanks for the tips on the arms but I think that outfit would be a tad to much for my character. ;D
Quote from: Spike4072 on Wed 02/04/2008 23:45:07Haha thanks for the tips on the arms but I think that outfit would be a tad to much for my character. ;D
but even then make curves... ;)
(http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/7194/elfe002jg6.png)3x(http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/7194/elfe002jg6.png)
Remember: Only girly sprites can win AGS awards! ::)
Nice to know I'm not the only one with a "crazy blue person fetish" ;).
EDIT: I'm very sorry, but I just couldn't resist :-[:
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/WTH.PNG)
I love lo-res girls... ::)
(http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/9374/elfe003rq2.png) (http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/9374/elfe003rq2.png)3x(http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/9374/elfe003rq2.png) (http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/9374/elfe003rq2.png)
Edit: Sorry, ProgZmax... :-X
Okay Yarooze, that's enough thread hijacking.