I got this picture here that I think looks good however I'm having trouble with character color. :(
(http://www.pictureshoster.com/files/9xui1lp3zo2cp0cg0xa0.png)
You see I ended up using Falling Skyward as a base a color example thinking that I can change it with PS. Only problem is I don't know how to produce a better color or if I'm to blind to see that I got a good color.
(http://www.pictureshoster.com/files/qil05rg7nb7r42qx69u.png)
The center character looks like the best fit :-X
Alrighty then, I guess I'll play around with that one a bit more.
Instead of starting with a highly toned base palette, I usually start with a fairly standard palette, then adjust it later on to fit with the background. You're starting from a very strongly tinted palette here, which kinda inhibits your ability to get detail in from the start a little, I think.
(http://i.imgur.com/r5Bb6.png)
Seeing as you mentioned Falling Skywards, here you can see the way I went through the character design process. I always start with black outlines because I want to get the form of the character right first because I worry about shading and colour. Then once I had a design I liked, I coloured in standard colours, then adjusted to be really warm and fit the backgrounds. Finally I took away some of the less necessary outlines. I think some parts of your character lack contrast and this makes it hard to see anything clearly. The head particularly suffers from this, I'd say.
I have to say that besides some flaws, I really like the background. It has a Ben304 vibe.
@Ben304, Ok I see what you mean. I thought you just drew it out like that cause I never knew you did the outlining thing! As for the face, I think maybe after I fix it up a bit it will look better cause he has this asian facial structure.
@Dualnames, Thanks. I had a ruff time trying to get it close to his style but in the end I seen it came pretty close and I'm happy with. Ben's style is very unique and it's hard for me to imitate like I can sorta do with a few other things.
I will re-upload the edit's later today.
(http://www.pictureshoster.com/files/ylz976tcq7mmpr74039s.png)
Hows this? I think the 4th one is the best.
I like the head and hair of number 4 best, but the clothes look boring. Maybe using the blue pants of number 2?
I rather keep the gray shorts for story reasons :P
However I do find the blue rather nice for a shirt/boots.
(http://www.pictureshoster.com/files/5jczg3xjw2yp3hasryzp.png)
I like it!
Thanks, Well I guess i's time for me to start animating it. If there is any thing else someone thinks should be different then post it and I'll see what I can do.
He needs a chest and some shoulders...
Also, his face is really flat while the back of his skull is huge.
You do have a great anatomy reference right in the image you posted, use it.
And the lighter spots on his arms and legs look like actual spots, not shading.
I must say Icey, your art is becoming quite impressive. Keep it up!
@Khris: I wanted to use Ben's style while blending my own to make me feel less "tense".
uhh that isn't the back of his head in fact it's this wide spike that sticks out on both sides of his head but I see what you mean in size/spots so I will fix that.
@Corby: Thank you. :3
Did a quick paintover:
(http://i.imgur.com/chLyC.gif)
(http://www.pictureshoster.com/files/fngbj9lh7fmss18sped4.png)
I see what you mean and the head now fit's with the body however his look is to "strong". It's not a bad look tho however it's just not the right one for me :-\
However in his edit you can see I fixed his spots and wide spike.
Do you want him to look like King Kong squashed him in his fist?
I'm sure you can find some healthy middle ground between my suggestion and a serious developmental disease.
(Also, how do you still screw up the IMG tag parameters...?? If you left out the height parameter, then the picture would at least retain its aspect ratio. But how do you get from 38x106 to 75x200? After all these months and me pointing this out I don't know how many times?
And what's up with your avatar picture? It gets resized to 60x60 no matter what the original dimensions are.
How can you still screw this up? I just don't get it.)
I completely see what you mean but I sorta like the style I go with for my art.
(http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii231/Sapinya/renders/TWEWY-Neku.png)
Don't flame me or talk about the stuff I like cause it wouldn't be fair as I don't do that to sierra fans :(
(It's not that I'm ignoring you cause I would like to do it that way but I completely forget how to do it some times and I feel kind of embarrassed to ask something someone has explained plenty of times now.
Icey, ThreeOhFour was trying to show you what you should do - draw a figure in different tones and try how it looks on the background, in each step of the process and then decide if and what tone of the character looks good on the background (remember that you asked that?). So why not overlay the 4 versions of your character on the actual background, I am seriously doubting you did that.
And if you feel embaraced about asking about something that was anwsered before, then go and check the thread that was mentioned in, the search function of the forum has been fixed.
Quote from: Khris on Wed 22/02/2012 20:39:46
Do you want him to look like King Kong squashed him in his fist?
I'm sure you can find some healthy middle ground between my suggestion and a serious developmental disease.
(Also, how do you still screw up the IMG tag parameters...?? If you left out the height parameter, then the picture would at least retain its aspect ratio. But how do you get from 38x106 to 75x200? After all these months and me pointing this out I don't know how many times?
And what's up with your avatar picture? It gets resized to 60x60 no matter what the original dimensions are.
How can you still screw this up? I just don't get it.)
...oh, poor, Khris. :) I gave up trying to help Icey develop his skills a few weeks ago. The way I see it, I can really not care for somebody who doesn't even sometimes read what they've written in a message (checking for stuff like typos and grammar and sometimes the basic information that's being sent).
Well, it had to be said.
Icey:
I'm no't going to flame you for liking a certain style. That would be ridiculous.
The problem is, your sprite look's nothing like the style of The World Ends With You. It jus't look's like a guy with a really thin torso.
You'll also notice that Neku's chest i's indeed at least as wide as hi's wais't:
(http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss64/ancient_album/neku1-thumb-250x658.jpg)
The thing is, hi's body still follow's some basic anatomic principle's. It's just like with DotT and perspective, the game's background's are still following it, not abandoning it completely.
Well I was actually not trying to make him look like neku but I was using him as a example of the Tetsuya Numora style I have been using.
However I edited him so I think he has a chest now. Does this look a little better?
(http://www.pictureshoster.com/files/2yca6vk1p33qslpq4072.png)
I hope you don't mind, me playing around with the boy a bit ;)
Would this still fit the style you are looking for?
(http://s1.directupload.net/images/user/120224/w4xcdiaa.png)
Wow that looks way better then what I made. The hair is little off due to the sprite perspective but's cool. Sadly though I can't use the edit cause I thought I had went along and made all the other views for the Last edit by me. And I hate making walking views so I don't really plan to do them over. Such shame though, I really wish I could have used him :/
Quote from: Icey games on Fri 24/02/2012 00:11:21
Sadly though I can't use the edit cause I thought I had went along and made all the other views for the Last edit by me. And I hate making walking views so I don't really plan to do them over.
That's a pity, because I think there are some great improvements in Khris' and Tabata's edits. You could always do some minor edits in your existing frames, there is no need to completely redo them all. IMHO, it would be worth it!
I made this yesterday and didn't have a chance to post it until now. Even if it doesn't come to use with this sprite it might help in the future.
(http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab12/Mad1978/IceyNekuPO.png)
This incorporates most of the things Khris has already mentioned. It's maybe more of a possible approach to spriting.
To get the basic anatomy about rightish (even if exagerated etc.) It can be helpful to make a blank doll first, before drawing the clothes and everything. So, the first image shows your typical skinny androgynous model. This is not really more work, and you could use this as template for other sprites, even female ones.
This doll can then be 'dressed' up, and you'll maybe find that you get a better idea, of how the clothes fall and form creases (again, even if cartoonish).
The next images address a problem I have with your lighting. There are massive highlights on the hair and trousers, but non on the shirt. This accentuates the flatnes of the body. You could of course ignore shading altogether, which would make animating easier and faster. Or, just use the outline colours, if you don't want to introduce more shades. I prefer to use one darker shade for each element, this is up to you.
I hope this is of some help!
ps: Please excuse the crappy hair-do, I can't for the life of me grasp the concept of that spiky quiff!
That's really helpful and I think I will use the doll for future references when designing other games.
I will show the reason why I really don't wan' to edit it even though it's still possible.
(http://www.pictureshoster.com/files/rcgqgovj9jq0a2dqws22.png)
I guess you can call me lazy but this game was really supposed to take 1 or 2 days. However I am thank full it took longer cause it will have better sprites. But really just want to get it out the way before break is over. :-\
And maybe this will help a little. Here is a picture of Dave.
(http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/50086_100003527089824_1263047993_n.jpg)
What's going on with the blue haze around the characters? Right now they look radioactive or ghost-like.
As for the walk-cycle, I'm judging this purely on the sprites and not seeing it in motion, but it looks like a serious case of briefcase arms. He doesn't look like he's even slightly moving his arms. But I have to see the animation to know for sure.
briefcase arms arms lol. huhhh....
The blue aura is present around them because of the location. here not dead nut I don't wan't to spoil it. I should have the game out in a few hours. I just got to build up some strength to get each sprite in the game.