So here I am, painting a background, and I notice that my protagonist's sprite hasn't been updated since I released the last version of my game in 2009. Obviously, it now looks rubbish compared to the other sprites, so I have to fix that.
[imgzoom]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/50882197/newjakobsprites.PNG[/imgzoom]
New on top, old on bottom.
I'm trying to get him to look more consistent between poses, so that he doesn't suddenly look like a completely different character if he turns around. Also, I noticed his earfins were way too big in proportion to his head, and his head was awful. So I fixed it, and gave him the suggestion of buck teeth.
Am I going in the right direction with this? Are there some anatomical or balance errors that I'm totally missing? How do I shape his snout in the front view? It is complete mystery to me.
For reference, some concept art I made of him. Ignore the hair, it's the way it is on the sprite for ease of animation:
(http://khato.furrified.com/wiki/images/thumb/6/6d/Jakob.png/300px-Jakob.png)
As always, thank you in advance. :)
The new version is definitely better than the old one. I don't see anything wrong with the overall anatomy, but, as you said yourself, there is a lack of consistency between the different views.
I tried aligning the front and side view:
[imgzoom]http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab12/Mad1978/PunkDinoPO.png[/imgzoom]
I also altered a bit of the shading and outline and tried to define the snout in the front view.
I used your concept art as reference.
Great sprite! Looking forward to playing another game of yours, soon.
You might try blue for the nose highlight rather than white so it does not interfere with the eyes. Aside from that I think it looks good.
Taking both of yers advice, I fixed up the Jakob sprite and redesigned two more.
[imgzoom]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/50882197/spriteupdate.PNG[/imgzoom]
Buster is supposed to look more like a free runner than a chav now, so I lithed him up and drew him better. I also redesigned his mask a bit so it looks like a mask. And generally made it not a horrible abberation.
The other one is:
[imgzoom]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/50882197/desfixedface.PNG[/imgzoom]
Does anyone know how to make that sideview look anything but absolutely terrible?
You could arch her back a little more, and reduce the breasts by a pixel or two. The legs look okay; maybe these small tweaks already help.