This is a relatively minor character. He's a sort of general purpose laborer for a small airline. He carries baggage and helps passengers, etc. I'm drawing him first because I want to learn as much as I can before starting the main characters.
(http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/5396/guardhj1.gif) (http://imageshack.us) (http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/2929/guardlitzw7.gif) (http://imageshack.us)
sketch and shaded version
He's supposed to be in early middle age, slightly droopy and not in top shape. He's wearing a somewhat stiff felty uniform with a row of buttons down the front. His feet are in fairly high black leather boots. I'm aiming to make him look dilligent and nice, but slightly bored.
All comments are welcome. I'm particularly interested in posture/emotion and shading. All comments, particularly ones that question assumptions, are welcome.
By the way, the palette is 16 grays.
This is the best sprite I've seen in ages. Very very cool!
I think it looks great!
Maybe extend the feet down a little (make them bigger).
Other than that, its impressive.
Is your game going to be in grayscale? That'd be interesting and original.
good luck!
The one thing I have a problem with---the one thing--is his mustache is straight, but his head is at an angle.
I like it, but he does remind me a little of Adolf Hitler :) I keep expecting one of his hands to shoot up in a Nazi salute!
But seriously, the only thing i'd change is the left hand side of his chest is bulgin out a little too much, which makes it look like his torso is twisted slightly. Other than that it's great!
(http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/1126/guardlitkj4.gif) (http://imageshack.us) (http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/1396/guardlit2rc0.gif) (http://imageshack.us)
Left: original, right: editQuote from: JRock on Wed 04/04/2007 04:21:34
Maybe extend the feet down a little (make them bigger).
I tried that in this edit, thanks for the useful feedback. The original goal was for the shoes to be sort of stylized, like elephant feet with a little pointy toe in front. Does the sharp 45-degree toe line in the original bother anyone else? I'd be curious to hear this, because I currently plan to use similar feet on all the human characters.
Quote from: updownleftright on Wed 04/04/2007 10:01:18
I like it, but he does remind me a little of Adolf Hitler :) I keep expecting one of his hands to shoot up in a Nazi salute!
But seriously, the only thing i'd change is the left hand side of his chest is bulgin out a little too much, which makes it look like his torso is twisted slightly. Other than that it's great!
The resemblance to Hitler, though uncanny, is entirely accidental. Or subconscious. He also reminds me of Mario, now that you mention it. All he needs is some overalls. Oh, and thank you for the advice about the twist in the torso. I really didn't notice that, and I've tried to fix it in this edit. Does it still look twisted?
Quote from: The Orator on Wed 04/04/2007 04:25:12
The one thing I have a problem with---the one thing--is his mustache is straight, but his head is at an angle.
That was bugging me too! He kept looking sort of like he was smirking, and I wasn't sure exactly why or what to do about it. I've tilted his mustache back to match the angle of the head, I hope that works now. It had the effect of making him look less happy and more bored, which is also good.
(http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/6789/lookdownrw6.gif) (http://imageshack.us)
sketch for animationThis sketch was unfortunately made before making all the recommended changes, but rest assured the final shaded version will incorporate them. The main character is a child, so I'm making the guard look down when he begins a conversation. Here's a rough version of the sequence. In this 1-bit sketch it looks like he's putting his right hand right through his back- shading should make it clear that he's putting his hands behind him, not scratching his gall bladder.
Great edit Sparky, i always think it's cool to see what little changes can do to a sprite...
I like the new shoes better, the pointy bit was nice, but the rest of the character wasn't very angular, so they didn't match perfectly (if that makes sense!).
I must be honest, I can't really see the change to the torso, sorry! The more I look at it though the less it bothers me, it kind of fits the pose.
One quick note on the animation, although I know it's very early, I think he should bend his body ever so slightly as he tilts his head down. I'd just move the hips one pixel left and the shoulders one pixel right, it would help the motion look more natural.
mmmm I love men in uniform , very nice sprite, too bad it's not in color.
(http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/8459/lookep2.gif) (http://imageshack.us)
Here's a semi-final version.
Quote from: updownleftright on Thu 05/04/2007 09:25:05
Great edit Sparky, i always think it's cool to see what little changes can do to a sprite...
I like the new shoes better, the pointy bit was nice, but the rest of the character wasn't very angular, so they didn't match perfectly (if that makes sense!).
I must be honest, I can't really see the change to the torso, sorry! The more I look at it though the less it bothers me, it kind of fits the pose.
One quick note on the animation, although I know it's very early, I think he should bend his body ever so slightly as he tilts his head down. I'd just move the hips one pixel left and the shoulders one pixel right, it would help the motion look more natural.
Shoes- yeah, he's sort of chunky and rounded. I think these shoes do fit better. Change to torso- one pixel was shaved off the right side, and the shoulder was shifted left- it's pretty hard to see unless you zoom way in. Leaning forward- in this edit he doesn't lean forward. I think that's a good suggestion, though! I'll likely alter the last few frames and post another edit.
Quote from: Mr. Buckéthead on Thu 05/04/2007 12:39:39
mmmm I love men in uniform , very nice sprite, too bad it's not in color.
Quote from: JRock on Wed 04/04/2007 04:21:34Is your game going to be in grayscale?
This is for a little adventure in grayscale. The goal is a look somewhat like charcoal or graphite drawings.
edit:The rough talking animation is in progress, it should be posted soon. He's looking down while talking (like the last frame of this sequence). This is the first talk animation in the project. How might one approach this? Mustache wiggle, a little bit of mouth showing once in a while? Maybe small head movements? Also, what are some thoughts for/against lip synching?
(http://img400.imageshack.us/img400/6965/lookdown2tg7.gif) (http://imageshack.us)
Edit
I took updownleftright's suggestion and made him lean forward slightly.
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/guard_talk.gif)
First attempt at lip-sync
The palette is off in that .gif for some reason, but you can still tell what's going on.
I've never done this before, so I don't really know what I'm doing. I think the biggest thing missing right now is a head motion, but I'm not sure which letters to attach it to. Also some of the mouth shapes are duplicates, and some don't look quite right. Any suggestions would be welcome, I'm shooting in the dark here.
edit 4/8:
Thanks again to all who repied with feedback earlier. I'm not surprised there were no responses to that last update- I've heard lip-sync is a pretty uncommonly used feature. Anyway, if anyone has practical advice (especially how to incorporate head movement) I'd very much appreciate it. Cheers!