Was just messing around on mspaint today and was actually liking the results I was getting.
Are these characters too simple in design, or is there no such thing as too simple ?
(http://img282.imageshack.us/img282/6951/characters3musketeers2kv.png)
I may change them a bit, and obviously I'll try and knock a few more out.
As for the sizes etc, they are all in scale with each other.
The little guy at the end is supposed to be small, as I feel it shows his plumpness a bit more, which is why his buttons don't do up all the way. I plan to use him as some old general, or mayor or something.
The middle skinny man is who I plan to have as the main character, as he looks a little weedy but at the same time looks like he means business.
The guy on the left...I'm not sure what his roll will be, most likely either a big clutz, or a very strong character.
If they were to stay like this, I'd imagine animating walk cycles, and general animation would be a whole lot easier.
Maybe I'll give my whole project a simple cartoony theme rather then start with 2d pixels as I earlier planned.
Oh, and if it hasn't clicked yet, I'm planning on attempting a Musketeer theme :D (I'll save my Western project for later!)
Hmm, I like your style. Get rid of the dark outlines, however, and fill them with a darker version of the inside color. The second guy's arms need to be a bit wider.
Less saturated colors'd help. It's a good base. You just need to polish it up a little! Devil's advocate here, a double pixel black outline might lend these guys a bit of Paper Mario punch, too. Worth a try!
You've got the right idea, but your exagerations are in the wrong place. The skinny one is far to skinny in the arms, legs, feet and neck. They all hold a lot of style, but they just need some revamp.
Also, what res do you plan on making this game? These sprites are huge.
Huge sprites=Hard animation, bad shapes and stuff like that... Try smaller sprites for a start. Black outlines could work too. The theme is good, the shapes need to be more relaxed.
Proportions! You have alot of freedom with the cartoony style, but one thing should never be messed with - Arm lenght. Arms allways go to mid-thigh.
My advice is: Reduce the size, add a simple shade and reduce the saturation. Good luck. ;)
Evil, the size of the sprites is why I recommended a double pixel outline. As it is now, the black is kind of wimpy.
You could easily get away with halving the size of these guys, though.
Krysis, that's spot on.