my firstish character

[pantsworth]

I decided to start working on a game using characters from a comic strip i did in college.

The game's tentative title is:
Snowman and Iswald Take Out the Trash!!
(and complete other household chores)


The game will consist of 2 roomates, Snowman (who is a snowman) and Iswald (who is a whale), cleaning up their apartment.Ã,  There will also be plenty of antics




anyways, here is the first version of snowman.Ã,  Any feedback would be helpful, but in particular i'm interested in the following:
-is he too lumpy (i kinda like it)
-how are the colors, in particular the carrot-nose
-what can i do to make his arm look better?
-The eyes don't look right to me - I want to keep the charcoal-eye-look, but lose the squarishness

Thanks
-pants

[Sean]

Hey Pants,

I like the lumpy look, it's something memorable and different. That's always a great thing for a character to be

I really like the nose, It's a tad long.. and an teeny bit pointy but it still looks great

As for the arm, I'm not too sure... perhaps have the stick "frozen" inside a big lump of Ice.. or something?

Can't help you with the eyes, my spirteing skills are very limited  :

One thing, worth a mention.. is his face looks a little expressionless right now. Why don't you try adding a half smile.. or frown?

Overall, it's a really nice sprite.. good job

[pantsworth]

so i've finished up my 3/4 view of snowman(it is basically what i posted)... and it has got me thinking.  I started with the idea that when snowman is holding still, he will be in the 3/4 view.  THis would include talking, inspecting objects, etc.  However, I'm not sure what to do when objects are in the back of the room, and he would have to be turned around to be looking at them.

I'm currently working on the side view and his walk cycle.

I've been thinking a lot about the shadows on Snowman.  He is basically 3 spheres, and I've been shading the spheres like there is a light source to the right.  When I flip these images, it will appear that the light source has changed.  If i fix the shading, I'm worried about it always appearing that the light source is on the right.  Should I really care about these things?  any suggestions?

-pants

[pantsworth]

I decided to re-do the shading.Ã,  Hopefully now it doesn't imply a set light source.



While doing the side view i noticed that the way that the spheres overlap.Ã,  It seems to means the viewer is looking down on the character a bit.Ã,  I kept the same overlap for side view.Ã,  It looks kinda weird, but i stuck with it.

The walk cycle isn't done yet.Ã,  I want to add some upper body swaying.Ã,  I'm not sure how i like the rolling of the bottom sphere.Ã,  It looks like it is behind the rest of him.Ã,  Any suggestions?Ã,  I'm thinking about just leaving it, is that okay?



any feedback would be appreciated..

-pants

ps.  it saddens me that i'm having 3/4 of the conversation in this thread 

[R4L]

How about a hopping walkcycle? You could add detail like having each ball of snow that makes up the snowman come apart in the air and plop back together when he lands.

As for the current walkcycle, I think it's a little too fast, and using common sense, I would say that if a real snowman moved like that, it would fall apart.

But I am not sure what to say about it. It is a difficult sprite to animate. I would just make a hopping walk cycle,  but that could be too slow. Sorry im not helping, but im not sure what to tell you. 

R4L

[pantsworth]

How about a hopping walkcycle? You could add detail like having each ball of snow that makes up the snowman come apart in the air and plop back together when he lands.

As for the current walkcycle, I think it's a little too fast, and using common sense, I would say that if a real snowman moved like that, it would fall apart.

But I am not sure what to say about it. It is a difficult sprite to animate. I would just make a hopping walk cycle, but that could be too slow. Sorry I'm not helping, but I'm not sure what to tell you.

R4L

I thought about hopping, but was worried that he would move too slow then.  It might be something that i try out.  Maybe short quick hops could work.

I know that realisticly the rolling wouldn't work, which is why i kinda like it.  I'll adjust the speed and try to add some upper body movement.

thanks
-pants

[Khris]

(please don't quote the complete previous post)

Why don't you make him slide over the ground? Just an idea

[pantsworth]

(please don't quote the complete previous post)

my bad

Why don't you make him slide over the ground? Just an idea

I was discussing rolling v. hopping with my girlfriend.Ã,  she said the same thing.Ã,  sliding seems like the best method, so that is what i'm currently working on.Ã,  I should have some progress to post in an hour or so.

thanks for the help
-pants

[Evil]

You could have him waddle like a penguin, though I love the idea of the hop with the sections dividing. The "rolling" looks nice, but maybe as a movement thing. Like the snow shifts? The only comparison I have is in the cartoon "Ed, Edd, and Eddy" when the outlines are always shifting. Maybe when he moves, the snow distorts.

Over all the character is pretty solid. The arm seems a bit long and I'm not a fan of the mitten. Maybe make it less saturated so it's not standing out as much.

[pantsworth]

i tried sliding.Ã,  it turned into a slide/hop hybrid.Ã,  I think i like it.Ã,  I need to add the face and arm

Evil:Ã,  I'll look at the arm length, although i like the idea of it being longer.Ã,  Partially because it is kinda weird, but also because he'll need to reach out infront of himself and his base is so wide.Ã,  I'll play with the mittens colors a bit.Ã,  Thanks for the advice.



-pants

[EDIT]
Evil:Ã,  I shortened his arms a bit and i think the mittens are less saturated (I'm still getting used to the terminology, and am not sure that i'm using it correctly).

I've also added his face and arms



My new concern is the swing of his arms.Ã,  The elbow stays pretty much locked.Ã,  Does this look bad?Ã,  what should i do, if anything, to make is swing arm look better.Ã,  Ã, OOPS!Ã,  I just flattened the images.Ã,  So changing the arms would be a big pain in my buttocks right now.Ã, 

thanks
-pants

[dsg_charly]

To my mind, it's neat and nice. The move is funny, sensed and fluid enough.
The not bending elbow is not a problem since if you try to move like the snowman (meaning jumping), you'll notice you'll lock your elbow to give you dash.

I'm curious about the whale and its walkcycle.

See ya and happy new year.