Adventure Game Studio

Hello...

(http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a214/La_Lore/Critics%20Lounge/RollingAnt.gif)

(http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a214/La_Lore/Critics%20Lounge/RollingAnt.gif)

Any flaw? I know it' s not perfect, I miss two frames, the north 3/4 side view, left and right... But I think it' s not bad.

I am thinking in putting eyes in two holes in the helmet, over the strap, just 3 black pixels with a fouth one to fake a glow in the eyes... too lame?

Oh! And I don' t want to make a walkcycle... So, someone has an idea on how to animate the wings???

F-ant-astic!

Looks great. But don't ants have 6 legs?

EDIT: Ah yes, couldn't spot them when he was spinning so fast :D

If you download the sprite, and look closely to the sprite you' ll see two tiny arms below the "main" ones.

You do realise it looks like this trooper has tits do you?  :=

A solid colorscheme and good dynamics. I would avoid putting eyes in that. It looks perfect like a grunt as it is.

that is frikin incredible.

For me the highlights in the chest look a little bit too bright, but otherwise it seems perfect. :)

Well done.

I fixed some things, like the highlight in the coat (It seemed it had a too bright texture for a textile, no, Mikko?), the tommy, which I hope will look less like boobs, and the glow in the wings...

Still... Any idea on how to animate the flying wings?Ã,  ;D

I'm no ant expert, but as far as i know, soldier ants don't fly. This comes from my personal unprofessional observation when i was a child, so don't quote me on this ;)

Yes, don' t expect zoological accuracy here. It' s related with the storyline. This guys belong to a new corp, the paratroopers, therefore the wings. I know that only Queens wanabee and their male couples (which die after sex) can have wings... But I' ll try to explain it as they are a new "Special commando", or something...

If I finish the game...

EDIT: Typo.

Oh, ok. Nice sprite btw.

nacho, PLEASE finish the game, the storyline sounds funny unusual and inventive, the sprite rocks, and if the rest of the graphics are anything like this one, then you have got yourself a winning combonation ;D

Really great sprite! I'd love to play any game with this little guy in it.

Annoyingly, my zone alarm was/is blocking it from animating so I can see it but I assume it spins around.

Anyway, wings from front buzzing in irritation while standing:

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v629/theeph/RollingAntAni.gif)

lawl

Thanks for the kind replies... They have encouraged me, so, be alert to GIP... I expect to make a ten rooms game... As soon as I make the two first ones, I' ll post.

Wow, really great sprite with a lot of character!

The only thing I'm not quite sure about is the tail, lower abdomen thingy, whatever you call it. To me it looks as if he had a little accident in his breaches.

Maybe it'd work better, if his tail etc. poked out of his breeches and had a more antish form.

I had a go at it. The pixel work isn't up to your standard, but maybe it gives you an idea of what I'm on about:

(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/anty.png)

Mad, you are making me doubt... Both versions are cool, I think... Can we make a poll or something? Who preffers it in "Mad/realistic" version? Who does in "Nacho/Cartonish"?

Looks exceptionally unique game! I really hope you make it nacho. The sprites look amazing. I prefer nacho's version, I feel overly cartoonish army ants would fit such a game better, but Mad yours looks pretty darn fine too.

And you might recognise the pallete, eh? Skavenbattle *cough*cough*

That is some truly excellent pixelling. I don't know why I'm even bothering trying to make a flycycle.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/sergiocornaga/antfly.gif)

I was going to motion blur the wings... but I got lazy. As a result of this they look terrible. But the bobbing up and down seems to work juussst fine. You'd probably also want to animate th body parts a little so it doesn't look so rigid. You know, make him jiggle a bit or something.

Makes me proud to be called         Ant-hony
;D ;D ;D

Quote from: Nacho on Fri 20/10/2006 14:02:17
And you might recognise the pallete, eh? Skavenbattle *cough*cough*

I was just about to compliment you on the palette  :D  ... J/k, I didn't realize :)

I animated fly wings for a character of mine, it should be the same principle...I just made two images, of his wings in two different flapping positions.  Then I used a Motion Blur tool from Photoshop on just the wings...when played fast, it pretty much looks like the wings are buzzing, like an insects' would.  You could have separate frames where he's hovering, and body tilted-forward for when he's flying.

Waiting for this game is going to make me ant-sy! I think it's a great sprite and a lovely design. Keep up the good work!

Thanks guys...

Strange, I am very reluctant to use the blurring tool, but I will try to figure how you did to finish it...Ã,  :)

I have a BG, now... It' s still unfinished, needs polishing.Ã,  :D But my greatest concern is about the mix of styles. The mountains, sky and clouds in the backgound are made in pixel art, while the layer in the foreground is in another cartoony style I can' t define.

(http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a214/La_Lore/Critics%20Lounge/shootingrange.png)

Is this a problem?Ã,  :-\

Of course, any other overal crits are welcome, if you have in mind that it' s still unfinished. Some of the areas of grass in front of the barracks and the medical tent are finished, if you want to figure the tecnique.

Nacho, I love your style, the dithering in the sky is great and the mountains are incredible, I personally don't think there is anyting wrong with this piece of art, and the mix of styles don't bother me ethier. ;D

Um, I don't really have anything to say about the background right now. But I do think his little tail (I guess it's called a gaster) looks better the way Mad drew it. Either way though, a nice looking sprite!

I like the background ... I think it's fANTastic!

I particularly like the the Band of Brothers reference with the 506!

The only problem I can see is that the mountains in the background seem so richly detailed that it almost makes the foreground details seem ... unfinished.  But that's a minor thing.

I love it!

I think you need more colour in your ant... He's very monochromatic

(http://kafkaskoffee.com/junk/ant_farlander.gif)

Also you have a few whites and a few "might as well be blacks" blacks.

Quote from: Darth Mandarb on Fri 27/10/2006 17:12:33
I like the background ... I think it's fANTastic!

I particularly like the the Band of Brothers reference with the 506!

The only problem I can see is that the mountains in the background seem so richly detailed that it almost makes the foreground details seem ... unfinished.Ã,  But that's a minor thing.

I love it!

I fully agree with Darth.

Besides that, I'm not quite sure about having outlines in the foreground and no outlines in the background.

But it's excellent.

As usual.

yeah the mountains look fantastic. I'd probably make the foreground with the same detail as the background.

That' s the problem boojiboy... I don' t want to make the effort, so, the question is to make the background less detailed or leaving it the way it is now.  :) I' ll probably go for option a.  :)

@Eric: The monocromy had a reason, and it was keeping the photography as seen in the new WWII movies (Ryan, BoB, Red thin line...) and inspired in "Sidney gets a job" backgrounds by Istvan.

But as the backgrounds have gone a little more coloured than expected, I might consider your edit, thanks for the advise.

I don't know what amount of realism your going for and maybe it's a bit of a cliche, but you could put the ants more into relation to the BG size-wise.

Sorry for ruining your great BG, but here are just two examples from the top of my head:

(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/antBG.png)

It's supposed to be a cigarette butt and a cereal box(TM)!

:)

I was going to make a human story with ants  ::) Mainly because I want to make a WWII game, but I am very concerned about molesting the vets or their relatives (I don't think any vet would play the game, though...) Also war is not very popular, so, it was an idea to use this insects (There is a branch of ants called warrior ants, no? it' s in its nature...)

Also, I love the machines of the WWII, and, whereas I thought on changing the tanks with beetles and the C-47 with dragonflies, I prefered to keep the original machines. So, everything its going to be into human dimension, but with ants... But your edit made me smile, thanks.

:)

I love the beetle/dragonfly idea, Nacho. Pleeeeeze change your mind! Por favor? Por favor con cerezas?

 :o No no no go for option B.
It's less the quality of the foreground image and more the detail. Some of the shadows are a bit off and the placement of some of the objects could be worked out a little better, eg. medical barracks not so offscreen. But the merging of the BG and FG details really is fine (keeping in mind that it's unfinished like you said).