Adventure Game Studio

Creative Production => Critics' Lounge => Topic started by: SookieSock on Wed 10/02/2010 16:42:08

Title: Spriting Technique
Post by: SookieSock on Wed 10/02/2010 16:42:08
I need help

(http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/1996/gargoyle.png)

(http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/1996/gargoyle.png)
X3

This is my Gargoyle. his proportions are OK but the shading is pants. As you can see you cant really understand what's going on as my pixels are just too messy and I don't really know how to tidy them up.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

By the way his tail is floating because its wrapped around a wall.
Title: Re: Spriting Technique
Post by: SinSin on Wed 10/02/2010 18:11:04
Not a bad image to be quite honest
Just a quick touch up here...
Got rid of the black
Edited the wings and lower abdomen area
Did some slight touching to the hands hope this is ok

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v691/a1n2t3z4/gargoylerevmp.png)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v691/a1n2t3z4/gargoylerevmp.png)
Title: Re: Spriting Technique
Post by: Jim Reed on Wed 10/02/2010 21:42:20
(http://i45.tinypic.com/2mcglxy.png)

2x
(http://i45.tinypic.com/2mcglxy.png)

I reduced the colour count, but you original sprite still looks better to me.
Title: Re: Spriting Technique
Post by: ThreeOhFour on Sat 13/02/2010 15:35:32
2 good ways to 'tidy up' a sprite are to limit your palette and to try using outlines.

(http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/1996/gargoyle.png)

My attempt is a bit more 'video gamey' than I intended but perhaps you might get some ideas from it.
Title: Re: Spriting Technique
Post by: SinSin on Sat 13/02/2010 15:52:55
Although I love the way you draw Ben, you have to think will this sprite fit the rest of the background ???
I like it tho  :)

Title: Re: Spriting Technique
Post by: Calin Leafshade on Sat 13/02/2010 15:57:49
I think the point of the thread was really about general technique and making sprites more readable.

The particular sprite was just an example really.

It seems outlining is a very good start.
Title: Re: Spriting Technique
Post by: SookieSock on Sat 13/02/2010 18:23:31
It always looks so easy when you do it Ben. thanks for the paint over Guys. There's bits out of all of them i like, especially the readability of Ben's. thanks for the help.
Title: Re: Spriting Technique
Post by: Questionable on Tue 09/03/2010 01:45:32
Quote from: Sinsin on Sat 13/02/2010 15:52:55
Although I love the way you draw Ben, you have to think will this sprite fit the rest of the background ???
I like it tho  :)

Good point, maybe we can get a shot of the background for reference.
Title: Re: Spriting Technique
Post by: Tuomas on Tue 09/03/2010 11:29:37
Yeah, a background would be nice, to see how it should look on it.

People tell you  to reduce colours. If you're making a small sprite it's better to have less colours in your palette or the sprite will get rather blurry. You see, in a gargoyle like this, Ben's got a point: his garg. doesn't need a whole lot of shadows. Just enough to show the outlines and the face. Stuff like the breasts and the abdominals, eyes and wing scales are details that look good visible. But a stone doesn't have a lot of detailed surface, so just restrict the shadow-lines to a few necessary details. It'll look cartoony, but it'll also look better. After all, all the outlines are the shadows. When there's light, use less dark colours, when there's none, use darker, I don't have to tell you this ;) But too much colours makes it look antialiased and in other words blurry. And when drawing outlines like around its ears: try to avoid double pixels and filled in corners.

I'd love to make a paint-over of this, but it's hell with just a laptop touchpad :D
Title: Re: Spriting Technique
Post by: Chicky on Tue 09/03/2010 14:04:03
I'd hope SookieSock's already finished this sprite, there's no point bumping with useless comments, or should i say 'questionable' ones.  :=

Mind you, having an outline as in Ben's sprite wont make it conflict with the backgrounds if all sprites are in that style.
Title: Re: Spriting Technique
Post by: Questionable on Tue 09/03/2010 17:56:47
Quote from: Chicky on Tue 09/03/2010 14:04:03
I'd hope SookieSock's already finished this sprite, there's no point bumping with useless comments, or should i say 'questionable' ones.  :=

=D

Well I often obsess over things (guess that's why I never get anything done) and I figured that since he hasn't turned in the game yet, maybe he's still working on it, and if so maybe he'd still be interested in variou view points...

Also, I didn't check the date of the thread... (Oops)

=P
Title: Re: Spriting Technique
Post by: SookieSock on Tue 09/03/2010 22:51:56
(http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/1662/gateroomresized.png)

This is the back ground for the gargoyle

(http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/6359/34480066.png)

And this is the finished gargoyle. I say finished in the loosed possible way though, if I think of some thing else to do with it ill change it. lol
Still working on the game though slowly but surely.



oh and  im not a HE  im a girl.  ;)
Title: Re: Spriting Technique
Post by: Chicky on Tue 09/03/2010 23:36:10
That's an ace background sookie, i'd add some detail to those background trees.  Remember to keep your character sprite fairly dark so it doesn't stick out in those shadows ;)
Title: Re: Spriting Technique
Post by: Tuomas on Wed 10/03/2010 00:00:05
A girl? But I thought Calin was... oh, never mind ;)
Title: Re: Spriting Technique
Post by: Dualnames on Wed 10/03/2010 07:38:44
Quote from: Tuomas on Wed 10/03/2010 00:00:05
A girl? But I thought Calin was... oh, never mind ;)

I think Tuomas, she's Cal's girlfriend.
Title: Re: Spriting Technique
Post by: SookieSock on Wed 10/03/2010 07:56:39
Can I not be referred to as Cal's girl friend please. I have my own identity you know  :P ;D
Title: Re: Spriting Technique
Post by: SSH on Wed 10/03/2010 08:29:41
With a name like Sookie, I thought you'd be Bill Compton's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_blood) girlfriend...  :=
Title: Re: Spriting Technique
Post by: SookieSock on Wed 10/03/2010 08:37:27
If we're going to talk about the true blood series, I've got to say I prefer Eric.

Sookie is actually the name of my cat, why I adopted the name I really don't know.

Title: Re: Spriting Technique
Post by: Dualnames on Wed 10/03/2010 13:37:25
My cat's name is Trill (off-topic: No fu^&^* wonder where that came from)..

But well, people remember you with the first impression. ALWAYS! Trust me on that.
Title: Re: Spriting Technique
Post by: abstauber on Wed 10/03/2010 14:14:24
Quote from: Dualnames on Wed 10/03/2010 13:37:25
My cat's name is Trill.

Like the bird seed?
(http://www.zoobi.de/images/product_images/popup_images/2981_0.jpg)

well, I bet the don't sell it in Greece

Anyhow, SookieSock, I hope you're making a game with that background. It's looking quite interesting, just the style gap is bugging me a bit.
Title: Re: Spriting Technique
Post by: Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens on Wed 10/03/2010 14:23:56
Stay on topic, please. :)
Title: Re: Spriting Technique
Post by: Questionable on Wed 10/03/2010 19:12:51
Quote from: abstauber on Wed 10/03/2010 14:14:24Anyhow, SookieSock, I hope you're making a game with that background. It's looking quite interesting, just the style gap is bugging me a bit.

Agreed. I feel as if that Gargoyle (which is excellent, by the way) feels a bit too realistically styled for that background (which is also excellent by the way.) Ultimately i comes down to YOUR opinion, though. I am a bit busy at the moment but I will revisit this with more constructive thoughts a bit later.
Title: Re: Spriting Technique
Post by: SookieSock on Fri 12/03/2010 15:24:26
(http://img393.imageshack.us/img393/5302/gateroomresizedgaergoya.png)
Left one is new.

OK I've changed the colours of the gargoyle. Does this help?
Title: Re: Spriting Technique
Post by: R4L on Fri 12/03/2010 20:10:02
To be honest, I think the left gargoyle would look better on the right. The right gargoyle would look nice in that same hue, just darker and placed on the left.
Title: Re: Spriting Technique
Post by: Questionable on Sat 13/03/2010 22:39:15
(http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/362/gateroomretouch.png)

So the first thing that bugged me was that the gargoyle on the right was grey, while the one on the left was (sepia?) yellow. It seemed to me that the gargoyle on the right should be MORE yellow, if anything, being that it's closer to the light.

Another thing that I felt was a bit off was the pathway. You textured the brick columns so beautifully but then the path was left smooth as a dolphin.

I think that these are the two biggest things I can recommend taking a look at.

Once I took a step back though I realized that the entire background felt kind-of washed with yellow. So to break things up a bit I change the BG to a hue of violet (I found the color in the gate and thought I would expand on it.) If you like that concept I also took it a bit further bringing the exposure down in order to darken the scene a bit more.

How do you feel about all the suggestion that have been made. Do you agree with them or are you taking this in a different direction?
Title: Re: Spriting Technique
Post by: SookieSock on Sun 14/03/2010 20:11:24
Sorry I forgot to say I will only be using one of the gargoyles, I should have said that earlier :-[. I really just wanted to know if the new one worked better in that back ground with less of a "style gap".

Thank you for the idea of texturing the path,   im still really new at this and often seem to overlook the simplest thing.