Advice on a character style?

Hollister Man · Mon 05/06/2006 02:00:06

Hey! I'm back again! I got kinda frustrated (my partner in crime sorta got married...) and was working on other projects, and moved again. Well, anyway I'm here now.

I happen to have two excellent sketch-artists for best friends. We discussed using primarily pure-sketch for backgrounds (save for animations) and decided it should work, and offer an interesting style.

Here is a sample of one room:

The problem I have with this is making good characters. Fortunately, Dan is very skilled with life drawing. I'm just wondering about the character style, since I will probably be doing most of the pixel animating.

I have a few options:

1: Use transparent, sketch-style characters which overlay the backgrounds.
2: Use opaque, sketch style characters which would look like cut-outs
3: Use characters such as my previous one posted here.

I know there's problems with the animation, but why fix it if we're switching to a different style?

Depending on suggestions, I'll probably post some placeholder characters on the background...

Oh, and thanks for looking!

Kweepa · Mon 05/06/2006 05:43:46

The room layout is somewhat confusing, with lots of touching shapes.
I rearranged it a bit:

(I rushed it so it's not centred.)

If you keep to the very minimalist style you have, I think you'll have to use more sketchy characters - I'd go with transparent characters. However, if you solidify the image somewhat (like I've done, but better

) then I think you can stick with something like the previous character.

Hollister Man · Mon 05/06/2006 05:53:54

Hmm. Thanks Steve! That's something to think about. I had considered coloring in a chalk-like style, and it would probably work very much like that. I had already uploaded my character samples when I saw this, so why not post it.

A is fully transparent. Could get very jumbled with complex backgrounds.
B is anti-aliased, but opaque. The inside of the character is basically the parchment pattern.
C is colored. It was a quick job, although he turned out okay.

Personally I never liked the steps coming around behind the machine, but I'm not the artist. We'll probably plan the backgrounds a little better in the future.

Babar · Mon 05/06/2006 05:56:57

There was a mags game with sketchy backgrounds AND character styles a while back. Something to do with a monk(?) and a warrior(?). It was visually excellent. Can't remember the name (or any link), someone else might be able to help you there.

Hollister Man · Mon 05/06/2006 06:15:19

I'll look into it. Thanks! I can always use some inspiration. There are a few main reasons for the style. 1: We've always wanted a 'legend' feel to it, so making it seem like an illustration while the narrator 'reads' the story seemed like a good idea. 2:Its easier than trying to strive for the oil-paint look of Sierra's old games (and no waste if we decide to do so later)

Babar · Mon 05/06/2006 06:29:45

Foundified! Here it is:

Biwa of Blood

On an off-topic note, 1000 posts reached!

jasonjkay · Mon 05/06/2006 13:34:47

couldn't you make the backgrounds with coloured pencils? It would make it a lot more coloufull and visually interesting especially if you are going to use this style in the whole game.

Kweepa · Mon 05/06/2006 16:27:21

Quote from: Hollister Man on Mon 05/06/2006 05:53:54
I had considered coloring in a chalk-like style, and it would probably work very much like that.

If you go with chalk colouring, the coloured characters look like they'd work well to me.
I take back what I said about transparent - I agree that the character blends too much with the background.
I like the "cutout" character. It's a shame that you can't easily keep the parchment pattern static as you move the character around (it could be done with a plugin).

Quote
Personally I never liked the steps coming around behind the machine, but I'm not the artist.

Put your foot down! The artist works for you!

big brother · Mon 05/06/2006 16:36:05

Overlapping elements aren't a bad thing at all. They make a scene visually interesting. However, as Steve noted, they can make things confusing, especially where you have intersecting tangents. Generally you want contrast between the overlap of two shapes. When they line up, that's when problems occur.
If you end up picking the sketchy sprites, you need to be careful about the exterior AA (unless you plan to have an alpha channel). Personally, I would pick a sprite style that would stand out from the background a little more. The forms of the sketchy guys are a little ambiguous. It might be interesting if each character was tinted a different color (matching their respective speech text).

Hollister Man · Mon 05/06/2006 18:07:59

Good idea BB, I like the idea of using a tint for the characters, we'll see what happens.

And Steve...actually the artist usually ignores me

milkanannan · Fri 09/06/2006 18:27:13

is that mananan's basement?

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Fri 09/06/2006 18:54:47

QuoteI like the "cutout" character. It's a shame that you can't easily keep the parchment pattern static as you move the character around (it could be done with a plugin).

You don't need a plugin for this, just a transparent overlay with the wavy pattern. Adjust visibility to taste.

As for the characters, I would avoid making them blend too much into a low detail background to avoid confusing the player. Fully colored/brownish characters should work fine provided you make them visually stand out from the environment. If you go with the brownish colors you might try a subtle dark outline, for example. Looks good!