Two sprites and a background

[Mantra of Doom]

Hello everyone... it's been a while since I've decided to work on a game and since an overly ambitious project and real life stalled out my last game idea, I've decided to try something a little simpler.

So far, this little game, consisting of four rooms, is set on a salvage space ship.. the crew is a bit crazy, I'm thinking early Red Dwarf as inspiration... small cast, limited setting, lots of humor.

This is the main character, she's the one that actually goes to collect the scrap.. so she's the one that does all the work. She sort of has an attitude, but is just mostly annoyed at how strange the rest of the crew is.



This is one of the crew, his name is Eric and he's a bit insane... he's also the engineer and is usually floating around the engine room.



Here's a rough version of the hallway that connects the parts of the ship.



Also, a question, since this is a spaceship, what would be the best way to animate in a low to no gravity setting? I'm thinking maybe the main character has magnet boots, but the rest of the cast sort of floats around. Just an idea...

Thanks in advanced for all your help!

[The Suitor]

Hey i'm diggin these sprites!

my only suggestions are
Define her female figure just a tad more, though I do kinda like the figure of your sprite


...and, If this is a spaceship it should be less square IMHO


my edits aren't that great, but maybe they can open up more ideas.


I will definitely play this if when its finished!

[Mantra of Doom]

Here's a bit of a redraw showing a bit of shape. I didn't intend for her to be really girly or busty, but making her look a bit more feminine won't hurt. I've started calling her Wombat, but that's because she reminds me of a grown up version of a character I used to draw.

I haven't touched the hallway again, but I intend to do it tomorrow. I want to add more pipes and wires to make the ship less clean and more of a "scrap hauler".

EDIT:

So I decided to edit the hall a bit more, I made the colors more drab and made the corridor a bit more tube-like. I also added a couple of light panels on the ceiling.

[TerranRich]

That is a beautiful redraw of both the sprite and the background, Mantra. A lot of sci-fi ship corridors tend to be hexagonal/octogonal in shape, much like your current background.

What about sectioning off the corridors? 3D resources are a great place to look at sci-fi corridors and settings. Take this one for example: http://www.daz3d.com/i.x/shop/itemdetails/-/?item=7322&_m=d

Just some inspiration to help you along. The game I'm working on is a sci-fi game as well, and I'd love to see more in the genre.

[Mantra of Doom]

I added a vent in the floor of the hallway up there. Thanks for all the support guys. If only I could figure our how best to draw the bridge and cargo bay... and the engine room. Ergh, that's 6 rooms, not 5.

Anyway, this is Ted, the robot... He sort of floats around and insults people.

[Mantra of Doom]

Instead of making many threads, I'm just going to use this one for all the things I need help with... until animation, of course. But I'll tackle that when I come to it.

This is one of the crew's cabins. I know the bed thing looks insanely huge, but I can't seem to get the perspective right.

[Questionable]

It doesn't really seem like she's made it her home. In an environment like space (or a ship on the ocean) you really have nothing. You can't go walking through grass. You can't visit a coffee shop. You're restricted to the ship almost 24/7. Not only that, you're ALWAYS working. Everyone on the ship should have an integral job, so you're constantly working. The only escape you have are your private quarters.

Look at Star Trek, Firefly, 80% of the sci-fi shows out there. She has some pictures and a computer screen.

Either she's new or the ship has very strict regulations...

[Mantra of Doom]

Edits:




BTW, the boots are magnetic, that's why they're stuck to the wall. It still looks a bit empty, but she is rather new and a messy cabin an an anti-gravity setting seems rather unsafe.

[Ryan Timothy B]

I'm not a huge fan of the Paint style backgrounds combined with the realistic photos.  I made a quick edit of those to show how to make them look more Paint style.  Also removed the white from the photos, you shouldn't use white unless you really need to.

I noticed a few mistakes with your perspective.  Made a quick edit to correct them to show you.  The hand bars, sliding door, bed, and computer screen were the most obvious (your first background of the hallway has these problems too).

I also added some panels since this whole room is pretty empty and boring for the player's eyes.  You could also throw in some large panels on the floor, that would really spice things up.

Anyway, looks like a good little background.

[TwinMoon]

A trick I like very much is to add a lighter colour where the light falls on it:



Notice how the plant gets more depth, and the pot looks more round if you accentuate its curve.
It's a quickie, but you get the idea.

[Matti]

The room is huge but empty. Especially as a quarter on a ship that's very unrealistic. I would add a desk and a chair, that would be a logical part of the room and make it less empty. It could stand in the foreground, perhaps a bit to the right.

[Babar]

I would add a desk and a chair, that would be a logical part of the room and make it less empty. It could stand in the foreground, perhaps a bit to the right.

Hahahah....considering this is Zero-G space, I'm envisioning magnetic butt-clencher chairs, and a computerised hand-writing recognition enabled desk-surface. Funny how many ideas you can model around the environment...


Also, as far as I'm aware, plants need sunlight and gravity to give them a sense of direction and shape...I'd be curious as to how they turn out without natural forms of these things.

[Matti]

Hahahah....considering this is Zero-G space, I'm envisioning magnetic butt-clencher chairs, and a computerised hand-writing recognition enabled desk-surface. Funny how many ideas you can model around the environment...

Well, it's quite unlikely that he's gonna make a zero-gravity station. Of course there must be some sort of artificial gravity. Otherwise any walkcycle would be senseless and the characters/objects had to be flying around all the time. But that's not the case here since the given characters and objects are STANDING..

So why not make a desk?

[ThreeOhFour]

Hahahah....considering this is Zero-G space, I'm envisioning magnetic butt-clencher chairs, and a computerised hand-writing recognition enabled desk-surface. Funny how many ideas you can model around the environment...

Well, it's quite unlikely that he's gonna make a zero-gravity station. Of course there must be some sort of artificial gravity. Otherwise any walkcycle would be senseless and the characters/objects had to be flying around all the time. But that's not the case here since the given characters and objects are STANDING..

So why not make a desk?

http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=35458.0

[Mantra of Doom]

I haven't quite figured out the mechanics of this yet, but I would like to start the game without gravity... and I haven't done the floating animation yet and of course that would be different than a character that's say... standing in a pair of magnetic boots. (View 1 is the floating character animated and View 2 is the walk cycle)

I haven't drawn it yet, but I was hoping to have a few objects animated in the foreground and when you click on them, the character will say something.

The plants are fake, because I think it's rather funny seeing a plant glued to the floor. The bass was going to float in the corner.

Anyway, thanks for all the input... I have a few more ideas I want to play with before I start trying to figure out how to script this thing.

[Mantra of Doom]

Floating poses, I'm fairly happy with the front and back views... but I don't really like the side.

         

[Questionable]

The only thing I really have to gripe about is; On the side view, you don't need to try and fit all of her face in there.

Last, Her hair (in the behind view) is a little dredlock-like. If it's not intentional: Heads up. If it is: Mission Accomplished.

[Terrorcell]

And the girl does look a bit pale against the dull, dark colours of the background.