Need criticism

ramon82 · Mon 21/05/2007 06:32:09

hi all

i am planning to start a new game...

http://www.esnips.com/web/AGS

Download the zipped file named compiled.zip

can u pls comment on gfx, char movement and background?

tnx

Captain Lexington · Mon 21/05/2007 06:50:21

Well, the Graphics are standard amateur fare, certainly almost up there with Larry Vales, maybe a quick run through the Critic's Lounge on each sprite individually would help. (Well, not each sprite, of course.

)

The animation is a bit fast, but seems smooth enough.

The up/down walkcycles leaves a bit to be desired. It looks like he trying to dance, or something.

The background works with the sprites. Simple, but effective.

Looks good. The graphics aren't distractingly bad, and are consistent (so far) so I'd certainly give a finished version a try.

EDIT: Added "consistent (so far)."

ramon82 · Mon 21/05/2007 16:48:19

Ok after Orator's comments I revised the graphics a bit...

How about it now?? I will change the character movement in due course.

thanks

markbilly · Mon 21/05/2007 17:05:41

Not so keen on the clouds. Try this?

Or some kind of depth of field effect.

ramon82 · Mon 21/05/2007 17:24:21

nice effect dude

photoshop??

cobra79 · Mon 21/05/2007 17:27:36

Personally I think the sharp clouds fit better, but you should reverse the sky colors. Normally the sky goes from deep blue in the foreground to near white at the horizon.

manored · Mon 21/05/2007 17:54:31

I like the cartoonish look of the background.

Khris · Mon 21/05/2007 19:03:12

I don't think the style makes use of the many pixels. Why don't you do a lowres game instead?

markbilly: those blurry clouds really hurt my eyes...

markbilly · Mon 21/05/2007 22:26:13

Quote from: KhrisMUC on Mon 21/05/2007 19:03:12
I don't think the style makes use of the many pixels. Why don't you do a lowres game instead?

markbilly: those blurry clouds really hurt my eyes...

Probably a good point

The low res suggestion is a good one too. Or more enclosed background settings are going to be hard to do.

ramon82 · Tue 22/05/2007 22:58:12

OK I revised a bit the background art and also the character movement.

Get the zip from : http://www.esnips.com/web/AGS/

More comments and critics are appreciated

ramon82 · Wed 23/05/2007 17:08:44

can someone give me some feedback?? $:-\$

Sam. · Wed 23/05/2007 17:51:23

I think the lack of feedback is due to the presentation of the material. Few people can be bothered to download unzip and run a game file just to crit some art.

Just upload the art and the help will come rushing in.

Andail · Wed 23/05/2007 17:59:04

Never bump your own threads. If people want to give you feedback, they will.

ramon82 · Wed 23/05/2007 18:32:22

Quote from: Zooty on Wed 23/05/2007 17:51:23
I think the lack of feedback is due to the presentation of the material. Few people can be bothered to download unzip and run a game file just to crit some art.

Just upload the art and the help will come rushing in.

good point mate

i will upload some more images then.

tnx

cobra79 · Wed 23/05/2007 18:33:01

zooty is spot on. The need to register to download a zip file and play a game just to critique the art is too much of hassle. Upload your art here. It is also easier to critique one thing at a time, not everything at once.

ramon82 · Wed 23/05/2007 18:37:15

Ok wont ask to download again promise

How about these?

cobra79 · Wed 23/05/2007 19:55:46

I don't have much experience with animation, but 2 frames don't seem sufficient. Since you won't see the up and down cycle very often 4 frames should do it for now.
Your character is not shaded and looks flat.

down cycle:
- Don't just move his forearms, it looks as if he is marching. Move the complete arm backward and bend the forearm downward. You will need a darker shade there to achieve this.
- Don't move the torso but if you move it than in the correct direction (when the left leg pushes behind the torso would move to the right, if at all)
- He is closing his eyes? Why? The second frame looks unclean and anti-aliased.
- Bend his knees a bit, when the leg comes forward.

I like how you managed the shoes. This looks good.

up cycle:
- again move his arms. He is stiff in the shoulder. Without shades that is most likely impossible.
- Give him some shoes

This animation is more convincing though.

vertigoaddict · Wed 23/05/2007 22:47:10

Try using SSH walkcycle if you want to animate your sprite, it's quicker and easy; took me a few seconds to get the hang of it. Plus you can always edit the frames later in 'paint'.

http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=26501.0

ramon82 · Sat 26/05/2007 06:54:56

Ok what about the shades on the character and the movement?

cobra79 · Sat 26/05/2007 08:29:28

It is a great improvement because now it has motion, but your still not there yet.
The obvious flaw is of course the rest of half an arm in one of the frames and a little rest in another, but you probably saw that yourself.
The sprite is jumping from right to left. That is why I said that it is probably better to not move the body at all, because you don't have enough frames to subtly move it back.
The motion itself looks a bit as if he is skiing, because his knees don't bend and his arms do not stay at his side.

Imagine yourself walking and you will notice that your arms sway back and forth not left to right. You tried to achieve this back and forth motion by overlapping the arms with his torso, which results in an unnatural circle motion.
Try to use shades to achieve this, i.e. make the arm darker when it has passed the body.
Also use darker shades, they are barely visible.
I don't know which program you use but the trial version of ProMotion has the nice feature to be able to cycle through your frames while you are working on them. So you can pixel push and see the results at once.

Good luck