Messages

Mind the perspective.

where is your vanishing point ?

Hi

Talk about simplicity !

Though, there are enough pixels to add much more.

My critique:

GENERAL
1) I personally dislike symmetrical figures. Ususally when a person stands, his pose is more casual. e.g. he puts the weight on one the legs, or he keeps one of his hands in a pocket. Having a character so small, you can't use face expressions to expess feelings. You have to use body language.


FACE
1) The Skin color and the hair color are both very bright. Try adding some darker shading in selected places.
2) The eyes are very close to eachother and very small. Try to enlarge them by adding around the black pixel some darker pixels with color in between the eye-color and the skin-color.

TORSO
1) Put a skin-color pixel beneath the neck.
2) Make the figure more manly by bradening his chest.
3) Shade the pullover to add volume

LEGS
1) They are too symetrical.

FEET
2) Make one foot seen en-face and the other en-profile. The way you have it now is
like both feet look to opposite directions. It is not a natural pose.

I hope I helped.


Angelos.

Heeeey. I really like that, Angelo. Would you mind if I used it? (Just going to add a little shading, but otherwise, I don't think I could get it much better than that!)

Be my guest and use it anyway you want. It's not mine, its yours anyway. Soon
I will have to delete it form my server or the Doll-girl will get angry

I am certain that you can get it way much better. Keep working on it.

Angelos

Nice sprite, very challenging to animate.


Walkcycles consist of at least 6 frames.
For the front view, If you make the first 3 just
flip them, arange hair (if it is not symmetric)
and you have the next 3.  You can make
the back view by animating backwards the front view
and aranging the colors. There are many great tutorials
to be found in the ags site.


I took the liberty of making a rough anim-over (!) of the front view.

To point directions. I Hope you find it usefull.



Angelos.

Isegrim :

Sorry if I sounded rude or insulting.

When I looked at your image, it looked to me weird. I tryied to understand why it looked
weird and I gave this critic. I may very well be wrong. Even after looking at the references
you posted it still looks weird.

Anyway. Since you know more then me about medieval history I can't give usefull
specific advice about the cross.  All I can say is "go for realism". The cross that looks
beter is the one that corresponds to the style you are reproducing.

Now that I know that you have a background on medieval history I REALLY look forward
to the game you are making.

Cheers, Angelos.

Since you are going for the detail...

During the middle ages they did not have "Churches". They had "Cathedrals".
Even a small village, had it's Cathedral.

To get an idea of what a cathedral looks like, pictures are not enough. You have to visit one.
Strasburg's cathedral is 150m (400feet) high. I don't think that any medium can capture
the feeling you get when you visit it in real life. Anyway, here are some links of
some famus cathedrals.

Notre-Damme de Paris
http://www.parisdigest.com/monument/notredam.htm
http://www2.art.utah.edu/cathedral/paris.html

Strasboug Cathedral
http://www.ot-strasbourg.fr/htm/pages/photo_cathedrale_1.php

Pictures of Medieval Cathedrals
http://www.newyorkcarver.com/cathedrallinks.htm

Now, if you are lazy and you just want a couple of suggestions...

1) The main entrance is NEVER on the Clocktower.
2) There is NO CROSS on the top of the Cathedrals
3) The top of the clocktower is less curvy (unless you are going for Cremlin style e.g. http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/d64)

I think it is better to spend more time on research on the era than scripting the clock


Angelos.

In the remake her lips are completelly closed.

The original looks hot because her lips are slightly open showing a tiny bit of
her teeth. This pose suggests that she is breathing heavily and thus the "hot" effect.

I don't need to link to reference images do I ?

Angelos

Well done perspective-wise. Yet you have been lazy concerning detail.
What bothers me most is the mount of the main rotor. It is not realistic at all.

Reference :  http://www.copters.com/mech/mr_semi.html

Also.
Your copter looks like a military one. Which means I would expect all sort of
machine-guns, rocket lanchers, antimatter beams and neutron-warp-field-accelerators
attached to it. Yet, I see nothing. Before shading you have to work on the detail a bit more.

Here you can find some pics of Apaches. Hope they help you.
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/ah-64.htm

Angeos.

Add some funny smileys, kisses (XXX) or something at the end of the letter to
increase the bibmo-effect.
i.e. http://www.tutorus.com/RenatasCutePics.htm

You have to pass the  feeling that she is spoiled but not stupid so imho don't use
bad spelling. A girl can be a very smart bimbo. This means that she uses her inteligence to talk about things we find stupid. I will try to give an example :

This is an article about haircuts. It spans more than 1000 words !!!

The real way to make every day a great hair day? It all starts with the right haircut.

Has this ever happened to you? You walk into the salon, torn magazine page in hand, visions of Jennifer Aniston dancing in your head. By the time you leave, not only are you fairly certain the paparazzi won't to be chasing you down the street but that your new 'do actually makes you look more like Brad than the missus. What went wrong, you ask? After one too many Meg Ryan mishaps (who knew that haphazard hack look was so hard to do), we asked salon pro Denise Klicos of DK Salon in Baltimore for some advice on how every girl can find the perfect haircut.

Check the rest of the article here (that is if you really NEED to)

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0IBX/is_4_7/ai_71711514


Now, we al agree that it is stupid to write an entire article about haircuts,
but this does not mean that you don't need IQ points to do it.

I suppose this is what I expect from a spoiled girl.


Hope I helped


Angelos.

Nice composition.

Notes:

1: The mount to the left looks more like a distant rocky mountain than a forground small pile of dirt. I would change the color to earth-brown-something (e.g. like Farlander's texture)

2:The road/path is too straight, like an airport runway. Try giving it some curves. Make it go round the mound for example. Also make it a bit wider. Even a country dirtroad is usually wider then a small truck.

3: Make the distsant mountains a bit hazy.

I hope I helped.

Angelos.

The technique is very good.

I like the way you use shading to suggest shape.

Standing View.
She looks stressed. I would rather see a more relaxed pose. A non-symetrical pose.
For example.
"Lady, could you please move your weight to your left leg ? And could you let your hair
fall a bit in front of your face ? And dont look at mee straight in the eyes. Bend your head
a bit. Act like a lady, try to be charming !"

Walking View.
She walks like an Army Captain.
As if you used a man;s template to animate a female sprite.

It would help if you could tell us  something about her. If she is the evil captain or a very strict administrotor of... whatever, then she is OK.

But is she is the love intrest of EGO then... sorry but I'll pass on her She is just not  feminene.

Angelos.

Here is the final version.

A good start.

Indeed a good start, but I have to go on. There is no way to reach the PERFECT sprite,
and of course different people have diferent views of what "perfect" is.
There are about 10 more characters and  50 backrounds for this game.
So I declare this case closed.

I thank everyone for your helpfull opinions. You will all be  included in the credits of
my game when it is released if ever (i.e. don;t hold your breath)

Angelos

The colors and the composition are great.

I however have to agree abou t there being a problem in perspective.
In isometric perspective there is no scaling for backround objects.
Yet, the bedroom which can be seen through the door is down- scaled.
This suggest to the eye that you are using a  single vanishing point perspective
an thus the left wall does not look correct.



Angelos

Do not abuse straight lines.
i.e. Look at the sweater in the first image. It's like a chessboard.
On the other hand, the girls hair look fine because the straight lines are short.

Angelos.

Thanks again.

You know, I also liked her head in the first version.
On the other hand, I think the second animation is much better.

So, OFF WITH HER NEW HEAD. The old head Is atached to the new body
and Voila : Mrs Francenstein

Front View              Side View


I also increased the swing of the hands in the front view. It makes her look
more.. ehm determined.

One thing I noticed in the front view was that you made her put her feet exactly infront of each other, like a model on the catwalk. If that was what you were going for, then fine, but it looks a bit "put-on".

ALL women walk like this (more or less). It their way to say "look at me ! I'm pretty !"

About the high heels.... Well, I cant just have a cute female character without heels !
Look at Lara, she's got heels, Look at Kate W. She's got heels,(If fact they DONT but you know what I mean)  Anyway, if you can find me a way to make the heels shorter than one pixel, I will be glad to hear it :-)

Anyway I tried to correct the problem with her ankle I hope it is better now.

I don't want to use more frames. More frames = More pixes = More problems



Third time pays for all. Your final feedback if you please.

Angelos.

Nice !

I agree that the backward forward bobbing of the head at the side view
is too much.

Angelos.

The technique is great, I have nothing to comment on it.
(let alone improve)

About the composition.

1) The line between the backgroud island an the sea is straight.
It suggests that the island is beyond the horizon.
I would preferit if the line was not straight so that the island looks a bit closer.

2) I would prefer it if I could see the end of the beach at the left side of the image.

3) How about a sun and some clouds ?

Angelos.

OK, thank you, all of you.


I took your suggestions in consideration and I came up with these.

Front View          Side View



Changes:

1)  The proportions have changed, so that the updated sprite looks a bit less cartoonish.
Now she's got longer legs, smaller head.

2) She has lost some weight. Though cute, the first sprite was indeed a bit fat, especially the thighs.

3) Her hair does not flic. Though I thought this was a nice touch I guess it may become
annoying if you watch it for a couple of hours.

4) She swings less at the front view.

5) Her hands swing less at the side view

6) The lighting at her pants now comes from the front (and the far leg consists of a single color)

I think I am completelly satisfyied with her now,  and I would like to hear your general coments.
(i.e. coments like "she sucks because I prefere blondes" are acceptable at this stage)

Thanks again, Angelos.

I like the wings.

I don't like the eyes.

Here is a paintover with a pair of fly-like eyes.

Hello everybody.

I would be gratefull if you could give me some feedback on these walking cycles.
The original height of the sprite is  60 pixels
Both animations consist of 6 frames each.

Front view          Side View



I am more or less satisfied with the front view, but the side view looks a bit stiff
Any kind of comment will be wellcome, though I prefer specific suggestions.

Thank you in advance.

Angelos.