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I've always been one to buck the system.

A quick redraw:



Bald = evil.

I am a pretty competent 2D artist looking to partner with a capable programmer in a hobby-game-studio situation. I have limited programming experience, myself, and am only looking for someone who is capable of programming 2D games (as that is my forte in art, as well). Will purchase any necessary software/engines to do so.

Just send an email to ray@penguinx.org or PM me here at the forum if you are at all interested!

I agree with Darth; the animation would be much more convincing with some more sway in the buttoned areas. Really though, I think I'm just nitpicking. The animation is certainly good enough to use as is.

Very nice!

I like the style. The character is unique and surprisingly emotive considering the simplicity of the design. I've always been a fan of high-end stick figures, though. The shading on the stove is of particular interest. Rather nice.

Someday, I am going to have to get off of my bottom and buy a tablet. The stuff that can be done with them is head-turning. For inspiration, I often check this site out: http://www.imphead.com. Check out the 'portfolio' section and see what I mean.

Thanks for all of the comments! I think I am going to opt for the flat-shaded version. If nothing else, as Darth Mandarb pointed out, it should be easier to animate.

I've been lurking as time has permitted; I just bought my first home and have been too busy for anything more.

Getting back into the swing, though!

Each style of the character shown below contains thirteen colors. This drawing is representative of the down-left direction of motion.

One style has no manually drawn dithering and the other has a bunch.

No dither:


Dither:


Which do you prefer and why?

Thanks!

The company that I work for has an annual halloween sale and I am responsible for all the Flash animations/navigation (namely the 'movie' at the top of the home page). Let me know what you think, please!

http://www.midnightmoose.com

It's not an AGS game, but I'd rather have your opinons over some web design forum's.

I was kind of going for a 'shaking in rage' effect. I am probably going to toss out the animation completely and start from frame one again when it comes to the final product. I want to really push myself when it comes to the animation for this character.

IE: his face will completely change expression, his hands will clench, his chest will heave, his legs will straighten, and so on.

I have not ever really animated things before as all my pixel art was of static scenes. So, I figure the best way to learn is to try, try some more, and keep trying until I get it right.

Attached below is a gif (only slightly animated) of a character concept for Death that I am working on.

I want to make a very short one or two room game to practice my coding before delving into my ISO alien game.

I've always admired the style of capcom's old-school 2D artists and wanted to kind of make the in-game characters reminiscent of a pocket fighter combatant.

The animation is really rough, as the robes Death is wearing will shuffle and move a bit more and his hands will clench and relax in time with his breaths.

This would be an idle animation:



I've always given characters a black or dark colored pixel border in the past; this is probably the first time I've dropped that out of the design. I'm please with the results thus far, but what do you think?

I liek the new style and the evil brow. The nose does seem a little out of place now, though. What with all the other high contrast colors abound.

Steal away!

Now that's the ticket!

It's looking great. He really seems to be jumpin' and jivin' now.

Minimi, couldn't you then make sure that there a few different groups of random conversations that, depending on if certain events of the game have triggered them, are all context sensitive.

For instance, conversations 1-6 are available before action (A) takes place. After action (A) conversations 7-10 are options.

IE: Random but topical. Possible, right?

Darth, I think I've figured something out that would really help the down/forward animation.

When you walk and swing your arms your shirt invariably shifts from side to side. The pocket/row of buttons should also move a pixel or two over whenever the arms move.

That may make a big difference. Right now, it looks kind of like he has a static torso with two arms hovering at the side. The shirt moving a bit would help unify all the pieces.

I dig the idea of a random conversation selector. Has anyone else done this in an AGS game?

I also did a vector drawing of your logo (I had finished it yesterday, but didn't have a chance to get to the board until this morning).

If you were one of my clients and had brought me your picture, I would probably have come up with this:



It's 2 color, black and purple, where the lighter shades of each color could be done with halftones.

I've also included a link to download the file as an Adobe Illustrator document. Hopefully this helps!

Download: http://www.penguinx.org/hat.ai

[Hueij]

Heh. Unfortunately, Hueij, I can't recall a single instance where one of my clients wanted a pixelart logo designed for them.

Sadly, I am forced to use vectors. Shhh... Vector is a dirty word 'round these parts...

[Pessi]

Good point, Pessi.

Logo design is what I do for a living (along with a host of other design work for print) and I can't agree more. Vector is the only way to fly. Between Corel, Flash, Illustrator, and Freehand you should be able to find a product that fits your needs. I have a background in web design, so I just so happen to do about 90% of my logo design in Flash (I'm partial to the ole' girl).

Logos should be 1-3 colors, for the most part (most clients are not apt to pay for four color process work on all their envelopes, letterhead, business cards, etc). Simpler is better. An image that can be easily recognized on a 3.5"x2" business card or a 30' road-side banner is the idea to shoot for.

[Mr. Frisby]

Mr. Frisby, I thought I'd post my concept of double-lined characters on a photo-real background. This image is using limited color, and is set at 320x240. The robot is a character named Inventory 04 that I've been kicking around in my head forever. He is currently in pieces and is non-operational.

The perspective is off, but I just thought I'd throw something together for you to see:

I agree that the shading seems a bit too drastic. However, as with most things, if this effect is consistent throughout the game the darkness can be attributed to style.

Sad is the correct word for the look on Mr. Flooper's* face.

If this is what you were going for, it's dead on. Otherwise, if you needed a more evil gaze, I refer you to a comment made by Tom Savini (movie monster make-up FX guru), "Forty-five degree angles = EVIL."

Arch the brows into a 'V' and you'd be set.

Well, I can't help but meddle, so I've posted a redraw of one eye with a 45 degree angled brow and the other as you drew it:



*(Note: Look how slyly I suggested a name for the character. I'm good.)