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Have my babies. All 13 of em.

[Fearless Leader]

After much deliberation (about 5 minutes of my snack time), I decided on a topic for this next JAM.

Fearless Leader

I want to see renditions of a military genius (or moron, you decide) who lived in the past or will live in the future (or alternate futures, you decide). The astute reader will notice that I do not want to see sprites of present leaders. If you submit a present leader, I will censure you. Believe me, that it hurts a lot.

My guidelines require you to draw aforementioned sprite with a maximum size of 150 by 150 pixels. You can use up to 40 colors.

I am looking for (and will laud) creative choice of subject, superior technical execution (if that term isn't puffery, I don't know what is), and the viability of the sprite in an actual adventure game.

In summary, your entry must be:
- Military leader, past or future
- no larger than 150x150 pixels (sorry for any confusion)
- 40 colors (or fewer)
- Totally sweet


Good luck and happy spriting!

YES! Oh man. I have to say, it was a hard fought battle with all the other good entries. I have to give Largo props for giving me a run for my money. Also, lo_res_man, for the awesome entry he almost made.

I will post the rules for the next contest soon.

I was a little confused about the buried objects. They seemed to be placed at regular intervals, making me think they were part of an inventory.

Then I thought, who carries around a toilet? I mean, if it wasn't so big and heavy, I guess that could be convenient. You could just sit down on the can anywhere you wanted to. Picking it up again would suck though, because it'd be even heavier and you'd have to be careful so it doesn't slosh.

Ok, granted, the argument about the inaccurate portrayal of Colombia stands. Game designers should do research before they make a game.

But looking at Zak, how accurate does it try to be? One might argue that in DOTT, even if there were one thousand karat diamonds, they couldn't be sold on the Home Shopping Network (or whatever the game had). If Tim Schafer did a little more research, maybe he might have corrected this mistake.

Or would he have?

From the very start of a game like Zak, I think we can all agree it takes place in a world similar to ours, but very different. You might even call it "cartoon". In the same way cartoon art exaggerates human proportions, a cartoon game takes liberties with fact. You might as well critisize Zak, because the player character's head is too big for his body. If only the artists had done a little research...

Perhaps in certain cases, the lack of research lends to the game's originality. Or maybe it's just me.

Dude, you should totally finish that background! You could use it for your dwarf game!

I really like your use of texturing and the desaturated color of the grass. Not too sure about the face in the tree on the right side. The way it twists towards the viewer looks a tad awkward.

(Oh, sorry, this isn't the Critic's Lounge. )

Who says you can't make a "Seven Naked Dwarves post-Snow White" game?

It's probably bad form to use Ben Throttle as my character for two consecutive Sprite Jams, but I did anyways.

Here's a little backstory: Ben fell victim to a tragic motorcycle accident involving a slow-moving minivan and died. A former member of the Cavefish, who happened to be a licensed Voodoo practitioner, raised Ben from the dead in the name of Corley Motors.

7 colors (not counting the background)
80x100 (2x zoom)

Ohhh, man. I loved the last picture of this character, and this new one is sooo much better. I love the way you demonstrate a variety of line widths to convey a sense of weight to your character.

If I really wanted to get picky, the line describing his right collarbone (our left) is broken in the middle. But that crit is me looking closely to find something that isn't perfect.

You could do a whole series of nude dwarfs. If you drew seven, the theme could be the apathy resulting in Snow White's absence. You know, like these guys have nothing to live for, so it's no more "off to work we go" and they don't even dress themselves anymore. Solid gold stuff, Stefano.

It's like the original Pacman... you give him eyes and then you have to give him ears, hair, glasses, a beard. By adding detail, you can lose sight of the charm you originally captured.

If you really wanted to be realistic, you would shrink his head and lengthen his limbs. But I don't think Ali's goal is to recreate a Hans Holbein the Younger portrait.

I don't know about fingers. Its simplicity is part of its charm. I think the H collar bling is really funny, too. Just from looking at the sprite I can tell that historical accuracy isn't the priority, so take liberties with the details.

I don't think people were uppity about the remake. I think people took offense when he claimed that the graphics in the original were worse than his.

Or at least preferable body proportions...

Just out of curiosity, have you found any good internet forums that specifically deal with poetry? I'm sure the people of a forum like that could give you very direct and helpful criticism.

As I understand it, the Critics' Lounge exists to help people with things related to AGS projects. Since poetry isn't a typical element featured in an adventure game, most of the people on the AGS forums won't be able to give you advice on par with that of other poetry enthusiasts.

It's nice that you write poetry and you share it with AGS people. Is there a reason you put this in the Critics' Lounge? Is there a part of it you're particularly unhappy with? Perhaps some phrasing doesn't work well, or you're having trouble putting it to a meter?

I don't think it's enough to post a work and not explain it. Maybe you should include a summary, telling us what you're trying to convey through your poem. Who knows, maybe your poem is too subtle, misdirects the reader, or just plain doesn't work. If you just post it as is, how are we to know?

As far as crits go, it's cliche (at least in prose) to title your work with a phrase that appears in the first or last line.

My main problem is that the new rendering fails to provide the texture that the dithering gives objects. Also, I see the engine as being in shadow, hence the black dithering in the original background. Your image gives a different interpretation. I don't think you can necessarily call your way BETTER than the original.

It's not a big deal though, and I wish you luck with your project.

Stefano, you should definitely make a game with this guy as the player character. Just as he is. Love it.

Ok looking at your battle mockup, I think I understand your approach better. Definitely go with the colored in creatures, they look wonderful. You have a very clean, unique style. I will eagerly await the release of this one.

Maybe, but that first screenie is definitely not 16 color EGA. Look how many shades of red are present in the engine (?) as compared to the skilful dithering in the original version.

Traditionally, artists depicted males in contrapposto poses, while they drew females in pudica poses. I can see how you think having a drawf with angled hips could be scary, even frightening, but I don't think it would be that bad if you avoided an extreme position.

Come on, it's artisitc nudity! Even the most philistine boss or parent couldn't have a problem with Stefano's picture.

About the posing, perhaps you could try a classical contrapposto (where his hips and shoulders are at opposite angles). It'll make him look less frontal.