Style Feedback

[SpookyMothman 361]

So, real life happened, and I completely dropped my groove. So that, on top of my computer's touchpad being spastic and jerky, means spriting's gonna be a bit of a task for a while. Also, I'd love to post more animations, but the program I used before is online, and it has a maximum of thirty frames. Some of the animations I want to show are a lot more than that. If anyone knows where I can find a good animation program, I'd love to know about it.

 

In the mean time, I figured my monster sprites could use some work. I have quite a few more than this, but I think I'll start small.

 

... and most of my monsters are your typical, garden variety overgrown vermin and fantasy-ish things. The usual RPG stuff.

He's just so smug.

 

I made these a long while ago, and I've been touching them up little by little since then. They still need to be recolored, and I'll be working on that tomorrow. Do they match the sprite style? Do they match each others' styles? What and where can I improve? Please, critique away.

 

Also, thanks for the continued support. It's all very motivating.

 

... also also, yeah. I use a laptop's funky touchpad to make sprites. It's... kind of a hassle. ... a-anyway... um...

[SpookyMothman 361]

Whew! It has been a long time since I've posted anything new here. This is a pretty crazy necropost, but I'm considering updating my sprite style. And by 'considering', I mean 'I've actually already started, and I was hoping for opinions and feedback'.

A change like this will be both good and bad. It'll mean I'll have to remake every sprite I've made so far, including animation frames, but it also defines the sprites more and gives me more room for detail and cleaner animations.

 

So what do you guys think?

Edited January 3, 2015 by SpookyMothman

[Kayzee 4,033]

I kinda want to say I think the sprites might be better somewhere in between the new and old styles. Perhaps, for example, having outlines for the sprite's edges but not in between the sprite's segments. I kinda find the smaller sprites a bit more charming.

[charlesthehurst 691]

Remember that advice I gave you with the portraits?  Inner outlines shouldn't be black.  Thanks KilloZappit for mentioning that.

Could you post a screenshot of both these sprites on a map?  It'd be easier to compare.

[SpookyMothman 361]

I should have clarified that these aren't final; I just wanted to experiment and see what other people thought of the direction. After I'd already posted them, I started liking them less and less the more I looked at them, but I thought it was just because it was something new. I did forget about the inner outlines, Charles, and I'm sorry. I've been messing with Holder style sprites lately, and he doesn't follow that same advice you gave me. I'll still continue to try new things, but I'll also try to stick to what I'm familiar with, too. Thanks for being honest, you guys.

 

 

 

Edited January 4, 2015 by SpookyMothman

[charlesthehurst 691]

The new ones aren't bad at all.  The black outline thing is a matter of technique.  Too much inner black and it distracts from what you are trying to see.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  

[Kayzee 4,033]

It's just that I think, unless your pretty careful with your map's colors, a outer outline might be needed to avoid the sprites blending in to much, but otherwise I like the style of flat colors without outlines.

[JoshuaKing25 1]

They look really good. Lots of color and a definite style all of your own which is always great to see. Have you tried adding shading to the characters? Even just a little might help them stand out from the backgrounds a bit more. It does take a lot more time to add shading to a sprite and it's not always easy. Just a suggestion.

Keep up the good work. 

[Whiona 310]

Just a suggestion if you decide to go with the lineless style: in my opinion, the blond boy's hair blends in a bit too much with his skin tone. It makes his head look larger than the other characters' at first glance. I would consider adding more contrast between them. Otherwise, I think the sprites look great - they're definitely unique!

[Primeless 5]

Nice sprite skillz there! so so nice

 

characters are also great in design. Each one unique. You can recognice them easily. 

 

The tiles are also nice. But i think the strenth of the images are all in the characters.

 

About the "new options" both are good (outlined or not) but i like the originals above the new ones.

 

---

 

The Tip.

 

As artist, you may want the player to center its attention at something. In this case, characters are visually strong (so strong SO STRONK!) and you dont need to waste that (along with all that hard work). the map and background can be important too... eventually. But, graphically speacking, your stile has enouth strenght, so you can desaturate the BG (background colours) in favor of your characters. 

 

This does not means that all of your maps are going to be grey. Just less saturate. When something in the map is iportant, you can add more saturate colours to those elements, so the player recognices them easily as "interactive" elements, or as important elements of the map (like doors, important NPCs, the letter in the ground that you CAN NOT miss...)

 

You can also add a semi-tranparent shadow behind the main characters. Lukily, *.PNG files recognices transparency, and you can have the edge on it. It may worth give it a try.

 

I tell you this because you did a great work from the beggining. And I feel is a sin to miss all that hard (and so well done) work.

 

Keep rocking!