My First Sprite Attempt

[LunarProxy 3]

So, I've always had an interest in spriting, as I love pixel art and such, but I've never been too artistically inclined.  I finally tried just making a simple sprite.  It's a turret called a Turtle Bearing, and has turtle colors.  I didn't worry too much about the size, and just did 64x64 px to get a grasp on the idea.  Any criticism?  I can tell it's not a great sprite, but it's the best I could do with my knowledge.

 

 

 

EDIT:  Okay, second attempt was a Wasp Mk I.  It has four frames of animation and one alternate damaged form, which turns the servo light red.  I've finished it now.  The sprites I'll be working with on average are 32x32px.

 

 

Rathy's character sprites:

These are based on the base character sprites by Talaroc in The Mana World.  It's reduced to three frames of animation.  The far left sprite looks off somehow, though.  Is there a noticable issue with the shading that I'm missing?

Edited February 26, 2015 by LunarProxy

[Necromedes 103]

I would add a blur to some of the shading. Aside from that, it looks good.

[+ Chaosian 617]

Yeah it's not bad. Better than my first attempt, at the very least.

I'm sure an expert could give you more pointers on your shading, which is getting there, but from what I know I can say that though the sprite is decently done, it doesn't mesh well with the RTP style.

[LunarProxy 3]

Not bad, really? The shading looks like a mess, and seems really off on the bottom. Not sure how to fix it, either. As for a blur, I have no idea how, I made this in Paint with the pencil tool.

 

As for the RTP, I will likely use nearly none of those sprites, since I hope to make an urban setting with sci-fi themes, so I'm not too worried.

[Necromedes 103]

Get Paint.Net. It has plenty of built in tools and people have made various plugins for tools that are not. And its free to boot.

Some people dislike it but its certainly easier to use than GIMP. (Shudders)

[Ersatzteil 2]

From what I see you have two different sunspots hitting the Turret. You'll probably want to start off with meshing those together. After that I'd do a little blurring like Necromedes said above. Maybe add in a drop shadow on the ground. Otherwise it really is looking good.

[Punio 31]

It does look like a pretty good first try.You did mention wanting (constructive) criticism- So I will break it down and try to make sense to the best of my ability.

 

Keep in mind, none of what I say is right (in the terms of artistic freedom, everything is as good as anything else) but there are standard principles that are good to know.

 

 

Diving in, I see 3 main problems with the sprite, all related to shading.

 

 1. As Ersatzteil mentioned, it seems as though there is more than one light source affecting the shading; By default, it's good to generally use the upper left corner as your direction of light.

 2. The Shading is inconsistent. This is very normal to see in beginners, and not a bad thing at all. It takes practice. A good way to shade consistently is to visualize the shape of the object,

     and take note of how much curve/corner there is on one place compared to another.

 3. The colors are inconsistent(For example, having 10 shades of green to shade with and only 5 brown). This can actually really help the sprite style pop, if used correctly. Most of the time it makes it harder to shade consistently. Shading can really be as blended or as sharp as you want it to be and still look natural, but it has to be consistent.

 

Here I took and used the same color palette you had, and made a few examples. (and provided actual size vs. blown up to show you the detail)

 

 

 

The first turret is yours. I re-shaded it assuming that the base was circular like the head. Using straight angles, you can easily show circular depth.

Skipping over to the last one, I took it a step further by inverting the colors along the vertexes of the shapes/angles, closer, then wider from each other. At normal zoom it actually blends well enough to make the eye believe there is way more than 6 colors being used.

 

To be honest, none of these are the best way. I honestly think I over powered the shading in the last one. But regardless, as long as you understand

the basics, and make it flow smoothly, the best advice I can give you is to practice, practice, practice.

Edited February 21, 2015 by Resource Dragon

[LunarProxy 3]

It does look like a pretty good first try.You did mention wanting (constructive) criticism- So I will break it down and try to make sense to the best of my ability.

 

Keep in mind, none of what I say is right (in the terms of artistic freedom, everything is as good as anything else) but there are standard principles that are good to know.

 

 

Diving in, I see 3 main problems with the sprite, all related to shading.

 

 1. As Ersatzteil mentioned, it seems as though there is more than one light source affecting the shading; By default, it's good to generally use the upper left corner as your direction of light.

 2. The Shading is inconsistent. This is very normal to see in beginners, and not a bad thing at all. It takes practice. A good way to shade consistently is to visualize the shape of the object,

     and take note of how much curve/corner there is on one place compared to another.

 3. The colors are inconsistent(For example, having 10 shades of green to shade with and only 5 brown). This can actually really help the sprite style pop, if used correctly. Most of the time it makes it harder to shade consistently. Shading can really be as blended or as sharp as you want it to be and still look natural, but it has to be consistent.

 

The first turret is yours. I re-shaded it assuming that the base was circular like the head. Using straight angles, you can easily show circular depth.

Skipping over to the last one, I took it a step further by inverting the colors along the vertexes of the shapes/angles, closer, then wider from each other. At normal zoom it actually blends well enough to make the eye believe there is way more than 6 colors being used.

 

To be honest, none of these are the best way. I honestly think I over powered the shading in the last one. But regardless, as long as you understand

the basics, and make it flow smoothly, the best advice I can give you is to practice, practice, practice.

I have no idea how you did that third one.  O_o

I can see a pattern there, but whoa.

 

Anyhow, I can see where I went wrong looking at the second one.  I was definitely thinking too hard about how the bottom half was supposed to look in the light.  As for the uneven shading, that'll take time, I've always been bad at shading when drawing too.  Well, I'll keep trying.  Thanks for the feedback!

 

EDIT: Okay, I tried a different enemy, a Wasp Mk I.  I'll put the new sprites in the original post.

Edited February 23, 2015 by LunarProxy

[Punio 31]

The shading looks much, much nicer on your second sprite. The only real thing I see weird with it, is that it doesn't really look like a helicopter to me. XD

[LunarProxy 3]

The shading looks much, much nicer on your second sprite. The only real thing I see weird with it, is that it doesn't really look like a helicopter to me. XD

That's probably a good thing, since it isn't a helicopter.  

I'd upload my first sketch of it, but I don't have a scanner.  It's an enforcement patrol drone.  It flies around and... shoots criminals, I guess?

 

EDIT:  Alright, finished the Wasp Mk I completely.  I guess I'll give the Turtle Bearing another shot tomorrow with a new color and design.

Edited February 24, 2015 by LunarProxy

[alexthejester 2]

The wasp... Confuses me... I can't tell where those bar/ propeller thingies are supposed to be: top, sides or bottom....?

[LunarProxy 3]

The wasp... Confuses me... I can't tell where those bar/ propeller thingies are supposed to be: top, sides or bottom....?

I'm not sure what's confusing about it, to be honest.  They're on top.  Would it be more clear if they were spinning, or am I going to have to mess with the color palette?

 

EDIT:  I've got my first character's down-facing sprites, Rathy.  Something seems off in the animation for it, specifically in the first walking frame.

Edited February 26, 2015 by LunarProxy

[Punio 31]

 

The wasp... Confuses me... I can't tell where those bar/ propeller thingies are supposed to be: top, sides or bottom....?

I'm not sure what's confusing about it, to be honest.  They're on top.  Would it be more clear if they were spinning, or am I going to have to mess with the color palette?

 

EDIT:  I've got my first character's down-facing sprites, Rathy.  Something seems off in the animation for it, specifically in the first walking frame.

 

 

It's probably off because the middle frame isn't standing straight. Because of the way RM is setup, it will look funny if the middle frame isn't a merger of the left and right frame.

 

Also, I agree with alex, the propellers are in the wrong place realistically. The way you have it drawn, makes it look like it has a propeller on the side of which ever way it's facing relative to the screen. If this doesn't make sense, I can draw up a quick sketch to show you what I mean.

Edited February 26, 2015 by Resource Dragon

[LunarProxy 3]

I think I get what you mean, but I have no idea how to fix it....