The VG Resource

Okay, I started a new thread because the old title was confusing so many people, not that this is any less confusing of a title, but at least I can expound on it in a more organized manner. These are meant to be for a game similar to pokemon in the manner of collecting monsters and then training them, but we are going to take a more serious apporach to that kind of world, and more based in actual evolution, but not so much that they are supposed to be mash ups of actual animals.

Anyway, I decided to redo the monster from my last post in a new pose, but while I'm working on that I decided to post up another base of another I'm working on and you can tell me exactly where I go wrong so I don't go wrong in the future and get as screwed up as the last one did. so anyway...



For exposition's sake, this one is supposed to be a cross between a manta ray and a scorpion. It swims through the water by gliding with it's fins and pushing with the legs. It fights with it's pincer, its front jaws for latching into enemies, and its legs to scratch and slash at the enemy it's attached to.

Some of the outlines on the fins and on the tail are not part of the outline, but were necessary for showing a bit more of what it looks like. Also, the palette I'm planning on using is up in the top right corner.

Please tell me what to improve on THIS STEP, and if theres no complaints, I'll move onto the next step.

Thread titles can be changed.

as far as i remember, pokemons are nowhere near being develop as "x animal fused with x animal", because in the end that would look utterly ugly.(to an extent, i can understand why devs never "fused" animals together).

unless you can really work the anatomy and not make it look as if you just jammed shit together expecting it to work, go ahead. but as for that wip, it seems you did not-it looks like one of those horrible pokemon splices.

if anything, try an approach similar to what symbiotic lifeforms do. they are not fused, but rather two different entities working together for survival.

I said that they are NOT supposed to be mash ups of regular animals, "not so much that they are supposed to be mash-ups..."

Anyway, can I have some actual advice on changes to be made?

(08-15-2011, 11:13 PM)Toastfighter Wrote: [ -> ]I said that they are NOT supposed to be mash ups of regular animals, "not so much that they are supposed to be mash-ups..."

Anyway, can I have some actual advice on changes to be made?

It's left red arm doesn't look entirely connected to the body.

I also suggest, that if the blue and orange is your idea for the palette,

try using 3 for each and see how it works for you.


Or try a new way of making palettes.

Instead of just going brighter to darker, try making the darker shade duller as well, and the brightest more vivid.

To add to Proton's points regarding palette, you should hue-shift too. Instead of just the same blue, try using teal for your dark shades and sky blue for the light shades, or navy blue for your dark shades and sky blue for your light shades.

Okay, I can see the WIP was hard to read so I put this up. I do need to work on the pallet as you can see, I'll do that. I also see that it looks a bit off in some places, but I cant pinpoint what, any help?

The linework is too "flat" (meaning there's very little, if any, indication of depth or thickness in the linework.) also the pose is rather lackluster, generic, and uninteresting, it's also worth noting that there were aquatic Scorpions in prehistoric times. Try coming up with more unique and logical ways to design creatures rather than jamming a scorpion tail and legs on the body of a manta ray.

Try researching how exo-skeletal organisms work anatomically, and how vertebrate anatomy works, they're vastly different and have arrived at different evolutionary results for locomotion.

instead of starting with the linework, try making a silhouette and building up the form with the colors in the palette.

Okay, going to rework this one, can someone demonstrate a good way to show a bony structure, like bony structures protruding under smooth skin? Ill need to know how to express that with shading in order to do this one properly because of Manta Rays leathery topside and wings and the Arthopodic main body (mostly the underside and the transition between shell and leathery parts.) So examples of what I need to know how to do are Crab Shell and Leathery surfaces.

(08-16-2011, 12:11 AM)Sketchasaurus Wrote: [ -> ]Try researching how exo-skeletal organisms work anatomically, and how vertebrate anatomy works, they're vastly different and have arrived at different evolutionary results for locomotion.

its not only a matter of texture. they work under different mechanics and for that reason, you need to carefully study both in order tomake something that the veiwer could take as a natural point between both species.

If you look at Manta rays, you'll find that almost their entire shape is defined by their cartilage skeletons.

Scorpions are shaped entirely by their exoskeletons.

You could either try making a vertebrate marine scorpion-like creature or an invertebrate ray-like creature with exo-skeletal armor, not a mix of both.

There are plenty of marine invertebrates to learn from, it's only a matter of research, a good place to start is with Anomalocaris.