A Character for a game

[Alex]

I've been attempting to make a 2D shooter for a while, kinda like Metal Slug, but I've kept revamping the sprites so I haven't really gotten anywhere[/i] and I think it's gotten a lot better from the first version. I'd just like some C+C on the shading and such of the newest version, which I believe I drastically improved.

Other versions are there for a comparison. V3 is the latest.

[Cobalt Blue]

fixed some elements such as the lenght of the right foot, the placement of the left one. is he suposed to be using a strong tan? if not, you should try to use a bit less saturated color for the skin.

[JosephSeraph]

That's so.. Cute.(lol, kiddo) Nonetheless... I don't like your overall pixking of shades, and i believe if you keep using such intrincate pallettes and shading styles you will never get anywhere. Not trying to offend, i mean, i think you should try something simpler.. Easier shades and shading, etc. BUT it would come out an awesome (realistic feeling) game if you could push out this. Oh.. I dunno.

[Alex]

fixed some elements such as the lenght of the right foot, the placement of the left one. is he suposed to be using a strong tan? if not, you should try to use a bit less saturated color for the skin.

Thanks! The reason he's so tan is because I'm horrible at picking out a skin palette. They are always either too tan or too yellow. Thanks for the help though.


@ JosephSeraph -
Thanks for the crit. Are you saying I should use less colors in the shading? I've been afraid I was overdoing the colors at points as I'm using 5 shades per color, 2 mainly for outlines. Are you saying it's a good idea to cut that down to 4 or even 3?


Here are some animations. They don't have the fixes that you did, Digitamer, that I'm implementing into them now, but I'm just posting them for the sake of judging the animation:

Running:


Shooting/Reloading "Assailant":


Shooting/Reloading "Slaughter":


Throwing a Grenade:


Popping out of cover and shooting:

I need some crit so it looks more like he's crouching in cover. I think it's mainly the depth doesn't look right, as the back leg needs to look more behind the front. Should I make it darker?

Thanks.

[Cobalt Blue]

he rather looks as if he was about to poop. are you using references for this?

[JosephSeraph]

Definately, i would use one gray32 outline and use 2 shades per colour =S
When you overdo colours, like you did, it becomes horrid to fix sprites. Of course, toy mean it to be a realistic game, so, no outline is Ok, and 2~4 shades per colour is fine too. But NOT MORE THAN 2 FOR THE SKIN 0.0

Also, make sure to make a reasonable difference in saturation, light, and even hue, between them. When your lightsource is yellow, for example, it's normal that you shades will be a little purple-y.


BTW DON'T USE MY TERRIBLY OLD AND CRAPPY AVATAR FOR STUDYING.(horrid example of hue changing *gulp) Use actual professional sprites instead

[Alex]

he rather looks as if he was about to poop. are you using references for this?

I tried to, but my whole sense of depth is pretty poor when it comes to making sprites. haha. I'm trying to make the back leg look farther away than the front leg so it looks more as if his back is more to the wall, but I failed.

Edit: Attempted fix


@JosephSeraph

I'll try to cut down the amount of colors in some places. I'm sure I don't need the darkest outline color. Also, I'm gonna try to completely change the skin palette so it makes more sense.

I messed around with skin palettes and this is what I got:


On the left is the original version, the middle is a duller version and the right uses more vibrant hues slightly.

[JosephSeraph]

I like better the middle one. The difference between the tones is higher. Remember, if you make it lower, in the end, all your shading will be unnoticeable... Nor your sprites recognizable. So, the middle one has some more variant colours, i like it better. I think i might do something.. Hmm..

EDIT: now that i opened the file, you used different toneds for the mouth and eye toooooo much colours.

My shot at it. Middle is the pallette altered one (notice that i yellowed a bit the palette of the hair, tough since i used the palette editor it altered the original's hair too and you can't see the diference.)I also made the eyes a little more distant, to make the proportions better. And he far-right is my reshading. I think it kills your style tough =/

[Alex]

Ohh. Thank you so much with that. So I should be changing the pallet so that the lighter colors have a more yellowish tint, whilst the darker gets purple. That makes a lot of sense. I also like the new eye location, I can't believe I didn't do that before. It's so simple. Thank you so much.

[Alex]

Here are a couple animations. I have 2 versions of the running, one where his foot is pointed up before stepping and one whilst stepping to see which one looked smoother. Also, I have a WIP crouch walk which needs some crit as well as a revamped grenade throw.

Running


Running (Alternative Animation)


Crouch Walk


Shooting the gun called "Assailant"


Grenade Throwing Pose