WIP Custom Pokey Tower Sprites- A Newb's Thread

[Em2014]

Yeah, yeah, I'm new. But... I bring sprites!




So, I have no idea why I made them, but I kinda like them. Also, I WILL be adding more content to this, like death and attack animations, but otherwise I have nothing else to add. Is there anything I should add/remove? Should I remove King Prokley and Vampokey Tower, or just add them for fun?


-Em

[Link]

Hello, and welcome to TSR!

That's a pretty good first sprite you have there, and I'd like to make a few suggestions to make it better.

I've taken the liberty to edit your original (sorry if I'm doing this out of turn) to show you what I mean:

I didn't redo the sprite completely, because that is your job, but I made it so you can get the gist of what I'm saying.

The first problem is your shading. You seem to know what shading is, because I see you attempted it on pokey's body segments. However, the shading did not choose a light source. The light source is direction of shading that the sprite takes, where the colors closest to the source would be lightest, and the further away it is from the source, the darker it becomes. On the sprite I supplied for you, I chose the light source to be on the top right.

The second problem was the overall shape. The shape of the feathers on top were very good, I liked them a lot. However, the segment's shape was an octagon, not a circle. In order to make it a circle, in the size you wanted, you'll have to extend it out a bit, and round the edges. I find it easy to round out sprites if you keep placing two pixels on top of each other, and extending out. You can see how to make a basic circle in my example.

The third problem was AAing, or anti aliasing. AAing means rounding out the edges of your sprite. You can apply AA to either the inside, or outside of the border. In my example, I added it to the outside. The gray blocks act as the AA, and make the circle more...circular!

Now, moving onto the rest of your sprites:

In order to make an exciting pokey, each of the segments with the fuzzy stuff coming out of it should be different. The way you have it there is so that all the segments are the exact same. Try changing it up a bit! Also, this is purely optional, I would change the body's outline to something other than pure black. Black outlines usually work, but I think it would look better as a different color.

I hope this helped you out, and I look forward to seeing you improve! =]

[Raytheon]

No offense Mr. L but some of that was pretty horrible advice.

Your shading is bad and those are pretty horrible colours. You can't even see the difference between the 2.
He shouldn't AA the outside, as when will they ever be used on a white background???

[LeleleleMAXIMUM]

What Raytheon means is:
You're both pillowshading, which is just shading a pixel or two away from the edge/next color. Bad practice, since this never happens. Mr L's lineart is better though, as it is rounder. And antialiasing is a good idea, but what Raytheon means is instead of AAing OUTSIDE of a sprite, it is better to AA INSIDE the sprite or within the lines (what some people call "selective outlining". if you need an example, just ask), because if you put the AA outside, your choice of backgrounds is limited. For example, if you put Mr L's sprite on a dark background, the gray colors would look lighter, and it will look bad.
Mr L's suggestion about adding variety is also good.

Welcome to TsRC!

[Link]

No offense Mr. L but some of that was pretty horrible advice.

Your shading is bad and those are pretty horrible colours. You can't even see the difference between the 2.
He shouldn't AA the outside, as when will they ever be used on a white background???

I wasn't trying to make it perfect, dude, this isn't my sprite. I was just trying to show him that he needed to shade the inside.

And I suppose AAing the outside wouldn't be perfect. But I AA'd the same style as M&L style, and they look fine on different backgrounds. (Except black, or near black)

Selective outlining is what I was hinting at when I said:

I would change the body's outline to something other than pure black. Black outline's usually work, but I think it would look better as a different color.

Though since he is new, and sel-out can be bad if not used well, I just went for an easier option.

[Em2014]

So, this AA Shading? Is it basically just adding a few gray pixels arond the edges (the rounded parts) like this:



I also tried rounding it out. Along with AA Shading and Rounding it out, should I remove Vampokey and King Prokley?


-Em

[Link]

No no. You only use the gray pixels on the outside of the border, and only when the border is black.

You should probably use inside AA, where you would replace those gray blocks you have with a darker version of the body's color.

[Rakia]

I don't think you know what AA is...

[Em2014]

Okay, I have no clue who to believe, but is this good:



And, once more, should I remove King Prokley and Vampokey, my own creations?


-Em

[Link]

I don't think you know what AA is...

Well, please enlighten us all.

[Smash]

This is no MLSS, Mr. L.

Now Em2014, your recent sprites appear to have a lightsource coming from the bottom right corner, and also, by the way they are shaded, they seem to have a flat center on them.. I would suggest you to move the lightsource to somewhere more natural, preferably a top perspective.
And in order to make them rounder, have them look something like these examples I made:



See that where I added the light, it makes the texture appear rounder, and with only 2 colors.
Now, the guys above mentioned AAing and Sel-outs, this is what they meant:


AAing, or anti-aliasing, is where you cover the jagged darker areas like the lines, and add intermediary pixels between them and the colors to make it look smoother looking, not nessesarily all over the lines, but on select spaces that would not make it disturb the shapes.


And Sel-outs, or selective outlining, is when you put lighter colored outlines where there are lighter shades on the sprite. Because, you know, black outlines all over look ugly most of the time.

For your own creations, I'd advise you to make them more original rather than just recolors.. Add different but notable attributes, make them smaller or larger, something to make them stand out from the rest.

Hope this helped.

[LeleleleMAXIMUM]

1. References. I googled the character and made a lineart loosely based on it. I say "loosely" because if I copied it flat out, then I wouldn't be adding my own style to it.
2. Lineart. Started with two circles, making sure that it was round and had no jaggy parts. The petals I used colored areas as a template for the shape. I also didn't use lines inside of the petals to keep their "thin" look.
3. Shading. I made sure to shade the circles like spheres, similar to Smash's advice above. This is to add depth to the sprite.
4. Selective Otlining and Anti-aliasing. Smash explained them above. A good rule of thumb for AA is the color you used to AA should be midway between the two colors you want to blend. And a personal rule of thumb in Sel-out is I use a color two shades away from the color being outlined. For instance, the lightest shade of orange was outlined with the third darkest shade of orange, etc. There are exemptions, like if it wouldn't fit the shading, etc.

Hope that helped.

[wolfgator]

Far better.

Looks good.

[LeleleleMAXIMUM]

If you're talking to me, I didn't make the topic.

[Em2014]

Alright, so I edited the shading as Smash advised, and also made them all have differences.



In case you can't tell the differences: Regular Pokey=Regular, Mummipokey=Egyptian Necklace and Dried-Out Flower, King Prokley=Taller (Same as before), Vampokey=Teeth (Same as before), Poison Pokey=Wilted Flower and Gas Clouds, Angry Pokey=Flamehead.

I'm just aking sure I have the shading done before I go off and do the animations. I already have to re-do King Prokley. >.<


-Em