02-25-2009, 06:49 PM
Boo hoo hoo criticism on the internet ;A;
I'm trying to be less of a dick than usual
but if it's not well-recieved here then it's not likely to be well recieved in many other places. I can't really see any criticisms made here that weren't valid.
So here I shall regale you with a WALL OF TEXT.
The models are very nicely made. I'm impressed there. But the design, aside from being fairly generic anime nekomimi whatever-the-hell, are lacking. To make a character memorable less is generally more - there are ways to be distinctive without just slapping more stuff on. You need to think about the way each character moves, their posture, how different parts of them are proportioned. The latter bit is pretty important- if you took your characters hair and clothes off, are they still fairly recognisable? Or, if you drew your characters as just silhouettes, could you pick them out?
About the clothes - tone down the detail! Think about how big they're going to be on screen for the majority of the game - you're not gonna be up close and personal for much of it. Aside from being a wasted effort to add all the extra doodads when few people are going to see them, you need to think how it reads from a distance. For example, can you still tell that a belt buckle is a belt buckle from some distance, or does the character start to look garbled?
Since you're familiar with the characters it may be difficult for you to judge; try and find an objective person and ask them what they think parts look like - don't lead the question by asking "Does this look like a belt buckle?", just ask them what they see. Ask them if it's clear and easy to work out.
Try and avoid putting them in patterned clothing. That really only works if you're going to be fairly close to the character, otherwise the detail gets lost at a distance and it just looks a mess. If you're going to insist on using patterns make them really bold, simple and obvious.
There's too much colour on them, too. Generally it's best to pick one or two colours, and play with tone on different places.
I'd say (despite her outfit making me think of a pokemon trainer) that the female character is looking mostly okay in terms of colour. You should really, really avoid using pure grey on either of them, though. Put a teeny amount of colour in there - either the same colour as the rest of the clothing, or something complimentary - and it'll make it 'pop' more. Unless you're actually working in greyscale you should always avoid pure grey.
AND NOW ANIMATION.
You know that little dance anim about a third into the trailer?
That looks better than the rest of the game. It's got some life and weight to it. I'm not an animator so I'm not too clued up on this, but primarily you need to make your character look more like they're interacting with terrain. When you start running, you push off the ground. As you run, your feet are continually pushing off the ground, your arms are pushing against the air, when you jump your hair moves, etc etc. As it is they're looking too static.
That brings me on to my next point - I'm not sure how doable this is with this low-level of detail, but try and think about secondary motion.
I'm not sure how best to explain secondary motion. Basically as well as the movement of specific parts of the body, you have to think about how that movement affects the rest of the body + clothing . If someone lifts up their arm - how does it affect the rest of their posture? Does it affect their clothing? When someone's running, does their torso remain static or does it twist with the movement? How does their hair behave?
Obviously with a relatively simple n64 look you can't incorporate ALL of this movement, but you should still think about how a movement affects outside parts. Every action has a reaction and all that.
In a similar vein- try and think about when they start and stop moving. You 'spring' into a run when you start, and when you stop suddenly you skid a bit. Similarly with jumping - you bend your knees before you jump, and when you land you bend them again. You don't just suddenly go from mid-air to standing on the floor. Any prolonged movement should have a clear start, middle and finish. There's a LITTLE of that towards the end of the trailer but it seems to be the exception rather than the rule.
Lastly try and think about speed. The speed seems to be fairly constant regardless of how the character is moving - shouldn't a jump be faster than a run? When the girl is whizzing through those arrows mid air, shouldn't she be moving really fast, rather than what seems to be quite a leisurely pace?
that's all I can be bothered to whine about for now. Chances are you'll just ignore it anyway so watev.
I'm trying to be less of a dick than usual
but if it's not well-recieved here then it's not likely to be well recieved in many other places. I can't really see any criticisms made here that weren't valid.
So here I shall regale you with a WALL OF TEXT.
The models are very nicely made. I'm impressed there. But the design, aside from being fairly generic anime nekomimi whatever-the-hell, are lacking. To make a character memorable less is generally more - there are ways to be distinctive without just slapping more stuff on. You need to think about the way each character moves, their posture, how different parts of them are proportioned. The latter bit is pretty important- if you took your characters hair and clothes off, are they still fairly recognisable? Or, if you drew your characters as just silhouettes, could you pick them out?
About the clothes - tone down the detail! Think about how big they're going to be on screen for the majority of the game - you're not gonna be up close and personal for much of it. Aside from being a wasted effort to add all the extra doodads when few people are going to see them, you need to think how it reads from a distance. For example, can you still tell that a belt buckle is a belt buckle from some distance, or does the character start to look garbled?
Since you're familiar with the characters it may be difficult for you to judge; try and find an objective person and ask them what they think parts look like - don't lead the question by asking "Does this look like a belt buckle?", just ask them what they see. Ask them if it's clear and easy to work out.
Try and avoid putting them in patterned clothing. That really only works if you're going to be fairly close to the character, otherwise the detail gets lost at a distance and it just looks a mess. If you're going to insist on using patterns make them really bold, simple and obvious.
There's too much colour on them, too. Generally it's best to pick one or two colours, and play with tone on different places.
I'd say (despite her outfit making me think of a pokemon trainer) that the female character is looking mostly okay in terms of colour. You should really, really avoid using pure grey on either of them, though. Put a teeny amount of colour in there - either the same colour as the rest of the clothing, or something complimentary - and it'll make it 'pop' more. Unless you're actually working in greyscale you should always avoid pure grey.
AND NOW ANIMATION.
You know that little dance anim about a third into the trailer?
That looks better than the rest of the game. It's got some life and weight to it. I'm not an animator so I'm not too clued up on this, but primarily you need to make your character look more like they're interacting with terrain. When you start running, you push off the ground. As you run, your feet are continually pushing off the ground, your arms are pushing against the air, when you jump your hair moves, etc etc. As it is they're looking too static.
That brings me on to my next point - I'm not sure how doable this is with this low-level of detail, but try and think about secondary motion.
I'm not sure how best to explain secondary motion. Basically as well as the movement of specific parts of the body, you have to think about how that movement affects the rest of the body + clothing . If someone lifts up their arm - how does it affect the rest of their posture? Does it affect their clothing? When someone's running, does their torso remain static or does it twist with the movement? How does their hair behave?
Obviously with a relatively simple n64 look you can't incorporate ALL of this movement, but you should still think about how a movement affects outside parts. Every action has a reaction and all that.
In a similar vein- try and think about when they start and stop moving. You 'spring' into a run when you start, and when you stop suddenly you skid a bit. Similarly with jumping - you bend your knees before you jump, and when you land you bend them again. You don't just suddenly go from mid-air to standing on the floor. Any prolonged movement should have a clear start, middle and finish. There's a LITTLE of that towards the end of the trailer but it seems to be the exception rather than the rule.
Lastly try and think about speed. The speed seems to be fairly constant regardless of how the character is moving - shouldn't a jump be faster than a run? When the girl is whizzing through those arrows mid air, shouldn't she be moving really fast, rather than what seems to be quite a leisurely pace?
that's all I can be bothered to whine about for now. Chances are you'll just ignore it anyway so watev.