Hieros Gamos, Fakemon and More

[megaMasquerain]

I might try the 3d thing, just to see if it works better.

Anyways, my last post - what I was trying to say could be expressed like this comic.

In the above piece of art, I think "arms are cylinders... so I will shade an arm like a cylinder". Which isn't totally wrong, but the way I go about it is fundamentally flawed. I can only see the arm (or other part of the sprite) from the angle it's been drawn in because my mind isn't able to think in 3d very well. So, I can't exactly imagine where the light would be falling on the other parts of the arm/sprite that aren't in view on the post the sprite is in.

(This is also why my anatomy is so terrible).

I'm not trying to be one of those assholes who blames all their problems on things that are out of their control. I'm probably just talking to myself here, anyways, but I'm also wondering if anyone has some kind of practice exercise that would help me think and shade in 3d. (And I don't want to rotate an apple in my head that's just boring and tedious)

If you still didn't understand what I meant, my communication skills are borked and I should probably just get on with trying to shade Danubine. I have her with the shading on her body removed sitting in front of me on Graphicsgale, so...

[Chris2Balls [:B]]

playing with some lego would be a good start: it's about putting an idea into shape, a mental image into a physical one.

[megaMasquerain]

I have some pixelblocks at my mom's, those would probably serve the same purpose. I'll mess with them tommorrow.



Tried thinking about the lightsource a bit more, and made a grid on her body to try and help me see how the front would look in 3d... I like how our right arm looks but not sure about the rest. Haven't started the hair yet.

[Chris2Balls [:B]]

the face and hair look better. the rest still needs more work. the arms and bra are the main issues.

[Gors]

do you know what

Masquerain, I like the fact that you're using our edits as a ref. Most people around here just grabs our edits, change one or two pixels on it and calls it a day. The fact that you see our edits, understand the techniques used on it and tries to replicate it with your abilities is a gold thing.

[megaMasquerain]

do you know what

Masquerain, I like the fact that you're using our edits as a ref. Most people around here just grabs our edits, change one or two pixels on it and calls it a day. The fact that you see our edits, understand the techniques used on it and tries to replicate it with your abilities is a gold thing.

There's so much more to be learned from trying to follow the same steps as someone else's edit, rather than just nabbing the edit itself. I was sort of worried you guys would be annoyed that I got so many design ideas from your edits!

Anyways, don't expect a whole lot from me at the moment, with several Hieros Gamos-related things in the works (a website and work on the actual game) I'll be getting some stuff done eventually. When eventually is I'm not sure.

But for now, have this... it might be useful for shading study or something.



Yes, that is an Edward Cullen vampire squid. No, he isn't going to sparkle in his 3 other ranks.

[megaMasquerain]

Okay, I've made some more things but I don't want to overwhelm you guys with stuff I'm considering finished for the moment (this includes the 4 that I posted earlier - the mermaid will probably get a shading overhaul sooner or later but for now I'm calling her done in the spirit of getting other things finished). So, here's a colored silhouette:



I want him sitting to offset the huge number of canid homunculi who I'm going to have in standing poses, unfortunately he's not very readable at the moment. After I post this I'm going to chop off his lower body and try again, but critique on anything I'm doing wrong in general is welcome.

EDIT:

Also, I'm thinking of shading the manticore ( this dude, because backtracking pages is a pain). Is there anything else I should fix on him before I start shading?

[x0_000]

Red Oni Blue Oni, eh?

Are you working under some kind of box limitations? If not, I'd lean the blue head forward so that it's distinguishable in the silhouette, and turn the head sideways more so the snout is also visible in the silhouette. Can't offer any critique for the manticore at the moment, sorry!

[gopherofdestruction]

OH MY GOODNESS...These are spectacular!!!

[Chris2Balls [:B]]

the coloured silhouette still needs work, and you can start shading the manticore!

[Damian.]

Edit?


I love this sprite, got a bit carried away and very lazy in the end with the tail and spikes. But it might give you some ideas.

[megaMasquerain]

putting the Multiverse project on hold for now since Hieros Gamos is off hiatus. We might've found a scripter!

Anyways.



Rashoumon and Bassicore. Both unfinished. Unsure if I should go back and refine Rashoumon more, I still have the original silhouette saved...

[GrooveMan.exe]

I see what you're tryinf to do with the Bassicore, but it comes off as way too chunky. I would see a monster with that kind of concept design to be much sleeker, maybe rearing back so you can see it's chest, and how far the strings go. As it stands, it feels like half of it's upper body is encased in rigid, featureless plastic/fiberglass/what the fuck electric guitars and bass are made from. The other side of it's torso feels disjointed and stretched, Movement for this thing must be agony.

Rashoumon seems pretty much fine to me, though.

[megaMasquerain]

Okay I'm thinking I might get a lot of people upset at me but I've decided I want to make fakemon again.

This won't affect the Hieros Gamos project. I figure when I want to make monsters, I can work with HG. When I want to make Pokemon, I can make fakemon.

Anyways. Attempting to make stuff look more Pokemonish, going to the B/W style and studying the eyes of official Pokemon. Any other suggestions?



Fire starter (needs to be shrunk), Water starter.

[x0_000]

Even if you shrink the first one, it'll be unsuitable for a starter, because it looks too "old" for a starter. If you want to get a more authentic feel, you should make the body much smaller (and by extension shorten/shrink the limbs a lot.) Most of the actual starters have bodies roughly the same size as their heads to emphasize a "cuteness" factor.