Merlon Mario and Luigi Bowser's Inside Story

[megamario1234]

I have recently made Merlon sprites in Mario and Luigi Bowser's Inside Story. I am still having trouble with the upward diagonal pose. Do you have any ideas?

[brandman1996]

Well on all of your sprites the AA's a little too thick. And when you say Merlon do you mean Merlin from the King Arthur stories? Is it some made up character? And at closer examination is there a star on it's chin? Add some AA to his eye slits. At the second sprite i see his shoe curled up, for the rest I don't. The first sprites hood ends in a point, the rest kind of smooth out. The lightest shade sticks out. Either use less of it or replace it.

Fix and explain.

[gopherofdestruction]

Whats AA?

OH and looks great i wish i was that talented x3

[Cobalt Blue]

AA stands for Anti Aliasing
http://www.spriters-resource.com/communi...?tid=13868

that one coment by brandman was a bit chaotic, i really tried to understand what did he said. but if anything has to be really pointed out from that sprite(as far as my knowledge of said sprites go) is that they dont seem to represent the 8 axis very well. diagonaal poses arent really showing much depth. the rotation of the character's features needs to be way more clear.

someone with more knowledge of said sprites back me up, i dont really know how these work, but i surely see shitloads of banding going on it.

[Involuntary Twitch]

okay, yeah, unfamiliar with your style but I'll do my best

@brandman: Merlon is a character from Paper Mario, megamario1234 (ugh why the numbers) just sprited him in the style of MLSS.

As sprites go-- I seem to remember him being a lot shorter, at least shorter than Mario; he seems huge in your sprite. The sprite itself isn't bad, your technique is just lacking. Smooth out those outlines and shading, and fix the blue lines on the robes; their lighting is off.

Other than that it's not bad, just kinda flat.

[X Gamer 66]

As sprites go-- I seem to remember him being a lot shorter, at least shorter than Mario; he seems huge in your sprite.

actually, the size is pretty good. Merlon is slightly taller than (Paper) Mario and slightly shorter than Peach.

His hood looks kind of pillow shaded , especially on the angled poses. I think his robe should come back more on the side poses. And, as was said, he looks pretty flat, especially in the south-east facing sprite.

[brandman1996]

that one coment by brandman was a bit chaotic, i really tried to understand what did he said.

Oh I'm sorry. Yeah I was in a rush, so let me clear out what I said, besides asking who merlon was...

Well on all of your sprites the AA's a little too thick in certain places, so try to clear it up a bit, where as on the eye slit's it wouldn't hurt to add some AA.

At closer examination I saw what looked to be a star on it's chin. I checked Super Mario Wiki and it is supposed to have one. My problem is that it looks almost like another shade to it's chin, so try to make it stand out more. Also change it's shading from orange to yellow, unless you want it to be yellow-orange like it's original appearance.

At the second sprite i see his shoe curled up, for the rest I don't. In it's original appearance it's shoe is smooth where as later incarnations show it with pointy shoes. It's like you are conflicting with yourself about a Paper Mario look or a PM:TTYD look. Choose one and stick with it.

The first sprites hood ends in a point, the rest kind of smooth out. Smooth out all the hoods unless you want to have a SPM look, which will require a complete overhaul.

The lightest shade sticks out on the robe. Either use less of it or replace it.

Fix and explain.

I revised my first post to this thread, though I have a feeling I went too far explaining. Oh well.

@brandman: Merlon is a character from Paper Mario, megamario1234 (ugh why the numbers) just sprited him in the style of MLSS.

Oh, see I've never played the Paper Mario games, but I've heard they are good. I'm planning to get Paper Mario for the 3DS when it comes out.

[megamario1234]

I have made Merlon fatter like in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. I will try to make a backward pose of him.

[Alex IDV]

His 'stache's shape doesn't seem very consistent. Other than that, it's pretty neat.

[brandman1996]

I have made Merlon fatter like in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. I will try to make a backward pose of him.

Looking better but the star still doesn't stick out very much. It might when it is zoomed in but not so much zoomed out. Also his beard/mustache thing doesn't wrap around him on the last one as it does the rest.

It's definitely looking better just fix those two things and it might be done. Then make some more poses. This may be submitting worthy.

[Chris2Balls [:B]]

you have a lot of banding in there: you're trying to squash too many shades near some parts of the outline.
you could refine the shape of the shading.
the moustache lacks volume in the three next poses.
i don't think the shading fits the style, to be honest with you.

anyway, i hope you manage to improve on this even more!

Spoiler

2,000th post!!

[megamario1234]

I just updated my sprite poses of Merlon in this picture.

[Azure-Tranquility]

Finally, a necropost done right.

The sprites look pretty great now. Dat cloak shading.

[Davy Jones]

Merlon's first frame could use a spikier beard.

[Koopaul]

Glad to see the improvement. Keep going.

Those mustaches still need work. They're probably the hardest part. It doesn't seem at the same angle as the rest of him when he's turned diagonally.