Sprite Progression

[Wulfre]

I am developing my very first game but am doing everything myself and I am not very good at spriting so I am coming to people who probably know much more than I to help me in my work.

This is the main character sprite I have for now:

[Kitsu]

Many of the things I'll be mentioning are also discussed a little in the Spriting Dictionary, so be sure to read that for more reference (and you can also ask clarifying questions, of course).
Okay so here are some tips:

1. Your color shades are too close to one another (aka not enough contrast). While in the blown-up image, it maybe be relatively easy to tell apart the shades, in the 1x version, the different shades hardly stand out at all.

2. Your shading is a little inconsistent. The shading on the shirt and pants suggest that the light source is near his feet, but the shading on his face and hair say that the light source is somewhere above him.

3. Your shading on the shirt and pants don't really help tell the viewer about the 3d shape of the items; they're just flat gradients. You should try to curve the shading around the surface so it helps give a better understanding of the object's actual shape.

4. You're using selective-outlining (sel-out) on the hair (using a shade of a contained color on the outline), but it's inconsistent. In general, sel-out should have those colors act as additional shading that extends to the outline, and thus should follow the same rules of the shading within the outlines. Therefore, the colored outline should be where light would be shining on the object.

5. Black is a strong color, and using it for lines within the sprite can tire the eye and make the image appear more bland. Try using colored lines within the sprite, though you can still use black for things you really need to emphasize/separate from other things.

6. There are some color issues where the colors you've selected are a little muddy or plain. This isn't necessarily bad, but it often isn't generally appealing. Check "hueshift" in the Spriting Dictionary for a short general idea of it, I guess; I'm not really sure how to communicate it further, really.

7. Some anatomy issues (the character's general shape and awkward, kind of leaning-back posture), though I imagine others with more anatomy knowledge would provide better feedback here.

8. Artistically, the posture is kind of uninteresting. They're kind of just standing there, and it doesn't really communicate anything to the viewer about this person's personality, their desires and motivations, etc.. Similarly, the design is also rather plain, and also doesn't tell me much about this person beyond they prefer to dress simply and maybe don't comb their hair in the morning.

Sorry if this was a bit much to mention all at once. I hope this can be helpful for your improvement somehow, and please continue to show us your progress!

[Wulfre]

Thanks a lot for all that input. To be honest I worked harder on the head and once I got to the body I couldn't get the shape right so I just slapped on any colors. I should probably also mention that its a 2D platformer so I tried to make him slightly sideways.

[Gors]

The perspective doesn't match then, because it looks like he is looking a little towards us instead of in front of him.


if you have some details on the character (such as traits, or personality), we can help developing his character design.

[Koh]

Just to give you an idea on the contrast mentioned before, I made a little edit to show you how it works. Your version is on the left, mine on the right:



See how the shades stand out more? That's what people mean when they say "you need more contrast." Also, I edited the shading to all follow the uniform lightsource. When you put shades on things that are meant to be in the back, like I did here with the clothing, it helps give the sprite a more 3D feel.

[Wulfre]

To be honest again, I made this character blindly and I don't think he matches the music that accompanies the game. Perhaps someone can give me ideas on what the character should look like based on the main theme:

https://soundcloud.com/wulfre/title-them...oming-soon

I know that this almost destroys everything I've done and places it all on you guys but I have trouble when it comes to initial ideas.

I am thinking that the game will be about a bard who uses his music to destroy enemies, I will have to somehow make the enemies look weak to sound - if that makes any sense.

If someone could help me imagine the character, I can get a style worked out and continue on my own.

[Kitsu]

When designing a character, it's useful to know some information about that character. For example, we know he's a bard now, and that he can potentially harm opponents with his music (is it because he plays badly? or is it because he plays REALLY well? lol). So that can help, but more may be needed.

For example, what is his personality, what is his motivation? How does he treat his power, and how does he intend to use it? Are his powers normal, or abnormal, and what does he think of that? And similarly, what does he think of himself?

Also some more specifics about his character and the world he lives in could be useful. For example, it might be good to know what sort of weapon/instrument he uses and the sort of training regiment he'd have to go through to gain his skills.

Another helpful thing is to look at previous designs of similar things, to give you an idea of what has been done before so you can figure out what you want to do with your own idea better. Maybe swipe a few pieces here and there

Of course, not all of this needs to be thought up at once; you can develop the character one step at a time, making changes as you see fit. Some of it may not even be necessary at all, depending on the needs of the game. However, it can still be helpful nonetheless.

Personally, if I were designing such a character, since I often go for over-the-top and slightly silly (and also cutesy), I'd have such a character probably be a really short girl with a giant tuba, and she'd wear a plaid skirt probably. In her universe, militaries are made up entirely of bands; however, she's not good enough yet to join her local militia and get into the war against the dischord monsters, though she doesn't believe that herself. Therefore, she goes on an adventure because she thinks she can beat up everything on her own lol!

I'm not sure that this sort of thing would fit what you want to do yourself, but I hope it gives you an idea of some of the things that can act as a starting place for designing your character. And as mentioned before, you don't have to settle on something right away, but can gradually edit the character as you continue working on them to get them closer to what you really want them to be.

[Wulfre]

Well, I wanted it to be a male, and he would play a guitar, there would be other guitar upgrades in the game, so I would need to sprite different guitars, but that comes later. Being said he uses a guitar, his standing pose would have his arm outward so he can rest his guitar on the ground. My brother said that the song sounded a little medieval, but I don't want it to be some generic rpg style game with castles and warriors. However, I do want a somewhat traditional costume, maybe something with poofy sleeves. The plaid might work too. I will be doing this myself, but any final ideas would be nice. I am also terrible at making the shape of the body so I might need a little help with that.

Maybe he harms enemies by playing badly in the beginning, but he finds a magician that gives him a magic guitar (plot development!) that does damage when he plays well, so he adventures to become a better musician in order to master the magic guitar.

[Gors]

you know, i am interested in this now, it sounds (lol music puns) really promising. Try coming up with a design, then we'll help you polish it!

[daemoth]

Well, I wanted it to be a male, and he would play a guitar, there would be other guitar upgrades in the game, so I would need to sprite different guitars, but that comes later. Being said he uses a guitar, his standing pose would have his arm outward so he can rest his guitar on the ground. My brother said that the song sounded a little medieval, but I don't want it to be some generic rpg style game with castles and warriors. However, I do want a somewhat traditional costume, maybe something with poofy sleeves. The plaid might work too. I will be doing this myself, but any final ideas would be nice. I am also terrible at making the shape of the body so I might need a little help with that.

Maybe he harms enemies by playing badly in the beginning, but he finds a magician that gives him a magic guitar (plot development!) that does damage when he plays well, so he adventures to become a better musician in order to master the magic guitar.

You might want to check out Waynes Worlds on snes, its a sidescroller and the protagonist also use a guitar, so it will gives you some examples, anatomy wise.

[Wulfre]

It's not much yet, but here is the body shape I have:



It is a little off, if someone could help me fix it before I do the detail work that would be much appreciated. I am terrible at getting the shape right.

[Kitsu]

Here's an edit to fix up a few anatomy issues:


1. Legs were lengthened by pulling the hips up 4 pixels. In general, human legs are about as tall as the torso and head.

2. Right foot (from our point of view (often shortened to OPV); it's the character's left foot) was changed around to better match with the other foot in height, as well as elongated a little.

3. Right arm OPV was lengthened a bit. Usually, human arms are long enough that hands usually start right by the top of the hips.

4. Pulled left arm OPV out a bit to broaden the chest a tiny bit (also so that there wouldn't be that long straight line there).

As it stands, anatomy is a thing that can take a long time to learn, as well as lots of effort. But, like many things, it gets better with practice.

[Wulfre]

Thanks so much for that, I guess I need to start practicing soon. I will hopefully have the details done tomorrow. I am going to need help again with the coloring, but I'll try my best to follow all the shading tips I've read on here.

---

I couldn't resist adding in his amazing hair before I left. Please give me feedback on that, I feel like it isn't good, but I guess that's because I'm the one who made it.

[Wulfre]

I did my best to add some clothes, I tried to give him a scrappy kind of look. I might add a hat at some point.



EDIT:

Wow, one pixel can make a big difference on a small scale

[Kitsu]

Your two lightest shades in the brown could probably use more contrast (or you could probably actually get rid of one of the two brown shades there altogether).

And yeah, single pixels can make huge differences sometimes! It's one of the coolest things about pixel art, I think.