Can I level up now?

[Level 1]

So it's been ages since I've even used GG, but here is what I have on my plate right now.

I am making an RPG with a friend and he wanted me to make the items in an 8bit style, so I tried, I obviously didn't restrict myself with the NES restrictions, but yeah, these are pretty basic, but I feel like it's something to show.

Here are some things I worked on while I was gone and never really got done, I am trying to develop a sort of simplistic style, I borrowed some elements from Pokemon games, Coropata and a bit of Rouge Legacy, I do want to finish the Knight Guy thingy, but I want to try and make it look like a sort of a puppet, but it's turning out to be harder than I pictured.

And this, I want to animate this properly, this is only 4 frames, but I want to see how much I can push it. It's obviously not finished, but I'd like some words of wisdom.

[Virt]

Wow, those are some noice sprites. Your technique and color choice are exemplary.

For the knight guy, to make him look more like a puppet, I'd say extend the chin and maybe make it look like there's less weight on his feet, like he's just dangling but being made to look like he's standing.

For the idle animation, there could be some arm movement and the legs could bend somehow. Maybe his shoulders could bounce.

[Level 1]

Alright, well I tried and make the Puppet a bit "looser" not really sure how to do that, but I tried. Also, ust for fun, I made him into a non- puppet version.

[Rosencrantz]

Puppets are all about the dangles, man~

If you want a loose feel, then all you need to do is try to make the limbs be as affected by gravity as possible. This means that they'll, for the most part, be bending downward (so like, for the sword, it'll more likely have the tip resting on the ground rather than it aiming forward like you have it right now).

Puppets are also all about joints; the arms should be more disconnected at the joint, maybe even to the point where the joint's stretched out a bit more to exaggerate that it's a pin-socket connection. Same thing with the shoulders and the legs; exaggerate the disconnect between the joints, and be sure to have the pieces trend more downward since the only thing that's really holding the limbs up are torsional forces from the strings.

Finally, since you want a puppet, don't be afraid to outright make limbs go out of control! Strings can only control so much of the limbs; they're still probably gonna rotate a bit about the sockets and rest in unnatural positions (so like, for the feet, you can have one foot dragging backwards and twisted behind the puppet. Remember that the feet aren't actually holding the puppet up; all the force'll be in the strings). You don't need to emphasize this on every limb, but doing this to one of them might give off the impression that he's just a toy!

[Xander]

I tend to agree with Rosencrantz.

Your sprites look great so far though. The style is really nice.

[Level 1]

I have to say, this is turning into a real challenge. I know you mentioned gravity, but it just looked wrong having the sword tilting downwards, I did try and raise the elbow as if the string was pulling it upwards.Also, I changed the face a bit so maybe he will still have that nut cracker look.

Edit.
Here's one with the tilted sword.


Arms and hands are starting to make this harder than it should.

[Sevenstitch]

I think your main hindrance is the fact that you have him footed on the ground like a human and not a puppet.

Its been stated already, but the fact that he is a puppet means that he dangles rather than stands.
You should try making it so it looks as if he is suspended just above the ground plain, instead of standing on it.
This would allow you to exaggerate the effect of gravity on the limbs while they aren't being guided by the "strings."

Also, to be honest, if you are wanting puppet like animation for this character and don't particularly care about pixel by pixel perfection,
you could probably rig the separate pieces of your character in a program of some sort to simulate the "puppet" movement.

[Xander]

I agree with Sevenstitch, making him less weighed to the ground would help sell the puppet concept.

Also, if you opt to have a string on the sword, it doesn't have to be tilted downwards.

[Level 1]

Hmm, maybe this may help, as about the sword, I will probably come up with a good excuse, because the string idea kinda doesn't fly with me

Edit:
x2
I tried and give this another shot

[Kelvin]

I like the old version better. The feather looks kinda jagged, and the hair generally looked nicer. Also, his eyebrows seem more like blocks, and don't seem as defined as before. he body looks OK, and I like the scarf covering the mouth.

[Zadaben]

He doesnt necessarily need to have visible strings attached, since a pixel width is pretty thick at this resolution, they could be implied by his being suspended slightly above the ground, or even just by his feet just dragging across the ground instead of walking.
It might also help if his head hung at an angle as well, which could have the added bonus of making the sword look more natural in the lowered position.

[DragonDePlatino]

Hmm...I really like the string idea, but I can see how it would become a pain to keep track of once you start animating him. Why not op for just one big rope instead, and let the rest of the strings be invisible like Zababen said?



I got this idea from Puppet Ganon, by the way.

[Virt]

Alternatively, you could have lighter strings that are only visible at the base where they connect to the puppet, sort of kind of like those enemies from the SSE in Brawl.

[Level 1]

Animating this will be pretty tough, mainly because if I do turn this into a puppet with 1 or more strings, I will have to animate each and every limb and joint, so I need to figure out a way to make sure everything moves in one strike

[TheShyGuy]

Maybe you should test out some rough animations? The lanky and dangling features of puppets are probably best shown through movement, so you might as well.