Help me improve these human enemy battle sprites

[DapperDave]

EDIT: Evidently I don't know how to post images. Maybe it's the source. I'll post links too.

I'm working on the enemy battle sprites for my RPG. The game uses a front-facing/Dragon Quest style view.

As a reference, I made this mockup of a few enemy animal sprites here.  I'm pretty happy with these animals, it's the humans I'm not satisfied with. But if you have suggestions for these animals, don't hold back.

(Image Large)

 [img]blob:http://pasteboard.co/3b36683c-9141-4c06-961c-f666a0172416[/img]
http://pasteboard.co/s1kg9m7nl.png

The actual resolution I'm working with is 398x224

(Image Small) [img]blob:http://pasteboard.co/d24ac711-8e60-43e3-bc11-1933ec4afa88[/img]
http://pasteboard.co/s1nESwm7q.png

And here the humans - some fighting friars (don't ask).  They're not awful, but I wish they were better. The faces look just too pixelated somehow. Not sure what I can do.

(Image Large)  [img]blob:http://pasteboard.co/cc8a7747-56c8-428a-946a-688ffb7d15c2[/img]
http://pasteboard.co/s1qC63E0O.png

(Image Actual Size) [img]blob:http://pasteboard.co/39cf2e9c-f06f-4d20-8997-eb283ddab26f[/img]
http://pasteboard.co/2NJBzBtLc.png

[CyberneticCupcake]

And here the humans - some fighting friars (don't ask).  They're not awful, but I wish they were better. The faces look just too pixelated somehow. Not sure what I can do.

(Image Large)  [img]blob:http://pasteboard.co/cc8a7747-56c8-428a-946a-688ffb7d15c2[/img]
http://pasteboard.co/s1qC63E0O.png

(Image Actual Size) [img]blob:http://pasteboard.co/39cf2e9c-f06f-4d20-8997-eb283ddab26f[/img]
http://pasteboard.co/2NJBzBtLc.png

My major suggestion would be to consider what style you're making this game. To me, the humans' faces look cartoonish and "painted on", which is why I think you're having issues with their looks.

My recommendation is to simulate anti-aliasing, using gradients of color rather than stark contrasts of color, especially for the eyes.



I tried a bit of alteration on the eyes; it might not be in your palette's limitations, but it's a start of an idea.

[DapperDave]

Thanks. I'll think about what you said and show you what I come up with soon.

[DapperDave]

I made a few other attempts at human characters that turned out better.  

I neglected to mention that I used a poseable model to make those friar sprites. I actually posed it, took a picture and traced it. And it looks like that was not a good method.

Here I made a character from tracing the model. Then I tried it again, this time drawing the character using the model only as a reference. Then scanning the drawing, shrinking it and tracing that to use as the sprite.

http://pasteboard.co/srjcQvHX.png

I think you'll agree that the bottom version looks better. Tracing the model made it too skinny and weird.

So I tried that method again on these soldiers. Using the model as a reference, sketching them, scanning them and then making the sprites. The drawings become almost unrecognizable when it the size is reduced but it still works out.

http://pasteboard.co/swd6WcJk.png

The top row are my drawings. The second row is how bad they look when resized. The third row are the resulting sprites. Off to the right are their actual sizes.

These look pretty okay. Would appreciate any feedback though.

[Gors]

You have a very different method of making sprites - which isn't wrong per se, but it can be a problem when making characters.

Using a figure to create poses can help when creating art, but tracing it will make you too "tied" to the figure. Usually, clothes don't wrap our body so tightly, and thus the fabrics drape a little and leaves some breathing space between the skin and the clothes.

The ones you've drawn with pencil are the best because you applied the cloth draping and thus it seems much more lively, with better silhouette expression.

this being said, the downside of using a figure to model your characters is that probably you only have one figure - and using the same figure to pose all characters will result in everyone having the same proportion. People are quite varied in physical appearance - be it a womanly shape, or a manly shape; fat or thin; and even size of limbs and torso in comparision to the head can change a lot even between people of the same family. So, even if a figure is great at giving you insight on how you do the pose, don't be afraid of playing with the types of body you can apply. Diversity is inherently fun, and helps your game stand out.

[DapperDave]

You have a very different method of making sprites - which isn't wrong per se, but it can be a problem when making characters.

Using a figure to create poses can help when creating art, but tracing it will make you too "tied" to the figure. Usually, clothes don't wrap our body so tightly, and thus the fabrics drape a little and leaves some breathing space between the skin and the clothes.

The ones you've drawn with pencil are the best because you applied the cloth draping and thus it seems much more lively, with better silhouette expression.

this being said, the downside of using a figure to model your characters is that probably you only have one figure - and using the same figure to pose all characters will result in everyone having the same proportion. People are quite varied in physical appearance - be it a womanly shape, or a manly shape; fat or thin; and even size of limbs and torso in comparision to the head can change a lot even between people of the same family. So, even if a figure is great at giving you insight on how you do the pose, don't be afraid of playing with the types of body you can apply. Diversity is inherently fun, and helps your game stand out.

Yeah I have several characters of larger or more atypical body sizes. And minor things like a little bit longer arms or larger hands are probably accomplished as a side effect of me simply not being a very good artist. 

Thanks for the input. Here are some other characters I've finished. Again made with the process of sketching them using the poseable figure as a reference model and then turning the sketches into sprites.