Ven's HKCP WIP Dump

[Venetia]

'Sup, people. This is my WIP Dump for the HKCP, just to let you guys know I'm hard at work. Luckily the middle-management stuff involving the HKCP is winding down, so now I can start focusing more on spriting and all that.

-----------------------------------------------

Mar 3rd:

I had a few hours free on Friday and about an hour free last night when I got home, so I was working on my first contribution to the aHKCP: A Gralach (Grah-lahck)

The Gralach is like a Chocobo in that it's a two-legged mount. They mostly live on plains and fields, but are semi-amphibious, so they have glossy scales. Their scales are shined to a mirror-like finish before being domesticated and sold to customers.

They're strong and fast, but not very bright and are fairly belligerent, so they're mostly a backup form of transportation to the Equle or Sedrik, which are MUCH more expensive.

Anyway, here's my work on it. 19 colors. I took the inspiration for the head from a pixel artist named Orkimides. I'll update as I go.

http://www.pixelcocktail.com/hosted_ite ... Mockup.png[/img]

Mar 4th:

I'm working on the front view. I decided to save every step as I went along so you can see my process.

http://www.pixelcocktail.com/hosted_ite ... ontWIP.png[/img]
Step 1: Rough Outline based on shape of original sprite.
Step 2: Refine Outline.
Step 3: Color blocking.

It's not even critique-worthy yet, but it's blocked out and color-mapped, for the most part.


-----------------------------------------------

There's more, just be patient .

 

[ramonbastos]

woot, its great venetia ^^ congrats.
Can i try to sprite this to Breeze style? (when i have time)

 

[Britchik]

Wow. That's just.... wow...

I'm searching for something constructive to say, but I honestly can't think of anything right now. Excuse me while I go slinking back to my own mediocre spriting... :wink:

 

[Venetia]

Can i try to sprite this to Breeze style? (when i have time)

You can do whatever you like with anything I do for the HKCP . You'd have to completely overhaul it though to make it a mount for a Breeze character, though. This thing is about 1.75x - 2x the size of an HK character.

Excuse me while I go slinking back to my own mediocre spriting... :wink:

You're not mediocre! You're awesome! :thumb:

 

[ramonbastos]

yea i know, ill have to make it from "blank paper", ill just take this as reference, when its done ^^"

 

[Emtch]

Oh shit! That's one hell of a well made sprite.
I thought I could sprite, but I see now that I fail. Compared to this, most sprites I've ever seen in real games look like shit.

 

[___]

Wow. He looks great! I can't imagine what a phenomenal pain in the ass it will be to animate ^^

 

[Venetia]

Oh, it's gonna be hell. Especially to set it up for only 4 frames o_o;;;

While I'm on the subject, anyone know of a good script (for XP) that'll allow you to have a walk/run/idle and more than 4 frames WITHOUT 8-dir movement?

That'd help this guy tremendously.

 

[Calibre]

I know I'm gonna sound like an ass but it's pretty simple with a common event.

I don't know if you ever played my game but that has it just with events so you know what I mean, except I never added the idle part.  You just need conditional branches checking if the arrow keys are being pressed or not and whether the dash button is being pressed.

Edit: Crap, Forgot to say amazing!

 

[Venetia]

Thanks, and I know how to do it using events (but you can't do the more-than-4-frames using events), but I already have several common events and I'd rather not have another quite so large to lag things up for the low-end-PC people. I think this has morphed into a script request of sorts o_O;; heh

Ah well, gotta abuse my power sometimes.

 

[Calibre]

Oh sorry I thought you were asking for four frames :P

 

[ramonbastos]

But when u change the number of frames, its for every char isnt it?

 

[coyotecraft]

The Sleeping Leonhart's Hero and Event Frame Script 1.1 uses 8 frames and you can turn on and off the 8 directions.
I think you can animate this easily enough with just 4 frames.
In the rtp sprite sheets the 3rd frame is usually repeat of the 1st. But is doesn't have to be. I made this robotic centipede for BellGoRing with just 4 frames.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r134 ... tiwalk.gif[/img]And it loops fairly smoothly.

 

[Siege]

Looks great Venetia. I really like the detail on the scales, especially around the legs.

 

[___]

You should be able to animate him just fine using only 4 frames, particularly if you use a 3 frame run one frame idle script.  The trick is to get just the right poses for each frame.  When I did that run animation for my animated battler I took a gif of a guy running and just started subtracting frames in even proportions till I trimmed it down to 4 and voila, I had my reference; the funny thing was that most of them were in-between poses, not full extension - precise middle - full extension like you might expect.  Seems like the brain does a great job of filling in the details on its own.  It cycles really nicely though, sometime or other I'll post a 4 frame cycle of just the running.

 

[baniff]

It's beautiful! There's not really anything else to say.

 

[Grathea]

Damn, Ven.
Just damn.

Now, so this isn't spam, I'll say that the furthest back talon on the foot closer to the viewer seems a little strange to me.

 

[CeruSkye]

Very nice V! Way kewl.

I would suggest, if it is meant to be a riding animal, that it lean forward more, it's tail would be up to counter balance, and would likely be thicker and it's back a tad bit longer, and also thicker.

As a standalone work of pixel art, I must say, very impressive. ^_^

* PS: I'm waiting on a new comp. I'll start contributing more to the HKCP after it arrives. =)

Cheers

 

[Venetia]

I'm very tired, so I'mma be lazy and respond to quotes :D

The Sleeping Leonhart's Hero and Event Frame Script 1.1 uses 8 frames and you can turn on and off the 8 directions.
I think you can animate this easily enough with just 4 frames.
In the rtp sprite sheets the 3rd frame is usually repeat of the 1st. But is doesn't have to be. I made this robotic centipede for BellGoRing with just 4 frames.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r134 ... tiwalk.gif[/img]And it loops fairly smoothly.

You're right. That does look snazzy. I guess then, for this fella, I'd need a script that only does Idle and Sprint and Walk, no 8-dir. Because were I to animate him in a walking motion I'd need to use all 4 frames, which'd make him awkward looking when stopped. But that file you sent me was brilliant and I'mma definitely check that script out.

Looks great Venetia. I really like the detail on the scales, especially around the legs.

Thank you! :D
You'll all hate me when I divulge the ridiculously easy method I concocted for making scales and textures "blend" into their surroundings. The scales honestly only took me about 15 minutes. I'll let you all in on it when I'm not so damn tired.

You should be able to animate him just fine using only 4 frames, particularly if you use a 3 frame run one frame idle script.  The trick is to get just the right poses for each frame.  When I did that run animation for my animated battler I took a gif of a guy running and just started subtracting frames in even proportions till I trimmed it down to 4 and voila, I had my reference; the funny thing was that most of them were in-between poses, not full extension - precise middle - full extension like you might expect.  Seems like the brain does a great job of filling in the details on its own.  It cycles really nicely though, sometime or other I'll post a 4 frame cycle of just the running.

I had to do that with my Aurite template and was pretty unhappy with the result. It's much simpler to animate things with forward-bent knees (like humans), since backward-bent knees require a wider gait and more fluidity in the step to avoid a "trot" look. For the walk anim I can definitely do it, I'm just going to need to use all 4 frames with no idle-look for the run animation. I did a Sedrik a while back (in my old workshop), but all I meted out was a "trot".

It's beautiful! There's not really anything else to say.

:D Thanks

Damn, Ven.
Just damn.

Now, so this isn't spam, I'll say that the furthest back talon on the foot closer to the viewer seems a little strange to me.

How so? I guess the claw could lose a pixel off its point, I don't see why it should look so sharp. As for the ... Ah, "finger", it's supposed to sorta be shaped like a thumb. I do Aurites the same way. It just seems stronger to have a thumb behind the foot than a regular toe. More support and balance.

Very nice V! Way kewl.

I would suggest, if it is meant to be a riding animal, that it lean forward more, it's tail would be up to counter balance, and would likely be thicker and it's back a tad bit longer, and also thicker.

As a standalone work of pixel art, I must say, very impressive. ^_^

* PS: I'm waiting on a new comp. I'll start contributing more to the HKCP after it arrives. =)

Cheers

I didn't think about that until after I did it, but I figure ... These animals are aggressive and not terribly strong in the spine (i.e. the thinnish tail and neck). It'd be better for their spines to be more upright, so they probably wouldn't like being jammed down into a more bent position. I think this kind of animal would need a special type of saddle with a scoop in the back so that the rider's back is supported, then their legs would be tucked in the crook between the ribs and the thighs. That'd be easiest for me anyway o_o;; (heh)

Woo hoo to your getting a new comp!!!! I look forward to the super gorgeous things you'll be putting out.

 

[Ratty524]

Shit son, this is great. I love the texturing you gave it, I wish I could sprite like that.