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[rj]

her eyes are fucking gigantic, okay

that's literally the biggest damn issue here

and i get that you like chibi aesthetics

that's fine

i love anime

but seriously


LITERALLY: shrink her eyes by half and see what happens to the overall design. there are other issues too but nobody else is saying this one. big eyes aren't inherently bad but the ratio of eye to head is way unbalanced.

EDIT:

like look at this:



that fixes a ton of what's weird about this instantly and it took me under 90 seconds to do it

[debugchicken]

She looks a bit awkward from the side, like there's not enough volume. But no one else said anything so maybe that's just me.

Are you an artist? If so, you are the third one to tell me this. Everytime an artist tells me this I add volume, and add pixels, and add, and is never enough! Could you please, if possible, take a print and make a rough demonstration of what would be a good volume? Thanks!

Thought I'd comment on this. Personally, I don't see a problem with her "volume", but there are weird aspects to the character's design. The angle she's viewed at is a bit strange, but I don't mind it that much and the pose is odd but it just seems like part of the style.

For me, the main issue with her design is that her proportions are really off. Her arms look like they're different lengths when she's standing still, and they're both too short. Fingertips should be able to reach a person's mid-thigh when arms are extended fully. Of course, if you did that here it might look weird because she's got a long torso, but you could probably extend the arms a little bit.

Well the other artists mostly said about the size of the face and body when she is running, nothing about the arms length.

I personally think that the proportions are ok.

See, here is the original draw:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5246832/Borealis_Coresb.jpg

(the image is tooo big)

It was actually made by a friend. I gave the references, she drew, then I pixelated and animated.

Since I, not-an-artist, was the one who drew pixe-level every frame besides idle, its more likely that the other frames are bad, but I think that the idle is great the way it is.

[rj]

honestly the original art could do with some eye de-sizing too but it's less of an issue there because the face + head on the whole is wider and larger, as is, you know, the whole thing.

in sprite form, you're squeezing everything together to an insane degree and it causes a lot of issues. either you need to make the whole sprite bigger (probably not a good idea) or make the eyes slightly smaller i think

i get that it was drawn by the original/same artist but the idle just looks kinda fucked up and unappealing to me because of the eyes? the original art does not in this way, but yeah. maybe that's just me? i actually don't really have much of a problem with the other proportions so much (though there are pixel-by-pixel issues in some cases otherwise too)

[debugchicken]

honestly the original art could do with some eye de-sizing too but it's less of an issue there because the face + head on the whole is wider and larger, as is, you know, the whole thing.

in sprite form, you're squeezing everything together to an insane degree and it causes a lot of issues. either you need to make the whole sprite bigger (probably not a good idea)

Yeah, I get what you're trying to say. I lose precision to everything that is "below 1 pixel", so it kinda squeezes.

or make the eyes slightly smaller i think

Now I agree with you. I mean, reducing 50% was too much reducing! Maybe just one pixel here and there will make a difference.

i get that it was drawn by the original/same artist but the idle just looks kinda fucked up and unappealing to me because of the eyes? the original art does not in this way, but yeah. maybe that's just me? i actually don't really have much of a problem with the other proportions so much (though there are pixel-by-pixel issues in some cases otherwise too)

Yeah, I think there are mostly pixel-by-pixel issues. I am a newbie in pixel art, was my first animation ever.

But I am improving with feedbacks. This is not the first version (and you don't want to see the first one).
If you could take the time to specify the pixel by pixel problems, besides the eyes reducing which I'll take into account, I would very much appreciate.

[almightyzentaco]

Okay, feed back time!

I really like the aesthetic of the background tiles. The main character himself could probably use some work though.
Exploration was generally pretty fun, and not too difficult, but I did find most of the music a bit jarring. I think more mellow music would have helped set the mood for the early part of the game. I did like the song in the purple area though.

The dive ability was by far the most fun part of the game. By contract I found the back-flip somewhat difficult to use, but doing a back-flip - dive combo was pretty fun once I got the hang of it.

I think the game could use some more doodads though. By that I mean just some scenes that exist only to set mood, or create a sense of mystery. For example a room with a statue and some cryptic runes. Since setting the mood is a big part of gameplay in this type of game, not everything has to directly involve the movement mechanics. Sometimes just looking around at neat stuff and trying to piece together the implicit story of the world is enough.

[rj]

yeah, i can write up a whole list of shit to fix; for the most part, keep in mind 100% that you should always be making similar things pixel-similar; i.e. you can literally copy and paste her boots, it's probably better that way! it's weird how that works out in pixel art when in traditional drawing it makes it look worse.

i'll do that when i can

[debugchicken]

Okay, feed back time!

I really like the aesthetic of the background tiles. The main character himself could probably use some work though.
Exploration was generally pretty fun, and not too difficult, but I did find most of the music a bit jarring. I think more mellow music would have helped set the mood for the early part of the game. I did like the song in the purple area though.

The dive ability was by far the most fun part of the game. By contract I found the back-flip somewhat difficult to use, but doing a back-flip - dive combo was pretty fun once I got the hang of it.

I think the game could use some more doodads though. By that I mean just some scenes that exist only to set mood, or create a sense of mystery. For example a room with a statue and some cryptic runes. Since setting the mood is a big part of gameplay in this type of game, not everything has to directly involve the movement mechanics. Sometimes just looking around at neat stuff and trying to piece together the implicit story of the world is enough.

hey you posted on the wrong topic!!

[Tcrakman]

Played it all!
Found 3 gem´s but couldn´t use their powers at the same time (still something that is being implemented?).

Overall i liked the direction the game is going. Mostly, its the art that could use some polish.

- Is the pixel art aesthetic fine? is something ugly/out of place/could be better?

I liked the desert background (loved the dancing moles). The lava level assets reminded me of Donkey kong country (you could check its cave-lava backgrounds for inspiration).
As for the character some of this has been already said so feel free to skip those parts, just writing the things that bugged me.
First, the design its cool, except one of her eyes is way bigger than the other, just reducing it a bit should work.
In most animations her limbs are too thin and small compared to the standing animation.
Finally noticed the running animation loop starts a little clunky, maybe make it start when her front arm back and starting to move foward?

- Are the controls tight?

Yep! not a problem for me at least.

- Does the game (the battle system mostly) feel challenging or punishing? Is it engaging enough?

I didn´t found the levels hard. The boss (Volvagia? ) homewer, was certainly fun and challenging and took me a while too defeat lol (on a note i also had the first time bug where he never came back).
I really felt that, as a feature, you should be able to deflect projectiles back to enemies, the way that most of them shoot things at you it could be more fun and engaging to use their attacks in your favor.

- Is the sound annoying?

Not for me, i most liked the lava theme!

I liked that the game has music mechanics that affects the world.
Just curious, have you checked out Rayman Legends yet?

If not here´s a video showing its music levels:

[tjcbs]

I think the size of the eyes is ok. The color makes her look like a googly-eyed albino. Is that the intent?

The controls and gameplay are good so far. The pixel art could use improvement. For instance, the lava looks amateurish to my eyes. Also, I strongly encourage everyone making a pixel art game to include an option to use a shader of some kind, for those of us who aren't particularly into seeing individual pixels. It isn't hard. If you send me a screen cap of the game in its native size (no scaling), I could show you how your game would look with the shader I wrote.

[debugchicken]

Played it all!
Found 3 gem´s but couldn´t use their powers at the same time (still something that is being implemented?).

Yeahh! It lacks a gem-equip menu. Also the bosses will give additional slots.

First, the design its cool, except one of her eyes is way bigger than the other, just reducing it a bit should work.

Well that is because of perspective. I mean the one that is more far and more rotated is smaller.

In most animations her limbs are too thin and small compared to the standing animation

Yeah now that you said, they are indeed. I'll review that.

Finally noticed the running animation loop starts a little clunky, maybe make it start when her front arm back and starting to move foward?

Hmm I see. Changing the initial sprite, right? I'll review that.

I didn´t found the levels hard. The boss (Volvagia? ) homewer, was certainly fun and challenging and took me a while too defeat lol (on a note i also had the first time bug where he never came back).

AHH!! I FINALLY FOUND THE BUG!! It happens when you hit the boss, but the character is facing right. Thanks!
Sure the boss has something to do with volvagia hahaha, but the name, Ibehka, is a palindrome of hebi (serpent in japanese) with ka (fire in japanese). Maybe I'll change the name later.

I really felt that, as a feature, you should be able to deflect projectiles back to enemies, the way that most of them shoot things at you it could be more fun and engaging to use their attacks in your favor.

Ok ok, that is on the list

Just curious, have you checked out Rayman Legends yet?

No i havent!

Wow, this is awesome, rayman sure changed.

I played fiest run but didn't like it very much, but this sure is something new, I already downloaded and will check later.

Thanks for your feedback and game recommendation!

[debugchicken]

I think the size of the eyes is ok. The color makes her look like a googly-eyed albino. Is that the intent?

The controls and gameplay are good so far. The pixel art could use improvement. For instance, the lava looks amateurish to my eyes. Also, I strongly encourage everyone making a pixel art game to include an option to use a shader of some kind, for those of us who aren't particularly into seeing individual pixels. It isn't hard. If you send me a screen cap of the game in its native size (no scaling), I could show you how your game would look with the shader I wrote.

Wow now that you said that I guess I do need to make her skin a bit darker. Thanks for pointing that out.

Really? I would very much like to see. Ok, here's a screen:



Pixel Perfect, native resolution.

[Danny Hayes]

Hey! Ok so I tried your game, I'm also building a pixel art platformer in Unity so I have a few pointers.

First of all, I agree with some of the comments above: more feedback. The enemies fading away is pretty unsatisfying. They should at least have a sound effect, some screen shake when attacking, or get knocked back a little when hit. Right now it feels meaningless and I just skipped past the monsters because I felt no reason to interact with them when they're not actually blocking my way or anything. You need to get as much feedback into everything that happens in the game as possible, no matter how subtle.

Take a look at these dev talk videos for an idea of what I mean, I used some of their ideas in my game Poncho and it's worked out well in making the game "feel" better.









Best of luck!

[debugchicken]

First of all, I agree with some of the comments above: more feedback. The enemies fading away is pretty unsatisfying. They should at least have a sound effect, some screen shake when attacking, or get knocked back a little when hit. Right now it feels meaningless and I just skipped past the monsters because I felt no reason to interact with them when they're not actually blocking my way or anything. You need to get as much feedback into everything that happens in the game as possible, no matter how subtle.

wow! I just played my game in another computer and I see its completely glitchy! like the sand enemy is not attacking. I think it have something to do with variable initialization, but all in all the enemies DO try to stop you.

I also will adjust the number of hits to die, so pass the scenario running will not be an option.

Take a look at these dev talk videos for an idea of what I mean, I used some of their ideas in my game Poncho and it's worked out well in making the game "feel" better.

I'll see them.

Thanks for your feedback and references!

(Also leave a link to your game on your signature so I can play it!)

[Danny Hayes]

Oh Yeah the enemies were attacking just fine, but in most cases I can jump past them without bothering to attack them is what I meant. 

[debugchicken]

Oh Yeah the enemies were attacking just fine, but in most cases I can jump past them without bothering to attack them is what I meant. 

Haha now I see. Its true, specially in the fire stage. I'll review the level design, thanks!

[tjcbs]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/b0h8b2w1k02z2oy/Screenshot%202014-10-14%2017.45.05.png?dl=0

How did you get the embeddable dropbox link?

[debugchicken]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/b0h8b2w1k02z2oy/Screenshot%202014-10-14%2017.45.05.png?dl=0

How did you get the embeddable dropbox link?

Just put it in the "public" folder. Right click, get public link. This will make you a direct link to your stuff.

Its different from "get share link", which will make a link to private stuff, but its not a direct one.

About the shader, I get the idea of it but I think it needs improvements.  I can cleary see the horizontal lines, it doesnt help much.

[tjcbs]

Scanlines are optional, either way just an idea.



The other extreme

[debugchicken]

Ah, now its better.

What does it do? Take the average of a 2x2 pixel area?

I would recommend use an edge-detector algorithm first to check edges, and then blur just the edges first to see what happens.

Maybe playing the game on a mobile device will be the answer to people who don't like seeint pixels so much. You can see the image I posted, native resolution, looks a lot less pixelated.

Thanks for taking the time!

Edit:

I like the second shader, looks like is oil paint.

ps. PM me if you want to discuss the shader not to flood the forum.

[vitorlanna]

Yes! Name Is Asellus. Asellus Borealis. Its the name of a star of the cancer constellation. The game plays in a planet that circle the Asellus Borealis Star!

Hmmm. Is there a shorter name? xD
Also... Did you look up the meaning of Asellus Borealis? I mean, if you translate it from latin.

Are you an artist? If so, you are the third one to tell me this. Everytime an artist tells me this I add volume, and add pixels, and add, and is never enough! Could you please, if possible, take a print and make a rough demonstration of what would be a good volume? Thanks!

That... Is a bit complicated, it would be easier with the actual sprites. I'm on a notebook so I have to press fn+print screen (on opposite sides of keyboard) + -> to try and take the screenshot, and not all frames of the animation have the issue in a clear way...

I've tried to identify her skeleton to see if it would help. It seems there are some issues with the head - can you see it?

Although... Why not make her walk cycle in 3/4 view, like her idle animation?
Sprites from similar games are often like this. Take a look:
http://www.spriters-resource.com/snes/smarioworld/sheet/53664/
http://www.spriters-resource.com/snes/magicalqueststarringmickeymouse/sheet/1216/

Also, those who talkes about arm length were right... A stretched arm should reach the thigh, normally.

Perhaps the idle animations could be synched as well?

Well I didn't get this idea. You mean for the character to dance to the music? (syncing the speed of the dance to the beat?)
because sync the up-and-down simple idle animation I implemented... I don't think would be of much value!!

Hmm yeah it's synched! I just didn't notice, sorry ^ ^"
But maybe the idle animations could de be less subtle, with more movement?

I thought it was interesting that her weapon is a baseball bat (right?) and that she is able to hit some balls (such as the armadillo and the cannon balls in the Rain Stage). Maybe that could be explored further? You know, with maybe you defeating some enemies by bouncing their attacks back at them, or when a armadillo is in ball form you use it like a turtle shell in Mario...

Yes! Its inspired by a baseball bat, but its just a bat.
Well I thought about it but I didn't implement because I didn't see much practical use. But I guess this is not the question right? Its not very useful, but its a fun thing to do. I'll note that to implement later.

Practical use? You mean since you can hit them directly, deflecting their attacks at them wouldn't be useful?
If that's it, well, there are many ways it can be usefull. For instance, that bomb enemy at the Fire Stage - maybe its shell is too hard for hitting directly but you can deflect is bombs back at it?

Or maybe you can use hitting the armadillo to make it hit many enemies easily, or to destroy some walls.

---

Also! You said you were using Unity, right? I think this plugin can help a lot with level design! http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/ferr2d-terrain-tool.204436/

I haven't bought it, but it looks really helpful and all the reviews are positive.