I think representing the domes as flat layers of color looks a bit boring and unattractive.

 How about some radial gradient (hand-pixelled, of course), speculars and/or reflections?

 You could try to imitate some of the smooth-ass shading that Super Mario Galaxy uses, adding white to the edges of the domes to make them look airy and fresh.
 Just a suggestion, of course.

Terraria's sprites are based off the "template" of Final Fantasy 6.

If it's in the sense of like a cat painted with the MSPaint spray can tool being based off real life, then I can understand.

 I guess he is, because I'm seeing it too.

 No problems with using templates though, and the evolved version does look rather nice.

 (But really, Terraria has terrible, horrible, execrable spritework as far as I'm concerned, so in case *anyone* is looking for a template, don't go there...)

 Here's another attempt at a font, which I'll definitely not be using this time.

 It's supposed to fit into slightly old-timey, "proper gentlemanly" contexts, because God knows "Steampunk" is the new "zombies", am I right?

 The enlarged view is just for show, it's supposed to work in high resolutions... which it barely does.
 Not my best stuff, but yeah, you learn something every day.

 Any critique by people with sharp eyes would be greatly appreciated!

This sounds honestly quite interesting, but could you perhaps post something more tangible and concrete? A few WIP screens, ideally something playable, or a bit more data regarding things like target platform, screen resolution, tile information, real-time or not, the whole shebang.

But that said, it definitely sounds very intriguing so far.

And now for something practical.

 Yes, this has an actual use in a current project, but I like it a lot and will probably re-use it for different things. It's designed for handhelds, about DS resolution, really compact and a bit chunky. Good for walls of text, I hope. :

Want.
I'm trying to create pixel font for DS resolution too, any tips?

1.) Don't use a game font as a base, use an existing real-life font.

2.) Think about how you want the entire font to feel, don't half-ass any of the charaters.

3.) Read up a bit about typography, especially serifs and line weight.

4.) Try it out as much as you can in different combinations.

 I'm sure then everything will look nice

 And now for something practical.

 Yes, this has an actual use in a current project, but I like it a lot and will probably re-use it for different things. It's designed for handhelds, about DS resolution, really compact and a bit chunky. Good for walls of text, I hope. :

 Annnd...

 ...something to accompany the little guy in my sig. Yes, he'll sound like the sixties!

On the plus side, at least there actually seems to be more than one person in this.

Most people calling themselves "__ Games" or "__ Studios" seem to suffer from some sort of multiple personality disorder or something.
Not directed at the OP, I just needed to get that off my troubled brow.

update:

 The basic version is fine, but one of the tweens seems wrong in the final version. Maybe you uploaded the wrong file by accident?

 The "jump off" phase shows a distinct hitch, as if there were two frames in the wrong order. Watch how his front feet seem to stick to the floor, then pop off. You might want to revise that one frame.

 Sorry for being critical, this should look very nice when finished.

Hiya,

We don't want to "hire" someone, per say, we want someone to join our team, possibly permanently, or part time. And become a friend of XSG Team. If this sounds like you please email us back!

I think you may find that the Unpaid Collaborations subforum might be a better place for your endeavour.

Good luck!

 Holy shit I got past a wall! I feel like Jesus!

 If I may suggest something, how about moving the help icons rith into the middle of the screen? I'm not gonna lie, I had to keep looking at them until well into my tenth attempt, and it takes the focus away from the game.

 They could even be screen-filling and transparent, or part of the night sky and (evilly) getting obscured by scrolling landscape.
 Then after a few hundred meters, they could be faded out.

 Jut a little thought, and it could also contribute to the aesthetics a bit.

Alright so let me get this out of the way first; there is a slight chance you will get paid depending on how the game turns out.

All right, so just for clarification. Does this mean

a.) If the sprites turn out to your liking, you will pay the artist a set sum on delivery?

or

b.) If the game turns out to be successful, you will pay a royalty after release?

Thank you.

Nice! Is this animated at all??

 I guess this could be animated quite easily and efficiently, via the old "cut out parts and move around" method. The perspective would certainly help too.
 (This is not a knock on your art, more of a compliment - it's great if people see the animation potential right at first glance!)

I was under the impression that "original" was used as in "all-new, designed by myself", not as in "conceptually groundbreaking".

[business]

Yeah, and why are you in the videogame business if you are not interested in making videogames?

If I were cynical, I'd say that you got your answer right there...

Moving the shadow sideways on the faces is an excellent decision and makes these very unique. Like, I've never seen that before, and it looks fantastic!

Oh, and I want to hug you for not copypasting a face template of all characters, but giving each face different masses and definition.

I have no criticisms, sorry.

You're going to hate me, but...

Again, the green. If I could recommend something, don't make the dark part of the cap so saturated - make it more grey or blue. The idea is that skin never turns to grey in the shadow, but lifeless material does.

Try it out, I think you'll be surprised

The bat could maybe use less color variation (no one is going to notice the violet spots, I think), and more silhouette. But that's pretty much a matter of style and taste.

I don't see why you need an artist if all the graphics end up looking like that.

Good luck!

 Correct, it's Pig Prussia (don't hit me, I'm German myself) versus the British Victorian hat-robots. Both are intended to be alien species, just that the pig ones happen to look exactly like the ones on earth.
 I'm still thinking of which turn-of-the-century nations to cross with what theme for more factions.

I'm not gonna lie, I took the inspiration from Goemon 4, which had this beautiful "Edo IN SPAAACE" theme.

moi, I used four frames because they have a "step forward" and a "step backward". You could technically do that in three frames, but personally I like four, which gives me more options...

They have a tileset to play around in too. I just need someone to come up with a few mechanics and, cough, to make the actual game...