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[Paint by Numbers]

We can't all be as talented as the BAMFs over in the main pixel art thread, but there's no reason we can't get there!

This is the thread to post unfinished pixel art in! Please feel free to post all of your stuff and ask for criticim. This way you don't need to fill up the "show us some of your pixel work" thread with pathetic pleas for help, as I once did.

LET'S MAKE THIS HAPPEN

[Destral]

Here's one. I'm trying to make a robotic snake (as in the game snake), but I'm having some trouble with all the different directions the snake can face (it's for a free-roaming game, as opposed to more traditional snake with 4 directions). Here's what I have so far:



The head segments look deformed, and I'm trying to figure out a way of making the head and segments more visually appealing, and how that would translate into each of the rotated sprites.

[Ishi]

I have a feeling the head sprites will look fine once in motion.

The antialiasing is a bit off in the second row, though - the second frame looks like the lines are about 1.5 pixels thick compared to 1 pixel in the first frame.

It's a bit rough but I tried a quick fix - the lines are thinner so it's more consistent with the previous frame.



OK actually I went a bit too far and it looks terrible. But hopefully it shows what I was getting at.

[J. R. Hill]

Here's how I would clean it up to make it look more crisp.  (Only did the first 3 columns)

In fact, now that I look at it, it'd probably look best without any AA at all.  At least to me.

[Rawsushi]

As much as I love pixel art, I'm a bit confused as to why you'd want to do this in anything other than vector. You're just rotating an outline around after all.

[J. R. Hill]

vectors are for art games, doesn't anyone teach you anything!?

[Destral]

As much as I love pixel art, I'm a bit confused as to why you'd want to do this in anything other than vector. You're just rotating an outline around after all.

That's just a preliminary of the basic shape of the head and segments. Ideally there is going to be some actual colour/texture inside the outlines. I was hoping someone who already had experience doing an overhead sprite with 16+ headings could maybe enlighten me on a good process to go about transitioning from one heading to the next without losing too much detail.

For example, do people even use the rotate tool, only to get the basic shape then do all the filling in by hand, do it all by hand? I'm leaning towards the middle option, but again, I'm willing to listen to the voice of other people's experience. 

[J. R. Hill]

There's a fourth option, too:  Use rotate tool to make a reference and then do it all by hand.

The best way to use depends on what you're doing, but figuring out which is fastest just comes with time.

[Xion]

use the rotate tool...to get the basic shape then do all the filling in by hand

this is how I'd go about it.

[Destral]

I figured that would probably be the case, thanks for the advice!

[RotateMe]

Ah! Nice new sticky thread! Will take this opportunity and present:

Old:


New: (after playing - as been suggested by Melly - with the colors and making it less slimy)


Any more tips? I know that probably the trunk/canopy proportion is not good enough (even less trunk more canopy would be better right?). How about the colors?

BTW: I used D-Pixel to play around with the pallette, it's ingenious for this task.

Edit: Maybe it's easier to say something if you see this in context:

[jotapeh]

Regarding those trees, this is my 2¢:

- I would avoid overlapping those trees on the left/right. It creates a weird stacking effect IMHO.
- I still feel like the colours are quite off – unless you are going for a very alien type of tree. It may help to study some other pixel trees and observe their palette.
- From the perspective you've shown of your game, I think you are right to go for more canopy and less trunk, but more specifically your trees look as if we are viewing them at level, face-on. You want them to look more like we are maybe 30° above them on the viewing plane, so the canopy would obscure more trunk

Some of the real artists can weigh in now and tell you I don't know jack

[RotateMe]

<lots of good advice>

Somehow I really like the colors, so I kept them. Changed the trees so that they don't overlap, changed canopy/trunk ratio and tried outlines. Works great IMHO.

[jotapeh]

Miles better.

[J. R. Hill]

Kilomiles better!

[Noel Berry]

<lots of good advice>

Somehow I really like the colors, so I kept them. Changed the trees so that they don't overlap, changed canopy/trunk ratio and tried outlines. Works great IMHO.

Miles better.

Kilomiles better!

Kilometers better. Really like the new trees :D

[RotateMe]

Wow, thanks! Took me a while and a lot of brainwork to make those tilable. Mostly because my tilesets are split up in upper, lower (collision) and a "higher" layer.

Edit: some new tiles, starting to look like a game...

[PogueSquadron]

This may just be the color nitpicker in me, but are you settled on that grass color?  The grass there looks like it may be during a night scene.  Perhaps it needs to be warmed up or lightened?

[ink.inc]

The white outlines are really bothersome to me.

[J. R. Hill]

I'm all for white outlines, but I think it's weird to have a black outline and a white outline, unless that white outline is flashing white/red or something and just for items.