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[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

coincidentally, i was also once working on a strategy game based on ancient sumerians where they rode on giant turtles (back in the ohrrpgce in 2004 or so) -- i never finished it, and it was totally different than your game otherwise, but it's a funny coincidence

[PompiPompi]

Awesome, I have been thinking of making a game about sumerian like in 2001. I read history books and got a lot of books. Then I dropped the idea for a long while.(Also, I wasn't making games all this time).
Have you read about the sumerian?
I studied their weapons and city lives(by study I mean read a few well known books).
I don't think they had steel or even iron(most of the time).

Hmm, I am asking because from the screenshot you posted the cahracters and the flags don't look very bronze age appropriate. But maybe those are place holders.
Also, I didn't see much of your game, so I really can't tell.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

it wasn't actually set in sumeria as a historical game, it was only based on sumerian culture; e.g. sumerian proverbs, gods, etc.; you can think of it as sort of an alternative universe situation

i also don't quite remember everything about my idea, because it was so long ago. but if you're curious here is its design doc (which i haven't read in years so i don't remember everything in it):

http://studioeres.com/zfrt/doku.php

and i have read some of sumerian literature yes; i collected my favorite proverbs here: http://rinku.livejournal.com/699951.html

[PompiPompi]

It's a nice detailed design talk which is interesting on it's own. Though I didn't find much about where you are reffering to sumerian culture and mythology. Don't worry, I am not inquiring you about your old game, I just thought maybe you had sources or some sort of compilation of Sumerian mythology. But, it's not that important. Thanks anyway.

Oh yea, Sumerian liked proverbs a lot. They had several good ones as well.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

some of the connections are probably only loose, yeah. and the sumerians weren't the only influence, just the first one (which is why "ziggurats" appears in the title). for instance, there's also a big 'sacrifices' element to the game which was from the azteks, and the various tactics/strategies in war are based on the chinese classics like the '36 strategies', the unit type 'rock slingers' were based on the egyptians (who used rock slinging units in their wars), etc., so it's a mix of different ideas from ancient warfare and civilization

also a big thing about the game was that the text was generated automatically using lists of sentence structures and synonyms, there wasn't any pre-written text, and a lot of the ideas for the synonyms and expressions i got from sumerian literature (e.g. "god pound it")

[PompiPompi]

Yea, the procedural generated text is an idea everyone thought about at some point. It's nice that you dared to tackle it.
Sounds like a nice original game overall.
My game is inspired by sumerians, but also assyrians and babylons. Basically I take mythological creatures and characters from where I can which still belong to mesopotamia. So it's not historical accurate, or even mythological accurate.
I actually first thought of which creatures each army will have, and only then thought of a story that somehow made sense.
The story(which isn't all that important for the game, but is still nice to have) is that Gilgamesh and his followers\people are waging war against the gods. After the gods got enraged by Gilgamesh.

[PompiPompi]

Please, I need feedback for both of these sprites. I don't know if they are good or not. :/

[Chromanoid]

looks good to me! you need a lamassu/Shedu!!!

[PompiPompi]

Hmm, for the lion snake maybe I need to get rid of the outline on the side cheek, because that was a left over from the doodle outline. I kind of just left it there. Well I should try.

Oh yea, I searched what is a lamassu, just didn't know it's name. It's the Gardian of The Heavens. In the story of Gilgamesh he killed it.
It's going to be on the gods' army though. These characters are in Gilgamesh's army.

Edit: Updated the lion in DropBox, so it also automagically updated here.

[Ichigo Jam]

Please, I need feedback for both of these sprites. I don't know if they are good or not. :/

These aren't bad, but they're not as good as the first guy you did.

The main problem is that they're looking a bit pillow-shaded, like you didn't pay think about the light source enough. Similarly, the belly of the lionsnake is missing any overall lighting - it's like you've lit each little bit separately and forgotten the overall shape.

I would suggest starting with just the colours blocked out, then adding basic shading (just 2 tone, light and shade) to get the overall shape of the object across - with no texture/detail. Remember that it's OK to put the light colours where they touch the outline!

Then add the detail and intermediate shades (remembering to respect the main lighting, of course)

(If you're planning to animate them you could consider leaving it two-tone to reduce the work required)

Here's my attempt to re-shade the lionsnake, I hope it helps: (although I just noticed that I largely forgot the mane)

Oh yeah, the last step there was just me fiddling with the palette - you probably want slightly higher contrast in your colours, to help the sprites 'pop'.

(Also, it's generally better to not use a white background when spriting - it tends to mess with your colour perception. Try using a neutral mid-range colour instead.)

[PompiPompi]

You are right, I guess I didn't really think when shading it. Kind of like zombine shading.

[PompiPompi]

Hmm, I think I improved the lion snake, but not sure.



Edit: Maybe I need darker colors

[Ichigo Jam]

The shading is definitely better.

But yes, you really want to push the contrast some more - sprites should usually have significantly higher contrast then the background they're going to be on.

I also think you should put the texture back on the mane, otherwise the "lion" part is diminished (and it ends up looking a bit monochrome).

Personally, I'd drop the internal outlines for things which are attached to each other (e.g. between the nose and face, and the ears and head.)

Having said that, it might be better to move on and make some more sprites rather than spending too long tweaking this one:
1) It's good to practice the whole process
2) if you spend ages on one sprite then it'll take forever to make all the sprites for your game.

[PompiPompi]

Thanks, since I think I got the shape\geometry right, I think I can always revisit this sprite later.
For now I am not animating it yet, so it's not a problem.

Edit: Last lion attempt(for now)

[PompiPompi]

I would like to get feedback on the Huge Eagle I have drawen, and on ther sorcerer.

[Player 3]

The eagle could use a new view angle. Just a sideways sprite may be good for something like documentation or the how-to-play things. Possibly while it looks like it's flapping its wings.

[PompiPompi]

Right, I was actually rotoscoping the eagle from a photo, heh.
So, yea, the angle is not so good.

[ANtY]

You mean tracing contours?

Didn't hear of rotoscoping not in animation.

[PompiPompi]

Yea ANtY.

Well, I made this Eagle without tracing contours, I think I also did a better job with the shading.

[moi]

personally I prefered the first version, was more recognizable at small scale and more iconic of an eagle