next »

[jboxx]

Alright so I'm having some trouble here.  I'm trying to create these high rez boss splash screens before boss fights sort of like Borderlands/Super Smash Bros/ Binding of Isaac and this is the first time I've ever created these kinds of high rez sprites and it's just not looking good.  I'm not exactly sure how to make it look better, there is some shading missing but I've honestly never really done dithering before except for on a few dirt/sand tiles in my game and that's a totally different texture.  The character looks super plain but I'm not sure where to add detail/lighting.

What do you guys suggest I add to it for more detail and how to make the lighting better?  Also something about the mouth looks really off, I'm not sure what to do about that.

[jboxx]

This is what the boss looks like in game, I still need to add the spikes, and his gloves are made from metal so I will have to try to add some sort of shiny-ness to the sprite.  I'm just not exactly sure how to make this look really nice. 

[ProgramGamer]

I don't know, this had its own charm. It's not excellent, but it gets the message across. If you really want to improve it, I would recommend paying attention to having consistent lines and line width, as well as making sure that the drawing reflects the perceived shape of your boss in his pixel art form. The ability for one to recognize shapes properly in low detail images is generally referred to as "readability", and your boss' sprite definitely has it in his small form, but in the bigger form it's not as crisp with shapes. Try toying around with those ideas and see what you get!

[7Soul]

I think your biggest problem here is that your boss doesn't have a defined shape. It's a blob with arms and legs, and by looking at the sprite or the big image you made, I can only see all the limbs share the same plane and are all the same thickness as his body.

I made a quick edit to illustrate some points:



- Each limb is either in the front or the back. This is done via lighting and by making them overlap, creating depth
- The face is more centered, so we have an easier time seeing all facial features as part of a whole. Lighting in the eyes and cheeks add some personality
- Used lighting to represent shapes better. Imagine each part of him as a single shape and how the light would hit it from an angle. The lighting on the arms help create a cylindrical shape. The little glow in the legs represents how the knee would be hit by the light. Each spike is illuminated on its own, same with the spherical hands

Now that you have a defined shape, once you make a bigger version you should be able to increase the details, such as: shading the tongue, shading each of the spikes in his head, adding color to the iris, adding folds to the gloves, etc, all according to your art style of course

Put some time into fully realizing the character. You made a small sprite and then just upscaled it, where in real life whenever we look at something closer we see more detail

Hopefully this helps ^^

[nnyei]

I think 7Soul already gave you great advice, but if you're looking for some more refence material that is comparable to your style, I'd suggest looking at the splash screens that Nuclear Throne has.



Notice how the shading is never random and only adds to the volume of the character? As 7Soul also pointed out, this is something that your character is very much lacking in at the moment.

[Moth]

What's your art tool? I'd suggest sketching out what you want with a soft anti aliased pen or brush of some sort and then using a non-antialiased pen on top of it.

I don't think spot lighting necessarily needs to be added in the eyes, it lends a different personality to the character- it's a valid direction to take but no more valid than not having them, imo.

Personally here's how I would approach doing a portrait art for this character based on the one you made:



First I would sketch what I wanted the end product to resemble. I tried to go with a slightly upward camera angle to give the impression that he is big and looming.



Then I go over the sketch with the sharp pen with no anti aliasing...



Then I fill in with color. To work towards giving the impression that he is imposing and dangerous I used back lighting. I think this approach complements his simple design.

As for adding shininess to the sprite, I would refer to other games' pixel art that handle shininess in the way you want. For instance you can take a look at Sir Kibble or Bugzzy from Kirby Superstar.

[Alex Higgins]

I'd also try outlining the mouth shape, either with black or a darker shade of purple. It's the only thing that isn't contoured, so it looks out of place. I dig the overall style, though, the second screenshot looks rad!

[ProgramGamer]

I think Moth could make a startup business about flipping boss artwork design.