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Frozen's mapping and spriting thread (plz leave feedback)


Frigid
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Hi. I've been mapping for over a year, and I'm also getting into animating (like, I just started yesterday).

So, uh, yeah. Have some maps.

(roughly) from oldest to newest (some of these are really old, while the last 2 I made last week)

WkOnx8J.png Ignore the empty line at the end.

HsUFPAz.pngUZtoLeK.png

Rl5kGKo.png

I swapped to XNA-style mapping around this point (meaning adding borders outside the map that are there to look pretty.

LVhLhYz.pngsUlDY9l.png

1THpRuP.png

MUawr7P.png

7VF9LCu.png

nkbZ6y5.png?1This is all I've got so far. In case you can't tell it's a helmet-less male Paladin. I'm looking for some critique on the head before I start editing the rest of the frames.

EDIT: Everything in this topic is free to use as long as I'm credited. I also take map requests (especially for hacks).

Edited by Frozen_Blades81
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I really like the boat/port one. I can totally see a map where the goal is to defeat the boss on the ship.

The bigger map with all the houses seems empty though, but that might be the point of the map, depending on how enemies are spread. :)

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I would start mapping, but trying to figure out mountains is just torture.

Have you checked Matt Snow's mountain tutorial? It's pretty well made. Helped me out a lot when I started making mountains.

I recommend you start making maps without mountains and just leave learning that for when you have a decent grip on map making.

9f41Yc3.png

DeSPKVV.png

d5zrssn.png

ifFSiaT.png

(still WIP)

By the way, everything in this topic is free to use as long as I'm credited. I also take map requests (especially for hacks).

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That red background is harsh on the eyes e.e The hair doesn't look full enough, especially towards the front of the head. I don't know a lot about maps but they look pretty good!

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That red background is harsh on the eyes e.e The hair doesn't look full enough, especially towards the front of the head. I don't know a lot about maps but they look pretty good!

ySLzGC9.png?2

Is the hair better now?

BTW, do you remember me? I did a map for your hack a long time ago.

Also, can anyone who uses Usenti help me with a little issue? Every time I open the picture with it, it thrashes half the palette.

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Also, can anyone who uses Usenti help me with a little issue? Every time I open the picture with it, it thrashes half the palette.

make sure your colors are more distinct

usenti has 31 in usenti = 255 in paint and 0 = 0, 16 in usenti = 128 in paint

make sure your values are all multiples of 8 for all of your colors, too; I'm not sure how much it helps though

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make sure your colors are more distinct

usenti has 31 in usenti = 255 in paint and 0 = 0, 16 in usenti = 128 in paint

make sure your values are all multiples of 8 for all of your colors, too; I'm not sure how much it helps though

Well, I just tried doing that but Paint isn't letting me edit the palette (or even check the palette), so I'm kinda stumped. Oh well.

What do you think of the new hair BTW? Anything I could improve?

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Well, I just tried doing that but Paint isn't letting me edit the palette (or even check the palette), so I'm kinda stumped. Oh well.

The palette is literally the colors you use

Paint allows you to edit the palette via the "Edit colors" button, but then you have to put the new colors over the old ones

I recommend picking the old color with right mouse button such that it becomes color2, then making your new color color1; then ctrl+a (select entire bitmap), ctrl+x (cut selection), bucket tool in color1 (left click), ctrl+v (paste) and make sure that under the selection tool you have "Transparent Selection" checked.

That replaces all instances of color2 with color1 within your bitmap is why.

Paint does not have a palette list, unfortunately, which is part of why usenti is so useful/important.

What do you think of the new hair BTW? Anything I could improve?

It looks much better, in my opinion. But I suck at custom hair on battle sprites in general.
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Well, I started over and just got it finished.

AQ5EFJC.png

I'll wait for some last-minute feedback before I make the unarmed dodge (took me so long to notice this sheet didn't have one XD) and start figuring out how to code it for hacks.

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That magenta paladin sprite sheet looks like it took a lot of time. I really like your maps. They are very polished and aesthetically pleasing. Good job.

Thanks!

The Paladin did take quite a bit, though it was kinda easy. Just a lot of copy/paste.

So, question time for the animators: Should I try to go full-custom now, or should I keep doing edits to get the hang of things before going full-custom? I ask because I tried to go full-custom a few hours ago, and the results have been pretty catastrophic so far.

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There is a full custom animation tutorial by BwdYeti floating around this forum somewhere. I highly recommend using photoshop or graphicsgale(free) to make custom animations because they have layering and onion skin (use graphicsgale because it is free and simple.). Start by making the basic shapes of the character, using only 1 to 3 colors. When drawing the frames, draw the "key" frames first. They are the distinct positions that make up the key points in the whole animation. In the case of a Fire Emblem battle sprite, they would be the starting frame, the charge frame and the hit frame. Once you have the key frames, you draw all of the frames that lead up to each key frame. Once you have all of your frames drawn with very few colors, you test the animation and see if you like the way it moves.

The next step is shading. Shade one section at a time in every frame. By section I mean, the head, the torso, the arms, the legs, etc. Once you have chosen which section to shade first, shade it in every single frame and then test the animation again. Repeat this step for each section until you have the desired effect and you like the animation. The most important thing is to post your progress here...in fact I should have asked you to show off the "catastrophic results" that you speak of. Please show it here.

Custom animation takes practice, but it is an awesome skill to have as an artist. The more you try, the faster you get at making the frames. Showing your works in progress is good because you get feedback and pointers. This is especially helpful when you are stuck or feel like giving up. ; )

TLDR; Show me the 'catastrophic' full custom that you made and I will help you.

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I know about Yeti's tutorials, and they've helped me quite a bit. I don't like his method of spriting though, since I'm terrible at doing stick figures and outlining them.

I'd show the first attempt, but I deleted it since it was completely unsalvageable (the head was kinda okay, so I kept it). I gave it another go, and came up with something halfway decent.

dbNwyBU.png

The left hand (her POV) is supposed to be grabbing her hat, but I think I might change it to grabbing her chin. I also want to pretty the design up a bit with the staff's colors, and maybe make the gloves longer (and add back the left hand glove). The staff and book (yes, that's supposed to be a book) are meant to be sitting on the ground in her idle, and levitate when she starts casting (healing).

nEfxjAw.png

I got a bit tired of sucking, so I made this map. Feels nice being good at something, and I really want to be able to feel this way about spriting someday.

Also, I'm not gonna use Graphicsgale at the moment. I tried it and I didn't like it.

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Left arm is bent unnaturally, the upper arm in particular is way too thin. Same with the region where it bends, the elbow portion should be closer to an inverted triangle than a U-shape. The dropshadow is inconsistent with the light source, which seems to be top right, I believe? Hair could use more texture and ahading, particularly at the area under her hat. The right limbs are unnaturally straight; her right leg doesn't seem to stem from her hip. Right shoulder should be a curve, not a straight diagonal. The top part of her dress, at the cut, is also too straight - does not follow the contours of the human body.

That's all I can see. I'm still new to spriting, too, so someone more experienced could probably give more extensive critique.

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s0OVvpi.png

Is it a bit better now? (EDIT: Uh, I think I misunderstood what you said about the right shoulder, I'll fix it next version)

Say guys, what would be a good be a good range of frames for each part of the animation? Once I have a decent idle, I'm gonna do the heal, the dodges, the damaged frames (as in, frames that play while being damaged, like in FE7x), and the attack and crit.

Also, any tips for moving from Usenti to Graphicsgale? I really want to switch to it since it sounds like it's great for doing animations, but when I tried it I really couldn't do anything right.

Edited by Frozen_Blades81
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Well, I kinda took a break from working on the Witch, and did some other stuff.

KReQT5N.png

This is supposed to be a Swordmaster based on Fates' SM models (mainly, Takumi's unique model based on Sumeragi that he has when reclassed to SM). It's not shaded aside from the head and swords just yet (they're just shaded since I took them from a practice sheet I have), 'cause I'd like to get the shapes and proportions done well first. The background ain't my fault, I have it on a similar color as the Witch's, but it's white here for some reason, sorry for that. And just in case it isn't clear, I am using 2 different color sets for the katanas and the armor,

Reference: eBXTo6r.jpg

Edited by Frozen_Blades81
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Progress:

6cI4Arg.png

(still haven't been able to fix the BG issue, sorry)

So, uh, is anyone here? I'd really appreciate it if someone could give me some feedback on this before I start making the rest of the frames, particularly on the pauldrons and the trim, which are 2 things I can tell are wrong in some way, but I don't know how I'd go on about fixing it)..

Edited by Frozen_Blades81
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Head is very strange, I can't tell if he's facing left or facing right with hair over his other eye. Body is too thick. He looks like he's wearing plate armor. Shading is basically nonexistent, but I'm assuming you just haven't done it yet. Dropshadow does not follow the outline of his body. Arms look much better than the witch's though.

The bg is probably due to whatever graphics program you're using setting your bg colour as the transparency colour. Playing atound in settings for a bit and clicking anything you can find should help.

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He is wearing plate armor (well not quite but it's still a thick armor), not to mention he's supposed to be thick (I could get you some pics of Sumeragi but they're kinda spoilery, also I'm assuming that when you say thick you mean thick by SM standards, please correct me if I'm wrong). And I actually did do the shading, but I think my colors aren't different enough (I was trying to emulate his japanese coat thing's dark shade, and I don't know how to do such dark colors. The armor colors have plenty of contrast so I guess I just suck as far as that's concerned). I'll get around to fixing all this, but I can't post it until my internet comes back, which might be a while.

As for the bg, I think I'm just gonna make a copy of the Witch's pic, change the colors to this' and copy paste this over the Witch.

Edited by Frozen_Blades81
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Been kinda busy so I didn't get to post this until now.

t5wvGID.png

Anyway, I played around a bit and made an extra version that's 1 line thinner. Not sure which one I'll go with.

The symbol is gonna go in the back of the jinbaori (sleeveless coat thing, apparently it's actually a kimono) in frames that show the back, and isn't shaded just yet.

I also changed the trim in the body piece to some accessories to hide that I just don't now how to shade this thing. The shadow's a work in progress (as in, even more than the rest of the sprite), and I'm still trying to figure it out.

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You need some better colors, its all very blobby at first look. Try some official palettes. His sword looks kinda like a bent pipe more than a sword and he is very flat towards the camera. If you want to be like the swordmaster, you should move the right (OPV) side of his body up a pixel. Think about your shading, I'm not really sure where the light is coming from looking at this. I would grab the hero sprite and others and maybe try and do a bit of splicing or draw over a base for practice.

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poLB3AY.png

I went and looked at some official palettes to see what they did and tried to replicate the effect a bit. I don't wanna just copy a palette since I think learning from them is a better idea (same goes for pieces, but I'm more willing to do it here since I have less experience with pieces than I do with palettes). Also I don't think there's a class with a palette that uses so many 2-shade colors. Also redid the katana and changed the shading and dropshadow a bit (still working on it).

Say, should I try hiding the left arm behind the body like all the other SMs do, or should I keep it showing?

Edited by Frozen_Blades81
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