Sprites fo Art's sake

[Colfer]

Hello everyone: I've been lurking around this board for a while now, and I've found myself rather fond of spriting. At the moment, I'm not doing it for any particular purpose, I'm looking for critiques because I'd like to get better. With each character, there a spot or two I'm worried about, so if you can pass judgements on the mentioned details, it would be much appreciated.

So here goes: Critics, crack your knuckles and get ready to type...

First::

This guy was made from FE7 epilogue Eliwood, Ogier, and Rutger. I was trying to go for a shaman with hood down type of look.

Second:

A Uhai and Garret mix. I think he turned out rather well, but I'm slightly worried about the way the white cloth rests between the neck and the shoulder pad.

Third:

Hector, Ursula and Yuno. I like the messy hair, though I've got the suspicion it's probably too much.

Fourth:

It's the Christmas Swordsman! Made from Llyod, Ziess and Isadora. I actually didn't think in advance about the color combination being festively themed, but this guy turned out that way.... Should I change it, or does it not really matter?

Fifth

This on uses Sigune, with Leila's eye and hair color, and Thany's body. I actually rather like this one.

Sixth:

Hector, Renault and Noah for the shoulder pads. I wanted to make an older, more regal looking character. I'm concerned about his eyes and eyebrows matching.

Seventh:

This one I had a really fun time with. It's Gietz, Batta, and Ephidel, selected at random. It's my personal favorite, because of the expression. The thing I worry about with him is his bare shoulder, which I free handed. As for the goatee, it might look a little silly but in my mind it makes him look actually goat-like which I like. It was made from Batta's side burn. I suppose he'd be a warrior in game, probably a bad guy too, though I like to imagine him as a sarcastic mercenary.

As always, feel free to point out all other things wrong too. in general, I'd also like to get critique on color selection for all the characters. The fourth and sixths one don't sit well with me, I can't see them as actual in game characters, but I'm not a hundred percent sure why.

Edited December 1, 2011 by Colfer

[Loki Laufeyson]

The fifth one is pretty cute.

Some of your colors clash. Looks like you are either using FE8 colors or making your own but they arent matching a lot. Sixth one's head is too small and all misshapen. Most of them (except the fifth) are pretty messy. Lots of stray pixels hanging about. Third one's hair is too messy slightly. Plus her neck is too far back and has some odd shading going on there.

Others may be able to help more cuz im lazy at the moment. :B

[Colfer]

Well, going off what Florina said, I've started watching my work a lot more closely. I used the same attention to detail and obsessive compulsiveness I did with the fifth and best sprite from my last post to create this one.

This one was made from Saul, Isadora, Limstella and Sonia. Another one I rather like, but I'm concerned about the collar.

What do you guys think?

[Dr.Sholes]

It's, for the most part, better than the other ones. One big(ish) problem is the forehead being way too big.

[Jubby]

The problem with teh collar is it kinda needs an outline :P And the thing with the forehead... Other than that it looks pretty good though :3

[Kon]

Taking a glance at it, it looks like the shirt is busy eating his hair. :/ Also, the collar gives it a very awkward angle and there's no separation between the torso and the shoulder, creating a blobbish effect. Zooming in, it looks like you missed a few pixels whenb you recolored Sonia's hair.

[Colfer]

The strange part about the forehead is that it's the exact same size as Sonia's. I only change the eye, and un-cocked the eyebrow. Also, Sonia has that band/line going across her forehead. I added it to the sprite, so that you can see what I'm talking about.

Note that also in Sonia's original portrait, the band doesn't go anywhere. The skin tone, hair shape and placement. and head are all hers. The only thing changed was hair color, eyes, eyebrows. Though that could have made the detrimental difference. Not that any takes any fault away from me, but I just find it strange in retrospect.

Should I raise my sprite's eyebrow a bit, keep the string and continue it across her forehead, find a different way to fill up the space?

I also tried to better define the hair, though I can see already I'm going to need to make further adjustments. I fixed the collar's edge too, I hope it makes a difference. As for the shoulder, it's supposed to be a bit shapeless because of all the layers a bishop wear (undershirt, tunic, tabard, then sash). If it doesn't come across well, I'll strive to fix it also.

Other than that, here's another. If you'll bear with me, I'll eventually make something neat. In the meantime, thanks for your time and help.

Gietz, Uther and FE6 Zephiel. I was going in a crusading king direction, kind of what the anime version of Richard the Lion-heart would be.

[Jubby]

The new one is cool, although I'd maybe use some different colours for the armour and the proportions seem a little off in places (like how his hair goes behind his armour?)

As for the Sonia splice, I think the eyebrow's the real bridge of that gap, so try cocking it, or if you don't want her to look so superiorish, maybe even just raise them a pixel or two (I'm always shocked by how much difference one tiny pixel of space can make in an FE portrait.) On the other hand, the collar's looking a lot better with an outline, and now that you say it, it's noticeable that the hair is more defined than it was before :)

[Maklo]

The problem with the sonia splice is that her eyes are too low. Compare them to the original; they are a pixel lower.

I think you have some pretty cool concepts here, particularly the Geitz/Uther/Zephiel splice, but generally your splices are quite messy, which is something you might want to focus on.

[Colfer]

I raised the Sonia's splice's eyebrow, and expanded the headband, i think it makes her forehead look less freakish. Other than that, I've been trying to create not only good characters, but an organic team for them to be in, because I feel part of FE's appeal comes from the contrast and diversity of characters that you can put on the field. If I ever get competent enough at hacking, I'd love to flesh the characters and give them their own quests. Arch's tutorial is amazing, but there's a lot to cover... Anyways, let's see what you guys think....

From left to right, description of the characters by name, personality, and class if you'd like to read it:

1st; Esmeralda: A cleric in her late twenties. A very charitable woman who travels the continent in search of others to help. (Can't seem to make a good minimug for her, unfortunately.)

2nd; Lilin: Morad's niece. An aspiring combatant with high potential. (Not sure what class I'd make her.)

3rd; Morad: a once famous arena fighter turned martial arts teacher. He loves teaching and will take most anyone under his wing. (Fighter, of course. Not sure if his face is too close to the original, and if he needs more shading on his neck.)

4th; Lady Merryl: A kind aloof yet kindhearted girl who loves flying more than anything else. (Would be one of the main three lords, and a Pegasus Knight, because i feel like that could really make a cool impact on the game)

5th; Sienna: A traveling scholar. Rather strict, but very talented. (Anima mage. I like her facial expression, but I'm not set on the color scheme)

6th; Kell: A traveling swordsman determined to attain legendary status. (Not sure if I want him to be a mercenary or a myrmidon.)

7th. :Lord Roark: An aging noble who feels he has thrown his youth away. He has passed his estate on to his son to travel the land. (Another of the three lords. His age prevents him from moving swiftly, but his strength and sturdiness have yet to yield. He'd be based off knights)

Does that seem like good dynamics? Because I'd like to delve into character theory and character balance. I'd like characters that not only look good individually, but also as a team. As always, critiques on the art itself are more than welcome as well.

[Loki Laufeyson]

Those chibis...you didnt...just scale the sprite down did you? Cuz sadly thats what it looks like. I am seeing an improvement on the splicing though! Some of the colors do look a little off. Especially on Kell with his super dark swordmaster coat that clashes a bit with his lighter hair and skin tone. (I totes made the same mistakes with color mixing too. So yeah...the pitfall...its hard to avoid at first.)

[Colfer]

Those chibis...you didnt...just scale the sprite down did you? Cuz sadly thats what it looks like. I am seeing an improvement on the splicing though! Some of the colors do look a little off. Especially on Kell with his super dark swordmaster coat that clashes a bit with his lighter hair and skin tone. (I totes made the same mistakes with color mixing too. So yeah...the pitfall...its hard to avoid at first.)

For the chibis, I didn't simply scale the sprite down. But yeah, I kind of don't know how to approach that whole deal. As for the colors on Kell, here's a few trial colors. I don't know which is better:

Red could be the totally wrong color for him. Here's some alternates:

Another couple of recolors:

I wanted to try Merryl with a natural, less extreme hair color.

I'm leaning towards ginger, personally.

I didn't quite like Sienna's green so I took another stab at it. The grey for a more subdued hue, and the yellow for higher contrast with her hair.

Any others concerns? All in all, it's nice to hear I'm getting better at splicing, but yeah, I need to start focusing on better color coordination. Sorry for the incredible amounts of pallet swaps above, but I'd like to know what you guys think. Feel free to suggest others too.

As always, thank you for your comments.

Edited December 4, 2011 by Colfer

[deranger]

For the chibis, I didn't simply scale the sprite down. But yeah, I kind of don't know how to approach that whole deal. As for the colors on Kell, here's a few trial colors. I don't know which is better:

If you spliced the mug, I'd recommend splicing the chibi.

[Loki Laufeyson]

The Green Kell looks the best to me.

I agree with you about ginger Merryl.

Im not much of a chibi maker to be honest. But yeah what deranger said about splicing the chibis as well. It yields the best results.

[Colfer]

Fluff here, feel free to skip.

So, it's time for me to blaspheme a bit, I guess. After picking up Decay of the Fang and seeing how the disbanding of the Black Fang turned into a pretty great premise, I started thinking about how the Fang was formed, and that idea grew into a bit of an itch. And so, I did a quick little shpiel about Brendan's youth. At a young age, he stumbles upon a ( still weakened by Athos) Nergal being attacked by a blood thirsty Renault. Renault, who is frustrated that Nergal has managed to create functioning Morphs and yet still has only given Renault a mere disfigured puppet version of his old friend, vows to slaughter Nergal. Brendan, unaware of the situation, intervenes on the assumptions he is saving a life. Brendan breaks Renault's arms, preventing him from ever lifting a sword again, which in turn leads Renault to reevaluate his life and join the Elemine church.

Nergal, sensing that Brendan will one day achieve greatness, creates Sonia who will be sent to guide Brendan's hand through the important events in his life. By adventuring with and guiding Brendan, Sonia manages to secure a place in his heart. That way, even after leaving Brendan for many years to return to her service to Nergal, Brendan would be easily seduced and influenced by her should she return to his side (which she does during Rekka no Ken). So on so forth, and now we have the birth of an elite mercenary team that could be brought under Nergal's thumb at any moment.

Fluff ends

So here are the results of this thinking. Warning, I'm definitely posting these guys because I need help with them.

First: Young Renault as a swordsman. Made using Renault, Dieck and Ward.

Second: A weakened Nergal, recently scorched and not quite mad enough to grow the evil goatee yet.

Third: Young Limstella. From what I can tell, there is no real evidence as to weather Morphs are created old or must grow/mature, hence this idea. Age regression was a worthy exercise in spriting though.

Fourth: Teenage Sonia. She was made to seduce Brendan, so seeing as he was young at the time, she should be as well.

Fifth: Young Brendan. Dear gods was that a hard one to pull. I made him on the assumption that he would look a lot like his axe-wielding son. I tried to keep the squareness of the jaw and the same hairstyle. Took me far longer than I expected to make him young, and its still not that good...

But yeah, here they are. A real challenge, and way more difficult than I expect. Still, I'd like to perfect them, so critique away. Hope my premise makes sense for those of you who read it.

As for the age regression on Sonia and Limstella, I shrank their faces and shoulders, their hair was cut, and I made Sonia's eyes bigger as well as trimmed her long nails.. Hope that did enough to make them seem younger in comparison to their mature versions.

[deranger]

I like them, although Sonia doesn't look that different. Brendan Reed looks pretty neat. And the Black Fang are assassins, not mercenaries.

Edited December 5, 2011 by deranger

[Colfer]

Sorry for taking so long to reply, I've gotten slightly caught up in other projects.

Regardless, here are my latest attempts. These will be functioning as bad guys for a little project of mine, and I wanted to give them uniform and imposing color. These two were a nightmare to create... Especially to male one, who I just couldn't get right, and still not quite a hundred percent satisfied with. The hat and the pin attached to it are supposed to be signs of rank. I don't know if they quite look right. Anyways, compliments appreciated and critiques welcomed.

[Dr.Sholes]

The first one has some shading problems in the hair and her shoulders. The second one has shading problems just about everywhere. But, it looks like it would be really awesome if you fixed that up.

[deranger]

Yeah, reference mugs for shading.

[Colfer]

The first one has some shading problems in the hair and her shoulders. The second one has shading problems just about everywhere. But, it looks like it would be really awesome if you fixed that up.

Yeah, reference mugs for shading.

If you guys could be a little more specific that would help. I've gone back and fixed the areas around the girl's hair, and where the guy's head meets the hat, but I'm not quite sure how to approach everything else. the armor has been pretty hard because I've had to freehand a lot of it because I couldn't find a splice piece to fit.

[deranger]

For the girl, it looks like you really messed with Fiora's hair shading, which I wouldn't recommend. If you didn't, then you need to choose better whites for her hair. And the guy's hat-head meeting was the main thing I saw.

[Anouleth]

Fluff here, feel free to skip.

So, it's time for me to blaspheme a bit, I guess. After picking up Decay of the Fang and seeing how the disbanding of the Black Fang turned into a pretty great premise, I started thinking about how the Fang was formed, and that idea grew into a bit of an itch. And so, I did a quick little shpiel about Brendan's youth. At a young age, he stumbles upon a ( still weakened by Athos) Nergal being attacked by a blood thirsty Renault. Renault, who is frustrated that Nergal has managed to create functioning Morphs and yet still has only given Renault a mere disfigured puppet version of his old friend, vows to slaughter Nergal. Brendan, unaware of the situation, intervenes on the assumptions he is saving a life. Brendan breaks Renault's arms, preventing him from ever lifting a sword again, which in turn leads Renault to reevaluate his life and join the Elemine church.

Nergal, sensing that Brendan will one day achieve greatness, creates Sonia who will be sent to guide Brendan's hand through the important events in his life. By adventuring with and guiding Brendan, Sonia manages to secure a place in his heart. That way, even after leaving Brendan for many years to return to her service to Nergal, Brendan would be easily seduced and influenced by her should she return to his side (which she does during Rekka no Ken). So on so forth, and now we have the birth of an elite mercenary team that could be brought under Nergal's thumb at any moment.

Fluff ends

Well, I have to say that you're about the 1 millionth person to want t do a hack of the early days of the Black Fang.

Third: Young Limstella. From what I can tell, there is no real evidence as to weather Morphs are created old or must grow/mature, hence this idea. Age regression was a worthy exercise in spriting though.

I would assume that they don't age, since Sonia and Limstella are centuries old.