Comments/critiques on these frames:

Post by **shiremct** » August 2nd, 2007, 6:03 am

I would like some comments on these sprite frames and how they animate. I just tonight downloaded a .GIF animator to see how my frames flowed together and discovered that what looked okay scrolling my eye down the page in paint looked terrible when actually put together

This guy and these three frames are the first unit/animation I have put together since the insight I got from seeing frames of my other creations flow together and I would like some comments on it. Mainly I am concerned with whether the animation is complex enough in body movement and if it is fluid/natural looking enough. Comments on the sprite itself are welcome as well, but he is half-Frankenstiened and a bit mis-shaded from the .gif conversion if you zoom on him, but not too noticable zoomed out.

Overall, I'm quite happy with the frames but I hoped to get some comments from others about the fluid/natural-ness of his movements and any elementary mistakes I may be making (with either the animation or the sprite itself) before diving in too much further. Thanks

This is his defend animation btw.

EDIT: Oops, forgot to mention I'd like some suggestions on shading the spear shaft. I have tried several times but can't get anything that I think looks good. I'm having trouble adding variation over the three-pixel wide surface without messing up the outline which then makes it look bad when its layered on top of anything. What is the best way to shade such an object?

Post by **shiremct** » August 2nd, 2007, 9:36 am

Made a few changes to the third frame: tweaked the his left foot to behave more like I envisioned (Feet and boots have proven difficult for me

) and rounded out that sharp elbow.
I also darkened the spear shaft where it crosses the body to try to keep it from appearing as if it may be held behind the shield. In both the defend frames it just clips over the corner of the shield and almost looked like it was behind the shield. Hopefully this helps with that; let me know if it still appears funny.

I have also put up the spearman's base frame without any discoloration. I'm unsure if I should leave the back of the shield team-colored or if I should color it in brown and leave only the front with team-colors. Does it look odd to you colored as it is? If I do change its color, I'm at a loss for what to team-color to replace it... I thought about a tassle on the spear-shaft, but it wasn't really in the style I was looking for. Any ideas?

BloodIssyl · Post by **BloodIssyl** » August 2nd, 2007, 9:46 am

What is he doing during the last frame?
if that is supposed to be taking the blow, it seems a little awkward.

I would add another frame between 1 and 2 to make the block more fluid.

Looks good though.

Sabata · Post by **Sabata** » August 2nd, 2007, 10:39 am

Why does the spear head get smaller?

Post by **shiremct** » August 3rd, 2007, 2:39 am

Sabata wrote:Why does the spear head get smaller?

Ah! Thanks! It's odd-looking things like that I can no longer pick out after staring at little blocks of pixels for a long period of time. Hopefully it looks more consistent now.

BloodIssyl wrote:if that is supposed to be taking the blow, it seems a little awkward.

It is indeed supposed to be him taking the blow but I think it could also be seen as stepping back/dodging too, but what specifically looks awkward about that frame? I have examined it but nothing is jumping out at me.

I had to change the base frame because the spear was being blocked by the movement orb in-game and looked odd, so I tilted it. Does this help smooth the transition from the base frame to the first defend frame?

Also have an idle animation put together. I think it needs a bit more smoothing and maybe some more movement in his left foot and right arm. Suggestions for improving it are welcome. Thanks.

BloodIssyl · Post by **BloodIssyl** » August 3rd, 2007, 5:28 am

the idle animation looks pretty darn cool

Post by **shiremct** » August 9th, 2007, 8:02 am

I have a few new units to share for constructive criticism. These units were drawn from scratch; no frankenstiening of other units except for the faces where visible under the helmets. Both units are still without weapons, as I want to get their bodies sorted out first.

I don't really think they fit the style of the other level 3 loyalist units (These two are intended to be level 3's), but that's okay because they are not being made for them, but my spearman was intended to be a level 2 unit in line with these guys and he is only half their height... He was based off of the peasant/townsman units

. He will need a total re-work to be made compatible

The first guy is a Hoplite. I'm pretty happy with him now, but would certainly welcome any further suggestions.

The second one was intended to be a Peltast, but I don't know how he will turn out in that role. Maybe when I get some javalins and his shield set up he will look better, but I don't know. If he looks goofy with javalins, I think he woud make an awesome legion-styled swordsman with a new paint-job. I didn't intend to have a helmet crest on the peltast, but he looks like a football player to me without it so I made a smaller one and it makes him look better, but like a legionaire... I need some suggestions for this guy.
His right leg is kind of a place-holder right now, I know it looks odd. I haven't finished a right leg that I'm happy with yet but it will not have a shin-greave, it will have sandal laces on his lower leg and the rest will be flesh.

I tried not to mess with any other frames for these guys until I got the base frames sorted out, but I couldn't resist! I made some alternate heads for the hoplite with the helmet raised up and wanted to see how they looked in action. The arm movement is a little jerky, but it was mostly just to see how my other heads actually flowed with one another.

Please let me know what you think.

theotherhiveking · Post by **theotherhiveking** » August 9th, 2007, 4:44 pm

Actually I think that your spearman is better than the current one, is damn good. And it have a pose, I would like to see it with all animations and more frames and antialiashed spear, and it would rock,really good job!

Post by **turin** » August 9th, 2007, 9:01 pm

I like your hoplite, the helmet looks cool. Are you planning on giving him a spear and shield?

Angels Fell First · Post by **Angels Fell First** » August 9th, 2007, 9:11 pm

turin wrote:I like your hoplite, the helmet looks cool. Are you planning on giving him a spear and shield?

i would give the hoplite a pike rather than a spear

http://www.ancientmesopotamia.net/siteb ... halanx.jpg

cool animation btw

good work

Guax · Post by **Guax** » August 9th, 2007, 11:29 pm

Hmm... i think this Hoplite looks kinda weird...
His legs... the armor (i think) should go just at his knees, no? If so, u should make the armor smaller, and even if that's not the case, u should revise his skin colors. The unarmoured part of the legs arent shaded at all... His head looks a bit big too and his left arm looks small o.Ãµ

In the animation.
His arms move nice qhen he's lifting the helmet, but when they go back to their original place they just... dont have enought frames to move softly u know. U could move a little his chest to o.o
And the helmet.... well, its first frame is nice, but the second looks too dark and the third doesnt look like gold. And u could make the red thing on the helmet darker in the third frame. And its movement looks really weird.. its last position isnt going on the head's direction (sorry, couldnt find better words ^^""").
U could make his arm move a little slower and make hi wait a little with the dand on the helmet before lifting it o.o
EDIT: humm... i think that, instead of remaking the helmet in its third frame, it would be better to just move the head a little o.o

About the Peltast... dunno, his armor looks confusing for me ^^""

Well, i think that's all for now o.o
Good luck with your sprite ^^"
see ya o.o/

Blueblaze · Post by **Blueblaze** » August 10th, 2007, 1:40 am

It looks great, its just on the animation with the helmet up, the helmet appears to have grown in size by 50%.

Post by **shiremct** » August 10th, 2007, 4:26 am

I added a little more shading to his legs, looking at it now, his right leg could probably use some more, but I don't plan to lower the greaves; I think his proportions are pretty good as he is, but if others think I should, I'll consider it. His helmet also got a little darker to match the other heads. I may darken it in the back even more.

A WIP of him with equipment. The shield may get its colors reversed, I'm not sure yet, but either way it needs a little more shading work. I'm too frustrated with it to continue working on it for now though

.
I'm still not sure how I'm going to do his base frame... My top choice right now is to have his arm lowered and holding the spear from above as opposed to from beneath like he is in this frame. Not sure if I'm properly getting across what I mean there, but similar to him holding a briefcase, with his hand closer to the head of the spear. An alternative would be to keep the same grip type and have his arm lowered and the spear facing backwards, but I think that may look a little odd with the point facing behind him. I dunno.

Is this head sized better?

EDIT: oops, forgot this:
http://www.maitlandtoysoldiershoppe.com ... s/g138.jpg
This image is the reference for the peltast's armor and the hoplite's equipment.

BloodIssyl · Post by **BloodIssyl** » August 10th, 2007, 5:34 am

I like the hoplite, looks good, the only thing i can say is that the armor needs texture and shading.

Also, the torso seems squashed in or pushed back.

Post by **irrevenant** » August 10th, 2007, 11:17 am

The Spearman appears neckless to me. I find something like this looks more natural (note: I didn't know what to do with the helmet, and the chest where I inserted pixels needs patching).