thespaceinvader sprites: current, animals

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woodmouse
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Re: thespaceinvader sprites: current, animals

Post by woodmouse »

Still the same error... But well, maybe it's my firewall, (if that's what it's called correctly) which is really annoying.
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Re: thespaceinvader sprites: current, animals

Post by DUHH »

woodmouse wrote:Still the same error... But well, maybe it's my firewall, (if that's what it's called correctly) which is really annoying.
Drag and drop the link to the adressline. I got the same error until I did that.

Anyhow... Awesome seeing evolution of the sprite-art. I´d love to try my hand at doing some one day, but that field is completly alien to me.

About the newest spider... The source image for the fangs is absolutly terrifying. But I don´t think you´ve captured it quite in the sprite. If that´s even possible. Maybe if you shaved off a pixel or two at the very start off the fangs, making them appear not quite so thick. But apart from the problems with the legs, it´s a very nice spider in any case.
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Cloud
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Re: thespaceinvader sprites: current, animals

Post by Cloud »

woodmouse wrote:Still the same error... But well, maybe it's my firewall, (if that's what it's called correctly) which is really annoying.
Unlikely to be your firewall if it's a 403 error, it's more likely something on the server side blocking you (htacess most likely) TSI won't get this error because his IP or similar is allowed in the htacess file.

As for the sprite, looks good to the untrained eye, earlier comments excluded of course. Much better than the old one :)
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beetlenaut
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Re: thespaceinvader sprites: current, animals

Post by beetlenaut »

OK, I'm wrong about them always being straight down, but that spider still has muscular chelicerae and thin fangs. I took a stab at them myself:
cave-spider.png
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thespaceinvader
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Re: thespaceinvader sprites: current, animals

Post by thespaceinvader »

Those look better. I'll incorporate them into the next version =)
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Sgt. Groovy
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Re: thespaceinvader sprites: current, animals

Post by Sgt. Groovy »

Before getting to it, please notice one important thing: the legs are not all the same size and positioned the same way. The hind legs generally point backwards while the front legs forward. Getting this right will greatly enhance the look, and make it less cartoony.

Also, they could be thicker. While the old spider sprite had plenty of things wrong, one thing I think it got right was the leg/body size ratio.
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thespaceinvader
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Re: thespaceinvader sprites: current, animals

Post by thespaceinvader »

Indeed - the newer version fixes that to some extent. It's difficult to do in sprite size though, since a couple of them need to come straight toward camera or near enough. Foreshortening in sprites is difficult.

I prefer the thinner legs, personally. I think spiders with skinny legs are way creepier than tarantula-type spiders. They evoke the Black Widow...
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Re: thespaceinvader sprites: current, animals

Post by beetlenaut »

thespaceinvader wrote:I prefer the thinner legs, personally. I think spiders with skinny legs are way creepier than tarantula-type spiders. They evoke the Black Widow...
Black widows have pretty thick legs, but they taper at the tips:
Black_Widow.jpg
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Neoskel
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Re: thespaceinvader sprites: current, animals

Post by Neoskel »

thespaceinvader wrote:Indeed - the newer version fixes that to some extent. It's difficult to do in sprite size though, since a couple of them need to come straight toward camera or near enough. Foreshortening in sprites is difficult.

I prefer the thinner legs, personally. I think spiders with skinny legs are way creepier than tarantula-type spiders. They evoke the Black Widow...
The problem with evoking the black widow as opposed to a jumping spider or a wolf spider is that black widows don't fight their prey. They set up a trap-web, bite things they trap and wait for them to be immobilized. They wouldn't survive a melee, which is part of the reason they use that method of hunting.

Wesnoth's giant cave spiders are brawlers. They tussle with their prey, they expect to get hit and rely on their hard exoskeletons to shrug off the damage. If they had long spindly legs, they would soon be unable to move since those can get lopped off so easily. I would suggest instead basing them on tarantulas or wolf spiders (lycosidae) instead of a cobweb spider like the black widow.
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Re: thespaceinvader sprites: current, animals

Post by thespaceinvader »

*shrug* something that big would have to have immensely tough exoskeleton on its legs to even support its weight anyway, regardless of the thickness of those legs. That would protect it pretty well

And it relies on poison and webs to disable its prey anyway.

Also, please stop critting the old version. I've made major changes since then. i just haven't posted them. The legs have gotten significantly thicker.

I now realise I forgot the attachment though... hold on.
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cave-spider.png
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Re: thespaceinvader sprites: current, animals

Post by Neoskel »

Lookin' good. Much more monstrous looking. The legs look good too, though they do seem a tad jumbled up.

Can't wait to see this replace the old sprite.
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Re: thespaceinvader sprites: current, animals

Post by beetlenaut »

I don't know TSI, I'm just not feeling it. I was planning to tackle the cave spider myself until work got in the way. I have the day off now, and you were making my feel spidery, so I gave it a try. What do you think about this?
spider_in_cave.png
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I made a separate topic for it so as not to hijack your thread.
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Sgt. Groovy
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Re: thespaceinvader sprites: current, animals

Post by Sgt. Groovy »

At the moment I'm rooting for Beetlenaut's version (though it has the advantage of being shaded). The huge abdomen is TSI's version makes it look slow and clumsy in comparison.
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Re: thespaceinvader sprites: current, animals

Post by Skizzaltix »

The fangs and legs on Beetlenaut's version are good, but it appears to have... No abdomen at all? :?
It could be just me, but I like the large abdomen; and at any rate, it needs to be visible, even if it is small.
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Re: thespaceinvader sprites: current, animals

Post by fabi »

Beetlenaut, there are spiders that have only one big corpus like the harvestman.
Those spiders are called "untrue spiders", they are a subspecies.
But your spider does look more like a "true spider" whose have a distinct abdomen.

I suggest you either make it more harvestman like or give it a abdomen.

Greetings, Fabi
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