Errant's Thread O' Sprites: ~Evolution~

[Mercenary Lord]

Yo Errant it'd be cool if you could include a 1x zoom of the sprites too, because that's how I see what a sprite would look like at its original resolution

Can you do that pls

[singularity]

I prefer the 3rd one(the one w/smaller cape) tbh.

[ErrantDShepherd]

@ Merc Lord

Thought I did... With the latest one. Been gyazoing it from paint though... So might be part of not realizing still too much zoom... Will fix for that or the other images if that is what you mean.

@ singularity

Yeah... Maybe a mesh between the two might look best? BTW just the cape or the shading of the boots in general too?

EDIT:

-Fixed the zoom... on this and the other earlier sprites just so there is a easier viewing, and sense of progression.

Edited February 26, 2015 by TheErrantShepherd

[vilkalizer]

I like the small cape best. Hector's cape works for him because he's bigger, but on Leif it looks so big that my eyes get confused for a moment because they expect it to fold over his arms instead of just hanging behind them.

[ErrantDShepherd]

@ Vilkalizer

Hey Vilk, thanks for taking the time to comment! Hmmm... Yeah, I see especially with that example what you mean.

Back to the drawing board paint program on that cape. XD

Btw, you like the head over the shoulder or facing straight ahead better? ...can't quite decide myself which I prefer.

[vilkalizer]

I rather like the over-the-shoulder look! Everyone knows turning your back on the opponent marks you as a colossal badass

[singularity]

just the cape btw since I didn't realize the boots were also different.

still stand corrected 3rd looks better.

late reply is late

[Sweet_Basil]

I like the small cape the best, Leif looks very good.

[ErrantDShepherd]

@Vilk

You have a great point! The over the shoulder look for Leif it is. ;)

@singularity

late reply is much appreciated over no reply. ;)

thanks for the feedback... guess the 3rd just works.

@MidnightStar

Thanks!

---

Well, may as well post my stuff from the contest... Yay, actually made a deadline for once! <.< >.> XD

-earlier version of contest entry

-"Finished" entry... shading sucks, hands are pretty bad, should redo it sometime... was in rush to try and finish it up... Think I made the whole thing start to finish in about... 3 hours? Figuring out pose and design and such... then posing, then roughing, then shading and touching up.

Edited March 4, 2015 by TheErrantShepherd

[Kramy]

Reminds me of those werewolves from castlevania but more grey than purple :3

[Klokinator]

-"Finished" entry... shading sucks, hands are pretty bad, should redo it sometime... was in rush to try and finish it up... Think I made the whole thing start to finish in about... 3 hours? Figuring out pose and design and such... then posing, then roughing, then shading and touching up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnNWUUZ7cEA

[ErrantDShepherd]

@ kramy

That is a good thing, right? ...right? XP

I actually reffed Darkstalkers and Zombies ate my Neighbors more, along with the FE monster wolves.

@ Klok

Howl you doing? ...I think that video might be barking up the wrong tree... Lycan find another video that wolf be better...(oh god... they don't even work as puns! DX ) *is shot*

>.> <.<

*crickets*

I'll just go hang my head in shame, let myself out now... XD

-----

Actually, if anyone wants to take a stab at touching up the shading on that wolfboy, be my guest... Was trying to get a fur type feel to the shading, but didn't manage it consistently through the shading of the sprite... Especially as the shading got rushed in the last 30 mins I had left. :\

...or hey, any tips or tutorials on fur shading I can take on?

[ErrantDShepherd]

...guess not?

Hey, I am still alive. Though school has been kicking my respective shepherd-butt.

Here's something I am working on sorta atm.

-I know everyone and their uncle has a Soldier revamp. But hey, may as well try to keep improving mine. Basic idea is to try and get the basic soldier design looking better. Helmet and armor design now a bit more inspired by the DS soldier... Though I still like my personal helmet and armor design.

Thinking about working with the DS spear angle, but part of me likes the straight spear of the GBA... so may just revamp that.

*shrugs*

[Ansem]

are you going to do something about the pose? the standing up straight with the lance pose is so bland, and i guess its one of the reasons the solider sprite is so bleh

[ErrantDShepherd]

Yeah... I personally don't dislike the standing pose so much for the Soldier. For me its the general anatomy and design of the sprite itself that just makes it look off compared to the rest of the GBA sprites. Like seriously, check out the sheet for some of the derpy looking poses the soldier does. The standing pose is the least of the Soldier's issues. But I am debating tweaking it. :o

-More slight tweaks. May have to work on that helmet a bit more, not sure if looking right from both angles.

[Eliwan]

check out the sheet for some of the derpy looking poses the soldier does.

"Some".

"Some," he lies.

Basically all of the return frames are derpy.

I like the new helmet a lot, but I think for the part towards the shield on the visor where you use a pixel of the third color directly next to the highlight (1rst color)-- in a ╩ shape with the highlight, that is, I think that should be the second or possibly first color.

Also, the visor itself, I think, should have the first color extended towards the other side. Currently the light strikes the visor from the front of the sprite but on from our point of view on the back of the helmet-- or so it seems.

or I could remember that I can make images instead of using words

I see the same thing (wrong angle) when looking at the breastplate as well. I think you should remove the leftmost highlight pixel from it, and take the one on the top and move it towards the shield (which makes it a ╝ shape instead of a ╩ shape).

Also the breastplate looks weird to me because it doesn't look close, at all, to his form, which means that it isn't doing its job as armor at all. I... don't know why I see that, though.

Personally I think it'd look nicer if you went with some knee-high greaves instead of half-knee boots. It would at least put something on the legs which are awfully bland; which is the biggest problem with the idle pose-- there isn't any visual interest there. Having more pieces would create something that is at least has some visual impact, instead of having the sprite just kind of die when it gets to the feet-- at least, again, in terms of things that are going on.

:V Or maybe I've looked at sprites too long and adding things to the legs would make it have too much going on.

Edited April 19, 2015 by Eliwan

[ErrantDShepherd]

Been thinking the same about doing some greaves, especially as that is similar to the DS sprite design.

Some good thoughts on the shading and light sources, will have to fiddle with that. Thanks for the thorough suggestions, will see how that looks.

Glad you like the helmet design though! If there is one thing I want to fix its that weird helmet the soldier has. ;)

Hmm... The intent with the chestllate was to try and cover the main chest area leaving the lower torso unarmored... Might try a more rounded shape at the bottom instead of the quasi-pectoral design then since even I wasn't quite sold on it.

[ErrantDShepherd]

New tweaks to the legs, rounded chest plate, and trying to fiddle with the armor shading.

-First three are the attempts to do greaves, from straight up Hector, to first attempt to convert, to something closer to a final... fourth is base guy with tweaked shading. Then the others are current version in both enemy and ally form, both directions for comparison's sake.

Next up will be a tweak to the spear... because even if I do utilize the straight vertical spear, which does make sense for a soldier standing at attention, the spear or at least the spearhead needs to be improved/tweaked/reshaded as well.

----

Anyways, thanks for all the feedback so far! As always any thoughts, comments, criticisms, cookies, streams of consciousness or feedback of any kind are very much appreciated... Especially as I am not 100% on the shading right now. ;)

[ErrantDShepherd]

More slight tweaks. Spear head based on shading of Ephraim and Amelia's.

-Comparison of the standard soldier to my... upgraded version?

Issues I see with the base soldier is a lack of shading and consistent proportions that the other FE GBA sprites recieved... whereas the Merc, Archer and Mage from FE6 were a bit off initially, they got their issues fixed in their FE7 GBA sprites, whereas the soldier never got any tweaks. I think that's why the soldier looks strange in comparison to most FE sprites, they're just not as polished. :o

...so, gonna see what I can do about giving some polish. ;)

Edited April 24, 2015 by TheErrantShepherd

[Agro]

I really like it! It's not over-the-top and keeps is nice and basic, which is really what the soldier is meant to be. Not quite sure how I feel about the blue shield, though. I know it's such a minor gripe to have but I feel like brown might work a little better if you're going to change the colour of the shield.

[vilkalizer]

Nice. Hell, that could just as well be a promoted version of the regular soldier. I do think it'd look better with the brass bit on the spear moved up one pixel though.

[ErrantDShepherd]

Tried both those tweaks.

-Brown not looking as nice to me... maybe with a change to skin pallete it could... but I like the visual oomph the colored shield gives... and hey spot the minor difference in spear heads! Think you're right Vilk, better with a longer bronze part.

[ErrantDShepherd]

-needs work

[Agro]

It honestly kind of looks like you recoloured Eirika and pasted her on

[ErrantDShepherd]

Yeah, heavy Eirika reference on the shading and anatomy. Obviously not what I wanna go for though... As it was not c+p'ed, but I can see how it looks that way.

Any suggestions?