WILL's Prototype Designs

[K4Z]

I've been kept really busy with a lot projects, so work on the robots have dropped a bit.

But here's a few shots of a new chest, more enclosed:



Better? Worse?

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And for those wondering, here's a really quick Pixel Art example of how the final sprite might look.



Ofcouse, I still need to pick out a lot of detail and exaggerate parts a bit more. He might be a bit tall, but that depends on how big the enemies will be compared to him.

[WILL]

MUCH BETTER!

The new chest is great. Looks more... impressive, I think is the word.

OH and remember we were going with the other head, without the ears for the first one.

The ears come in a different upgrade. Perhaps adding to speed or the ability to jump higher or a jet pack addon...? There ya go... more ideas to toy with.

But for the beginning, use the more clean head you did. He has to be real 'clean' of any potential upgrades since he is a prototype. And as it says in the story, 'not completed' yet.

The sprite looks great! I really like it's look. If we went that way instead of a 'Donkey Kong Country feel', I'd go fo that.

Well I guess we should discuss that then huh? Do you feel you can pull off a DKC set of sprites for our little demo? Or would you feel that we can get a nicer set of graphics by going the way of pixel-drawn sprites? I really want to capture a polished look either way. Keeping it 'professional' in design.

It also helps if you want to sell the game eventually.

I'd prefer the DKC 'pre-rendered graphics' method, but I will be just fine with the pixeled sprites. Maybe you can give me more options or more insight into this issue, since you know your abilities and the graphics tools best.

Oh and the arms and legs look better on your sprited version too.

Ah and hands... hands need to be added. But we can make it look like they are like addons themselves. ie. attach a weapon or some other tool in place instead... This could also add to the praticality of some fun features of gameplay. [size=9px](Remember in Megaman that you get new weapons by beating a Level's Boss at the end? We can works something like this here too, but in a more practical way.)[/size]

[K4Z]

Ok, I've tried to recreate the same pose in 3d, and created a pre-rendered version:
(With my Pixel Art sample for comparison)


(It may be hard to see exactly, as I couldn't upload bitmaps)

Lol some bits I was way off :lol: .

I actually made two renders, one with Anti Aliasing and one without. I overlayed one over the other so the sprite has smooth lines, but the outside is pixelated. That way when it's drawn in game it doesn't have that white edge around the sprite.
I've kept the magenta background so you can see the sprite better.

The pre-rendered version does look more professional, and at the same time it picks up some detail, and loses others. If I spent more time on the Pixel Art version I'd be able to make it look much better.
But which style would you prefer? I generaly like Pixel Art better, but the pre-rendered sprites would be quicker to make. Either way I'am happy .

Yeah, I know the first version doesn't have the ears. Once I've actually finished the model, I'll then chop bits and pieces out, and add new things for each individual version. How he is now is just a basic intermediate phase

[WILL]

Well thinking it over for a bit...

I think if you are confident more so in your ability to do the pixeled version of the sprites, then we should go that way. As much as the pre-rendered versions would be a more professional quality and impressive format, it would just take way too much to pull it off, considering all the graphics that would go into the game.

There is still a need to develop tilesets and backgrounds along with all the enemy robots, menus/dialogs and of course bosses.


So lets try that then. It might even make the graphics process easier too.

Oh and I prefer PNG anyways. Smaller file sizes and no color loss.

[K4Z]

I didn't quite get that . Did you say you wanted pixel art or pre-rendered?

After some more thought, pre-rendered would probably be the way to go. It's a lot quicker, especially when it comes to creating each animation frame. And I'm finding that I'm getting less and less avaliable time as the weeks go by :cry: .

However, as for the backgrounds I'm not sure, but it might be harder to model all the scenery, etc in 3d. Especially for a platform game.

I dunno, might need some experimenting.

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Ok, I've done some minor tweaking here and there. I've lengthened the feet, widened the arms and legs a little bit, given him a waist, and a bunch of other little bits that I won't go into. Oh and he has hands now .



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I'm still trying to perfect the 'muscles',here's a pic but they still need a lot of work:


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And I started modeling ideas for a JumpPack, that might be an upgrade later in the game :
(Two ideas, based on a sort of anime style)


I think that's just about it. Has any more work been done on the programming side of things?

[technomage]

Jasonf and I had a dicussion about art work the other day. We use the idea of programmer artwork and graphics. This is not top/production quality but good enough to get a feel of things and get things running. Perhaps this is the way to go. Do some pixle artwork while developement is going on then work on the production pre rendered stuff along side. That way you can get demos and working version up and running without having to wait for art work.

I'm using the same theory for the Alert Fighter, the quality of the models I currently use isn't very good, but that will be sorted out once the engine is stable and playable.

just my 2 cents worth.

[WILL]

Wow, the first hand upgrade!

I like the booster jets idea. Try using the diagonal ones lower to where the verticle ones are. For that upgrade I could allow for either an actual jet burst that makes you 'fly' for a few seconds like in Megaman 6(for the NES) or a on time jump in mid-air burn.

You know what? I agree with Dean(technomage). We should make a basic set of sprites for the robot to work with in the engine. I think animation will be required for the next few features I'll be adding next anyways.

The first version(convieniently) will have no hands. He is an incomplete prototype, right? Also minus the ears, but with 'muscled' arms. I think the idea with the hands will be you get them first to make the point to the player that you can upgrade this part of the character and to introduce them to the upgrades system.


Here is the animations that I'll need:

Standing(maybe a blinking loop for long standing-still moments),
Running,
Jumping,
Falling,
Taking damage,
Climbing Up/Down Ladders/Ropes & Chains, etc(my next feature where I will need ladder tiles too),
Dashing(probably going to be some sort of upgrade for later, but just in case), and
dying(maybe showing sparks and him falling lifeless or something).

I'd put shooting, but we haven't come up with weapons yet... We can make that happen with a set of weapon firing animations for each type of weapon we add though.

As for the pre-rendered/pixeled issue if we go with pre-rendered sprites we'll have to go pre-renered with the whole thing, backgrounds and all. Vice versa. However special effects, like sparks, flares and glows can be rendered in via code.

[WILL]

New Post because it's a different issue in this topic.

Tilesets... Right now I have 32x32 tiles but only one layer. I was thinking of having 2 layers and a background panoramic.

1st layer: Tiles that are behind the players and other characters. Walls, floors, etc...

2nd layer: Stuff that the characters and players will be hidden behind. Great for breaking up scenes and adding detail. It also allows for hidden items and other gameplay features of this nature.

Thanks to either Dean or Incubii's suggestion, the game engine can support any size of tile. Provided that the map ran allows for enough object tiles so as to not sneek between where I check my points for collission detection.


BTW I've updated the source file I uploaded to PGD. Clicky!

[K4Z]

Ok, I've done some test animations with the robot.
I've animated it frame by frame, with 10 frames of animation. It's a little clunky at the moment, but it's just a test:



(He does look spiffy with his muscles on , even if you can't make out the details)
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I think the muscles should be a seperate upgrade. 'Cos he looks a little too completed with them. The Muscle upgrade could allow the 'Dash' ability, and a little more height when you jump.

For the very very first sprite I will strip him down, leaving only the bits (amour) that give him his overall shape.

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So, if WILL's happy with how the robot is now, without any drastic changes (excluding upgrades), I could make a full set of test sprites for the engine.

[Sly]

With the muscles, he looks like an Imperial Storm Trooper, that is, a guy wearing a black rubber suit with white plastic armour strapped on.

I think he looks best without the muscles. He looks like a robot, and he's proud of it. I like seeing the metal frame beneath the armour.