Skeptical_troll's abominations

[skeptical_troll]

Hi everybody. I am a complete noob in pixel art, but I wanted a 'fisherman' unit for my campaign and I tried to do the sprite myself. It is supposed to be a zero-level unit, no melee attack, few hitpoints and no advancements, but he can cast a net and slows opponents. Since he's not a warrior, I found it difficult to frankenstain it from the templates available, so I did it from scratch, which was probably a bit incautious

Now, I am aware it looks weird in many ways, not last the fact that he reminds a bit of the dwarves of Snow White, but I'd be immensely grateful if any of the artists around could tell me what are the most obvious things that I am doing wrong, in terms of colors, anatomy and movements.

I attempted to do the attack animation. since it is a ranged attack I suppose I need to connect it somehow to the 'projectile' frames, any suggestions on how to do that? In my initial plans they were just taken from the netcaster or goblin pillager web attacks, but my current net is quite different from that (I should maybe make mine coarser and bigger, so it will not be mistaken for a curtain ) .

For some reason some details went lost in the gif conversion (e.g. transparency of the shadow and anti-aliasing in general)

[beetlenaut]

That's not bad at all, and quite good for a first attempt. All the problems I am about to mention apply to the BfW style, not necessarily to the art itself. The biggest problem you have is the size. That guy is as large as a level-4 grand marshal, and he should be the same size as a peasant at level-0. You will lose details shrinking him, but that's the way it goes. If you make him small enough, he would be good to go for a UMC, but there are some other things you could do to improve the style. The attack animation is OK, but units' movements are usually more exaggerated than that. His arms should go back farther, and then extend all the way during his throw. You should also have a frame or two of the guy following through on his motion without the net. (The projectile will be in the frame at that point.) You should also give him a stronger outline and keep your color count down to about 20. If you don't, the sprite will fade into the background a little. There should be no anti-aliasing on the edges for the same reason.

You can make your own projectile if you want. Just look at how they are coded/animated for a mainline unit.

(The reason you lost details in the GIF conversion is that GIF doesn't have gradations of transparency like PNG does. The game uses PNG, so it's not a problem.)

[skeptical_troll]

Hi Beetlenaut, thanks a lot for the comments and suggestions!
Maybe it's beneficial to see a picture with some units next to it as a comparison. It's indeed too big, maybe like a level 2 unit. It hasn't got too many details, so hopefully shrinking by ~15-20% shouldn't do too much harm. Thanks for pointing this out. I may experiment shrinking only the body and leaving the head the same size, as big heads seem to be consistent with the Wesnoth style.

Looking at this picture, your suggestion of a stronger outline sounds very compelling (I was more thinking of increasing the contrast, but that is clearly not enough). Then a question about colors: what is the best way to decrease the colour counts? I am actually using few colors but then using the 'brush' tool of GIMP, which produces many shades of the same color. What's the best way to get around it?

Thanks!

[beetlenaut]

I may experiment shrinking only the body and leaving the head the same size, as big heads seem to be consistent with the Wesnoth style.

Yeah, but his head is still a lot bigger than the other heads even though they are under helmets and hats. Of course it's really hard to get detail in a face that's only 4 pixels across, but you could copy the face of one of the dwarves. They have beards too, and some of them pack a lot of expression into those few pixels.

what is the best way to decrease the colour counts?

One way to do this is to convert your finished image to indexed. In GIMP, that's Image-->Mode-->Indexed. Set the maximum colors down to 20 or so. Turn the mode back to RGB afterwards. This will remove the transparency of the shadow and net, so save a copy of the image first. That way you can copy the original transparent parts back in after switching the mode back to RGB.

[doofus-01]

I am actually using few colors but then using the 'brush' tool of GIMP, which produces many shades of the same color. What's the best way to get around it?

Don't use the "brush", use the "pencil". If erasing or selecting, be sure to use "hard edge" option for the eraser, and turn off "anti-aliasing" option for select.

The fisherman is a nice start. I agree that you could make the net more coarse.

[Midnight_Carnival]

I too apreciate your sprite, however I have some things I'd like to suggest.
I'm not talking about Wesnoth style becasue you could always draw every single sprite in your campaign and then your sprite wouldn't look out of place - it is only when you mix canonical and custom sprites that you need to worry about that, all the points I'd like to make are only my impression and related to the sprite as an entity, not part of something else and not relating to technical details of which program, filter or brush to use.

I get the feeling that you started the sprite as an animated sprite(?) the animation is good, etc - it's just that the idle position doesn't seem to work to well for me at least.
It's ok for starting an attack, but I can't imagine a fisherman standing around with a big heavy net in front of him like an apron while he's talking to his friend, waiting for a waggon or getting ready to march through miles of unexplored countryside.
I suggest the net rolled up or draped over 1 shoulder - it won't show off your transparency skillzz, but it's going to look like the guy is ready and waiting rather than standing in a position which would make moving difficult.

My second suggestion (which I don't think you'll like) - use the sprite you've drawn as a reference - it's a well drawn sprite - then start the fisherman from scratch. Think of how he'll move when walking, defending, attacking and - well, doing fisherman things...

Finally, I think your net is a little too fine - it might be good for catching sardines, but it's not going to hold up against baracuda and it's not a net I'd want to take into battle (if I were taking one into battle) - nice effect though.

That's about it, dying to see other sprites you come up with

[skeptical_troll]

Thanks a lot everybody for your help. Following your advice, I started from scratch a new one, in a more sensible pose, with fewer colors, stronger outline and a level-zero size.

I feel it is slightly better, but there's still something I'm missing which I'd like to catch before going on with the animations. Am I just using too many bright colors?

[beetlenaut]

That's a lot closer! Good work. A couple things: He's still quite tall for a level-0 unit. He's four pixels taller than a peasant and taller than some level ones. I suggest shrinking him another two or three pixels. His left arm (on our right) is too long and lacks an elbow. It bends in a curve. Also, his hips should be wider. (Compare to a peasant.) The last thing is that his cap doesn't say "fisherman" to me. I suggest something more like this.

[Midnight_Carnival]

It's great! just a little polishing left to do in order to make that one of the best 1st time sprites I've seen in a while.

Give him a ranged attack where he throws fish!

[skeptical_troll]

Ok, this is my last attempt, I struggled a lot to fix the face and the left arm, not sure if worked out well. I am a bit afraid that the new hat reminds of a firefighter now

I also sketched out his brand new powerful melee attack! As a sign of gratitude, I show it to you as an exclusive premiere because I am a nice guy! I won't put it in the game yet, because it deserves a dedicated campaign, I already know the plot: an army of fishermen conquer Wesnoth crushing waves and waves of royal guards armed only with stinky fishes. It is easy to imagine the advancement tree: the higher the level, the bigger the fish (and since 'there is always a bigger fish', the level they can reach is in principle infinite)

[beetlenaut]

This guy looks great now! You did a good job improving his arm and his net, and I think his hat looks okay too. I also have to say that that's a really well-drawn fish.

[skeptical_troll]

This one is the real attack animation, or a sketch thereof. Individual frames still require polishing but I'd like to hear if it looks sensible or not!
It's a bit slower than what it will be, and I think I need to add a frame while he's stepping back to start the push.

[ForestDragon]

Amazing unit can i include him in my era pls? i like both his ranged net and melee fish attacks and the overall idea is kinda fun.

[skeptical_troll]

Absolutely, I'm happy if you use it! The 'fish' attack was done just for a laugh, but if you like it use it as well (I'd improve a bit the movement though, is kind of rigid now)! All the files are in the image/units/ folder of my add-on (Hunters of the East), except the 'fish' frames which I attach here (again, they were made a bit in a rush, but if you like I can improve them). In the add-on there's also the .cfg file, but you can modify it as you wish.

[Gyra_Solune]

I think perhaps he could stand to be a little more...like, wide and chibi-ish, if that's the right word? Most sprites in Wesnoth are sorta in that super-deformed style, with big bulbous heads but stocky bodies and short but squat limbs. This fisherman's limbs are a little thin compared to other human units in similar attire. The outline could also stand to be a little more defined, by having shading leading up to it - basically have the lighter colors in the center, then a slightly darker line of pixels, and then the near-black boundary of the sprite.

Oh! And maybe to better make it obvious of how he's a fisherman, add a fishing rod slung across his back! Preferably sticking up off the opposite side of the shoulder his net is on.