Ghastly

[Darker_Dreams]

I'm particularly fond of DiD, and one of the few polishing points that sticks out about it is the Ghast (a unit advancement which also seems to be a popular reuse point). Now, I'm pretty C-grade as an artist, but I figure some sort of modification on the Necrophage might be within my capabilities.

Now, the question becomes- how modified does the unit need to be. My first reaction is that "creeping biggerism" concerns indicate that "bigger" isn't necessarily desirable, but "more embellished" (more spikes, bigger claws, etc) would serve the same purpose well.

If this is the wrong direction (ie; such a modified sprite isn't desired as an improvement over the ancient sprite and we'd rather wait for an all-new sprite to be made), that's fine. If this needs something more... well, I think it needs something more, but all my ideas end up looking overblown (shoulder spikes look ridiculous, horns are inappropriate, glowing eyes are overdone, etc.)

so, attached is a draft, and the Necrophage base for comparison. next to one another, there's a clear difference, and a visual size difference, but I'm not sure what *more* to do to make a more obvious difference when they aren't next to one another.

[Jozrael]

A: You're a far better artist than I. Take what you will from these comments.

B: I think the mouth is too overexaggerated. I'd revert it mostly, or find a happy medium.

C: I like the idea of spikes on his shoulders, etc. Perhaps you were making them too large or defined.

[zookeeper]

At a glance (and when you only have one on the map, not both of them side by side) it's rather hard to tell the difference. I'd suggest changing the overall skin colour a bit, maybe darkening with a bit less saturation, or something. Changing the pose even somewhat would also be a good way to make it distinct; maybe raise the hands a bit into a slight mantis-like position, or rotate the hands so that the palms are facing more like upwards, or something like that.

Oh, and the ghast isn't actually wired in DiD anymore, but I'll put it right back in if you finish these new graphics for it.

[Sapient]

I think this looks better for the ghast:



(from IFtU's Art Workshop thread)

[Mirion147]

But that doesn't have any similarities to the necrophage other then they're both green. I think if the pose of the previously posted ghastly whatever was slightly altered it would look, in my opinion, pretty good and distinct.

[Darker_Dreams]

Jozrael; first, I'm not much of an artist. At best I'm a pixel-pushing hack. As for the mouth, I think it needs to be exaggerated for two reasons; 1) because it does provide a difference between the levels and 2) because the primary attack is a bite, and it's supposed to be trying to eat people... As for the spikes, my best results are below.

zookeeper; What you're describing is essentially what I expected. I've tried shifting the hand/claw (see below), but I suspect moving to an even more mantis-like pose is going to just look silly and contorted (especially on a big hulk like this, if I can even manage it).
It's a shame to hear that it's out, but I completely understand why. If we can get a base frame that I find doable I'll work out the animations for it.

Sapient; Artistically, I absolutely find that better. Thematically, it's clearly a (highly artistically evolved) descendant of the original/current Ghast graphic. However, I'm going to have to go with Mirion147 about similarities- the first two units go in direction one, then suddenly that goes in a completely other direction...

Mirion147; I think it's going to take more than a simple pose-shift.

[xtifr]

I agree with Jozrael that the mouth seems a bit excessive. I think the shoulder spikes might looks a little better if they were more bone-like--closer in color to the teeth. And I think more than one pair (like on the older image) might really do it. Possibly even with some on the head.

But that's all just me thinking out loud. Feel free to ignore me since I'm not jumping up to do the work myself.

[Sapient]

I can't believe you are serious.

Wouldn't it be better to work with the clean sprite I posted (and make it look more like the necrophage) than to continue tweaking that disgusting, hopeless blob?

[Darker_Dreams]

I can't believe you are serious.

Wouldn't it be better to work with the clean sprite I posted (and make it look more like the necrophage) than to continue tweaking that disgusting, hopeless blob?

Yes, it would be better to work with a clean sprite.
Are you going to do it?

[Jozrael]

Not to mention that it still doesn't fix the problem of not looking like the original.

I think working off the lvl2 sprite is the best idea.

[Sapient]

I can't believe you are serious.

Wouldn't it be better to work with the clean sprite I posted (and make it look more like the necrophage) than to continue tweaking that disgusting, hopeless blob?

Yes, it would be better to work with a clean sprite.
Are you going to do it?

I'm not planning on it. But I imagine I could frankenstein the belly from the 'phage onto it fairly easily.

[woodmouse]

Can I also try making a sprite for it?

[beetlenaut]

but I'm not sure what *more* to do

I think that by the time someone gets to ghast, he doesn't have to be at all human-shaped any more. Maybe you could lower his head so it sticks out of his chest, and give him large, spiky shoulders. You could also make it more T-rex-shaped or something.

[Longbow]

I can't believe you are serious.

Wouldn't it be better to work with the clean sprite I posted (and make it look more like the necrophage) than to continue tweaking that disgusting, hopeless blob?

That's not very nice

The IftU sprite looks too different and underpowered really to be used, DD's sprites look good but do need more variation from the necrophage and the closer arms make it look smaller and less powerful.

[woodmouse]

Here is what I edited from the Necrophage:
Is it good?


And for comparison...

The Necrophage.