Perseo's Tries (some spriting)

[perseo]

I'm working in two new units sprites (besides the legendbreaker wich is harder).They're a Kraken and "the angry peasants crowd".
1- The kraken. It have to be like... a giant octopus. I've done the first sprite but I need your advice about how to animate it. (All the tentacles... only 2 or 3 of them...).
2- The angry peasant crowd. This is a special unit for the campaign I'm working in. I've cut some peasants and edited it for create this little crowd (8 peasants). They'll have swarm attacks like that: Horcs -> 3-8 or Rubbisch rain: 1-16.
I need to know what kind of movement do you think they need and then I'll do it.
Here I put them:

[StDrake]

For one thing this is in the wrong section - unless the kraken is meant for mainline (and I doubt it would find place there in such s version) those pics belong in the art workshop. That's the place for UMC art.

There are several things wrong with the kraken actually. First is shading- it's hardly visible and the light source is not clear. Another is that it's tentacles are abnormally small comparing to its head. Overall it looks quite cartoony.
As for the crowd - the concept is fun, but copy-pasting has its flaws. The people could use some variation in the looks. Some minor details that would cover up the parts that are obviously identical

[thespaceinvader]

Moved to the Workshop.

[Reepurr]

I can add to the problems with the kraken.
• It's facing east. You want southeast.
• More specific shading problem: it's just come out of water, so it needs SPECTACULAR highlights and shadows. You've barely done anything.
• "Octopus" comes from Greek/Latin/whatever Octo (that's the rough idea anyway) which means 8. Octopus: eight tentacles.
Yours has...what, six? That makes it a hexopus.

Then we have the horde of peasants.
• It doesn't actually have to be within the hex. You can expand out for the mob.
• You've reduced the sprites' size to 50% or something, which removes the details and adds blurriness. Don't do that.

[perseo]

If I understand you, The crowd can be bigger and get out of the hex? okay.
I read StDrake and I've modified a bit the peasants to make them look diferent. The kraken I gonna remake it because I think I didn't understand well the proportions of it.

[StDrake]

What's that sticking out of one of the forks? did you try to make a scythe? well it didn't work, those white stripes on the pants of one of them could use some darkening too, they almost glow.
Aside from that - variety goal achieved. Good work

[perseo]

No, I tried to make some colour strips hanging... like a kind of popular flag... I was inspired in French revolution... What do you think about the attack: How I must do it? Only the first line attack? all of them in turns?

[StDrake]

I'd say don't make crowd units. But if you have to you could try the first row swinging and jabbing and the rest throwing stuff , waving weapons and trying to poke them through gaps in the first line

[perseo]

Yes, In case I don't do a crowd unit. What kind of unit do you think can make the same effect (obbiusly I don't mean pouchers, peasants...). Have you got a new idea?

[StDrake]

Um..i don't exactly understand what effect you have in mind.
If it's representing crowds as a fighting force, then either just use many single-personned units, or show only as many persons on the sprites as many it would be possible to show attacking at the same time (two or three for example, four might be possible but already starting to get difficult, and probably will have to show some as throwing things instead of melee-striking, or jumping..but peasants jumping 2 meters into the air to strike is a bit of an overhaul xD). look at Era of Myths devlings and sprites that represent swarms.

[perseo]

Okay. If I understand it well. You're suggesting that I must make a crowd wich attacks and works like only one unit not 8 different units. For example: The're carring a fallen tree and the strike with it. More or less?

[Reepurr]

Okay. If I understand it well. You're suggesting that I must make a crowd wich attacks and works like only one unit not 8 different units. For example: The're carring a fallen tree and the strike with it. More or less?

That's what the Devlings, who StDrake mentioned and are quite good examples, do. Here are some of their sprites to show you what we're saying with "Devlings".

nailers.png (915 Bytes) Viewed 5834 times

attackers.png (2.5 KiB) Viewed 5834 times

[perseo]

yes, I've got era of myths but I've never explore its portraits. The idea of giving them a fallen tree goes like me more every time I think about it.

[pauxlo]

And if you have such a multiple-persons-unit, you could think about giving it different sprites when wounded (like some of the peasants are already dead/missing), and, obviously, giving its attacks the "swarm" special.

[perseo]

Here are my sprites for the legendbreaker, an unit for "Fires of pride". It must be a captain, but more a warrior than a mage. Reepur has edit it (thanks him very much ).
First of all I did a sprite,

original version for the sprite

legendbreaker.png (3.42 KiB) Viewed 5557 times

then reepurr correct it

Reepurr edited it and improve it a lot.

legendbreaker-reepurr.png (5.78 KiB) Viewed 5557 times

and later, I changed the shield because It was actually very big for an elf.

I change the shield

legendbreaker3.png (5.78 KiB) Viewed 5557 times