The VG Resource

First post, woop woop.
I'm making a rather large game, but first things first. I need some input on my spriting because I know there's plenty of room for improvement.


Viola, Ore, the main protagonist. A boring, pessimistic, underachieving, yet likable character.

Some of you may remember me asking for help with this on the GMC forums; thanks, no offense intended, just trying to seek more professional help. (Hats off to Yal and Lloyd_irving (Guy) for helping me out.)
I'm looking for ways to improve the style and make him look less 'stiff' and 'flat'. With his arms being so straight, it's difficult to put him in other poses. I'm also trying to keep the shades at a minimum. I'm looking for a new style that's realistic enough to be taken seriously, but also stylish. (i.e., tiny feet, emphasized facial features, disproportional body structure) I would like to see other people's take on this character so I can improve and sprite the rest of the characters without a problem. Thanks in advance.

The pose isn't that great;
I get that he's boring,
but he's too stiff.
Giving him more of a slouch-y pose would make him look closer to what your looking for.
Although overdoing that pose could result in making him look lazy and tired.
His face is stale, and you want his face to be important.
Try looking for cartoon emotions and work with them.

The colours on the suit and shoes aren't contrasting enough.
I don't see why the white parts don't have shading.
A touch of blue works nicely for white shades.

You could add a slight bit of detail for the ear.

Put aside the "looking for a new style" thought.
I assume you're a novice, so I suggest developing your own style so you can understand how to influence your style.

(05-30-2011, 08:45 PM)FlyGuy95 Wrote: [ -> ]I would like to see other people's take on this character

You should try to take the criticism here and at least attempt to use it first.

the character itself its extremely generic at this point, doubt anything besides changing the pose could show anything different without basically, reworking it entirely.

for that reason, if you want to keep that generic look, you're going to need to work on body language to express its attitude and personality.

Thanks. This is exactly the criticism I was looking for.

(05-31-2011, 08:28 AM)Fuchikoma Wrote: [ -> ]the character itself its extremely generic at this point, doubt anything besides changing the pose could show anything different without basically, reworking it entirely.

for that reason, if you want to keep that generic look, you're going to need to work on body language to express its attitude and personality.

I don't plan on changing his character too much, but I see where you're coming from. I'll try to define his personality a little more in the animations. The dialog in the game will also help with that.

(05-30-2011, 09:03 PM)Proton Wrote: [ -> ]The pose isn't that great; I get that he's boring, but he's too stiff.
Giving him more of a slouch-y pose would make him look closer to what your looking for.
Although overdoing that pose could result in making him look lazy and tired.
His face is stale, and you want his face to be important.
Try looking for cartoon emotions and work with them.

I agree completely. Like Fuchikoma said, I'll try to work more with the body language in the animations. His face I'll probably need to redo, but how exactly would I give him a brave/stern look? That's what I'm trying to go for.

Quote:I don't see why the white parts don't have shading.
A touch of blue works nicely for white shades.

I tried it in this next sprite, and it made things look 10x better.

Quote:Put aside the "looking for a new style" thought.
I assume you're a novice, so I suggest developing your own style so you can understand how to influence your style.

I am a novice when it comes to graphics, so that's probably a better idea. I'll definitely try.


I know there are over 1000 things wrong with this sprite, but I personally like how his head and torso turned out. I tried the 'selout' method and it looked somewhat better, but when it came to the collar, the cuffs, the arms, and the feet, I was pretty much clueless. I also think I overdid it on the feet; you can barely see them at the original resolution. And yeah, that's supposedly a briefcase he's holding. I wanted to do an outline that would make his feet more noticeable, but I also struggled with that.

(05-31-2011, 07:14 PM)FlyGuy95 Wrote: [ -> ]I know there are over 1000 things wrong with this sprite...

Fix all 1000 of them.

(05-31-2011, 07:50 PM)brandman1996 Wrote: [ -> ]Fix all 1000 of them.

Easier said than done... for me, at least.
That's why I made this topic. I want to learn what exactly those 1000 things are and how I can improve my overall technique. Sometimes it's nice to hear people's opinions, good and bad, on what I'm currently capable of; rather than just reading tutorials and self-evaluating.

(05-31-2011, 08:13 PM)FlyGuy95 Wrote: [ -> ]

(05-31-2011, 07:50 PM)brandman1996 Wrote: [ -> ]Fix all 1000 of them.

Easier said than done... for me, at least.
That's why I made this topic. I want to learn what exactly those 1000 things are and how I can improve my overall technique. Sometimes it's nice to hear people's opinions, good and bad, on what I'm currently capable of; rather than just reading tutorials and self-evaluating.

I thought you already knew them. At least that's what one could assume since you did say that you KNOW that there are at least 1000 different things wrong with it. Also add to the fact that you then continued to mention your mistakes shortly thereafter and how you need to change them, well, don't tell us, show us and do it.

Listen, I know you didn't mean it exactly like that but you should also improve your approach. And just because I'm saying this doesn't mean you shouldn't fix what you already mentioned.

And, this is past due from me but, oh well.

Why does he look like he has an aftershave? Unless this is intentional change this and your pallet accordingly, because currently, it sucks. They're is NO shading in the hair, which is bad, have at least 2 different shades, 3 would be ample for this sprite, and for future reference, any different color of hair should have more, and recycle the colors in the pallet in the hair for other parts of the image, AKA a blonde using the lightest shade for lightest shade for skin; using darkest shade for outlining the sprites skin where the lightsource hits, etc. The suit doesn't look like a suit, more of a sideshow magician act's top, or a pirate's. I can't even see the shoes when it's at 100% and when zoomed in I can barely see it. The suitcase needs to be enlarge and have details added ad in, gasp, a handle, a gold plated lock, possibly his name/brand engraved into a metal plate (don't expect to be readable, unless your character is a spy and his name is x 0.o), etc.

(05-31-2011, 08:28 PM)brandman1996 Wrote: [ -> ]I thought you already knew them. At least that's what one could assume since you did say that you KNOW that there are at least 1000 different things wrong with it. Also add to the fact that you then continued to mention your mistakes shortly thereafter and how you need to change them, well, don't tell us, show us and do it.

I meant I knew that there was a few things wrong with it, but I don't know everything that's wrong with it. Sorry, I'm not making much sense, am I?

Quote:Why does he look like he has an aftershave? Unless this is intentional...

It's intentional. Ore has a five o'clock shadow.

Quote:it sucks.

Thanks.

Quote:They're is NO shading in the hair, which is bad, have at least 2 different shades, 3 would be ample for this sprite, and for future reference, any different color of hair should have more...

I know. I tried doing some hair shading at one point with darker tones of blue, but it was something I just couldn't recreate more than once. That doesn't mean I'm giving up completely, I've just stepped away from that for now. (I should probably try again on my next sprite.)

Quote:...and recycle the colors in the pallet in the hair for other parts of the image, AKA a blonde using the lightest shade for lightest shade for skin; using darkest shade for outlining the sprites skin where the lightsource hits, etc.

OK, I actually think using the darker suit colors for the hair would work... I might try that, too.

Quote:The suit doesn't look like a suit, more of a sideshow magician act's top, or a pirate's. I can't even see the shoes when it's at 100% and when zoomed in I can barely see it.

Cool? It was part of the character, but I could shorten the back to make it look more like a suit. Yeah, the shoes are tiny. I know I messed that up.

Quote:The suitcase needs to be enlarge and have details added ad in, gasp, a handle, a gold plated lock, possibly his name/brand engraved into a metal plate (don't expect to be readable, unless your character is a spy and his name is x 0.o), etc.

lol The briefcase wasn't a huge part of the sprite, it was just for the sake of posing. But I'll keep that in mind once I make a real sprite of it.

Thanks for the feedback.

Well, I don't think you necessarily NEED to shade the hair but it's something to consider. If there's anything to say about the hair, however, it's don't use pure black. Not anywhere, for that matter, because it's not blending in well at all. I don't think the beard stubblies should line up with the mouth, try arranging that some other way

The shirt collar looks like the collar of a woman's blouse.

(05-31-2011, 09:43 PM)StarSock64 Wrote: [ -> ]Well, I don't think you necessarily NEED to shade the hair but it's something to consider. If there's anything to say about the hair, however, it's don't use pure black. Not anywhere, for that matter, because it's not blending in well at all. I don't think the beard stubblies should line up with the mouth, try arranging that some other way

Alright, I'll drop the black. I didn't think the stubble looked right, either. It should go up a bit further...

(05-31-2011, 09:45 PM)Maneko Wrote: [ -> ]The shirt collar looks like the collar of a woman's blouse.

I thought that, too. Maybe making it more pointy and less 'soft' would help? I'll probably just end up completely redoing the sprite.

(05-31-2011, 09:36 PM)FlyGuy95 Wrote: [ -> ]I meant I knew that there was a few things wrong with it, but I don't know everything that's wrong with it. Sorry, I'm not making much sense, am I?

Lol it's okay I know. Ahem...

whut has bean said Wrote:Listen, I know you didn't mean it exactly like that but you should also improve your approach.

(05-31-2011, 09:36 PM)FlyGuy95 Wrote: [ -> ]It's intentional. Ore has a five o'clock shadow.

Oh okay I was wondering this but I didn't know for sure. I guess try to make it more obvious? Idk how your gonna do that but would help.

(05-31-2011, 09:36 PM)FlyGuy95 Wrote: [ -> ]I know. I tried doing some hair shading at one point with darker tones of blue, but it was something I just couldn't recreate more than once. That doesn't mean I'm giving up completely, I've just stepped away from that for now. (I should probably try again on my next sprite.)

OK, I actually think using the darker suit colors for the hair would work... I might try that, too.

Cool, do it. Though do a side by side comparison, because starsock may be on to something. I still think It should have more shades. Though one point that is universal that was stated by him is never use pure black, which, I admit I'm bad at doing myself. Just make sure this isn't true when you finish.

(05-31-2011, 09:36 PM)FlyGuy95 Wrote: [ -> ]Cool?

Not cool.

(05-31-2011, 09:36 PM)FlyGuy95 Wrote: [ -> ]It was part of the character, but I could shorten the back to make it look more like a suit. Yeah, the shoes are tiny. I know I messed that up.

So the pirate blouse thing is the characters skin? wtf. Yeah fix it up.

(05-31-2011, 09:36 PM)FlyGuy95 Wrote: [ -> ]lol The briefcase wasn't a huge part of the sprite, it was just for the sake of posing. But I'll keep that in mind once I make a real sprite of it.

Try to.

(05-31-2011, 09:36 PM)FlyGuy95 Wrote: [ -> ]Thanks for the feedback.

Anytime.

Here's my latest attempt. I really came out of the shading closet this time. I shaded his hair, stuck to a pallet, and didn't use black. I decided to give him more of a cartoon anatomy, making his feet actually visible. I used contrast around the edges to separate the different colors from each other. Is it good or is there too much shading?

you pillow on the coat.

The aftershave is really hard to read, so are the pants, mostly everything else. It's very pillowy. I like it better when he was skinnier and more boring. My opinion.