07-13-2012, 05:51 PM
Decision time. I had been planning to write a very long reply explaining each part of the reasoning of my decision but due to circumstances unrelated to the projects, I'm not exactly feeling well enough to write all that out. Maybe in the future I'll try to explain it.
Either way, I know this decision won't please everyone. Decisions like this rarely do. I don't want anyone to think that I had flippantly disregarded anyone in this matter either- I've looked at everything everyone's said and given it consideration. Visual aids had helped quite a bit.
In the end, I have decided that the issue here is predominately one of taste, rather than hard coded rules. This is not to say that the current style cannot be improved- I will be implementing improvements, but the style will not be changing as much as some most likely hoped it was going to, and I apologize for that.
Here is my list of changes I wish to implement to practice better 'spriting hygiene'-
- The highlights will be addressed. The majority of them will be eliminated, with a few kept only for emphasis (example, on Sonic's brow). This has been a frequent complaint not only on TSR but on other places, and I agree that there is likely too much of it. Toning this down will hopefully help.
- Shading on Sonic's head will be slightly altered.
- The palletes will be altered to Genesis safe colours and a few contrast issues addressed. I have spoken to a friend about the feasibility of this and he has shown me a conversion of the current sprites to a Genesis safe pallete, and the results look pretty good. But while the 'white' is brighter, it is unfortunately not pure/real white, due to that not being within the Genesis's capabilities. The closest to white possible is 238/238/238 in the normal pallete range for Genesis. 255/255/255 is possible using the highlight pallete, however that would force the rest of the sprite to also use a highlight pallete, which would wash out the entire sprite. Converting to a Genesis pallete however will adjust the whites to be brighter than current with the added benefit of making the sprites more rom-hack safe by default.
My apologies to those who these changes will not please. I know you've likely been hoping for more.
Either way, I know this decision won't please everyone. Decisions like this rarely do. I don't want anyone to think that I had flippantly disregarded anyone in this matter either- I've looked at everything everyone's said and given it consideration. Visual aids had helped quite a bit.
In the end, I have decided that the issue here is predominately one of taste, rather than hard coded rules. This is not to say that the current style cannot be improved- I will be implementing improvements, but the style will not be changing as much as some most likely hoped it was going to, and I apologize for that.
Here is my list of changes I wish to implement to practice better 'spriting hygiene'-
- The highlights will be addressed. The majority of them will be eliminated, with a few kept only for emphasis (example, on Sonic's brow). This has been a frequent complaint not only on TSR but on other places, and I agree that there is likely too much of it. Toning this down will hopefully help.
- Shading on Sonic's head will be slightly altered.
- The palletes will be altered to Genesis safe colours and a few contrast issues addressed. I have spoken to a friend about the feasibility of this and he has shown me a conversion of the current sprites to a Genesis safe pallete, and the results look pretty good. But while the 'white' is brighter, it is unfortunately not pure/real white, due to that not being within the Genesis's capabilities. The closest to white possible is 238/238/238 in the normal pallete range for Genesis. 255/255/255 is possible using the highlight pallete, however that would force the rest of the sprite to also use a highlight pallete, which would wash out the entire sprite. Converting to a Genesis pallete however will adjust the whites to be brighter than current with the added benefit of making the sprites more rom-hack safe by default.
My apologies to those who these changes will not please. I know you've likely been hoping for more.