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Animating / Designing / Pixels

A topic by Wiivil created Aug 30, 2023 Views: 711 Replies: 17

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Wiivil1 year ago (3 edits) (+3)

howdy fellow gamers. I'm new to itch.io and game development, but I'm very experienced in character design and slightly experienced in animation. My favorite thing is trying different art styles. I'm gonna some experimentation in here, I'm trying to basically improve in animation and possibly catch some interest without posting on big social media sites, because I hate them lol!

this fella is Paddle the Platypus, and here is a simple 4 frame walk cycle which I am still working on, as well as a turnaround. Advice welcome!

Anyone have any suggestions for animation software that is easily integrated into games? the setup I'm using right now is fucking monke level primitive and a complete pain to use and preview things 🦧

Wiivil1 year ago(+2)

doing a little project to show my stylistic range: re-interpreting the same design concept a bunch of times. this is what I have so far. :)

paddle flavors: gameboy platformer, sanicesque, sports game rival, harvest moon

Wasabi1 year ago(+1)

How did you do the Ash Ketchum one on the bottom right??? I really want to learn that style!

Wiivil1 year ago

I didn't really use reference, but I did tap into the Feeling I got from thinking about old game art from the gamecube and gba era. I got my start drawing by copying those lil game guides that came with boxes. So nostalgic!

In more technical and less old-man-sentimentality terms, I would study what concept art you can find from that era: this art below matches the style most closely but I pulled a lot from A Wonderful Life (not the remake) as well.

then throw in some of the down to earth chunkiness and watercolors from the gameboy color era sugimori art. I guess that's not really that technical, but that's just how my brain formulates style.

also: use a pink outline, soft yet saturated colors, white highlights, and a watercolor tool :) a basic understanding of clothing folds can also really help in both this style and pretty much anything you draw, though that goes for most of the art "basics," which you can never practice too much of. (I am overdue for practice myself lol) hope that helps! :D

Wasabi1 year ago(+1)

Hey, thanks for the details!

I'm a sucker for that era of nostalgia, despite not even being alive back then as an early 2000's kid growing up with the DS. I think practicing this will help me nail some concept art for may game over here: https://wasabiiii.itch.io/grass-elemental-demo-demo

The gameboy Sugimori style is what I'm going for, I've already experimented with it in the aesthetic for my game. I'm not the best digital artist, but I think I can get somewhere close if I try!

Terry08081 year ago(+1)

Hey really like your Paddle character looks very playful and likable, especially the top left design with the stronger black outline. I imagine this character would be very readable in a platformer game and the tail would play into a cool jump animation (could kick up some dust as it slaps it down to gain extra lift). I also really like the bottom right design. Gives me some subtle Ash Ketchum vibes.

What is it you plan on doing with this character?

Wiivil1 year ago (1 edit)

thank you! paddle came out of thinking what i would like out of a game if i could actually program, which would focus around rolling eggs to a goal. (shout out to billy hatcher) platypuses lay eggs, so I thought it would be a natural fit. he could also use his tail to smack the egg up high.

I liked the design so much I thought I'd rework it a bunch of times to illustrate my style flexibility, because i need some examples for commission work. I'm just kind of having fun with the design right now and seeing where it takes me. :) I might make an asset pack if i can learn to animate well enough. (it would be in pixel art though lol)

Wiivil1 year ago (1 edit) (+1)

pixel jogging

Wiivil1 year ago(+1)

some family and foes! Paddle's cousin, aunt(orange) and uncle (blue)
I based the enemies (skump and fopz) off animals that eat eggs. the skump would make them go bad first.

dustdfg1 year ago(+1)

I think I like them (not ducks. Are they ducks?)

Wiivil1 year ago

LOL thanks for catching that, I thought I put the species in the original description. theyre platypuses :)

DioShiba1 year ago(+1)

I certainly like your sense of character design, there's a level of simplicity yet the shape language helps give it enough character iconography to make them memorable. What I would say is keep going! You got a good thing going for you with your artistic style.

Wiivil1 year ago(+1)

thanks dude!! this is one of many art styles, but I find that it's the easiest to animate and honestly its very relaxing to draw compared to more complex stuff, and I find it can be even more expressive and memorable than more realistic things. :)

Wiivil1 year ago (2 edits)

some bugatos, and jar options to keep them in :)

Wiivil1 year ago (1 edit)

peb1 year ago(+1)

i wrote this in a different thread but yeah this is good. whats the plan for the future, will you be making any paid assets maybe or want to join a studio?

Wiivil1 year ago

I plan on submitting to some asset jams, and maybe find a programmer to either teach or help me with making a simple tamagotchi-like. I think that's a reasonable goal for now :) not entirely sure how much demand there is for pet-sim type assets, but it's what inspires me most. thanks btw!

ah thats cool yeah im sure you will find someone. theres always room for more tamagotchi, probably you can look for a jam for these types of games as well and team up with someone? good luck!

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