After I made the level one sprite I immediately moved on to making the level two sprite. At level two the character has some more stuff on her and is carrying a gun instead of a pistol. Having a gun instead of a pistol meant that I couldn't recycle the level one sprite to create the level two sprite. There was also a problem making the main character look stronger because the character is both top down as well as only 64x64 pixels big. The limited size of the character means that anything I add has to be fairly big, because you wouldn't be able to tell what it is supposed to be otherwise. Furthermore the only area that I'm able to add detail on is the on top of the arms, shoulders and head.
The steps I took when creating the level 2 sprite were the same as the ones I described last week when I made the level one sprite. I start out by sketching the pose and making it look anatomically correct. After that I add some flat colors, boxing in the shapes of the character. I then add a black outline around it and add some texture to the colors.
The level two picture in this post is not completely accurate as I've made some corrections to it, mainly changing the shroud on her shoulders from blue to an almost scarlet color with a golden border. The green has also been made a bit more saturated to stand out better from the background. You can see that green color in the second picture.
The second picture might be a bit confusing if you read last weeks post as it looks more like the level one sprite than a level two, or even a level three sprite. The reason is because it is a level one character, but with an upgraded gun. It is the same base as the level two sprite but I've removed the shroud and added the bag from my level one sprite.
In the end I not really pleased with how the level two sprite came out. Especially the arms I think could use some work, but at this point it is probably more important to make sure all the art assets exists instead of polishing a single artifact to perfection.
Hi Esbjörn
SvaraRaderaI like the more old-school feel you are going for with the 64x64 sprites. I think it fits the game well. Going from a gun to a rifle is a good upgrade. It’s very clear that a rifle will dish out more damage than a small gun.
The picture made me a little confused at first but I think I got it. I didn’t get which one was the level two one at first. But if I got it right you can upgrade your gun to a rifle while still at level one, and that makes you the green sprite? And it’s as you say, really hard to make things clear with only 64x64 pixels but I think you made a good job with it.
Another thing I was thinking about is, did you all decide to make her left handed, or is that just something that you chose when you drew the picture? It doesn’t matter at all, I just noticed it and got curious.
It’s a clean and clear sprite with a solid design and not too much details or jitter that could make it confusing. You can’t possibly mistake this for something else than someone holding a rifle like weapon. I think it ended up pretty good and the arms look fine to me, but you always find stuff that you don’t like about your own work.
I like that we both happened to make a sprite of a blonde girl with a ponytail and a rifle the same week, and I look forward to see more of your game.