Last week I talked about the picture I made that shows how much you've upgraded your character's outfit. I only talked about the first one last week so it seems fitting to talk about the other two levels this week.
These pictures are supposed to show progression as you upgrade your character. The reason why we decided on adding these pictures is because it is hard to tell exactly what happens to your character's sprite because it is so small when you look at it when you are playing. Considering this, the number one thing I had to keep in the back of my mind when making the higher level pictures was "upgrade". If you couldn't tell from the pictures I made that you had upgraded the whole point of the pictures was lost.
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| All the pictures I've made next to each other showing the progression from level one through level three |
The level two upgrade was fairly straightforward. When I first started making concepts for the different outfits I quickly decided on having a scarf or something similar to show progression as it would be quite visible even from a top down perspective. With that in mind it was just a simple process of opening the level one photoshop file and start adding onto it. It was very easy because I had a clear vision of what I wanted to do and also because I had the level one photoshop with all layers separated to work with.
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| Current version of the level 2 sprite |
The level two picture was made without causing me much trouble, the same can't be said about the level three picture. Like the previous picture, I had a good grip on what I wanted to do when I started out working on the third one. At level three the sprite in the game gets a big glove as well as some arm accessories. While it works when you look at the sprite, adding these details to the picture turned out very unremarkable. The change wasn't as noticeable as the one from level one to level two. This is were things got though.
Unlike the prep work I had for the level two sprite I didn't have any concept pictures that fit perfectly. There was some ideas from the concept stage that I considered, but nothing that really stood out as a perfect solution. In the end I ended up just drawing things and seeing what stuck. What I ended up with was a more intricate robe and a new bag. They aren't groundbreaking additions, but they help add to the feeling of progression. I haven't asked for any feedback on it yet though so we'll see if it stays as it is or if I'll have to change it.
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| How the level 3 picture turned out |
That is all from me this week. Hope you enjoyed reading this and hopefully you'll be back next week.
Hi Esbjörn,
SvaraRaderaI really enjoyed reading your blog post. You explained your work process in a way that was very easy to understand. I also feel like you covered everything about the “what, how and why” of your artifact in this post.
I see that you have made an effort to make the design well thought through. You also had reasonable choices behind every design choice that you made. I can understand that the third stage design was difficult to make drastic since the scarf piece covers most of the body from a top down perspective. I tried to think about what I’d have done and come up with some ideas but cannot say that I would do anything drastically different. I was contemplating adding the bigger scarf on the third stage, but in the end I think you made a good choice. It’s more important to give direct feedback early in the game. Then I was thinking about adding some kind of head piece, like a hood or a hat. I bet that you have been thinking about this already and have a reason for not doing that. Maybe you’ve written about it in an earlier post. In any case, I think you’ve made good design choices.
Good job! I hope you keep it up in your future work! :)
Ida
Hi Esbjörn,
SvaraRaderayou are very good at explaining what you have done and how you have done it, I find it very easy to follow your workflow and the result looks really good. I am a bit confused as of where these pictures will be placed in your game, it might be a good idea to mention it to make it easier for someone who has not read your blog, but I am sure that you have probably already discussed this in your earlier posts.
There is a clear difference between all the stages so I feel that you have accomplished what you set out to do and you have managed to keep it very cohesive. I like that her clothing and style is different from the characters that I am used to see and I think it was a good decision to change her robe and bag in the third image. These changes really add to the impression of her progressing and getting new and better equipment.
If there was anything I would do differently it would probably be the feet, they look a little unfinished compared to the top of her body, especially the beautifully rendered scarf, I know feet can be a real pain to draw though. You might also consider giving her some new and improved shoes as an upgrade, but that is a minor detail.
Good job this week!