Re: [Adonthell-artwork] Artwork style

[Kai Sterker]

On 1/31/07, Oncil Rexon <address@hidden> wrote:

I'll answer both your emails in one go ...

> Well, I've all ways prefered pixel by pixel art to rendered. It just looks
> better. :)

That's what most of us here think, I guess :-). Rendered graphics
often look too sterile whereas pixel art has this nice organic touch
to it. BTW., of the many pixel art tutorials on the web, I especially
liked http://www.petesqbsite.com/sections/tutorials/tuts/tsugumo .
Also contains some bits about character animations.


> I'm made sort of a template in blender which I might try to make some
> sprites with. I've found that 3D rendered images only look good in games
> like Myst.
>
> How about this, I'll make a couple 20x40 sprites, and try to make a couple
> larger sprites using sketches to pixel art.
> (Both will probably look terrible, but there you go :) )

Sounds like a plan to me. And don't worry if the first few don't turn
out as expected. You'll get better with every sprite you make. The
40x80 template character isn't perfect either (a bit o-legged and not
much detail in the animation), but its something to work with and
improve upon.

I can also remember that the player sprite for Waste's Edge was the
first character Ben did back then (and it wasn't too bad), but after
making a couple more, he remade it and it turned out really great.
Same with the code. It too had to undergo a couple of iterations
before it turned into something nice ;-).


> If we did use a smaller image size, we'd just have to have a large view of
> the map, (which would probably require large maps too)
>
> And this could be a chance to add new technologies such as a sidebar with a
> map in it (which appears after one of your characters aquires a map)

The plans for the user interface so far only include a couple of icons
and status bars on top of a fullscreen view of the map, to increase
the immersion. I also feel that larger graphics (and therefore a
smaller area of the map in view) also aid with the immersion as you're
closer to your character and her immediate surroundings.

Battle for Wesnoth OTOH benefits from the larger map view, as it seems
to be a tactical game where you act more as a general leading your
troops, whereas in Adonthell you directly control one character only
(or a small party eventually).

Kai