Nightmare's Sprite Collection

[Nightmaresplody]

Figured I should make a sprite thread sooner or later...

I don't really have anything finished, but just to give an idea on what I plan on working on here's a sample of my work...

For now, all I have is this 8-bit astroman.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v96/Demonlord/Rockman%20ZX/astroman.gif

Critique anyone?

[Thanatos-Zero]

Looks impressive Nightmaresplody, but what about the moon-like satelites, which are flying around him?

[Nightmaresplody]

Oh! Forgot about those...hang on...




There, is that any better?

[Plaz]

looks pretty cool, but the things on his head should look more like air horns than antennae.

[Nightmaresplody]

hmmm...

I think I may have a way to fix that!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v96/Demonlord/Rockman%20ZX/astroman2.gif
The biggest problem I have with making that thing on his head was the little amount of space. But If I cut the outline on the top and bottom, It works!

[Vee]

Thats more Power Battle/Fighter style than Classic Style.
Power Battle/Fighter used much more dynamic, nice looking sprites, while Classic Looks flat.

[Nightmaresplody]

and how would I go about fixing this?

[Blackhook]

Add less shading

[Saigo]

Or better yet change the lightest tints to one shade darker.

[[fish in space]]

No, the amount of shading is good. Lots of stuff in classic MM is shaded. I would just mess with the proportions a bit. Bigger arms, larger head, that kind of thing.

[Nightmaresplody]

At the moment, I don't see anything wrong with it. Everything is correctly proportioned based on the original sprite, and when I try messing with it, it ends up looking weird. You'll need to be more specific, like what needs to be bigger, or smaller... Why don't you try it out, I want to see all of your views on what it should be like...


Here's a work in progress, dynamoman in 8-bit!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v96/Demonlord/Rockman%20ZX/dynamoman.gif

I'm hoping to get the other RnF bosses done too. Tell me what you think so far.

[[fish in space]]

Exactly, it IS directly proportioned. Compare 8-bit mm to 32-bit mm. 32-bit has the proportions of an average 12 year old boy, 8-bit has a small body, a big head, and big hands and feet. You got the idea with the dynamo man sprite.

[Nightmaresplody]

I see, so it needs to look...chibi-ish? hmm, how am I going do that?

[[fish in space]]

I'll try and throw together an example if you want.
Edit: not perfect, but I think it looks a bit more classic styled.
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/6091/astroclassicvk4.gif

[Nightmaresplody]

Hmm, I'm not so sure about the head, I could use it for his frightened pose, but other than that it should be the correct size. It was based on a very similar Robot Master's sprites which were already 8-bit...

The arms actually look okay with this size. The large orb he floats on could be bigger, but only a little bit...

How's this? http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v96/Demonlord/Rockman%20ZX/astroman3.gif

[Vee]

That Dynamo Man is a Capcom-perfect sprite. Nice job!
That Astro Man still looks out of style. First, I would replace that dark blue with black. Then it might look a little better.

[Nightmaresplody]

Thanks. I've very happy with how dynamoman turned out.

But, Astroman's outline needs a brighter color than black. You have to take into consideration the kind of background you'll be fighting him in. When you fight another space themed master such as galaxyman in a space like area with black as the main background color, galaxyman would have to have a brighter color for his outline to make him more visible. The same goes for astroman. The area where you fight him is going to be black already, or atleast some dark shaded color, so I picked a dark aqua color for the outline... What about his size? Do I need to change anything there?

[Rabid_Scotty92]

Black outlines are one of those necessary evils, I'm afraid. even in black backgrounds, sprites in 8-bit MM style at least APPEAR to have black outlines. Occasionally, in background tiles, there is no black outline because of a black background. nonetheless, a dark aqua-colored outline only contributes his out-of-style appearance. I suggest you do what Vee said, and make the navy-ish color black.

Edit: HAHA! I think I know what Dynamo Man's base-ish thing is!


IS IT GRAVITY MAN?!

[Nightmaresplody]

Really? Well, how about a comparison?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v96/Demonlord/Rockman%20ZX/astroman4.gif

Hmm...I think you may have a point there...


Also, Dynamoman was made mostly scratch with some parts based off of previous robot masters. Such as the joints on the feet I found on windman and the head which I based off of plantman...

[Nightmaresplody]

I'm getting VERY close to the final design...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v96/Demonlord/Rockman%20ZX/astroman5.gif

How are the newest changes?

[[fish in space]]

You're definitely getting close.

[Xterra]

The arms look too small and stubby for the size of the sprite. I'd suggest to either thin the arm-bulbs down a bit, or lengthen the arms a pixel more. The arms themselves are correct for his design, but I just thought they were too thick and bulgy when put so close together. I may be wrong though.

[Nightmaresplody]

That's probably because of the way the arms are positioned, they don't look right when they bend that way... An easy fix, I just have to use a different set of hands...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v96/Demonlord/Rockman%20ZX/astroman6.gif

Any better?

[Mathis]

Actually, it's much better, great work.

[Nightmaresplody]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v96/Demonlord/Rockman%20ZX/astro_hover.gif

[Xterra]

Very fluid, though it looks as though the orbs are off-center. On his left side the gap between his "base" and the small orbs is greater than on the other side where the small orbs go behind him. Try to center it better than that.

Great job on the rest though. And as for the off-center thing, it could just be because of him hovering up and down that creates the illusion that one side has a larger gap than the other. I'm going to zoom in and measure correctly.

(EDIT)-Yes, it is off-center. On his left side the gap is 11 pixels, while on his right side the gap is 9 pixels. Just move it over one so that both sides are equally at a 10 pixel gap so that the animation is centered.

[Nightmaresplody]

I'm not try to perfect an animation, I'm try to perfect the sprites!

The animation is just an example of how it will look in-game...It doesn't have to be perfect.....right down to the very alignment of pixels!!
I'd post the sheet as well, but I'm busy with other things...

[Xterra]

You realize that the animation is tethered to the sprites, right? I can understand you giving a "brief example" of what it will look like, but when you're trying to make something for a game it HAS to be perfect. That's the whole point of us giving critique so that spriters make better sprites.

If it didn't matter, then there would be no point of having SI exist. The animation is crucial to get right, or else you have a badly-made game. It's also why we sprite frames. Sprites have frames for the animation. The two are inseparable. So for now it doesn't have to be perfect, but it does later.

And I told you the precice allignment problem so that it could be fixed, whenever you feel like correcting the animation. I wasn't going to be vague.

[Rosing Phoenix]

Hmm... the only thing I can say is to ask, if it's supposed to be in Classic style, shouldn't it have a bit less framed in the spinning? Now don't get me wrong, the way the sprites move across the screen is bot the most part fluid, but not the movements of the sprites themselves, if I'm correct. (I may be and probably an wrong on that thought)

Just a thought.

[Nightmaresplody]

XTerra, your talking about sprites that move based on game mechanics, I want to know what's wrong with the actual sprites in the animation, not the way they move. That can be corrected for who ever wants to use the sprites, whether it is, in fact, in a game at all. Which I neither find very likely, nor plan on happening...

Although I have been involved in some troubling situations recently so I may have come off a bit rude due to it, I'm not certain. Still, I apologize if that is the case now before it gets out of hand, and continue with my sprites..

Now, here is the sheet I promised you all...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v96/Demonlord/Rockman%20ZX/astromansheet.gif

It's not a good sheet, but you get the idea of what all the parts are and where they go ,right? Now, if you found anything wrong in the animation, please point it out with this.

[Nightmaresplody]

Well, if no one has any problem with it, then I guess it's finished...

Now...what should I work on next? I have a few things I've started and i would like to know what I should do first?

1: Clown man sprite and sheet

2: Frost man redesign and full sprite sheet

3: Grenade man redesign and full sprite sheet

4: Tengu man sprite

[MrAnonymous]

I've been lurking around here for a while now, and I must say, nice work on the Astro Man. I probably missed it I'm sure, but is this a submission to the MegaMan 8 - 8bit redesign project? Or was I imagining things when I read something about that?

Anyhow, my vote goes to Clown Man. I think he'd be interesting to see animated all 8-bit like.

[Nightmaresplody]

A fine choice Anonymous! Clown Man is also one whom I would like working on...
And no, though I haven't given it much though...I might be willing to contribute if my sprites turn out good...

[Nightmaresplody]

Well, Here's what I've got so far...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v96/Demonlord/Rockman%20ZX/clownman8bit.gif

A little too colorful for a robot master sprite...It can work if I put three of the other colors on a separate layer, like the red, yellow, and cyan...but if not, I'll need a better color scheme...

[Xterra]

He's a clown...he's supposed to be colorful. But you're right about it being a little too much for normal boss palettes. Just make sure it's under the limit, and then it won't really matter if it "looks" too much for the style.

[Nightmaresplody]

two sets of pallets should be the limit right?
Alright, I have the main colors such as black for the outline, white for the lighting, and purple as the main color for the sprite...

And for the second layer, I have red, cyan, and yellow for his skin color.
How does that sound?

[Xterra]

If you're going to include yellow, it might as well be for more than just his skin, because otherwise you could just give him a white face or something...But yes, the separation of layers for the color palette is a good idea, so long you don't end up putting too much into either side.

[Nightmaresplody]

Of course. I was already using yellow for most of him, and figured to use it as a skin tone as well. And yes, I should be just within the color limit.