Hey all!

I'm starting off animation with pixel art, and I'm doing a Game Jam this weekend, where I am the only designated artist.

We did a practice run yesterday, and I was hoping to get as much C&C as possible before I go in for the real deal in 2 days. These are the actual resolution they appear in game - the game was an RTS with a lot of dudes running around. The background colour matches the scene's palette of a desert.




I did more, but unfortunately these are the only ones I actually saved after the day. I also have this animation I did prior which I'm not happy with, but I feel like I'm chasing my tail - particularly with the hair:



I'm also wondering if there is a better tool to accomplish what I'm doing. Right now, I need to export things into spritesheets, which I use GIMP for. But to test animations, I copy each frame over to GraphicsGale. Wondering if I should spend more effort trying to optimize this process, or if it sounds about right. I miiight be able to get a hold of Photoshop before the day.

I did try that for a while, but because it treats each layer as a frame, you essentially can't have any layers.

Also, it's kind of awkward to set the pacing of the frames.