Pixel Joint Forum: Feedback Request: Human Templates

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I'm experimenting with designing a new template for humans for an RPG.  My humans in my previous game were Earthbound-like with big heads and tiny bodies.  Now I'm trying something closer to Breath of Fire 3 or 4 with more realistic proportions.

I'm also trying to include mouths and noses.  I can see why this is not often done as it's difficult to include these features with so few pixels.

While I mention emulating an existing style and going for realism, I also want to try to end up with something more original that will stand out.  Contradictory goals, but it will take a lot of experimentation.

I would love any feedback you can offer and am happy to attempt some variations based on suggestions.

One issue I'm having is making faces that look appealing.  I thought this female character had "dead" eyes, so I tried this variation that's an improvement but still doesn't look quite right.

EDIT: 1/13/2020

I took some time and decided to experiment with a different style.  I was looking at games like Breath of Fire 4 to see sprites with no lines and more solid and simple colors could work.  There was a lot of experimenting and variations that I'll include here so you can see the progress.

Here's the same character as before.  Notice how the last thing I tried was to see how short I could get her without compromising the character. I mentioned before how I want to try to include facial features (noses and mouths) and this was very challenging but I think it's working.

Here I managed to save some of the very early experiments as I struggled to try to figure out what I was doing.  Eventually this character came together and again it was a struggle to come up with facial features.  I might change my mind and prefer the face on the second row instead.  

This alien turned out pretty well.  Again I tried to shorten him up at the end, but maybe I went too far.  I kind of like him weirdly tall.

This creature is supposed to be something like a wolf with porcupine quills. But he ended up looking kind of rat-like.  Quills and hair are really hard with pixels.

And here they are all together.  What do you think? Anything else I should try?

Author	Message
DapperDave Seaman Joined: 24 June 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 9	Topic: Feedback Request: Human Templates Posted: 03 January 2020 at 10:07am
	I'm experimenting with designing a new template for humans for an RPG. My humans in my previous game were Earthbound-like with big heads and tiny bodies. Now I'm trying something closer to Breath of Fire 3 or 4 with more realistic proportions. I'm also trying to include mouths and noses. I can see why this is not often done as it's difficult to include these features with so few pixels. While I mention emulating an existing style and going for realism, I also want to try to end up with something more original that will stand out. Contradictory goals, but it will take a lot of experimentation. I would love any feedback you can offer and am happy to attempt some variations based on suggestions. One issue I'm having is making faces that look appealing. I thought this female character had "dead" eyes, so I tried this variation that's an improvement but still doesn't look quite right. EDIT: 1/13/2020 I took some time and decided to experiment with a different style. I was looking at games like Breath of Fire 4 to see sprites with no lines and more solid and simple colors could work. There was a lot of experimenting and variations that I'll include here so you can see the progress. Here's the same character as before. Notice how the last thing I tried was to see how short I could get her without compromising the character. I mentioned before how I want to try to include facial features (noses and mouths) and this was very challenging but I think it's working. Here I managed to save some of the very early experiments as I struggled to try to figure out what I was doing. Eventually this character came together and again it was a struggle to come up with facial features. I might change my mind and prefer the face on the second row instead. This alien turned out pretty well. Again I tried to shorten him up at the end, but maybe I went too far. I kind of like him weirdly tall. This creature is supposed to be something like a wolf with porcupine quills. But he ended up looking kind of rat-like. Quills and hair are really hard with pixels. And here they are all together. What do you think? Anything else I should try?
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NancyGold Commander Joined: 27 October 2021 Online Status: Offline Posts: 526	Posted: 03 January 2020 at 1:21pm
	Hips-crouch part looks not okay anatomically, like it is character's naked butt. But that can be a good thing, you want to make people laugh. If you want proper facial features at that resolution, then consider making head larger. For example, in Chrono Trigger heads were 1/3 of the body. In Lunar 1/2 of the body (in PSP remake 1/3 just like in CT, since resolution got high enough). Super deformed style was the great Japanese invention, since face and its expressions are much more important than the rest of the body. Otherwise just don't bother - two black pixels would pass for eyes in more realistic proportions. The head gear looks noisy too. Consider picking between just it and hair.
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DapperDave Seaman Joined: 24 June 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 9	Posted: 03 January 2020 at 3:48pm
	*Originally posted by snv* Hips-crouch part looks not okay anatomically, like it is character's naked butt. But that can be a good thing, you want to make people laugh. If you want proper facial features at that resolution, then consider making head larger. For example, in Chrono Trigger heads were 1/3 of the body. In Lunar 1/2 of the body (in PSP remake 1/3 just like in CT, since resolution got high enough). Super deformed style was the great Japanese invention, since face and its expressions are much more important than the rest of the body. Otherwise just don't bother - two black pixels would pass for eyes in more realistic proportions. The head gear looks noisy too. Consider picking between just it and hair. Street Fighter 2 and 3 were able to somehow include all facial features with heads the same amount pixels I'm using. I tried studying those but I have no idea how they pulled it off.
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NancyGold Commander Joined: 27 October 2021 Online Status: Offline Posts: 526	Posted: 03 January 2020 at 4:40pm
	*Originally posted by DapperDave* Street Fighter 2 and 3 were able to somehow include all facial features with heads the same amount pixels I'm using. I tried studying those but I have no idea how they pulled it off. SF3 had 3 contrast pixels for eyes. Your brain imagines everything else. But SF3 also used proper light angle, instead of pillow shading, and a few other tricks you haven't noticed. Here is my edit of your sprite. I've made to fill more available space, used more contrast colors and also added light angle.
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DapperDave Seaman Joined: 24 June 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 9	Posted: 04 January 2020 at 8:00am
	*Originally posted by snv* *Originally posted by DapperDave* Street Fighter 2 and 3 were able to somehow include all facial features with heads the same amount pixels I'm using. I tried studying those but I have no idea how they pulled it off. SF3 had 3 contrast pixels for eyes. Your brain imagines everything else. But SF3 also used proper light angle, instead of pillow shading, and a few other tricks you haven't noticed. Here is my edit of your sprite. I've made to fill more available space, used more contrast colors and also added light angle. Hey thanks for the advice and for taking the time to edit the sprite! I am learning a lot here. This is a great community.
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DapperDave Seaman Joined: 24 June 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 9	Posted: 13 January 2020 at 3:32pm
	I took some time and decided to experiment with a different style. I was looking at games like Breath of Fire 4 to see sprites with no lines and more solid and simple colors could work. There was a lot of experimenting and variations that I'll include here so you can see the progress. Here's the same character as before. Notice how the last thing I tried was to see how short I could get her without compromising the character. I mentioned before how I want to try to include facial features (noses and mouths) and this was very challenging but I think it's working. Here I managed to save some of the very early experiments as I struggled to try to figure out what I was doing. Eventually this character came together and again it was a struggle to come up with facial features. I might change my mind and prefer the face on the second row instead. This alien turned out pretty well. Again I tried to shorten him up at the end, but maybe I went too far. I kind of like him weirdly tall. This creature is supposed to be something like a wolf with porcupine quills. But he ended up looking kind of rat-like. Quills and hair are really hard with pixels. And here they are all together. What do you think? Anything else I should try?
	IP Logged

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