C+C an Old King
Printed From: Pixel Joint
Category: Pixel Art
Forum Name: WIP (Work In Progress)
Forum Discription: Get crits and comments on your pixel WIPs and other art too!
URL: https://pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8942
Printed Date: 09 September 2025 at 7:54am
Topic: C+C an Old King
Posted By: samw3
Subject: C+C an Old King
Date Posted: 09 August 2009 at 8:23pm
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Hi here's my latest piece for a 16x16 style rpg. This will be a part of the intro screen. I'm looking for brutal honesty and blatant critique. Please, tear it to shreds. I want perfection (and I know I don't have it yet). :) (I officially waive the rule that you have to be nice to a first time poster) What do you guys think?  |
Replies:
Posted By: Hatch
Date Posted: 09 August 2009 at 8:34pm
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Holy moly, 49 colors! This is a lovely piece, and I'll have more critique coming later, but yuo really oughtta clean up that palette. You've got a ton of wasted colors.
You might try http://code.google.com/p/grafx2/ - GrafX2 for a good free app with proper indexed palette support. ------------- |
Posted By: samw3
Date Posted: 09 August 2009 at 8:41pm
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Holy freakin cow! This program is sweet! I feel so giddy and yet.. so noobish for not knowing about this program. I constantly fight with the color palette, having to use a "color replace" tool in Macromedia Fireworks. I'm also very much looking forward to your critique Hatch. Thanks so much! |
Posted By: samw3
Date Posted: 09 August 2009 at 9:51pm
Ok, here's the palette update. I've reduced the colors down to 24. Not sure if that's even too high or not, maybe you can tell me :) |
Posted By: Hatch
Date Posted: 10 August 2009 at 6:14am
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24 is fine by me :D I got it down to 20 in my experiments, but as long as every color in your palette is under control, that's all that really matters.
Anyway, I think you should focus on antialiasing, for one thing. You've got it in a few spots, but there are man areas where you've got the colors to do it, but haven't. The white trim on the robe, for example, and his belt buckle. Now, if I remember correctly, there wasn't much aa going on in the SNES days (which I'm guessing is what you mean by 16x16 rpg), so it may be defensible in terms of style, but I personally think it would give it a really nice, polished look that it lacks atm. I'd even consider adding a color just for AA if you find a large gap in your palette where it could be used extensively. I'm pretty religious about aa though. Anyhow, as you AA, you should also try to clean some your more rough lines into smooth curves, particularly in areas where you don't have the colors to AA. Clean lines can do wonders for smoothness. You also have a number of spots of very harsh banding. What's banding, you ask? Well, Helm has already written http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=8110.msg92434#msg92434 - the absolutely definitive thesis on it , which I suggest you read in full. In fact, go ahead and read everything in that thread 
In particular, pay attention to what he calls "basic fat-pixel banding". The harshest examples of that here are on his hand, and the transition to purple on the left side of the white/gray trim around his neck. Once you "see" banding, particularly fat-pixel banding, it's impossible to un-see it. You'll spot it everywhere and it will send shivers down your spine. ------------- |
Posted By: Manupix
Date Posted: 10 August 2009 at 11:20am
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A matter of light: on the ... shirt? you should have a sharp shadow from the cloak / hand on the right side, not a soft transition into darkness like you have on the left. Also - if it is not a religious matter to you ;-), some dithering might look good on cloth surfaces, as it both indicates texture and helps with shading. You used some on the crown: metal has strong reflections, so it might not be useful there. Strong highlights, even flares, would help on the crown, outside right and inside left. And I just notice, the scepter is copy-paste symmetric: yech. The overall look is quite good, so I'm sure it will be fine - if not perfect. What about some bg? |
Posted By: samw3
Date Posted: 10 August 2009 at 8:27pm
Ok, I tried to work in your ideas. And I'm just about dithered out ;) How does it look now? @Manupix: I actually did the copy-paste symmetry on purpose and because I thought it looked neat .. no, really I did :) Is it really such an aversion? |
Posted By: Manupix
Date Posted: 11 August 2009 at 12:47am
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Much improved! There's a real depth to that cloth. I have to admit the scepter looks good like this, but then the light on it doesn't make sense, and I can't decide if it is flat, or if the wings extend back, or else. It's up to you to decide which of these takes priority. |
Posted By: KittenMaster
Date Posted: 11 August 2009 at 1:38am
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I have to admit the scepter looks good like this, but then the light on it doesn't make sense, and I can't decide if it is flat, or if the wings extend back, or else. |