Pixel Joint Forum: Demon

Message

   I need some outside opinion on this animation. 

I did not make this sprite myself, rather it's for a game i'm making. But would like a seconded opinion on it. 

I'm happy with the look of the demon, but i'm un-sure on the animation. I think it needs something else or is missing something just un-sure what, this is hopefully were a trained eye could possibly help me out. 

Idea behind the animation:

Demon is "building up a ball of dark energy" which he'll throw at the player. 

Animation (.gif):

Sheet view (.png):

Thank you guys for any feedback you give  

Author	Message
dan369 Seaman Joined: 10 September 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 7	Topic: Demon - Attacking Animation (Throw) Posted: 28 November 2010 at 3:44pm
	I need some outside opinion on this animation. I did not make this sprite myself, rather it's for a game i'm making. But would like a seconded opinion on it. I'm happy with the look of the demon, but i'm un-sure on the animation. I think it needs something else or is missing something just un-sure what, this is hopefully were a trained eye could possibly help me out. Idea behind the animation: Demon is "building up a ball of dark energy" which he'll throw at the player. Animation (.gif): Sheet view (.png): Thank you guys for any feedback you give
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Sippy_Cup Midshipman Joined: 10 October 2021 Online Status: Offline Posts: 72	Posted: 28 November 2010 at 4:24pm
	i find the animation very static, like when hes standing there charging this energy nothing on him is moving as stiff as a rock, it could be even simple like his clothes ruffle and his tail moves.. the character seems to be off balance like hes leaning too far forward in all the frames. also the feet dont make a lot of sense the left one seems to float a bit during throw, and the right one seems to be in mid air. i really like how the hand with no energy ball moves during throw, but during the charge time it seems oddly placed. hope this helps you, good luck with your project.
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dan369 Seaman Joined: 10 September 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 7	Posted: 28 November 2010 at 4:36pm
	*Originally posted by Sippy_Cup* i find the animation very static, like when hes standing there charging this energy nothing on him is moving as stiff as a rock, it could be even simple like his clothes ruffle and his tail moves..the character seems to be off balance like hes leaning too far forward in all the frames.also the feet dont make a lot of sense the left one seems to float a bit during throw, and the right one seems to be in mid air.i really like how the hand with no energy ball moves during throw, but during the charge time it seems oddly placed.hope this helps you, good luck with your project. Just what my hence was, that i thought the animation was a bit to static until you get to the throwing. The lean forward is a feature of the demon itself, i asked for a "hunch-back" sort of look, the idea behind this being that the demons are the lowest/weakest enemy type so i wanted some way of characterizing a slower movement. But yes, i agree with you. Thank you for your help :). Edited by dan369 - 28 November 2010 at 4:56pm
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EmiR Seaman Joined: 09 February 2019 Online Status: Offline Posts: 6	Posted: 28 November 2010 at 9:27pm
	try to get more smoothness in your animation by animating a flowing tail movement. the horns in his back dont act right in the last 3 frames. they should not be vissible in the last 2 frames. add some lights to the robe which the enery ball emit. this would give the character more depth.
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Zeratanus Commander Joined: 03 December 2020 Online Status: Offline Posts: 576	Posted: 29 November 2010 at 6:39am
	Since your not the pixel artist i feel a bit awkward here. I mean, any comments we give will be delivered second hand. It would be a lot better if we could talk to the pixel artist themselves, as they'll also be able to better respond to any suggestions for improvement. Anyway, the feet make perfect sense to me, just not in the animation. the demon should (according to the feet) move forward during the throw, but doesn't in the given animation. The lifted foot should land in the last frame (or in another added frame) though. As for other thoughts for the artist - the pre-throw is (as stated before) a bit static. having him pull back his arm before the throw slightly would liven it up. that and the tail could move more fluidly. its pretty stiff now. Anyway, i hope these help the artist and you. I don't know how to suggest it without sounding a bit offensive, but if you point them here we'd probably be able to help more :)
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dan369 Seaman Joined: 10 September 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 7	Posted: 30 November 2010 at 3:07pm
	So for this late reply, just got the newest sprite-sheet back. To explain what i've done here, i've taking in all your advice and passed it out to the artist, the main issue you guys were addressing were: a) The static-ness of the animation and b) The fluidity of it as-well, by this i mean transacting from one sprite to another. (Like the last frame, with the foot landing back on the ground & the pre-throw) I would say now that these issues have been addressed, so again is there anything now that is still looking a bit weird or wrong to you guys? Gif: Sheet: The first frame by the way, is one of the walking frames, i was testing how it would look in terms of game-play how the transaction from walking to attacking would looking like. Would people notice this? Or doesn't it matter that there's the "jump" in footing? Edit: Oh, and the demon "talking" & waving his other hand is a great idea the artist hand, to make it look like he's conjuring up the spell. Edited by dan369 - 30 November 2010 at 3:16pm
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Sippy_Cup Midshipman Joined: 10 October 2021 Online Status: Offline Posts: 72	Posted: 30 November 2010 at 3:12pm
	cant see the images..
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dan369 Seaman Joined: 10 September 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 7	Posted: 30 November 2010 at 3:15pm
	*Originally posted by Sippy_Cup* cant see the images.. Sorry about that. Working now.
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Sippy_Cup Midshipman Joined: 10 October 2021 Online Status: Offline Posts: 72	Posted: 30 November 2010 at 4:50pm
	the talking looks great! i still think the tail could move a bit more during that talking/conjuring phase. but it does help that there is movement. the front spikes move around the body as the body twists and releases the energy ball, how ever the back spikes seem to just stay there, it looks odd its hard to tell how the walking / attacking transitions without at least a bit more of the walking animation, but from whats here it looks ok, id be more worried about matching the end of the attack up with a walk cycle or what ever since the feet are much further away from original at that point.
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dan369 Seaman Joined: 10 September 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 7	Posted: 30 November 2010 at 5:52pm
	*Originally posted by Sippy_Cup* the talking looks great! i still think the tail could move a bit more during that talking/conjuring phase. but it does help that there is movement. It was one of those "ingenious" ideas. And yes, after looking at it myself i thought the tail could use a bit more movement. *Originally posted by Sippy_Cup* the front spikes move around the body as the body twists and releases the energy ball, how ever the back spikes seem to just stay there, it looks odd So here, would you suggest that the back spikes themselves so be smaller than in the previous frames? *Originally posted by Sippy_Cup* its hard to tell how the walking / attacking transitions without at least a bit more of the walking animation, but from whats here it looks ok, id be more worried about matching the end of the attack up with a walk cycle or what ever since the feet are much further away from original at that point. I was worried myself when looking at it. Thought that it doesn't look right, so i just did this mini-transaction animation going from the last 2 frames of the attacking animation into the starting 2 of the walking animation. Gif: (Slowed the animation down quite a bit here, to make sure that at even a slower pace it looked good)
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Sippy_Cup Midshipman Joined: 10 October 2021 Online Status: Offline Posts: 72	Posted: 30 November 2010 at 7:46pm
	about the rear side spikes: you see how the tail disappears behind him on frame 11 (previous png sprite sheet) that frame the rear spikes should be completely blocked by the body from view just like the tail. hope that helps a bit the feet seem to work for video game standards IMO, but maybe someone else would like to add crit.. another thought you could have a bit of head rotation during the animation.
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