I'm trying to make a mini game. It requires more realistic and dark style instead of the cute stuffs I did before.
I believe this is a great chance to hone my skill.

Right now this is my main character, It'll get animated in the future:


It's pretty simple, but I'll like to know how to add some details on it, and if I'll need to shade it.

Well I haven't done her animation yet, since I'm unsure if I want to change some details. However here's a animation I did for a monster:



I would like to know if this fits the style with my character, thanks for the feedback.

Thank you! Now I know why the bottom looks a bit weird to me too.
I've decided that to not change her looks, and I've did her running animation:


Some animation for my tar monster:
(Attack) (Death)

That monster's death animation doesn't really convey death, it appears that he/she just hides in the ground.

I just wanted to say that I really like this style. Your running animation looks great.

I don't think the crawling looks horrible at all! Maybe the snap of the beak could be timed differently?

 I would think (but haven't tried it out): Slow opening, fast closing (opposite of what it is now, and then matching the closing frame with the upwards motion of the body

Oh yeah, I forgot to update my current tileset, it uses a blue palette so I think the decorations fits:

I need some help for the background, I want to know if the rock pillars look weird.

@Omegan
This is a 2D platformer game, and I made it just for fun. It's somewhat like Momodora: Reverie Under the Moon, but I'll like to change the combat system to make it harder.(you can dodge anything by spam rolling, and that's boring)

What sort of look are you going for with it?
Take a look at photos of real stalactites (the bits on the ceiling) and stalagmites (the bits on the floor), it might give you some ideas. In particular:
- they're rarely all so similar in size or so evenly spaced.
- every stalactite has a corresponding stalagmite because a stalagmite is formed by the material dripping off the stalactite, but the sizes and shapes of these can vary quite a bit.
- stalagmites usually have more rounded tips and a bulkier appearance than stalactites. Stalactites are dripping down, which makes a tip where they expand, but stalagmites get somewhat filed down and built up at the same time by the material hitting them from above.
- they don't occur in a neat row. Try having some be in front of the others. This can be achieved just by drawing the highlights on them a bit further down from the edge of the big hole.

Thank you guys for the help, I appreciated it!
These are the 2 versions of my background:
(Purple Palette) (Blue Palette)

I'll need some opinions about these two in order to continue working on the background layers.(Creating the feeling of depth like Eishiya said)

By the way if anyone is curious, this is a mock up of what the game looks like:

Good job making the "teeth" feel less regular! You could push it even more, especially with the bottom ones. They all still have roughly the same "shape", the same angles to their walls. Try playing with those, making some wider with gentler slopes. You can still retain the sinister toothy look if the majority are thin and pointy.

I feel like using both slalagmites/stalactites and generic gamey "rocks" looks odd. The vertical sides of caves have a flowy look to them, that's something you can find ref for too. There's nothing in caves* to produce rocks like that.

* or almost anywhere natural, really. Only humans pile up rocks to build walls like that. "Rocky" walls in nature look very different, not like they're made of individual rocks or lumps. But it's become a common visual in games for some reason, perhaps because it tiles easily and people forget everything they know about the world when they're making their tiles ;D


I like both palettes, but the purple probably stands out a bit much. It would be good if the player is meant to look at what's in those "windows", but it's too distracting if it's "just" a background. It could work if toned down a little bit, i.e. made less saturated.
As for the hue, both work, but they create different emotions. Purple evokes mystery and magic, the blue looks dark and wet but "mundane", and you should choose whichever colour suits the intended atmosphere of the area.

The fire in running animation feels solid, real flame would leave a trail.

Oh boy, I'm doing the attack animation for my character... My largest weakness!
I need some help to make this into a decent animation:

I think that design looks a bit messy, but there are still parts I can make use of it. Thanks!

I want to try and make it look familiar with other monsters.

Also, a uppercut animation:

Did some animations for my cute golem:
(Walk)(Attack)(Stomp)

And a Shockwave effect for the stomp attack, this time I really can't figure it out:

It's a bit strange how all these flames burn synchronously, and make the exact same shape in the air.
Maybe offset them a bit?

This is the first boss for my game, Ancient Magus,He's the summoner of those shadow monsters:

I wonder if this still fits my style and color palette.

I like it, it is simple but good.

Great effort on what seems like a fun project.

In your first post you wondered whether you needed to shade your sprite. I wouldn't say you do. Using only flat colours can be a part of the style. However, your environment is quite well rendered. The contrast make the sprites look unfinished by comparison.

More specific?
Well, looking on this I have feeling it is some kind of necromancer, maybe flying skeleton torso will look good?
Like wraiths from Heroes 3 game.
In old days undead and demons works in one team as "Army of darkness".

I finally did a new background:


Some said that the old one is much refined compared to the foreground. Therefore I decided to simplify the background a bit. I would like to hear some opinions about it.

I am still trying to go for a simple aesthetic, that's why the new background only uses 3 colors. However it does look unnatural when I'm playtesting. What I think I'll do is to simplify the old one, reducing the colors it uses.
As for the new background, I was planning to make a ruins area as the next area. I'll use that as the background for the new area.

Edit:

Finally finished it! Took me long enough.
This background work has become a painful process to me, since I scraped like 2 versions of it. I finally got what I wanted!

Enemies for the ruin area. It's still pretty simple, but still I would like to know if this is good enough or there's anything I can improve.

You have some animation potential, I have something to tell about attack of cute golem.

In general, this is mistake that many people do when they start to animate some - forward motion. Your golem is literally sliding its feet on the ground.

Instead you can try to focus on different approach.

* It can stretch or bend legs, do body movement instead of slide.
* One leg can stay Fixed while other moves and return back. (idle , attack, -> back to idle), I just cant see sliding working. This will feel more natural

I did exact the same mistake in the past, sliding just doesn't work.

Hey, just wanted to say your new cave background looks great! I think it doesn't pull attention away from the sprites as much as the old one did.

Are you working with a specific palette?

This is my attempt using your advice. It has recover frames and no sliding at all. Is this what you mean?