Final Fantasy Hacktics

Modding => Spriting => Topic started by: Saigas on October 08, 2009, 03:06:55 am

Title: Concept Sprite (Arcanist)
Post by: Saigas on October 08, 2009, 03:06:55 am
I have only a front view, but this is my concept view for the Arcanist, a class of Mage that serves as a counterpart to the Sorcerer (Kletian), and is the basis of my original character, Garynhardt Saigas.  Because it is currently nothing more than a slightly edited compilation of various body parts, it is way over the color limit, but I intend to sort the palette out after hearing your general opinions on the way the character looks.  It may also be slightly too tall, on account of its hat, but the hat can be edited to a smaller version if necessary.

EDIT: Concept now uses the hat from Elidibs rather than the Black Mage. Elidibs' hat looks more befitting this particular sprite, as well as less comically large.

EDIT 2: For some reason both Gimp and Photobucket converted the image into JPEG from its original BMP after I saved it, so now the colors are all screwed up.  This will be fixed later.

(http://i511.photobucket.com/albums/s356/Voyde/Conceptsheet-1.jpg)_____(http://i511.photobucket.com/albums/s356/Voyde/ArcanistFrontx3-1.jpg)_____(http://i511.photobucket.com/albums/s356/Voyde/ArcanistFront-1.jpg)

This character was generated using the Male Archer's boots, the Female Knight's cape, the Elidibs' hat, Mustadio's gloves, and Wiegraf's neckerchief + edited torso pieces.
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Post by: Vanya on October 08, 2009, 03:14:06 am
I think it would look cooler if you used Elidibus' hat instead of the Black Mage's.
Other than that I think you're fine for now. I'd work on the palette next before continuing, though.
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Post by: Saigas on October 08, 2009, 03:19:15 am
Yeah, palette is the next big thing to work on. I just wanted to get his body squared away in its shape mainly. And I'm actually thinking of going with Elidibs' hat, as well.  It will look a bit less comical than the Black Mage's.
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Post by: jimmyjw88 on October 08, 2009, 12:18:04 pm
Elidibs' hat looks better. Looking good though.
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Post by: mav on October 08, 2009, 01:58:12 pm
Not bad, I guess. I don't know how well the Knight body works on this one, but the sprite doesn't look too wonky. Keep at it. And save as PNG, if you're having trouble with BMPs.
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Post by: Saigas on October 09, 2009, 12:27:57 am
UPDATE - I came up with a color scheme for his torso and legs based around Elidibs' hat, whilst keeping the original colors from the Archer's boots to use on the boots and gloves. The cape I made red because it seemed to be the color that best complemented the browns in the hat.  Also, I removed the neckerchief due to color constraints.  The sprite is now exactly 16 colors, though they may have to be changed to keep him from looking like a Red Mage knock-off.

(http://i511.photobucket.com/albums/s356/Voyde/ArcanistFront-ProperColorx3.jpg)_____(http://i511.photobucket.com/albums/s356/Voyde/ArcanistFront-ProperColor.jpg)
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Post by: Vanya on October 09, 2009, 12:45:53 am
the brown is too similar to the red.
I'd modify one of them.
The boots and gloves are too similar to the archer's palette; I'd change that too.
You're doing good, though. Keep at it.
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Post by: Saigas on October 09, 2009, 12:55:00 am
Okay, then I have a question.  What colors would look good on this thing? Because I'm going for something dark, since this is supposed to be an opposing counterpart to Kletian (who dressed in silver and gold), but I'm paranoid about going too dark against a black background.
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Post by: kafei on October 09, 2009, 01:34:59 am
Well, like I said on IRC, I'd use the brown from the hat for the gloves and boots to save palette space, and then use maybe a black for the body portion. If you need a black palette, grab them from my Rena sprite.  :P

The cape could also do with a new color, I feel as though it clashes a bit.
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Post by: mav on October 09, 2009, 08:23:04 am
I like the current color you have for the boots and gloves, but definitely change out the red. I say use a dark green, if you can. If you're stuck on using brown, you could easily use the dark brown from the Cockatrice for the hat and clothes...I guess.
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Post by: jimmyjw88 on October 09, 2009, 12:06:06 pm
Yea, change the red. Other than that, looks good.
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Post by: MiKeMiTchi on October 09, 2009, 10:32:37 pm
Good concept, but yeah, fix the colors.
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Post by: Saigas on October 10, 2009, 05:10:20 pm
EDIT: Update had formatting issues, see my posts below Kafei.

|
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Post by: kafei on October 10, 2009, 06:21:10 pm
I think black for everything except the cape is a bit much. Maybe leave it on just the torso and hat, and use something else for the gloves and boots (maybe a light brown). I was going to take a crack at various color schemes, but you posted it as a JPG (tsk, tsk!) and the quality suffers as a result. Always try to post in PNG for future reference.
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Post by: Saigas on October 10, 2009, 06:24:15 pm
It was supposed to be bmp. From now on I'll post as PNG or BMP directly. No more frickin Photobucket for me.
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Post by: Saigas on October 10, 2009, 06:37:06 pm
Here's my reposted update, now fixed and in proper format.
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Post by: mav on October 10, 2009, 08:00:17 pm
The darkest shade around the legs and gauntlets looks like it's been done incorrectly. It borders on outlines. Also black is a bit too much for this sprite. I like the old browns. He could really use a different color for his hat and boots, at the very least.
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Post by: Saigas on October 10, 2009, 08:54:07 pm
The darkest shade is a color that wound up going into the Black Palette, so I tried to swap it out for a dark shade of green to match the cape while separating itself from the blacks.  Didn't really work very well, I guess.
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Post by: Saigas on October 10, 2009, 09:28:58 pm
UPDATE

Went with the browns from the Archer's boots again for the boots and and gloves.  Also provided a Front Left view for more accurate critiquing.
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Post by: jimmyjw88 on October 10, 2009, 09:38:49 pm
I think that looks better but is something wrong with the shoulder for the diagonal view? Also for the head/hair, there seems to have black/green outline around the eyes there, the back of his head.
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Post by: mav on October 10, 2009, 10:06:38 pm
I definitely like these colors. Just work on the shading on the pants. I dunno if it looks like that on the base, but frankly it's an outline.
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Post by: Saigas on October 10, 2009, 11:54:22 pm
UPDATE

Side View added. Attempted to fix both the shading on the pants and the issue with the shoulder pointed out by jimmy.
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Post by: Asmo X on October 11, 2009, 02:23:34 am
The wishbone shading on the legs and chest looks a bit stupid. I made a small edit.

(http://i426.photobucket.com/albums/pp347/Asmoad/arcanist.png)

-The shading on the hat looks too heavy
-The shading on the thighs on the diagonal a bit inexplicable. Why is there so much black on his left leg? Is that meant to be the bottom of the thigh or something? If so, bring it down closer to the bootcuff and add some to the inner side of his right leg.
-The back of his head on the diagonal under the hat doesn't look right. What is that patch of yellow supposed to be?
-The shading on the cape is too soft. The darkest green needs to be darker (or add a darker one) and you've also pillow shaded the shoulders.
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Post by: Saigas on October 11, 2009, 02:39:27 am
Thanks for the critique, Asmo. I appreciate your keen eye, as always.

- The shading on the hat is the exact same as it was for Elidibs, only in blacks now instead of browns.
- I had to do the torso from scratch on the diagonal, so I was sort of winging the shading. I'll try to sort that out.
- The patch is supposed to be his hair, or that was my original intention, at least. If it doesn't look right, I'll probably just get rid of it.
- I'll try making the entire cape darker then, since the sprite is 16 colors again since I added the three colors that make up the boots and gloves. For the front view the shoulders are shaded exactly as they are on the female knight's cape, so they'll stay as is, I think.
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Post by: dwib on October 11, 2009, 02:47:16 am
Unfortunately, the completed human elidibs sprite is mostly a custom work so the shading of the hat can't be counted on to be perfect

The pallete is looking ok now, good improvement
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Post by: Asmo X on October 11, 2009, 02:47:48 am
No it's not the same as Elidibs. Your whole palette is darker across the board. I checked in paint

Female Knights cape has the same problem as yours on the shoulders really. I think just adding a darker colour in a few places (possibly the colour you use for the cape between the legs) would fix the problem.
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Post by: Saigas on October 11, 2009, 02:55:47 am
Hmm, well I'm not entirely sure what to do about the hat, then. I thought I had shaded it correctly, but I suppose inexperience has proven otherwise. I will see what I can do to rectify this, but the errors in the hat may have to stay for awhile until i have completed more of the sprite to test in-game.  But I'll toy with the values to see if I can come up with something more accurate.

In regards to the Knight's cape, I'll test that out then. Nothing to lose, after all, and a more detailed shading job never hurt anybody.  Thanks. ^_^

EDIT: BTW, Asmo, forgot to mention it, but thanks for the edit on the chest and legs. ^_^
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Post by: Twinees on October 11, 2009, 02:58:14 am
Keep up the good work Saigas. Great concept.
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Post by: kafei on October 11, 2009, 06:38:18 am
Quote from: "Saigas"Went with the browns from the Archer's boots again for the boots and and gloves.  Also provided a Front Left view for more accurate critiquing.
I see you took my advice, it's looking good. It's funny you should post that color scheme, though, because that's the one I drew up myself. I was going to suggest that to you after trying out a few others, haha.
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Post by: jimmyjw88 on October 11, 2009, 10:17:15 am
That looks better, Asmo. Keep it up Saigas.
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Post by: Saigas on October 22, 2009, 10:23:02 pm
UPDATE:

Got in the other two main frames. Once these are fully fixed, then work on all the other animations will commence. ^_^
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Post by: MiKeMiTchi on October 23, 2009, 12:01:04 am
Cape looks flat, needs some shading badly..
Hmmm.. Be creative with the cape. :)

Wow! How'd ya get that yellow badge?
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Post by: jimmyjw88 on October 23, 2009, 12:09:47 am
Yeah, what Mike said.

And yes, how? Now, you're same with Skip. ^^
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Post by: Saigas on October 23, 2009, 12:19:53 am
I'm not sure how I would edit the cape. Out of colors. Unless you wanna make a suggestion I have no clue, cuz I did most of it based around the shading of the Female Knight, who has a pretty flat cape to begin with, but has most covered by her hair.

That, my friends, is a secret. ;)  (Though I'm sure you could figure it out, eventually.)
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Post by: jimmyjw88 on October 23, 2009, 12:22:01 am
Hmm...Female knight's cape...Perhaps if you take a look at Male Knight's cape, see if it can help you abit, since his hair is short.
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Post by: Saigas on October 23, 2009, 12:23:18 am
Male Knight's cape I looked at, but it's shape throws me off in regards to shading... :(
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Post by: mav on October 23, 2009, 08:28:41 am
Could you use the Skeleton's cape? Or is too wacky?
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Post by: jimmyjw88 on October 23, 2009, 12:07:51 pm
Hmm...I think Skeleton's cape is not bad too ^^
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Post by: Saigas on October 24, 2009, 02:17:16 am
UPDATE:

Decided to experiment with a new look. Since the Arcanist is a spellcaster class, I figured maybe a robe would be more fitting, especially with the lack of robed sprites on the site.

It's pretty much just the head from the Arcanist (very slightly edited) placed upon a recolored priest body. What do you think of this?
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Post by: Aquablack on October 24, 2009, 02:20:11 am
Hmm.. I like it, I think the hat and robe look good together.
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Post by: MiKeMiTchi on October 24, 2009, 02:22:28 am
I have a robed sprite. :P
It looks good though.
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Post by: Saigas on October 24, 2009, 02:33:41 am
Yeah, I've seen your robed sprite, Mike. I really like it. Maybe by starting more robed projects people will veer away from the armor.

And thank you, Aquablack. ^_^
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Post by: MiKeMiTchi on October 24, 2009, 02:56:43 am
Maybe you could try the robes\cape of the Type2 sprites.
The summoner's cape is rarely used, you could try that out, and combine
it with your latest one.
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Post by: kafei on October 24, 2009, 03:29:24 am
This looks much better, I have to say. The robed outfit is a good switch, and I think the colors go together well. The green might be a little too dark, though; it's kinda hard to see against the black. I also agree that you might wanna move away from the priest "triangles," those are pretty iconic, and it's hard to not associate with priests, even if recolored.

It's nice to see some updates, though! Great work, and... it would be nice to get a bigger selection of robed sprites... heh.
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Post by: mav on October 24, 2009, 12:03:56 pm
I support the idea of dropping the triangles (look through Smash's concepts--he had a druid-type Priest that looked great) and adding the Summoner's cape. Go go.
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Post by: jimmyjw88 on October 24, 2009, 10:54:18 pm
That switched definitely looks better. And yes, what they said ^^
Also,
Quote from: "mav"(look through Smash's concepts--he had a druid-type Priest that looked great)
He does? I didn't knew that...I like to see this, where can I find this?
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Post by: mav on October 25, 2009, 12:54:06 am
Quote from: "jimmyjw88"He does? I didn't knew that...I like to see this, where can I find this?
Right here (http://www.ffhacktics.com/forum/files/priestm_120.bmp) for the image, found on this page (http://www.ffhacktics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2123&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=260).
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Post by: jimmyjw88 on October 25, 2009, 10:42:06 am
Ah yes, that's great. Should use that ^^
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Post by: Saigas on October 25, 2009, 05:32:08 pm
Thanks a bunch. I know what I need to do to get rid of these pesky triangles now. Although, I must note that the guy who made this Druid sprite must not have wanted to take the time to manually remove them, because all he did was replace the reds on the palette with duplicate brown shades. I'm gonna do it manually, myself, which should give me three empty slots for color.

I don't know if I'll be able to add a cape with only three extra slots, but I'll see what can be done. ^_^
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Post by: mav on October 25, 2009, 05:51:30 pm
Technically four colors is all you need to get the male Summoner's cape on there...so if you can crunch in some places, you may be able to pull it off.
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Post by: Saigas on October 25, 2009, 06:28:25 pm
I could do it, if I made it something other than green, maybe. Then I could use another color already present in the palette.
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Post by: MiKeMiTchi on October 25, 2009, 09:11:27 pm
Can't wait to see how it'll look.
For its color, how's pale green, similar to your previous arcanist concept?
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Post by: Saigas on October 25, 2009, 10:19:04 pm
That's what I was gonna go for, Mike. ^_^

I really wanna use the green I had on the original. Anyway, here's an update on the sprite with two more frames and the beginning of a spritesheet. Far from complete, though.
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Post by: MiKeMiTchi on October 25, 2009, 11:15:30 pm
Looks good so far. In my opinion that's about half complete. :)
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Post by: jimmyjw88 on October 26, 2009, 02:57:35 am
That's looking great. Well done ^^
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Post by: Saigas on October 29, 2009, 06:40:52 pm
UPDATE

I have created a portrait! It has only 14 colors, but I'm having trouble figuring out what isn't being used after I did my palette-swapping and copy/pasting. ^^;

The portrait I used as a base is still very obvious right now, but it's my very first custom portrait, so rate my terrible work gently. ^^;

I not sure what to do with it from here (I know the eyes/eyebrows need work. Happened during palette swap. Never fixed.), but I would appreciate any help I can get.
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Post by: Fein on October 29, 2009, 07:12:44 pm
The hair seems to come out of nowhere.
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Post by: MiKeMiTchi on October 29, 2009, 07:15:45 pm
Skin needs another shade.
Hair is fine, just add shading in-between.
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Post by: LastingDawn on October 29, 2009, 07:37:53 pm
Hmm... young Elidibs perhaps? That would be an interesting patch...
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Post by: Saigas on October 29, 2009, 08:12:08 pm
UPDATED

Used the unused colors to create more skin shades, and edited the hair.  How's it look now? ^^
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Post by: jimmyjw88 on October 30, 2009, 01:26:35 am
Add bit shading on the transition between his hair and his forehead.
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Post by: MiKeMiTchi on October 30, 2009, 02:57:03 am
Look at the outline of the outfit. Right now, it doesn't match with the outline of the face,
making the portrait  a little bit odd. I asked to give it one more shade of skin to balance the outlines.

Right now, it still needs a darker skin shade. Or, you can rework the outlines.
Hmm.. maybe limit the black shades to just 5~6 colors?
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Post by: jimmyjw88 on October 30, 2009, 06:30:51 am
Yes, perhaps one more dark shade skin. See if it looks better ^^
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Post by: mav on October 30, 2009, 08:20:53 am
Looks alright, but MiKe's suggestions are what I'd go with: limit the black shades and toss in a new dark skin shade. Keep up the good work.
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Post by: Cheetah on October 30, 2009, 11:54:29 am
Looks like you have your entry done for the Thanksgiving Sprite Contest. The Pilgrim.
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Post by: Saigas on October 30, 2009, 07:40:24 pm
@ MikeMiTichi: I gave it 2 more shades for skin, so I didn't overlook your previous comment.

Alright, I'm confused at how to do this. Right now I have 8 shades of black, 6 skin shades, the background color, and the eye shade. Admittedly, the eye shade is only used for one pixel, so I could probably do away with that to make room for other shades, but I am uncertain exactly what I should be changing. I don't know what to get rid of in the blacks, and I honestly don't think I understand just where it is that the skin is a problem.

If you could give me a visual example (i.e. circle the problem zones or something to that effect) it would help, because I have a poor eye for detail. ^_^

A more detailed
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Post by: mav on October 30, 2009, 08:24:48 pm
Okay, I'm looking at the sprite a little more in depth right now. You dropped the darkest brown from the original face, right? The problem is that you occasionally replaced it with a lighter shade, so the image lost some depth. By dropping the darkest gray and replacing it with the second darkest gray, you can fit in that darkest brown and add the depth back. And also note that there needs to be some shading where the hair meets the skin.

All in all the portrait's skin lacks shading, our suggestions are basically a way to pull in a new color and remedy that. To see where you lost that dark brown, compare the portrait to Wiegraf's face. By the way, you may want to replace the eyes and smile sometime down the line, to really give this portrait a custom look.
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Post by: Saigas on October 30, 2009, 08:26:10 pm
Thank you very much, Mav. I will get to work on this immediately. ^_^
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Post by: Saigas on October 31, 2009, 06:17:39 pm
UPDATE

Alright, not sure if this solved the problem. It's really hard for me to get the details right on a portrait edit. ^^;

I added the missing skin color. In addition I attempted new eyebrows and a new smile. I think I might have made the mouth too light, but I could never get it to look right with the next darker shade...

EDIT: And I just noticed I seem to have given him the same smirk as Rofokare, lol.
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Post by: mav on October 31, 2009, 06:29:29 pm
Hmm...extend the smirk over one pixel to the left (his right) and lighten the eyebrows a bit. And with that dark brown shade you could probably darken the outline around his ear so it blends in with the hat. Good job keeping the grays and blacks looking nice.
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Post by: Saigas on October 31, 2009, 06:38:40 pm
Alrighty. Here is the edit. Extended smirk, lightened eyebrows, and placed the darkest brown around his ear.
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Post by: Saigas on October 31, 2009, 09:36:42 pm
SPRITE UPDATE
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Post by: jimmyjw88 on November 01, 2009, 01:07:28 am
Looks better.
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Post by: MiKeMiTchi on November 02, 2009, 02:38:55 am
Portrait:
Color outlines look better. How many shades of black do you have now?
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Post by: Kagebunji on November 02, 2009, 09:18:42 am
The sprite itself looks good, but IMO it's lacking some details, try to add some symbol etc.
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Post by: mav on November 02, 2009, 05:02:00 pm
How many colors do you have left to utilize?
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Post by: Saigas on November 02, 2009, 08:02:52 pm
In the spritesheet, I have 3 color slots left to utilize, currently filled with green and appearing as the triangles. If I get rid of the belt/shoes/gloves, I''ll have around five.

This current scheme is all solely from reshading the robes of the Priest and adding Elidibs' hat. I have added nothing to the color of the robes themselves, I have only reshaded the white that was previously present.

And the portrait uses 1 color for background, 7 shades of black, and 8 shades of varying browns, fleshtones and off-whites for skin/eyes.
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Post by: mav on November 02, 2009, 08:25:09 pm
Here's my suggestion for the sprite: remove the gloves by making them the skin color, add some greens for the cape, use those greens for his shoes and belt and you'll be set. Then again, green shoes and a green belt may look weird...But it's an option.
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Post by: Saigas on November 02, 2009, 08:34:17 pm
Hmm...

I'll see what it looks like and get back to you.
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Post by: jimmyjw88 on November 03, 2009, 12:08:30 am
Yeah, green shoes and belt abit funny. Green belt should be okay but green shoes not really. Also, if possible add some symbols or patterns to make this sprite unique. ^^
Title: Re: Concept Sprite (Arcanist)
Post by: Saigas on October 08, 2010, 04:07:35 pm
An update after a long absence. ^_^
Title: Re: Concept Sprite (Arcanist)
Post by: Jon on October 08, 2010, 04:19:09 pm
Hey, thats not bad! Looks a bit like a dark black robed Elidibs. If you are going to use the same portrait as your avatar, one suggestion is to make the colors of the hat and cloak the same, other than that looks good. What type is this, 1 or 2?
Title: Re: Concept Sprite (Arcanist)
Post by: GeneralStrife on October 08, 2010, 04:29:32 pm
looks like it lacks shading, although this is hard to achieve on black sprites, which is why you dont see those often
Title: Re: Concept Sprite (Arcanist)
Post by: Saigas on October 08, 2010, 05:41:22 pm
While I would agree with you, General Strife, since the majority of it is merely a recolor of various different pre-existing sprites, I really couldn't do much better with the shading. I followed the shading scheme of the Male White Mage's robes very closely, since this entire sprite was done on a White Mage spritesheet, and everything else was pretty much just cut and paste from various other sprites and recolor.

Also, re-update. The above attached bit map has negative areas and stray pixels everywhere, this is the one I cleaned up with thorough examination in Shishi: