[Esper Sprite] Zodiark, Keeper of Precepts

[Lijj]

I like B:
And the 3rd palette choice may be better.

[R999]

ROFL

Horseshoe Shrimp

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Cephalocarida

Cephalocarida is a class inside the subphylum Crustacea that comprises only about nine shrimp-like benthic species. They were discovered in 1955, and are commonly referred to as horseshoe shrimps.

Very interesting design but although, I think you should put more emphasis on the horseshoe and reduce the size of the shrimp somewhat. Design overall looks great, just not very Zodiark-like perhaps... This is a hard one.


I would recommend removing the wings or do something about it. It is hard to tell what the armor looks like from there.

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[Lijj]

Good thing I used separate pieces. shrinking it down won't be much work at all. I don't know how big I can get that horse-shoe but I'll get it to maximum size possible, if it's not already.
Zodiark needs work, one thing I will try: making the bottom part of the horse-shoe whiter. So the pieces are more distinguishable. I'll be happy to mess with it when I'm refreshed tomorrow. I wouldn't mind getting rid of the wings really... figured they'll be visible from the back. We'll figure the wings out.
Horseshoe Shrimp! That's too funny
edit: I just realized I didn't layer it together right; Oh well, will be updating soon

[Lijj]

Updated:
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[Smash]

Looks like it's crit time.


Horseshoe area needs more mass, as it looks too thin. Though it may look good in black BGs, it will seem too thin and fragile in any clear color. Also, too many openings inside the sprite will make it look like a blending mess once the BG and battle elements start interacting.
[attachment=0:2ywvn2fz]Ref.png[/attachment:2ywvn2fz]

Remember the depth basics, also. [s:2ywvn2fz]The horseshoe half behind him could use some darkening.[/s:2ywvn2fz]  Nvm about the darkening, this needs to be brightened. Right now the dark colors dissapear within the green BG.. Just think on how they'll look on Zodiark's intended battlefield.

Too many rough pixels in the face could be simplified to better understand the shape too. I do see a reptilian head there, but it's behind the eyes where it gets complicated. Mind your lightsources and textures.

And last, there's these two pairs of white hairs on top- never use thin single pixel lines outside the sprite like that, as they will blend with the backgrounds and look like weird sparkles in game. They need more fat. (Even though they don't look all that bad in the preview above.. Your call.)

Looking at the pallete, I think the greys could be easily reduced to 5 or 6, and have the brighter reds toned down, to maybe allow some blues or greens to ramp from them.

[Lijj]

True some of those pieces are dainty-thin. I'll try to lighten up the foremost parts to try to obtain more depth as well. The prongs do look good as thin as there are but we'll see how they come along in the next frames.
As I play with the palette I'll keep in mind your thoughts...

[Smash]

Now that I got into working with mine, I think I know..
The priority here should be to make the sprite look good on the BG, and that means to get rid of all those dark greys and blacks that will just vanish once put in game, while at the same time make the sprite stand out without taking it too far in brightness.

Im having the same problem too, all of mine have too much dark on the edges, when the altima sprite is the opposite. See how they all look crisp clear on the BGs.