Final Fantasy Hacktics

Hey everyone, I've finally decided to muster up the guts for my first ever sprite project of creating a custom portrait, and I'd like to share my concept/idea with you all.  This will also be my sprite project thread for future use :)

The idea is that I'd like to combine Gafgarion's fur along his shoulder as well as the unique squire's hairstyle to both be set onto Malak's portrait.  The fur will be set to Malak and I would like it to be very eye-catching.  The hairstyle to be similar to the unique squire however, still with malak's hair color.  I would also like to keep Malak's tan/dark skin tone, with a scar on his left cheek and noticeable hazel eyes.  I'm going for a somewhat foreign look akin to the Balkan's from Ogre battle 64.  If anyone doesn't know the Balkan's were fierce warriors that wore sharp, steel claws on each hand.  Although they were lightly armored, they were very agile and certainly muscular.  I don't remember the lore, but their empire was destroyed and people were enslaved.  It would make a nice game addition to the Ogre Battle series if you ask me :)

My Gameplan:
1st:  Fur
2nd: Hair
3rd: Eyes

(http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110629145110/finalfantasy/images/2/23/FFT_Unique_Squire.png)(http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060319030348/finalfantasy/images/9/95/Gafgarion-sprh.gif)(http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060321125909/finalfantasy/images/7/73/Malak-sprh.gif)
Here's just a rough draft (I was in a rush but at least I did something xD)


Please let me know what you think, suggestions, etc. thanks!

Welcome to the site. As for a rough draft, it is looking quite nice. I would love to see how this will turn out. Remember that FFT palettes have 16 color limit.

Pretty good start on an interesting project. Just keep in mind that Malak's hair color may have a few less shades than some of the lighter skinned characters' in the game. Do you have any other work you wouldn't mind posting? It doesn't necessarily have to be FFT-related.

Thanks Kagebunji!  16 colors, hm.  Not sure how to check photoshop for how many colors I've got.  Which kind of sucks because I added some gold on the collar (stole from Olan)  I really need to get my color foundation done.  Oh well time to google, lol.

Hey mav! thanks, hm... other work?  Well I like to write as well.  Actually have got a short story I want to finish, and I also like to animate too!  Was planning to work on my sprite animation skills by making a small Dragon Force fan series ( one of Sega Saturn's most underrated RPG) but as of right now, I'm occupied doing this hahah.

Btw, I'm having alot of trouble with lighting and shading in the right areas, and when I try to put the gold trimming on the collar, it looks very unnatural.  What is it called, anti-aliasing should do the trick right?

Dragon Force is incredible, you should check out the Dragon Force II translation project.

Are you trying to make a normal size portrait to use in game or are you just trying to make an avatar? Photoshop takes a little changing around to work well for pixel art. You never want to use anti aliasing when doing pixel art. Working off a base and using bits and pieces of different sprites to frankinsprite something together is a good starting point for a beginner.

*cling*

I will respond about the Photoshop 16bit later.

Quote from: Cheetah on July 23, 2011, 06:31:45 pm
Dragon Force is incredible, you should check out the Dragon Force II translation project.

Are you trying to make a normal size portrait to use in game or are you just trying to make an avatar? Photoshop takes a little changing around to work well for pixel art. You never want to use anti aliasing when doing pixel art. Working off a base and using bits and pieces of different sprites to frankinsprite something together is a good starting point for a beginner.

Hey Cheetah!  Well, I'm trying to make it as authentic as possible.  One reason is if I get decent at this I might be able to make a full spritesheet.  And I did frankinsprite too.. I imported all the sprites (Gafgarion, Olan, Squire, and Malak) and broke down the images in Flash CS5.  Then, I imported them into photoshop, copied a section of Gafgarions left shoulder, and tried to give somewhat of a noble look by *attempting* to make a gold collar.  It's not looking too great, lol.  I'm kinda new at this and I honestly don't know the basics.  As for Photoshop,  the scaling of the images takes about 4 pixels for one regular FFT pixel.  Here, take a look guys at what I've got for now.

Quote from: dinosaur on July 23, 2011, 07:52:28 pm
*cling*

I will respond about the Photoshop 16bit later.

Hi dinosaur, please write me back ASAP I am usually on the forums or IRC but i don't hear any sound if anyone IM's me so I might miss messages on irc xD!  Thanks!
http://i56.tinypic.com/33bd8c3.png

EDIT: damnit I forgot to save my gold collar when I was working on it last night >"<  Will keep ya guys posted! Workin on it right now :)
EDIT#2: Agghh.. I fear I may have passed my pixel bounds with the fur shoulders if it will be made for FFT =\  I may have to fix that later

hhmmm I played around I am not sure about what Kage is referring too actually.

But to change your image to 16 bit. Go to IMAGE > MODE> 16bit/channel   ... I think that is what Kage is referring too...

Quote from: dinosaur on July 24, 2011, 01:20:14 am
hhmmm I played around I am not sure about what Kage is referring too actually.

But to change your image to 16 bit. Go to IMAGE > MODE> 16bit/channel   ... I think that is what Kage is referring too...

Did that, but don't really notice the changes.  What exactly does that do?

hmm... why are you working at a 2x size again? If you work at 1x your pixels will be a lot smoother, and you wouldnt have any problems shrinking it because its at the standard size.
For the photoshop thing, leave it on 8bit. If you want to look at the palette go to Image -> Mode -> Colour Table. There you can edit the colours etc. What Kage was referring to was that portraits can only use 16 colours, i.e they have a 16 colour limit (including the background colour) so if you do go over that limit, you will have to reduce it for it to actually work in fft.

Quote from: Twinees on July 24, 2011, 06:17:11 am
hmm... why are you working at a 2x size again? If you work at 1x your pixels will be a lot smoother, and you wouldnt have any problems shrinking it because its at the standard size.
For the photoshop thing, leave it on 8bit. If you want to look at the palette go to Image -> Mode -> Colour Table. There you can edit the colours etc. What Kage was referring to was that portraits can only use 16 colours, i.e they have a 16 colour limit (including the background colour) so if you do go over that limit, you will have to reduce it for it to actually work in fft.

Okay I will try 1x.  Either I'm using photoshop wrong (wrong brushes, photoshop diff scaling)  because 1 pixel in GraphicsGale = 4 subdivided in 1 pixel, maybe I may have a setting wrong. because I have to make 4 pixels in one square to make 1 FFT pixel.  I tried using 4px + pen&other brushes but am having a little trouble with that since the brushes have different shapes and the pen does some kind of weird circular/oval shape.  So I think I will stick with graphicsgale as it is a more pixel oriented program.  Thanks for the tips!

If you want to ever use a portrait in game, you have to be working at the native resolution. All the avatars we have next to our messages are enlarged, and thus can never be used in game because trying to shrink stuff down never turns out well. If you go to the main FFH site there is a sprite section there and you can use the portraits from there, they are native resolution.

Photoshop tips:
1) Turn anti aliasing off on EVERYTHING.
2) Use layers obviously.
3) Use the pencil tool for almost everything.
4) Use the paint bucket for general color changes, there is an option to get all of one color and not just the connect pixels.
5) Don't use paint brush or any brushes really, only pencil.
6) Depending on your version of Photoshop you can sometimes open two windows of the same sprite so that you can work on it zoomed but see changes in native resolution. Very handy.

General Tips:
1) Only use colors from existing sprites. Getting Gaff's collar to be gold/yellow is going to be hard.
2) Always work in native resolution.
3) When starting use existing resources as much as possible.

Why did you use Flash?

Thanks Cheetah, I've been fiddling around with PS and don't know how to do #1, I'm sure it's in preferences though, #2 I do, #3 Is a yes, #4 I had no idea I can change a whole color, #5 I tried to do, but found out pencil was the only way to go, #6 I have the newest version but don't know how to open another window for my sprite, I use magnifixer.

As for gen. tips
I'm trying to set elements of Gafgarion's fur lining along his shoulder and the Squire's hair incorporated onto Malak, and I want Malaks collar to be gold.  Native resolution, what do you mean?  I saved sprites from http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Final_Fantasy_Tactics_Portrait_Images, and I *think* I'm using as much existing resources* as possible.  I used flash because I had no idea how to break down the image with PS, in order to use the magic lasso to remove gafgarions fur along his shoulders.  Then, I copied that and put it onto Malak.  Though I probably could've just used paint for that, or maybe I was on the wrong layer at the time in PS, I got it to work lol.  Thanks for the tips Cheetah!

Eegad that is a horrible resource. Not only are those not native resolution, they aren't even consistent. Native means not blown up or distorted. Get some of the stuff from here http://ffhacktics.com/spr.php

You can turn anti-aliasing off in the tool options at the top, it is usual a little check box for each individual tool after selecting the tool.

Using the lasso isn't the best, when using the magic selector you can set it to one color and then hold shift to add more colors. It would take about five seconds to get all of Gaf's white fur selected.

Quote from: Cheetah on July 25, 2011, 02:46:32 am
Eegad that is a horrible resource. Not only are those not native resolution, they aren't even consistent. Native means not blown up or distorted. Get some of the stuff from here http://ffhacktics.com/spr.php

You can turn anti-aliasing off in the tool options at the top, it is usual a little check box for each individual tool after selecting the tool.

Using the lasso isn't the best, when using the magic selector you can set it to one color and then hold shift to add more colors. It would take about five seconds to get all of Gaf's white fur selected.

Ah thanks for the tips Cheetah, I'm starting to get the hang of Photoshop now.  Btw, here's what I've got so far for the portrait
EDIT: did some tuning up tonight, have no idea what i'm going to do with the hair or how to shade it, been checking out other portraits. :P

Lookin sexy!

That's really cool. Do I see another portraiter on the block?  :D

Is the strip of color running on his cheekbone a scar? It looks out of place on the smaller portrait. Maybe reduce it / eliminate it?

Quote from: dinosaur on July 26, 2011, 11:17:45 am
Lookin sexy!

Thanks dino, please don't be afraid to be hard on me xD.

Quote from: Durbs on July 26, 2011, 12:55:27 pm
That's really cool. Do I see another portraiter on the block?  :D

Is the strip of color running on his cheekbone a scar? It looks out of place on the smaller portrait. Maybe reduce it / eliminate it?

Thanks durbs, oh that strip is gafgarions armor.. I was messing around and wanted to see if I could pulloff a different angled fur knight.  Maybe I might do an armored helmed version of him later, but I'm tied down with this portrait.  When I get good I can fool around.  The strip of color is a scar and I would like to keep it, yes i know it's hard to pull off but I want to pull it off :)

Looks good, I immediately noticed that the hair isn't shaded enough. It's one saturated color on 60 % of it, mostly the top.

Quote from: GeneralStrife on July 26, 2011, 05:12:34 pm
Looks good, I immediately noticed that the hair isn't shaded enough. It's one saturated color on 60 % of it, mostly the top.

yes, reason why is because I'm still trying to figure out how/what I'm gonna do with it, so, I'm still scheming out what I'm going to do.  This is going to the hardest part of the portrait for me, since this literally my first sprite project, lol!

Well keep it up.. It looks like you're on the right path.

Quote from: Lijj on July 26, 2011, 08:21:40 pm
Well keep it up.. It looks like you're on the right path.

hehe thanks lijj! Do you have any tips for this hair...? I know your a pro at portraits and stuff so hook me up xD

Think about the lightsource. The tippy top would be illuminated more(brighter). Take a look at other portraits to get an idea of this.

The texturing is the hardest part of the hair; the lighting is important but not as tough. For an idea on how to do scars look at my Voldemort portrait, the sprite is in the custom sprite downloads section.

Hair is my weakness actually. I'd recommend,  as others have to me, opening as many original portraits up as you can fit without getting too crazy and just mimic the style as much as you can. I have trouble going out of reasonable FFt style still with those.

Quote from: GeneralStrife on July 26, 2011, 09:58:13 pm
Think about the lightsource. The tippy top would be illuminated more(brighter). Take a look at other portraits to get an idea of this.

ah, Ill keep that stuff in mind generalstrife.

Quote from: Cheetah on July 26, 2011, 10:17:34 pm
The texturing is the hardest part of the hair; the lighting is important but not as tough. For an idea on how to do scars look at my Voldemort portrait, the sprite is in the custom sprite downloads section.

Right, I saw the portrait and have got an idea of what I need to do, like give it a look of depth.

Quote from: Lijj on July 26, 2011, 11:36:48 pm
Hair is my weakness actually. I'd recommend,  as others have to me, opening as many original portraits up as you can fit without getting too crazy and just mimic the style as much as you can. I have trouble going out of reasonable FFt style still with those.

Ah lol.  Yeah I'm trying to keep it unique but hopefully get it within standards and *maybe* create a full spritesheet one day.
EDIT: Hey everyone, this is what I've got from tonight,  sheesh, who knew pixeling would take so much of my time, all fun though!

Could you post a normal sized portrait? My advice is to post a normal sized one and a 2 or 3 times bigger next to it. It won't take as much space. I would like to see normal size so I could fix up the eyebrow, scar and face line a little. I take it you are not finished with hair yet, so I will wait till later, just make sure to have LOTS of references opened up, that way you will be closer to mimicking FFT style.

Quote from: Kagebunji on July 27, 2011, 08:19:55 am
Could you post a normal sized portrait? My advice is to post a normal sized one and a 2 or 3 times bigger next to it. It won't take as much space. I would like to see normal size so I could fix up the eyebrow, scar and face line a little. I take it you are not finished with hair yet, so I will wait till later, just make sure to have LOTS of references opened up, that way you will be closer to mimicking FFT style.

Ah, okay here ya go (http://i54.tinypic.com/1zhh8j.png)

Small fixes on the face. I doubt you have finished fur, did you? If yes, then you will have to make it deeper, blend in with the clothes. Gaffgarion's fur should work very good. I would c/p his fur, flip horizontal and try to do something from there.

The scar seems too large, Kage. I think it needs more space like the one in ET's avatar.
The fur is a little bright but it looks great so far. Btw you have the sprite done or it's just a portrait???

Yeah, the scar. I remember a sprite from Naruto section that had a really good scar on his face. Maybe if I fnd it I will post it so you can see.

I see you started using the portrait as your avatar already. But it is far from being done, soldier. What strikes me the most is flat hair and fur. Here is a fur example(not quite good, but you ged the idea I hope)of how it should partially look. Your fur is very flat, not similiar to either this one or Gaffgarion's(you must heavily follow Gaffgarion, it is a good reference).

Another thing is the scar, it still looks weird. Scar is kinda hard to fit in for me, but here is a scar that Jimmy made long ago, and it looks damn perfect, follow this as a reference too.

Last thing is the hair, it is WAY too flat. Did you use some reference for it? Some character etc. If yes, please post, so we can see. You currently have no shading at all on the hair. To shade hair properly you need to have some Reference character, and once you get basic shapes down, you open many FFT ports that are at least a little similiar to your reference and start drawing. It will likely result in a better shading and will look close to FFT style.

Don't give up now. Once you polish this portrait, it will be pretty damn good.

Kage, you get those from the darkness part of the Naruto's forum ??
With these reference Phlashblazer could finish the portrait without problems.Btw the portrais has 16 colours,right??

Quote from: Kagebunji on July 29, 2011, 11:27:30 am
I see you started using the portrait as your avatar already. But it is far from being done, soldier. What strikes me the most is flat hair and fur. Here is a fur example(not quite good, but you ged the idea I hope)of how it should partially look. Your fur is very flat, not similiar to either this one or Gaffgarion's(you must heavily follow Gaffgarion, it is a good reference).

Another thing is the scar, it still looks weird. Scar is kinda hard to fit in for me, but here is a scar that Jimmy made long ago, and it looks damn perfect, follow this as a reference too.

Last thing is the hair, it is WAY too flat. Did you use some reference for it? Some character etc. If yes, please post, so we can see. You currently have no shading at all on the hair. To shade hair properly you need to have some Reference character, and once you get basic shapes down, you open many FFT ports that are at least a little similiar to your reference and start drawing. It will likely result in a better shading and will look close to FFT style.

Don't give up now. Once you polish this portrait, it will be pretty damn good.

Hey Kage, I haven't been on in awhile.  I realize that but I did it, just to do it :P.  I haven't given up, I just wanted to see how it looked as a portrait.  The hair is still a WIP, and I've been busy this week, good thing it'sthe weekend.  Kage, I really don't see what's wrong with the angle of the face, and I can easily adjust the hair to fit the angle.  I am going to keep pushing on the original, and thank you for the suggestions and references btw. :)

Quote from: Wolfran on July 27, 2011, 11:50:14 am
The scar seems too large, Kage. I think it needs more space like the one in ET's avatar.
The fur is a little bright but it looks great so far. Btw you have the sprite done or it's just a portrait???

Hi Wolfran, this is currently my only project I am working on.  I am trying to keep the 16 color limit true to the standards of the game and maintain a unique piece.

Yeah the feathers need some work, steal from gaf or squall, or that port kage posted, right now it looks like someone is spraying milk at him

Indeed, Wolf, I got those from Naruto section. It is no longer banned, so why not I guess.

Take your time with this, Phlash, sometimes it takes lot of time to do something, I am the best example hehe(Lenneth took me 6 months to complete). I don't know what you talk about with the angle of portrait, I never mentioned that anything is wrong with the angle, heh. All you should fix ASAP is the hair and fur. I also saw it is way over 16 colors. I would advise changing shirt color to the same one hair uses, you will save some. Another option is to fuse as many skin and hair color as possible, but later about the palette.

Quote from: GeneralStrife on July 29, 2011, 06:21:03 pm
Yeah the feathers need some work, steal from gaf or squall, or that port kage posted, right now it looks like someone is spraying milk at him

Lol definitely gonna use those resources you guys gave me and improve the fur, right now I'm still working on the hairstyling.

Quote from: Kagebunji on July 29, 2011, 06:33:47 pm
Indeed, Wolf, I got those from Naruto section. It is no longer banned, so why not I guess.

Take your time with this, Phlash, sometimes it takes lot of time to do something, I am the best example hehe(Lenneth took me 6 months to complete). I don't know what you talk about with the angle of portrait, I never mentioned that anything is wrong with the angle, heh. All you should fix ASAP is the hair and fur. I also saw it is way over 16 colors. I would advise changing shirt color to the same one hair uses, you will save some. Another option is to fuse as many skin and hair color as possible, but later about the palette.

Hey Kage xD yes I know that, I just want to finish this perfectly asap not only just to finish it, but to get critiqued and get better as fast as possible.  I like to give myself deadlines because I'm usually on a deadline and having pressure makes me feel sharper.  How did you check the color palette number, I tried earlier what someone suggested I do in photoshop which was Image>mode>colour palette, however the actual option to check it is greyed out.  I realized that I may have been over the limit, but I'll see what I can do.  I know it doesn't take 300 colors to make a great portrait xD.  I've gotta go, I've got an appt for the massage, I just wanted to keep ya guys posted.

Quote from: Phlashblazer on July 29, 2011, 07:48:20 pmthe actual option to check it is greyed out

Image mode needs to be a format with indexed color.

Quote from: lirmont on July 29, 2011, 10:11:30 pm
Image mode needs to be a format with indexed color.

xD Nice, I had to change it to 8 bit then I was able to format it to indexed colors... now to figure out what colors to keep -_-;; this is gonna be fun. 

Remember colors on the portrait are different than on the sprite itself. Look at the colors of lirmont's collar. Those actually look close to the same as the hair. The trick is to find a nice healthy combination of colors that complement each other well.
Also, gutsy going with an open mouth, the teeth actually don't look that bad. But I'm not the first and foremost in portraiting. I'd wait for Lijj or twin or kage.

Quote from: GeneralStrife on July 30, 2011, 12:57:39 am
Remember colors on the portrait are different than on the sprite itself. Look at the colors of lirmont's collar. Those actually look close to the same as the hair. The trick is to find a nice healthy combination of colors that complement each other well.
Also, gutsy going with an open mouth, the teeth actually don't look that bad. But I'm not the first and foremost in portraiting. I'd wait for Lijj or twin or kage.

Yep, workin on that.  So you're sayin I could use whatever colors I want on a portrait, but not the actual sprites?  *scratches head*  Heheh yeah, gutsys my middle name :).  Um if I can't use more than 16 colors I'll try to figure out how I'm gonna edit my actual colors... I hope i don't have to do them manually. :(  
Here's what I've got so far: (http://i.imgur.com/beUcW.png)(http://i.imgur.com/J3soH.png)
Going for a flared look, something that gives off a energetic tone.  Ya know, young, dumb, and dangerous.

And how many colors are you down to?

portrait's looking good so far, the thing that strikes me the most odd is the fur: i can't really tell if it's supposed to be a shoulder piece thing like gafgarrion's or if it goes across the chest...

Quote from: GeneralStrife on July 30, 2011, 01:53:46 am
And how many colors are you down to?

14 :)

Quote from: emptycanyon on July 30, 2011, 02:06:48 am
portrait's looking good so far, the thing that strikes me the most odd is the fur: i can't really tell if it's supposed to be a shoulder piece thing like gafgarrion's or if it goes across the chest...

Thanks, right... hmm, well... I've got a drawing and its supposed to be fur lining across his shoulder armor.  I've got something in mind now that I've done most of the hair.

The shading on hair is very chaotical, I get this feeling. Hair above the right eye is too linear as well.
And most important is that now the hair is too short, general rule is that you don't see whole head/hair on the portrait. You had the size of head proper in earlier concepts.
Open mouth is a good idea, Cid made by Twinees uses it too, maybe look at it and follow a little bit.
Fur seems better as well, but I still say using Gaffgarion's fur would be easier. Copy/paste Gaff's fur, "flip horizontal" it, and try something from there. Look at how well Gaffgarion's fur blends with the helm etc, there are no outlines at all.

Wow. I get busy for a week and come back to see a great start on a custom port. Nice work, Phlash. Keep it up. ^_^

Did some little work before I went to bed: (http://i.imgur.com/q3xyJ.png)(http://i.imgur.com/ZXUgV.png)
Need to work on the fur a little bit more.  gn!

Would you mind posting normal size? I will show you what I mean about head size.

I like how it looks now, specially the scar is a great improvement. But that smile doesn't work, it shows too much teeth.

Yeah, go closed mouth, open mouth ports look weird always cause they were never used, it's hard to make them work.

Quote from: Wolfran on July 30, 2011, 04:16:18 pm
I like how it looks now, specially the scar is a great improvement. But that smile doesn't work, it shows too much teeth.

Thanks, I'm gonna have to work some more on the smile, it's definitely part of this characters demeanor and personality.  The smile reflects his yearning for battle and unwavering attitude.

Quote from: GeneralStrife on July 30, 2011, 04:29:44 pm
Yeah, go closed mouth, open mouth ports look weird always cause they were never used, it's hard to make them work.

Hm, I know how open mouth ports can be difficult to make, but I'm gonna keep the smile, it's just something this character has to have.

If you're going to keep the smile, at least don't make it look like a flat line. Try bending it a little. Perhaps take out the bottom right-hand pixel of the teeth to start?

looks like a lycan
looks amazing =)

Heh, indeed, he has something of a savage look that makes him seem as a Lycan.

Wereyak!

Quote from: RandMuadDib on August 22, 2011, 05:50:38 pm
Wereyak!

O_O XDD