The VG Resource

What am I doing



[spoiler=Explanation:]
Basically, me and Gors talked and he admitted that Bombergirl was outdated, and Bloom represents me better. I felt like trying to sprite in this style and I was considering making her full-on playable. If she was included, it would mean that A) Bombergirl would probably be rendered as an unlockable or something (if it's possible in Tom's engine) and B) I'd be in the game twice, which I'm not sure if anyone cares about that or not. Even if she doesn't end up in the game I am just doing this for fun either way.
[/spoiler]


So with that out of the way... The biggest thing I need some help with is her petal skirt because it doesn't seem to mesh too well at this size (and also would be a nightmare for me to animate). I also feel like she's not quite in-style but I can't place why. Maybe it's just me...

As usual, any C+C of any level of harshness is appreciated~

Yo!
Seems legit.

It looks alright so far

here's some pointers:
1) too much AA; the style almost never uses AA. if you ever feel like you really need it to smooth out your lines, I'd actually suggest changing your lines first
2) the skirt looks awkwardly placed, probably because the petals on our right look like they're sinking; I think you should probably lift both right petals by a single pixel, then lift the rightmost petal by one more pixel (couldn't think of a good way to phrase that lol)
3) might want to also try experimenting with not outlining the tops of the petals, so they feel more connected to the rest of the shirt/dress/whatever the top part would be called
4) meanwhile, the pink gem on the chest could probably stand to be outlined or something; the petals on the gem especially are hard to see against the dark green

It's a good start, you imitated the style from Jetters' sprite almost spot-on. However, the silhouette/pose isn't very readable. Everything is compact and squashed together. So I made an edit:

I used some women from other games as references, especially Jubilee from MvC. Notice how their bodies in the latter three frames are broken down into parts of different colours? Not only that, but also how colours group things (e.g. Jubilee's shorts and her boots) or distinguish them (Cammy's red fists against her blue suit). That, along with a clear silhouette (which is helped by little breathing spaces - check out the one between Lilith's arm and her waist/hip, or what's happening with Jubilee's raised arm) will make your sprite more readable.
The hair (?) was rather long on your original so I shortened it. I changed the dress in regards to what I said about colour.

I hope it helps!

Some of this may have been stated already, but:

-I thing she looks too chunky and large (not that I have anything against chunky/large individuals), at least judging from your reference. Particularly, she just seems too wide on her upper torso. I'd make that part thinner
then let the skirt part fan out. I think she could be shorter, though maybe it's because Bombergirl just looks so petite in comparison.

-once more, judging from your reference, the skirt seems too low and the boots too high.

-The leg placement is kind of awkward, they seem kind of backwards?
Her left leg should be the one angled forth, the right more sideways.

-I think you're better off emphasizing either the petal emblem on her chest or the jewel, but both at the same time aren't working out.

(Guess Chris' edit covered a lot of these!)

This is totally subjective, but design-wise, it bothers me a bit that her pigtails are of the same color as her face. Kind of makes it seems as if they were made out of her own skin, which is a creepy thought. I would probably differentiate them by making her "skin" light green or something, and keeping her hair just as it is. You might not be willing to do that kind of change, I'd imagine, so just do what you gotta do.

I suggest making her a little bit smaller, if it fits her design. It would make animating easier.

I also had a slight suggestion for the face, if that's okay with you


Edit:
Oh, and what Iocus said, the feet in this pose are kinda backwards.

i know i'm not so good spriter and well known.
but she looks a bit big.
the way she is now she is a few bits taller than gors.
also you are taking a character slot,from someone who could try entering this.

(05-31-2014, 03:24 PM)awesome jitter Wrote: [ -> ]also you are taking a character slot,from someone who could try entering this.

Are you concerned about how there wouldn't be enough characters to use in the game? Relax, buddy! I think there's room for plenty more characters in this game. Besides, considering how much of an impact Mighty has made to the community, I don't think anyone has any objections if her character joins the fray.

so how many characters will the final roster have?

Well, I think it depends on how many the game engine could hold and how many wish to apply.

In the previous thread, I believe there were at least thirty members applying to be in the game; however, I only see about fifteen characters that are currently applying. I'm sure that the number will increase once more users apply and the older characters get back to being updated, though.

Speaking of which, in one of my Skype conversations with Star, I shown him that this game is back in business and he was interested in joining it again!

Related to roster size, it's open to all who follow the guidelines, but here's what I picture as the Version 1 lineup based on their completed sheets and activity:

Gilbert, Vipershark, Ocksford, Neko, C2B, Metaru, Chaoxys, Sol, [robo9], MightyJetters (in whichever character is most complete by completion time), and maybe one or two others if their sheets are completed. Any others will probably be added Street Fighter 2: the New Challengers style.

Back on topic, Bloom is pretty much the top of my most-wanted playable characters for TFR. I really hope we can see her complete one day soon.

Hmm I can't work on it right now since I'm not at home but I can at least reply.

@Kitsu: I was concerned about using too much AA, though I was also using other sprites for reference (for example Gillian's which you can see on the spriting tutorial -- her hair used AA in some spots that didn't seem necessary to me). I also know some sprites tend to have some pretty jaggy places as well, but for her pigtails I just couldn't stand it... I think I could make it look better without needing a bunch of AA though.

@Chris: I definitely agree about the silhouette spacing stuff, I just didn't want to make her arms look too long compared to her body (especially the frontmost arm). I'm gonna play around with her flower jewel and see what I can do about it... As for those edits, her 'tails might seem too long, but don't the mini-tails make her look much younger than she is (since it seems to give the illusion that they aren't fully grown-in)? I might not make them much shorter than they are now but I'll surely mess around with 'em. For the dress and skirt, I'll have to mess around with that as well.

@Iocus: One thing I feel I should mention is that since she's a Mega Man fan character (thus a robot) she doesn't have actual "hair" -- more, she treats her antennas like hair. Personally I never thought that idea to be creepy, but oh well heheh. As for the proportions, I feel I should also mention that her current artwork is not totally accurate (I need to make better art for her sometime...). She does however seem a little wide, looking at it again. I also think she is supposed to be a bit taller than Bombergirl since she's really short, but I'll mess with that. The skirt and "boots" height difference is definitely a bit off, I just had trouble not making her legs look too short.

@Ploaj: I like a lot of the proportion edits you made! I had actually experimented with giving her little cheeks but I felt that it made her look too cutesy, which doesn't really fit her personality (spunky 13-year-old).
I knew the legs looks off -- it probably looked backwards cause the skirt was covering them. I was going for what it looks like your edit pulls off; bent hip stance where the weight in more on the straightened leg (which is facing diagonal-forward) and the other one be out a bit more diagonally (which is facing sideways). However I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't convey that properly, whether they were covered up or not. :p

Sorry if that was lengthy, and I hope it doesn't look like I'm trying to counter any points made -- I definitely want to work on this and there is lots of valuable criticism here that I will take to heart

Thanks guys!

---

(05-31-2014, 03:24 PM)awesome jitter Wrote: [ -> ]but she looks a bit big.

That's been pointed out already, I'll see what I can do about it.

(05-31-2014, 03:24 PM)awesome jitter Wrote: [ -> ]the way she is now she is a few bits taller than gors.
also you are taking a character slot,from someone who could try entering this.

hey bro I stated in the OP that I'm not totally sure if I'm going to make her a playable or not, just strongly considering it

and I also stated that if possible, my other character could be an unlockable, so I wouldn't be taking up any regular spaces on the roster. And if not, then I'd be willing to scrap the idea, and just make the sprites for fun (as was my main reasoning for doing it anyway)

(05-31-2014, 05:21 PM)Mighty Jetters Wrote: [ -> ]@Iocus: One thing I feel I should mention is that since she's a Mega Man fan character (thus a robot) she doesn't have actual "hair" -- more, she treats her antennas like hair. Personally I never thought that idea to be creepy, but oh well heheh. As for the proportions, I feel I should also mention that her current artwork is not totally accurate (I need to make better art for her sometime...). She does however seem a little wide, looking at it again. I also think she is supposed to be a bit taller than Bombergirl since she's really short, but I'll mess with that. The skirt and "boots" height difference is definitely a bit off, I just had trouble not making her legs look too short.

It's really not a big deal, but I'd like to point out, just for the record, that Mega Man and Roll have "hair", heh. I was going to say Splash Woman, but on closer inspection, it's more of a helmet...in any case it just seem the face-scalp interface for Megaman characters is well defined. There are some exceptions like Cutman though, so I guess it's nothing more than coincidence.

I figured the reference was a tad outdated, but it's what I had to go by...I'm sure you'll be able to get on the right track with everyone's suggestions and examples though, so just keep at it!

(05-31-2014, 05:21 PM)Mighty Jetters Wrote: [ -> ]

(05-31-2014, 03:24 PM)awesome jitter Wrote: [ -> ]the way she is now she is a few bits taller than gors.
also you are taking a character slot,from someone who could try entering this.

hey bro I stated in the OP that I'm not totally sure if I'm going to make her a playable or not, just strongly considering it

and I also stated that if possible, my other character could be an unlockable, so I wouldn't be taking up any regular spaces on the roster. And if not, then I'd be willing to scrap the idea, and just make the sprites for fun (as was my main reasoning for doing it anyway)

Well, this is a silly thing to say. This is not Smash Bros., as far as I know, this project isn't running on a deadline. Additionally, everybody has to do their own character's resources, so the only way a new character sways the game progress is by programming workload.
Considering the current working build is made with a premade engine, I doubt it's too much of a burden to add an extra character, especially if somebody went through the trouble of making all the graphics for it. Also, if Fighter Maker is anything like MUGEN, then I don't think there is even a limit to how many characters can be added (though I'm sure the community is going to want to call this "done" someday.)

oh it's about time I posted some progress huh

[attachment=4377]

Experimented with a few different arm/leg positions. You can probably tell that I'm aiming for a sassy, yet slightly lady-like stance.

also that petal skirt was a nightmare




[spoiler]NOTE TO SELF: ADD HER DAMN WINGS NEXT UPDATE[/spoiler]

It's looking better! I still think you can do a couple of things:

I made her arms longer as they seemed a bit short, and I changed her boots and arms to red. Also lowered the boot to make the thigh more readable.