Graphics Pixel-Art: In your opinion are they good?

FoxyOfJungle

Kazan Games
Hello, I have a problem. My friend and I are making a platform game about business for Android and Windows, a game where you need to build a wild mall (all 2d). I am the programmer who makes all the logic of the game, and my friend makes the art of the game, I told him that he can do it any way he likes, but the main problem is that he is unmotivated by the fact that he does not like what he is drawing, he believes that his sprites are ugly, so I came here to ask for a humble opinion regarding the images below, I will be very grateful to anyone who can give a sincere opinion about.

P.S: I increased the size of the sprites 2x for better viewing.


# 1 - Some Tileset: Is this good?





# 2 - Characters: Is this good?




Little update:





Another little update: (I made the change in 1 min, so I didn't pay as much attention to the colors)

After / Before:






# 3 - Comparation: Do you prefer 1 or 2?



I told him I was going to ask for an opinion on the forum, so I need feedback.
Thank you so much.
 
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Zizka

Member
Who’s ever 100% satisfied with their art? It’s good, it’ll drive him to always strive to improve. Speaking of « good », it’s so subjective and it really depends on your point of comparison. Browse around pixel joint for a bit and it’ll likely change your perception as to what is good and what it’s isn’t.

If he doesn’t like what he does, I doubt other people will sway his opinion. Besides, some people might think what he does isn’t good. It’s a matter of opinion and tastes. If he really likes doing what he does, he’ll keep on going and constantly improve. There’s no reason to worry here. I restarted the same piece 24 times before, it happens.

If I were to honestly say, I think the green platform is his best piece. The characters’ eyes bother me. The contrast of the eyes is so high it’s all I can see.

Good luck with your project!
 

FoxyOfJungle

Kazan Games
I think your art is great. Hard to say about tile set without seeing a sample level.

#2 fits with the other characters.
Thanks for helping giving your opinion ^^
What did you mean by "fits with the other characters."?



Who’s ever 100% satisfied with their art? It’s good, it’ll drive him to always strive to improve. Speaking of « good », it’s so subjective and it really depends on your point of comparison. Browse around pixel joint for a bit and it’ll likely change your perception as to what is good and what it’s isn’t.

If he doesn’t like what he does, I doubt other people will sway his opinion. Besides, some people might think what he does isn’t good. It’s a matter of opinion and tastes. If he really likes doing what he does, he’ll keep on going and constantly improve. There’s no reason to worry here. I restarted the same piece 24 times before, it happens.

If I were to honestly say, I think the green platform is his best piece. The characters’ eyes bother me. The contrast of the eyes is so high it’s all I can see.

Good luck with your project!
Thanks for your text, it helped to get some insights. I understand that what may be good for some may not be for others, the problem is that since I am not very good with pixel art, I would have to get someone else to make the game art. The eyes, I gave him this suggestion, maybe if only leaving the black dot is better? I had told him that it would be okay to get bad initially, because over time it could get better. It's a complicated situation because I really wanted to do the game, I think I will have to learn to do everything myself :(
 

Toque

Member
Thanks for helping giving your opinion ^^
What did you mean by "fits with the other characters."?

the characters look good together.




Thanks for your text, it helped to get some insights. I understand that what may be good for some may not be for others, the problem is that since I am not very good with pixel art, I would have to get someone else to make the game art. The eyes, I gave him this suggestion, maybe if only leaving the black dot is better? I had told him that it would be okay to get bad initially, because over time it could get better. It's a complicated situation because I really wanted to do the game, I think I will have to learn to do everything myself :(
I mean the characters look good together.
 
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Zizka

Member
I personally like the eyes better like this. What if someone says they like the other eyes better though? ;) You’ll need to decide what you think will look best.
If you end up having to do everything, I recommend starting very small in scope.
 

Chaser

Member
I think these a pretty cool, would be interesting to see up against the background level, there’s a lot of black in the characters, I know they are acting as definitions, but they could be lowered to help them stand out a bit more, against a background of let’s say a cave, or level with darkened tones may spoil the characters depth, what colour palette are you using?
 

FoxyOfJungle

Kazan Games
I think these a pretty cool, would be interesting to see up against the background level, there’s a lot of black in the characters, I know they are acting as definitions, but they could be lowered to help them stand out a bit more, against a background of let’s say a cave, or level with darkened tones may spoil the characters depth, what colour palette are you using?
It would really be interesting to lower the black level in the sprites, it's a great tip, thank you!

The palette I'm using is this:



And thanks: Toque, pixeltroid and Zizka.
I will pass the information to him to know what he thinks. :)
 

FoxyOfJungle

Kazan Games
I made this change very quickly, just to test it, did it get better? I used your tip and it looks better than before by my vision. :)



AFTER | BEFORE

 

Cpaz

Member
I liked the characters with the iris inside the white color. It helps me understand where the character is looking. Very good art.
Personally, I disagree. The white eyes with iris' make the eyes look too big (or uncanny???) imo.
I think ultimately it's going to come down to personal preference, but especially since these are animals we're talking about, most of which aren't known for the whites in their eyes, the smaller, single color, eyes seem to work better.

I made this change very quickly, just to test it, did it get better? I used your tip and it looks better than before by my vision. :)



AFTER | BEFORE

I also find this chance fascinating. It's not something you normally think about, but it's effective.
I do have a question: is the outline a single color now? Or just very low levels of the colors used before?
 

FoxyOfJungle

Kazan Games
Personally, I disagree. The white eyes with iris' make the eyes look too big (or uncanny???) imo.
I think ultimately it's going to come down to personal preference, but especially since these are animals we're talking about, most of which aren't known for the whites in their eyes, the smaller, single color, eyes seem to work better.


I also find this chance fascinating. It's not something you normally think about, but it's effective.
I do have a question: is the outline a single color now? Or just very low levels of the colors used before?
Thank you!
I picked the pixel nearby colors and replaced them with colors with less brightness (darker, the hue is the same or close).
 

Zizka

Member
Just to be clear, do you intend to tackle both the programming and the art by yourself? I can speak from experience here.
Trying to improve at pixel art requires time and a lot of practice. If you have no experience, you’ll need to learn pixel art to a degree that is commercially desirable, design your game, program it and draw the assets for it. I don’t know if you realise how crushing the amount of work this entails. Changing certain aspects of someone else’s art is one thing. Creating things from scratch is another. You’ll also need to learn how to animate which is time consuming and takes some more time to learn. Oh you’ll also need to do your own play testing, bug fixing etc...

If you intend to do all of the above, I think you’re going straight into a wall. I very strongly recommend hiring people who have skills you don’t. People who are gifted at many things are very rare. Focus on your strength and find help for the rest.

I reiterate that you should hire people (pay them). I have never heard of long term commitment for profit share project and I have been following indie games for years. I have tried to work as a group based on future profit share and not once did it ever work out. Paying stings a little but at least payed services are reliable and of good quality. What you’ll lose on money you’ll gain by saving time and countless frustrations.

I realise you’ll maybe try to tackle everything on your own or recruit free talent but I’ve been there and hope I can save you a lot of wasted time and effort by sharing my experiences.
 

FoxyOfJungle

Kazan Games
Just to be clear, do you intend to tackle both the programming and the art by yourself? I can speak from experience here.
Trying to improve at pixel art requires time and a lot of practice. If you have no experience, you’ll need to learn pixel art to a degree that is commercially desirable, design your game, program it and draw the assets for it. I don’t know if you realise how crushing the amount of work this entails. Changing certain aspects of someone else’s art is one thing. Creating things from scratch is another. You’ll also need to learn how to animate which is time consuming and takes some more time to learn. Oh you’ll also need to do your own play testing, bug fixing etc...

If you intend to do all of the above, I think you’re going straight into a wall. I very strongly recommend hiring people who have skills you don’t. People who are gifted at many things are very rare. Focus on your strength and find help for the rest.

I reiterate that you should hire people (pay them). I have never heard of long term commitment for profit share project and I have been following indie games for years. I have tried to work as a group based on future profit share and not once did it ever work out. Paying stings a little but at least payed services are reliable and of good quality. What you’ll lose on money you’ll gain by saving time and countless frustrations.

I realise you’ll maybe try to tackle everything on your own or recruit free talent but I’ve been there and hope I can save you a lot of wasted time and effort by sharing my experiences.
Thank you for spending your experience here. We have reached an agreement and are working on the game.



These characters are truly awesome, I would buy them. I am not into the details (eyes, ears, etc), at the first look it got me.
I am grateful to know that you liked. (^^)
 

Joe Ellis

Member
In reply to the first post, I really like the characters, they look really cute, and good
The background part looks good in it's layout, but could use some more detail in the middle

Yeah artists are always really critical of their own work, but normally for good reason, cus they can always make things better. When they reach a point where not even they can say anything bad about it, that's when they've got it perfect :)
 
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