Resembling A Real Character Sprite

[buhalda]

From your best judgement, does my character resemble the already existent character on the left or am I safe to use this? I was really referencing that image which is from a real game and I tried to change it up with my own creative twist to it. I just dont want this to create problems if I post my game publicly(itll be free)...

 

[Carnivius]

I would recognise it as being inspired by Link there but maybe that's cos Link's Awakening is my fave Zelda game ever (with Link ot the Past close behind) and those sprites are burned into my very soul. To be fair it's difficult to do much more with that 'chibi' style in 16x16 so people might let you off but they likely will still feel it's very much an edit of Link there.

 

[DKR_87]

I think these two look nothing alike and I would never think one of them was based on the other. I think you're definitely fine.

 

[Niels]

When you have such small sprites there are only so many places you place pixels... wouldn't worry about copyrights

 

[hogwater]

You chopped off the hat and added 15 pixels. I wouldn't exactly call that a creative twist. Why not try and make your own sprite?

 

[RangerX]

I think it very much look alike. I would try and personalise this more.

 

[sitebender]

Seems like Dragon Warrior to me. I see nothing wrong with it other than its generic.

 

[Widget]

I think it looks obviously traced. Think about the dimensions you have - now that you got rid of the hat, you have one extra pixel at the top. Could move the head upwards or increase head size.

When you try to build on top of something pre-existing then make alterations sometimes you'll say to yourself "that doesn't look right". It might do fundamentally, but think about it in the context of an original piece and not something that's supposed to look like another sprite then you'll see it actually looks fine and you've made it closer to something original .

 

[buhalda]

Heres a few more images if that helps. I didn't realize that this topic would be so debated. Pretty much out of my whole game everything can be seen that it was made by me originally (similar to the Zelda graphics but noticeably different) but I chose this for comparison because this is the closest image that resembles the art. And yes it is true at this small scale of 16p by 16p theres really not much room for anything different, and any character you draw honestly in this small box will still end up looking alot like the Zelda character lol! I really did try to add my own unique features to the image like the robe/pajamas he is in, notice the ears are missing and hes in long sleeves and bald. Also keep in mind he does not have a sword or anything like from Zelda and the game mechanics are totally different from Zelda, like if you played my version and the Zelda game, you will notice the huge differences like collisions, inventory, weapons, sfx, music, interactions etc. The only thing I realized is very close is this set of movement graphics for the main character so thats why Im a bit worried. Any more opinions? If so, what would I have to change? And keep in mind this game will be free and I will allow anyone to redistribute/modify it if they want.
...besides do they even sell that game anymore because I feel its so old no one would care...

 

[bobula13]

I would recognise it as being inspired by Link there but maybe that's cos Link's Awakening is my fave Zelda game ever (with Link ot the Past close behind) and those sprites are burned into my very soul. To be fair it's difficult to do much more with that 'chibi' style in 16x16 so people might let you off but they likely will still feel it's very much an edit of Link there.

I'm with Carnivius on this one, in that there is only so much you can do with the 16x16 style you're going for. The only suggestions I can think of is to try adding some subtle shading on his head and robe, something like a light brown and purple. You could also get rid of the black outline and replace that with lighter versions of the colors.

Besides, in my humble opinion, there are so many games out there (free and paid) that use the exact same style of art for their characters just with subtle differences.

 

[buhalda]

So far...

 

[RichHopefulComposer]

Very obvious it's an edit (for the front sprite. Not as much with the other ones). I couldn't see you ever getting sued for it, but people might side eye you for it.

I'd try drawing it again without looking at Zelda's art. You'll probably come up with something different enough to make the comparisons stop.

The rest of the art looks unique, though!

 

[buhalda]

I mean I tried but with this small size, adding a single pixel is like adding an extra arm to the character...not sure what to do else

 

[RichHopefulComposer]

I mean I tried but with this small size, adding a single pixel is like adding an extra arm to the character...not sure what to do else

Your character's sillhouette is an *exact* copy of Link's, which is an iconic shape. Have you tried redrawing it without looking at Nintendo's art like I suggested? I really doubt you'll end up with the same exact sprite without having a reference open to the side of it.

 

[Khao]

Honestly, the "there's not much you can do with 16x16" in this case sounds more like an excuse than anything else. Yes, the drawing area is extremely limited, and there's not many different ways to do create single unique character. But there's not even remotely close to one right way to do it. Your character has the exact same dimensions, proportions, and pose as Link, even when comparing them pixel by pixel, to the point it's basically instantly recognizable as being just a modification.

Try learning from the sprite instead of just copying it. Use it as inspiration, but don't let it dictate exactly what you should do. There's a ton of different ways to give a character personality and making it unique. Imitation is actually pretty good for practice, but you should definitely go for something original once you manage to understand how it's done. Just try to do something different from scratch instead of modifying what you already have. You might even surprise yourself at the results!

 

[RangerX]

Exactly the type of posts I was lazy to make.
I've been an active game for all the while characters were made of 16x16 sprites and yes most games did look vastly different!

 

[buhalda]

I took your guy's word and completely, from scratch, top to bottom, without a reference, made this new sprite sheet for my character. Even after remaking it I still can see how it looks like some already existing characters like from Khao's post, but I need your guy's opinion if this is fine? Btw thanks for your guy's responses, I appreciate it.

 

[RangerX]

This looks better and more personalised.