[TygerX7]

HI!. well im back again asking question hahaha, ok, first, im sorry if this is not the right section for asking such things but it has to do with designing, so i came here..

Well before the question, i would like to say, that im thinking of making a 2D fighting game by the end of 2010, im still reading the basics of C++ since i chosen to make the game using C++ and visual basic(still not sure, but C++ will be involved). So i was thinking of making 6 characters, i already have the idea written down, an my best friend is making a few sketches of them,(i asked for front, back and side), i made my first sprite, in his main stance an taking damage;
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i want them like that small, but thats just a prototype for that model, the sprite refrence i use is from the game "FIRE PRO WRESTLING" and "Rival School"(i know its 3D but i found a 2D sprite of my favorite character.

ok now my question, can i do all this is photoshop? the design the coloring, the background an all the life bar an all that, why phtooshop? well because i been using it since 2005, im use to everything in photoshop, i tried GIMP, but didnt get a good enough feel to do everything there. also, i would like to know if there are tutorials on sprite creating, for all the animation of jumping, blocking, crouch, dash, vanishing etc.... and ... this is a long shot, if anyone would be willing to help me make these sprites by the time i have read and understood C++ in the beginers level and once my best friend finishes her sketches. ofcourse, any help designing the game, be it codes, background, music, sound effect an all that, will be fully credited in the final product, with name, A.K.A's and personal website if the helpers want that.

again, sorry if this is the wrong place...

[Lemur]

Sprite creation is mainly pixel based, photoshop is overkill. Try something like Graphics Gale and look into sprite tutorials on rpg maker forums, they tend to be relevant.

[TygerX7]

graphic gale? but if i got photoshop already.. cs4 to be exact, an i never heard of Graphic Gale... but i will check google to see whats it, an rpg maker? i have heard of it, its a game right?

[Casundrum]

TygerX7, on 29 Dec, 2009 - 07:38 PM, said:

graphic gale? but if i got photoshop already.. cs4 to be exact, an i never heard of Graphic Gale... but i will check google to see whats it, an rpg maker? i have heard of it, its a game right?

RPG Maker was a point and click WYSIWYG style game creation tool. It had no real programming relevance until XP came out and you could make custom scripts with RUBY I believe it was. But it has a complete setup available for making characters, importing your own, making combat, and such things as that. It's functionality was, for the most part, very limited however.

[TygerX7]

i see, but u saw my small prototype, will it help me do that kinda pixel art, or will it be more flat over the top kinda view, like the old rpg...

[Lemur]

RMXP or RMVX (I believe that's the latest) have scripting capabilities so you can make whatever but most of the base elements like levels and sprite imports are auto handled.

[TygerX7]

confusing, but ok, im still reading the book for beginners in C++ but the breaks i take, i just doodle a few ideas an write more about what i want, but i ask u this, i was checking a tutorial in some page(not saying the page, they might band me O.o), an they talked about the Sprite Spread sheet, an how about eliminating the 2nd of each frame u get still a decent animation but not as smooth as the real console games, so i was thinking... depending on the actions i want for each player, the set of frame should not be much, like for jumping, goes from Stance>semi-crouch>legs extended an air bourned> lading(same frame as crouch)>stance... u think something like that would look smooth enough to pass as decent? cuz i can edit nearly anything in this world, but to create each thing... tuff for me *sad*, cuz i use refrence sprites, but they are all mixed depending on what i look for, like i had to use some sprite doing a shoulder push with another sprites stance and another sprites lading down, to make my small animation of doing a shoulder push(special), looks decent, but a bit to fast in animation(using phtoshop animating tool)... but i guess all this will be fixed with the timing in c++ gaming... or im i mistaken?

ok, also to edit this, i will put the shoulder push, thought my friend says, it looks more like a dodge, but its cuz i made it animated, once i get into the program, an the... whats its called, oh , collision detection, i will make it stop on impact to make it look more powerful, like ryus shinshuruyken(his 3 hit special dragon punch which is a demon to take)

thats just the block(but nothing is set in stone, i might change it once i get the hang of pixel artist)

this is the push, i added fading shadows to add more to the emphasis that its going fast an hard, like johny cage from mortal kombat an that green shadow(i dont like the character but i love that effect)

This post has been edited by TygerX7: 30 December 2009 - 02:54 AM

[Choscura]

among other things, you want the running+attacking graphics to be stationary. In essence, you want the graphic to be the same size as normal and the sprites location to move according to the attack, and each frame of the attack animation to be played in the correct sequence along the way.

Also, I use photoshop whenever I do (mess around with?) sprites: it works, but it's incredibly overkill. The whole reason you use photoshop is for big raster (pixel) image jobs: artwork, photography, etc: things where you need advanced tools to do very specific things to large images efficiently. On a small scale, using photoshop is absolutely useless compared to a simple (brain-dead?) image editor like microsoft paint. the only real complaint I have about microsoft paint is it's limited color palate, but at the same time I manually choose my colors in photoshop too, so it's not a big deal.

[Fib]

Yes photoshop is a huge overkill, BUT if you are familiar with photoshop then you might as well use it. It's not like photoshop is incapable of making small basic sprites, it just wasn't intended for it.

Also, I think you should take a look at this website:
So You Want To Be A Pixel Artist?

I think it is a perfect read for you. It has a lot of content about character animation in there. That whole website is a good read, but you should especially check out 8, 9, 10, and 11 in the navigation area.

Oh and yes, you can create all the graphics in your games with photoshop. Although, for animating, you might want to check out Flash CS4 instead. You can create your characters in photoshop in the basic positions(front standing, right side standing, left side standing), then you can import those images into Flash. Then in Flash, you can use the bone tool to very easily manipulate your image into the key animation frames and Flash will create the rest of the frames for you. Then you can export each frame individually, then arrange those images into a sprite sheet. It sounds very tedious and complicated, but it is a ton easier than creating each frame from scratch each time. It's just a suggestion.

[Eric115]

Hi, I have been drawing pixel art for a number of years now and i have found that for me using paint was a great program for it. The only problem is that it is not as powerful as photoshop and can not do transparent colors. I have tried using photoshop on several occasions and i have found that for pixel art i prefer paint ( unless i need transparent colors). If your wondering where i learn't to draw pixel art i taught myself using websites like Habbo hotel for inspiration(have a look how they did it).
Well i hope i helped. Good luck.

This post has been edited by Eric115: 13 January 2010 - 09:21 PM