2D Pixel World
Hi, B.M here and I thought I'd open a personal blog where I can freely post my 2D pixel artwork. This blog here is mainly for my personal journey. It's mainly so I can keep track of what I want to do. Now I am super lazy when it comes to things. When I make games or stories they ain't made or targeted towards anyone but myself. Most people wouldn't even get my sense of humor.
Here is a big 2D sprite model I created. When working with various game engines you cannot fit "large scaled" 2D art into them so instead you must take the Chibi approach.
Over the 2016-2017 I tried and tried to make my own custom sprites as I am rather fond of the RPG Maker Game Engine. I noticed that it was quite hard to get what you wanted. It is design & Illustration, web publishing software developed by Kadokawa. You can get it for $69.99. The engine is quite simple to use. Only you can add more to the game with codes. And if you buy it I would suggest making a game.
I finally was able to make sprites that looked just about right. Slim arms, I couldn't do much about the legs but they looked just about right. Really I wanted slim legs but it just didn't look nice when I did it. So first I started out with Unity, a program I thought would work wonders but lagged again, I should have guessed from the start that it wouldn't work out which is why I have large sprites because I had an idea which went pear shaped. So I moved back to RPG MAKER.
Someone I know (in person) told me that the sprites are just too small. So I did some online research and found a code/script which allows you to zoom more closer to the characters.
When I was looking at my last games The Vintage Girl & Stingerz which were short based. They were supposed to have been "long running" episodes with full voice-over but I at the time just couldn't be asked. But it is not that easy as you think, you cannot just make something. You have to have help or hire someone. Rina Mizura Adachi who did voice-over for my characters also once told me that the screen is small and she asked how to enlarge it. Which was basically "Alt + Enter" but it still didn't do the game any justice. Because in a game I wanna see the sprites close up. That is what I want. I don't care what anyone else wants in a game it's more or less what I want. Looking back at my earlier attempts for example Sweet & Sour and then Babysitting the Brat I just kept making typos and errors in the game dialogue script and I just thought to hell with it.
You see scripts are vital to the game engine and I'm only finding out them by researching online. Like how do you input a basic menu system? You know because I don't want a RPG game I want to make a story game. I'm not good with fantasy type games.
I've been doing an awful lot of pixel art. And every time I try to advance the art in which uses blocks I cannot seem to. I don't draw the image then sprite it instead I just sprite it using the blocks.
Attention to detail is also needed. And when using colors you can add like several as if you were painting but then it's like if the character were to turn would you be able to duplicate that? Or would the sprite art look better if it was just simple.
There are so many art styles to choose from when making sprites. It's more or less what works best with the character. I'm not going to say I'm some kind of expert but I know my fair share. I want to work on something similar to past creations only a little different. I want to put more time and effort into making something. It'd be the same story, but first I have to "think" of a story. It's like what direction will I take with my "original" character creations? What will they do? Will there be voice-over? Where will I go with the plot? What will happen? I've done everything with sprites. Animated talking sprites featuring Gigi and Lemon and also even a pixel based comic strip which annoyed the hell out of me. The stories were just random, in reality I started something I just couldn't finish and the effort put into making it killed me because I started it and forced myself to finish it. There were a few palette issues with that one. Now just to add the idea I have in mind may "never" come to light. It's an idea floating around, it's like do I really want to put all my time and effort into making something? And that's mainly one of the main issues. It's obviously freeware but then again that being said would I be able to make a change? Will the new scripts make a difference? And in the end it all comes down to the story. Where am I going? What will I do? Where will I get the inspiration needed. And last out of everything is how much will it cost? I'd rather it cost $0 to make something. So I'd rather do all the sprites myself. I brought Resource Packs from Degica so why not use them. It's like when I brought a MP3 album from Amazon I thought was it really worth it? So I just started listening to the music every day or so and then I thought yeah it was worth it. So yes using sources or material that you paid for should satisfy me. In all honesty I prefer free materials but I'd rather make my own. And that is why if I planned on creating another story based game it would take a while because you have to make the character sprites.
One early idea which was scrapped was a parody of Lela Lee's Angry Little Asian Girl - LOL! I am totally obsessed with that franchise. I always poke fun at Lela Lee when I can because her series inspired me a few years ago - I love it! I don't know it just made me so happy. I thought OMG! An Asian female version of South Park. So yeah the character was going to be a stereotypical "angry" director and she was going to be called Little Angry Korean Girl. But I'd be scared to joke around as Lela Lee is known to throw copyright infringement letters because she is very protective over her franchise. But yeah that was one of my ideas or jokes. People don't understand me when I joke, they sometimes take me serious. But then again Lela Lee is one of those "many" people in the limelight even though she doesn't get much work anymore she's still doing her thing. And yes she has weird views and does weird things but she's a pretty cool woman and a full time mommy. It's a shame nobody really caught on to her series... I was like the only one who understood it. I'm not some crazy fan who'd be addicted because there are many things out there. But yeah I really loved what I saw and now it is time to move on.
Spriting became a hobby to me. I could always doodle or draw but I was never really that good. But with sprites it's more easier to know where you are going and it's kinda hard to make mistakes like drawing. Someone actually taught me how to sprite. I knew there were many different kinds of sprites out there but I never quite knew how easy it was to make them. And yes my sprites are in mine and only my style of art.
I can do more than just sprites I can also sprite backgrounds. You can even get help from source materials. And no there is nothing wrong in that.
One of the first sprites I remember playing with before the one above was Gigi's cousin Mint's bedroom. I used Flash for the first part then another editor. The animation was supposed to be fully Flash created but it didn't go to plan but I always had a back-up plan.
Here is Gigi's alternative sprite. With a more princess feel to it, more thick make-up. All the characters eyebrows are brand new - screw the curly eyebrows.
And last but not least here is Mrs P aka Pepper's sprite with a more Cleopatra VII feel to it. Apart from this project I was also working on a GRID (think of Chess) battle game featuring original characters. I'm not too sure about it as the project corrupted in Unity. It basically used the ORK Framework but a major error occurred which stopped me from finishing my idea. So basically it is back to the drawing board. The sprites I created were really pretty and I really did put a lot of time and effort into making them. So yeah this brand new blog which I'll only use to update once in a while or so - when I feel will be all about sprite art and game ideas and I'll see if anything comes out of making all these sprites.
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