My "Kat" shmup game graphics

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My "Kat" shmup game graphics
by on (#196780)
I'm slowly getting into creating some of the assets for my game (8k CHR-ROM only) and I'd like to get some criticism and ideas on how to improve myself. Generally I practice with art I receive/commission or find on the internet by using them as a base for "pixelization" as far as the mugshot and the sprite go. The backgrounds do not use any kind of base image except for certain terrain objects (like the palm trees).
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Re: My "Kat" shmup game graphics
by on (#196785)
On a TV, the top bar might be cut off, you might as well drop that down 1, for balance also.

The lava at the bottom is nice. It looks like a river. It would be nice if it was scrolling independent of the top.

On the short volcano, the straight line on the orange is a little unnatural.

The rocks look like they are objects you can bump into. Not sure what your plan is there.

My main concern, altogether, is...how is a small cat a shmup? Laser cats (old SNL skit)?
Re: My "Kat" shmup game graphics
by on (#196787)
If you can, it'd be better to post your sprite work without a pixel grid. It is visually distracting.

Also, I now see an orange cat and a predominantly orange stage. Keep contrast in mind when designing backgrounds and sprites.
Re: My "Kat" shmup game graphics
by on (#196857)
Are the stones solid? Note that they're the only thing that's outlined like it's a special object.

Is it meant to do parallax tricks?

Cat may need a different palette to stand out from the background.

Tips on light direction is hard in this case. With clear starlight, the ambient source should be from above. Yet, with the lava river, a stronger light/shadow effect should come from the front. The rocks look like there's a light source to the right, off screen. It kind of sets an expectation that there will be some major lava based obstacle or enemy ahead.

What if there was a band of black between the rear-most ground and the skyline?

It really depends on what style you're after but i find it helpful to resist the urge to put detail in background pieces that are meant to be very distant.

Here's a really quick and rough sketch where i tried to embody a few of the things mentioned above.
Re: My "Kat" shmup game graphics
by on (#196867)
I think you can use a darker brown for the trees so that you don't need the heavy dithering.
Re: My "Kat" shmup game graphics
by on (#196894)
Any more Kat sprites you can show?