[WIP] Archer NPC

[fate]

Hi,

we don't have any archer NPCs yet. I would therefore like to request an NPC (looking about as young as the normal player characters) of either gender who is identifiable as an archer by being equipped with a bow and arrows. Please try to vary the stance a little from the player spritesheet, if possible.

Thanks in advance!

-- fate

[fate]

Gouki,

I tried that, but I still don't see any. We have the bow maker and his apprentice, but that's not quite the same as an archer. Can you point me to the NPC graphics you have in mind, please?

-- fate

[fate]

Gouki,

no worries, and thanks for checking!

So, anyone interested in pixelling one?

-- fate

[Black Don]

I have a some what stereo-typical view of what an archer would look like.



We're men, we're men in tights.........

[Black Don]

Wait a sec...

this is awesome for an archer.

http://forums.themanaworld.org/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=7760

Excellent now we just need the green tights.

[fate]

Gouki,

good start, actually! But the quiver melts into the shoulder pads a bit too much. Also, a higher contrast for the fletching would help identify the arrows. And please shift the arms a little before adding the bow; there is absolutely no requirement for NPCs to be dressed-up versions of the male player sprite #0.

Thank you!

-- fate

[Black Don]

or a Peter Pan styled low cut boot might work too

[Spit23]

Here's the archer as promised:

tights.png

The bow looks too big and too square and the clothes are too dark. I also don't like the idea of an archer wearing sunglasses. But the posture is really cool in my opinion.

[Ces]

In my humble opinion, SpamMaster, it is a good attempt.

One thing Spit23 didn’t mention is the angle of the bow. I think it would look better if you put the bow at an angle in respect to the NPC’s body, right now the bow (particularily its string) is a straight vertical parallell. Having the bow at a non-straight angle would make the NPC look much more relaxed and our eyes wouldn’t try to follow the grid as much.

As for the size of the bow I actually think the size is okay, but it might fit better with other graphics if it was a tad smaller.

I like Gouki’s attempt as well, especially having a quiver, but I personally prefer to have at least some original clothing on NPCs to make them easier to recognize from ordinary players.

Good work all of you!

[Booth]

Shouldn't you be able to see a difference between the boots and the pants? Idk if I'm helping but I thought you should. Not trying to critize, I'm no pixel artist.

[Booth]

Oh, I don't see a difference. Maybe I'm just color blind. Ha.

[Spit23]

The bow is too square but trust me not too big

Of course there are such long bows in reality but in comparision to the ingame bow the player can use I think it's a bit too big. But that's just my personal opinion . But a fact is that the colors you picked are still too dark, try to use brighter colors.

Here you can see what a dark color should look like in TMW (your color-sheme is too dark and low-contrast in comparision to this two guys).

[fate]

Hi,

overall I like this new one, however:

• The clothing and the bow handling are a bit too neat/grid-like (as pointed out earlier). Perhaps you could tilt the cap and the bow a little? Or add traces of hair underneath the cap?
• The left arm looks thin and a bit odd. It is, however, the only thing that makes this one look non-MPS0 (Male Player Sprite #0).
• Perhaps you can increase the MPS0 difference a bit more? Shuffling the feet a little, tucking the right hand's thumb in his belt?

As for the colours:

archer-in-the-green.png (10.71 KiB) Viewed 1653 times

Note that the red feather looks a bit odd; you might want to make it stand out a little more (I'm not completely sure that the shape works either.)
The bow doesn't have an outline and thus looks strange in comparison.
The choice of green is at the darkest end of the set of colours that could work. I personally would make it a bit lighter-- not too much-- so that you have more contrast in which to make the shirt and tights look less flat.

EDIT: I haven't tried the new one. Paste it in front of a forest screenshot, that should tell you whether the colours work. You do need to put more contrast into it, though, to reduce the flatness.

-- fate.

[Spit23]

The pants are pure black with no shading.

That's a bad choice cause it eliminates any possibility of highlighting/shading.

That's how black pants should look like:

[Jaxad0127]

And not pure black either. Only use pure black/white/gray, red, yellow, green, cyan/aqua, blue, or magenta for parts that can be recolored automatically by the client (details here: http://wiki.themanaworld.org/index.php/Image_dyeing).