Bulbasaur's Explosion

Started by InvisibleGoldenBulbasaur November 14th, 2009 5:27 PM
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Age 31
Female
a series of tubes
Seen August 6th, 2010
Posted December 24th, 2009
47 posts
13.5 Years
Props to whoever gets the topic title reference. There's a hint in my custom title :P

Making some fakemanz and custom trainers. I'm mostly a custom-style and Fire Emblem-style spriter, so these are my rare forays into the world of Pokemon spriting.

Attaching images is horribly inconvenient. :( I have a girl trainer named Jackie, a boy trainer named Robbie, a Grass starter named Buddinger, a Fire starter named Heffalump, and something i herd u might liek.

All sprites are full custom unless otherwise noted. At the moment they use R/S palettes until I get around to figuring palette editing out.
"I once talked to a rose while tripping in 1974."


Bulbasaur's Explosion: Now with 20% less suck!
Male
Seen August 3rd, 2011
Posted July 28th, 2010
281 posts
13.7 Years
your really goo! I really like the shading you've done on the Heffalump and Budringer. Those trainers have really good poses and positions and look pretty much professional especially their arms, legs, and chests.
I support the IPPA By FlameJuli:

<--- By KageX but the System and Background by KageX.
Age 31
Female
a series of tubes
Seen August 6th, 2010
Posted December 24th, 2009
47 posts
13.5 Years
Thank you!

I've just finished the Water starter, Flippeel. C+C are appreciated.
"I once talked to a rose while tripping in 1974."


Bulbasaur's Explosion: Now with 20% less suck!
Age 31
Female
a series of tubes
Seen August 6th, 2010
Posted December 24th, 2009
47 posts
13.5 Years
Flippeel's two evolutions are even cooler looking. I'll try to get them done soon.

For now, here's a legendary. This is a Famine Pokemon, which is Bug-type, has the ability Flash Fire and is built for sweeping. But it doesn't have a name yet... and it looked better on paper.
"I once talked to a rose while tripping in 1974."


Bulbasaur's Explosion: Now with 20% less suck!

Cloche

エスパーレディ

Age 31
Female
Otonokizaka
Seen February 13th, 2021
Posted February 13th, 2021
788 posts
17.7 Years
I really love the "Famine" pokemon. It's mouth looks very intimidating, its color scheme is a great shade of green an dits got a nice "feel" overall to it.
One thing I noticed, however, is on the blue coloration of the "hero and heroine" sprites. It seems like there isn't much pallet shade differentiation. It only seems to be the blue, as the other shading is great. <3
Age 30
Male
Your Mother
Seen June 29th, 2010
Posted May 29th, 2010
2,796 posts
17.2 Years
Well, as just sprites, they are practically flawless. As Pokemon sprites... they don't really make me think "Pokemon". Though if you're making a hack with these, I wouldn't even really recommend changing them, as this style is much sexier than Pokemon style.

The shading is fabulous, the anatomy is perfection... the concepts are quite nice, as well, though I'm not quite sure what that Grass starter is supposed to be. :P

That Bug legendary is awesome. The wings are just a bit awkward, but isn't a huge deal. I love the head. It's terrifying. XD

GFA

Mega Blastoise is my homeboy

Male
Seen September 7th, 2018
Posted August 29th, 2018
1,830 posts
14.8 Years
These are incredible! Your shading is fantastic, but the outlines should be darker. Are you using Image Shack or something else to upload, 'cause it's annoying to have to have to zoom in to see the full view.
Age 31
Female
a series of tubes
Seen August 6th, 2010
Posted December 24th, 2009
47 posts
13.5 Years
@Starchild: The palettes for the trainers are directly from the R/S player characters. When I get around to palette editing, I'll see if I can add another shade of blue.

@Ayesha: I was thinking the same thing, but I can't quite figure out what's wrong with it.

@Kenji: Thank you! I'll tweak the wings when I get its back sprite made.

@9000: Just so it has an immunity to fire. It learns Heat Wave and all the Fire TMs, too.

@Bacon: I'm using the attachment feature at the moment, because it won't let me post images any other way until I get more posts. Once I get enough I'll put everything on TinyPic.

Here's the final stage of Flippeel. For now, it's named Caduceon--feel free to suggest new names for it.
"I once talked to a rose while tripping in 1974."


Bulbasaur's Explosion: Now with 20% less suck!

Involuntary Twitch

Oripoke

Female
USA
Seen December 10th, 2020
Posted September 2nd, 2019
658 posts
17.7 Years
...Wow! You're very skilled, with excellent ideas (loving the grass starter-- I can't wait to see what its final stage is like). Your water starter's final stage seems a bit lackluster, though-- you're confined by the 64x64 limits, and it shows. The face seems a little too bent inward in comparison to the neck. I would make the neck arc further. I'd also recommend adding some complexity to it; it is a final stage after all.

Cloche

エスパーレディ

Age 31
Female
Otonokizaka
Seen February 13th, 2021
Posted February 13th, 2021
788 posts
17.7 Years
I like the new one. Its face seems a tad bit squashed but, you are workingwith a very small pixel space, so it's understandable. I like how it is sooo the opposite of the Dratini evolutionary line. I have a good pallet for Denim, but it takes a while to get used to pallet making. <3

= GPR =

Birding Extraordinaire

Age 32
Illinois
Seen September 5th, 2015
Posted August 3rd, 2015
655 posts
14.8 Years

http://a.imagehost.org/0704/bulbasaur_explosion_celiodon_help.png

This is a great sprite! There are, however some minor details that i thought you may want brought to your attention...

One of the first problems that i see with this sprite is the the shading. The light source is very confusing, since there are conflicting illuminations (left side of neck vs. under belly in middle of portion). Your shading is a bit off, and so the outline shading is off as well. You need to match the lighter tones of the outline with the light tones of the body's pallette. Instead, you have gone a bit overboard with the black in some parts. Along the more cerulean/sky blueish hues, you should have a dark blue as an outline, it would give it a nicer look... the black boldens it too much. Along the horns, you should go with a more grayish tone... the black contrasts WAY TOO MUCH.

Now, also looking at your outlines, there are gaps everywhere. Along the belly, the horns, the wiskery things... you ought to fill in the outline to make it look more complete.

Here at PC, we call patches of pixels that the same tone and hue that are bunched together "CLUMPIES"... well, at least us old folks do... ^_^
Clumpies are no-no's though. They create thick overbroadening points in the outlines. These thick spots detract from the overall apparance of the sprite. To avoid clumpies, just erase the extra unneeded pixels, or change the tone of others...

And a final general point, NEGATIVE SPACE. You want to be careful when you leave unused space in the middle of the sprite. You have to remember that you don't want this space to conflict with the sprite. Having large spaces, like the one you have is not bad... but the little one pixel spaces that go unused create some problems when layered onto game backgrounds. They absorb the colors of the background pixel, ruining the quality of your sprite. Ridding of negative space will require redesigning certain aspects of your sprite, hence it is a wary point to make... since it is often left unchanged...

Some your sprite specifics now, this pixel here makes this patch to blocky... get rid of it and it provides for a better brow shape.

This patch is a bit confusing... it seems a bit too blocky and large, maybe try to round it to the back of the head more?

Are these claws? That's all ^_^

Alrighty then, main point. The horns. This part really is detracting from the sprite. The fact that they are of the same curviture kinda homanizes the entire top end, and just makes it look plain. I would suggest scratching new horns that go off in different directions... this would lead to a more creative and unique look! It will also make the sprite look more skilled.

----------------------------

Alrighty, so i made some basic edits to your sprite to show you what i meant... among them being completing the outlining, ridding of clumpies, and suggesting a new horn direction... i am not saying that YOU MUST MAKE YOUR SPRITE LIKE THAT... they are ONLY SUGGESTIONS! But i hope they are helpful ^_^ i spent the better part of an hour going over this sprite. So i hope you put as much time into fixing it as i have ^_^

Anyhow, you're doing a great job. The shading is a bit off like i said, but it's still a bit patterned... so i give it a 6/10. The outlining is really killing this sprite though... the clumpies, gaps, and coloration... i give outlining a 4/10... the pose of the sprite is very nice! The twisting of the body is a great touch that i like alot. But the horns are kinda pulling the sprite down... i give it a 9/10 on the pose... as for anatomy, the neck and body are a bit thin compared to the head... and the flippers are kinda small... (they don't seem like they would be very effient ^_^) but it still fits the general theme of big headed pokemon. The only thing that really pulls this score down is the little one pixel negative spaces. I give the anatomy an 8/10. As for creativity, it's a blue, tubular, finned water pokemon. I can think of a good ten of those. still, the face is very dragon like and is substantially different enough than other pokemon that makes it distinguishable... even more, the scratch work of the face, the snaking body, and the evident talent of the spriting skill helps set this sprite apart in my mind. I give it an 8/10 as well. Overall that is a 35/50... or a 70% (C-). Gosh, that seems so horrible... i'm sorry...

But some quick fix it ups will help this sprite really become a masterpiece! I'm positive that you can bump that % up considerably just by fixing some of the little nuisances like the shading, or the outlining gaps... or clumpies... either way, you have a great sprite here, and i recommend that you work to improve it! Practice makes perfect! Take my advice as that: advice. I'm positive you can do better! Take care!

Keep Spriting!
"In a world of chaos, the picture is one small rectangle in which the artist can create an ordered universe."
~ Charley Harper ~

Age 31
Female
a series of tubes
Seen August 6th, 2010
Posted December 24th, 2009
47 posts
13.5 Years
Thank you all. The help and comments are greatly appreciated.



MAJOR EDIT: Just saw GPR's critique. WOW! Thank you so much for taking the time to be so thorough. You really, really helped. I changed the horns shape and tried to fix what you addressed. Again, thank you SO MUCH! Critique like this is a spriter's dream.



This is the middle form, Plesipent. I really, really dislike these colors and they'll be changed to match the other two as soon as I get around to palette editing. I also would like to add more detail, but couldn't think of anything besides the belly stripe. The stripe will be lighter than the main body once the palette is edited.
"I once talked to a rose while tripping in 1974."


Bulbasaur's Explosion: Now with 20% less suck!
Age 31
Female
a series of tubes
Seen August 6th, 2010
Posted December 24th, 2009
47 posts
13.5 Years
I'm going to bypass posting the un-edited palette and post what this one is actually supposed to look like.



This is Mortoll, the Gravekeeper Pokemon. It's the final stage of Buddinger (the little grass guy in the first post). He's a Grass/Ghost type. I'd like it if he could look a little bit less like Dusknoir, even though he's a R/S style sprite.
"I once talked to a rose while tripping in 1974."


Bulbasaur's Explosion: Now with 20% less suck!

= GPR =

Birding Extraordinaire

Age 32
Illinois
Seen September 5th, 2015
Posted August 3rd, 2015
655 posts
14.8 Years
As for GPR, he's pretty well known for his excellent critique

I try ^_^

Actually i only give out this extensive amount when i know that the spriter will put in a decent effort to try to fix their sprite. I generally don't use this method on sprites that are horrible or will not be touched again... i only really do these breakdowns for sprites that i see potential in, and i know can be enhanced. So grats IGB!

The new version looks a lot better! The negative space has been nicely dealt with, so you have a nice use of space here! Also, the clumpies are gone! YAY!


BUT!!! There are still a lot A LOT ALOT of gaps in the outlining... along the snout, the tail, the belly... and you are shading the outline on the wrong side (It should be shaded along the bright parts, not the dark parts ^_^


The shading over all is still off... it is prevoking a sense of multiple light sources, and flatness... there is no round look to the shading... it is just two toned...

As for the scoring:


Shading is not much better, if at all fixed... i realized that the pokemon is actually two colors... so you need to elaborate on the three skin tones of each of those two hues, as well as a dark outline hue to go with them. I still give you a 6/10.


Outlining is better, but not great by anymeans... there are still gaps all over the place. The clumpies are gone (woot) so with that your score will increase to a 6/10. To up this score, you'll need to redo the shading to match Pokemon's style... then readress the outlining to match with the light skin hues.


The horns look better, but are still very much similar... the extensions do fade away into the background though... i still like the general idea you have here, but if feel you need to redo (his) right horn so it is not as homogenous as the other one. 9/10 for pose.


9/10 for the anatomy... the negative space has been dealt with, and it looks great! His head got bigger though! o.o His neck can't support it... lol...


as for creativity... it's hard to up this score... since it has really been outdone already... but i'll add a point for your efforts! 9/10!


This brings your total score to 39/50... a 78%! Yay! Increase! I think the next thing you might want to do is entirely fix the shading. The shading is messing up your outlining, as well as makes your the sprite flat and undimensioned. It may help you to look at chesu's spriting tutorials... especially the fakemon ones and the starter shading ones. I find that they give great help in finding perspective in shading. I'm glad that you're improving your skill! Keep trying! And of course...


Keep Spriting!
"In a world of chaos, the picture is one small rectangle in which the artist can create an ordered universe."
~ Charley Harper ~

Age 31
Female
a series of tubes
Seen August 6th, 2010
Posted December 24th, 2009
47 posts
13.5 Years


Minor fixes to Mortoll. Tried to make him less blocky looking, and added a green stripe to the belly.



The middle stage of the Grass starter line, Belldrake. He's a Mandrake Pokemon, so he's supposed to be yelling. The palette isn't final; the blue might switch to a dark green at some point.
"I once talked to a rose while tripping in 1974."


Bulbasaur's Explosion: Now with 20% less suck!
Age 32
Male
MS Paint
Seen March 7th, 2010
Posted February 14th, 2010
73 posts
13.9 Years
Im at a loss as of why didn't I notice this thread before.. Right now, it has win all over the place, both conceptual and quality-wise.


I will crit the newer ones soon, cause im busy as of now. But first, I'll get to this:

Shading is not much better, if at all fixed... i realized that the pokemon is actually two colors... so you need to elaborate on the three skin tones of each of those two hues, as well as a dark outline hue to go with them. I still give you a 6/10.
Nah. It's all fine, unless you wanted to perfectly match the pokemon advance style, which this improves.

I'd only recommend darkening and adding more contrast to the darker shade of blue, to solve the depth problem entirely. Also, assuming that you're going for the smooth and shiny look, all of the dithering behind the arm/fin needs to be destroyed.

More noticeable highlights would help too.



Outlining is better, but not great by anymeans... there are still gaps all over the place. The clumpies are gone (woot) so with that your score will increase to a 6/10. To up this score, you'll need to redo the shading to match Pokemon's style... then readress the outlining to match with the light skin hues.
I think the line breaks are perfectly fine, and the shading too. It would only need a few tweaks with a darker blue shade, as I mentioned above.



The horns look better, but are still very much similar... the extensions do fade away into the background though... i still like the general idea you have here, but if feel you need to redo (his) right horn so it is not as homogenous as the other one. 9/10 for pose.
I agree, the right horn needs to be fixed. Right now it looks like as if, if the head were to be tilted to face straight to us, the horns would look something like this:

( (


So, yeah.
Age 31
Male
Texas
Seen January 8th, 2017
Posted March 23rd, 2015
150 posts
14.4 Years
nice work!

i was gonna have a fire elephant starter in my hack cuz i thought no1 else would have thought of it, but i guess great minds think alike huh ;)
you're sprite is amazing btw, it actually looks like an elephant (mine looks like a pygmy with a really long nose, sigh, but oh well)

the water starters look good, so does the grass starter line, except the 2nd and 3rd stages seem to have exceptionally sharp shoulders (looks like the 3rd stage is wearing a perfect-fitting suit), and as others have stated, doesn't look too much of a grass type, still great sprites tho.