Dumping some mugs for a hack

Just wanted to dump some portraits I’m using for a small hobby hack I’m doing. Feel free to give criticism and give the okay if they’re looking alright.

Splices - minor edits:
The main squad:
merc%20man%204-3 chad%20priest3 lordgirl paladin%20man
Other playable characters:
archer%20girl2 fighterman mageboi
soldier%20girl maskgirl fleetman cav%20girl2
edgy recolour:
deadboi
Bosses that are important I guess:
hardinboss randosniper
Faces done from scratch:
darkmageman thiefboy abelboy
knightmerc myrmgirl
Faces and hair done from scratch (help help help):
banditboss rangerman peggirl
DITTO TREC DITTO TREC
treckgod ditto
Currently I’m fixing stuff like eyelids and adding detail to the hair, but if there’s anything wrong you can point out, then it’s appreciated.
Update: added actual mini-mugs. Working on the mouth frames/colour palettes.

2 Likes

I get what you’re going for with the mini mugs but it’s really just best to do it in vanilla’s style. It conveys more information about a unit compared to eyeshots or crops of the face.

1 Like

Mug of the year rite here :hushed:

2 Likes

Noted. I might as well start working on the mini mugs now.

First thing I’m seeing is problems with the palettes, main one being that a lot of the colours aren’t ramping well and have low contrast between the steps and appear flat.
image d31e34a7d7891dc6e3c352923d5c71e6018f6e87
I’d recommend Usenti for palette editing and management, super handy and has a really simple interface.

The first guy in the green armour, nicely spliced. The parts are recognisable but it comes together cleanly. I love the colours. Looking at it closer I’m seeing you used four shades of green on the chestplate and I reckon you could remove one and use that free colour somewhere else. The added armour trim element on the chestplate suffers a little from banding:

When trying to nail 3D form I start with stark shadows and then shade from there:
image

General note for talking frames, go with the fourth tone for the shade inside the mouth and third for the tongue:
image
You also want to keep that line underneath the mouth there and have it move with the mouth frames because it’s the shadow underneath the bottom lip and helps shape the mouth visually.

For animating, I go with aseprite but there are other alternatives, but I definitely recommend when doing frames that you go with an animating program so you can see how it works in motion.
12548 11111

6 Likes

Damn, this is helpful. Thanks, I’ll try going over the portraits again.