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[Jobbs]

Any other recommended animation books? I read Animator's Survival Kit and it's fantastic, but if there's any other reads more game-related (specifically fighting or beat-em-up if possible) that'd be something to look at.

http://www.spriters-resource.com/

 

[TronLight]

What does your UV map layout look like?

EDIT:

Pick an edge that won't be seen easily. I chose an edge (thicker blue line) on the back side of the object.
http://i.picpar.com/4v2b.jpg[img]

I am using Maya, so I used the UV unwrap function from the Bonus Tools. I am sure Max has something similar. But if you unwrap it on the single edge you should get a single UV shell like this:
[img]http://i.picpar.com/6v2b.jpg[img]

No visible seams
[img]http://i.picpar.com/Ev2b.jpg[img]

EDIT 2:

I agree with Disheveled_Zen. I think you may have an easier time with a cleaner mesh topology, and baking the normals from a High Poly version will probably work well. How are you smoothing the object? It looks like your smoothing method introduced a lot of unnecessary faces. What did it look like prior to smoothing?

EDIT 3:

You can also try switching the texture projection mode from UV to Tri-Planar. Tri-Planar projection works rather well for tileable textures (typically kills all the seams), but you may get some distortion and artifices because of the shape of your mesh:
[img]http://i.picpar.com/Fv2b.jpg

For me personally, I would planar project the top, cut a seam along the top of the side, then cylinder unwrap that with 1 seam cut somewhere to lay it out flat on the UV's. You will almost always have seams on a model, the trick is hiding them the best you can. 90 degree angles are a great place to do that, because the sharpness of it does well at hiding the fact the texture is actually cut there.

Let me see your UV's and a slightly clearer image of the model and I can probably help more. Also I can't tell if those indents are modeled in or baked. You could get away with much simpler UV's if you based those indents down to a lowpoly, especially if this is some sort of floor object or something the players face wont get right in to.

First of all thank you guys.

This isn't going to end up in a game (not this version at least, I might use it to bake a normal map maybe), so I went heavy on loops and smoothing (not even THAT much actually, it's a single iteration of Turbosmooth lol). Polycount is for the whole smoothed model, this is just a piece.

Non smoothed:

Smoothed:

UV:

(Made this at 2AM, excuse the random placement, I was mostly worried about stretching)

Don't know if the topology is super-bad, at very least I there aren't any triangles or n-gons, so there's that. lol
There are denser areas because I wanted them to be sharper, so I added support loops for the smoothing.

You'll notice that the mesh is "open", my reasoning for leaving it like that the open part would be covered by other parts of the model, but in retrospect it's not a great idea, also because as you guys suggested, I could have hidden the seam there and nobody would have noticed it (it's an easy fix anyway).

In the UV layout those straight pieces are the lower part of the mesh, which once relaxed came out completely straight. I cut the mesh in four pieces because I didn't think that having the whole ring as one piece would be good (I was mostly worried about the raised section being distorted), but apparently I was wrong? I'm still trying to get a feel for UV layouts.

 

[Blizzard]

Any other recommended animation books? I read Animator's Survival Kit and it's fantastic, but if there's any other reads more game-related (specifically fighting or beat-em-up if possible) that'd be something to look at.

Noogy recommended this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1560100842/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[Ashodin]

Welp I just got phat paid from Nintendo and I'm thinking of making a quick but incredibly fun game to release on Wii U. Something to do with stamps.

 

[Jacksinthe]

OK So we are going to change the way the list works - I will try to make it nice.

You can view the format here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1F8r1Q7dwZyhlcBjzPkmeuJtHeKSYHoNU9Y5lHntKrY4/edit?usp=sharing

Name of your game
User and/or Users
1 pic of your game sized 520x294 (that's 16:9)
2 links - website and social media - if you don't have 2 links - just use 1

Doing this so we can fit 2 titles per page - let me know if you guys like links above the pic or below the pic. Let me know if you guys want any format changes BEFORE we start populating the list.

Games will be ordered alphanumerically by name.

What do you all think, want, like, etc?

When we nail down specifics - I'll let you know how you can send me stuff to put in the doc.

 

[_machine]

What do you all think, want, like, etc?

When we nail down specifics - I'll let you know how you can send me stuff to put in the doc.

Like it! I really can't think of anything to improve, it's really concise and screenshots are always to have.

 

[Ito]

OK So we are going to change the way the list works - I will try to make it nice.

You can view the format here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1F8r1Q7dwZyhlcBjzPkmeuJtHeKSYHoNU9Y5lHntKrY4/edit?usp=sharing

Name of your game
User and/or Users
1 pic of your game sized 520x294 (that's 16:9)
2 links - website and social media - if you don't have 2 links - just use 1

Doing this so we can fit 2 titles per page - let me know if you guys like links above the pic or below the pic. Let me know if you guys want any format changes BEFORE we start populating the list.

Games will be ordered alphanumerically by name.

What do you all think, want, like, etc?

When we nail down specifics - I'll let you know how you can send me stuff to put in the doc.

Sounds good, I have nothing to add.

The links could be above the pic I guess, I like the layout in your document.

PS: You're the man

 

[Dynamite Shikoku]

OK So we are going to change the way the list works - I will try to make it nice.

You can view the format here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1F8r1Q7dwZyhlcBjzPkmeuJtHeKSYHoNU9Y5lHntKrY4/edit?usp=sharing

Name of your game
User and/or Users
1 pic of your game sized 520x294 (that's 16:9)
2 links - website and social media - if you don't have 2 links - just use 1

Doing this so we can fit 2 titles per page - let me know if you guys like links above the pic or below the pic. Let me know if you guys want any format changes BEFORE we start populating the list.

Games will be ordered alphanumerically by name.

What do you all think, want, like, etc?

When we nail down specifics - I'll let you know how you can send me stuff to put in the doc.

Nice one. Could the image be rotated for portrait mobile games?

 

[Five]

OK So we are going to change the way the list works - I will try to make it nice.

You can view the format here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1F8r1Q7dwZyhlcBjzPkmeuJtHeKSYHoNU9Y5lHntKrY4/edit?usp=sharing

Name of your game
User and/or Users
1 pic of your game sized 520x294 (that's 16:9)
2 links - website and social media - if you don't have 2 links - just use 1

Doing this so we can fit 2 titles per page - let me know if you guys like links above the pic or below the pic. Let me know if you guys want any format changes BEFORE we start populating the list.

Games will be ordered alphanumerically by name.

What do you all think, want, like, etc?

When we nail down specifics - I'll let you know how you can send me stuff to put in the doc.

Yeah, that seems fine. Thank you for doing this.

 

[Jobbs]

Yeah, that seems fine. Thank you for doing this.

agreed, looks good

 

[Ashodin]

Yeah that looks great!

 

[Jintor]

http://www.spriters-resource.com/

Noogy recommended this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1560100842/?tag=neogaf0e-20

cheers

 

[Dynamite Shikoku]

Welp I just got phat paid from Nintendo and I'm thinking of making a quick but incredibly fun game to release on Wii U. Something to do with stamps.

Did you ever release that word game you kickstarted?

 

[Noogy]

Noogy recommended this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1560100842/?tag=neogaf0e-20

That's a great starter book. I highly recommend following up with this.... much more advanced concepts:

Animator's Survival Kit

 

[Blizzard]

That's a great starter book. I highly recommend following up with this.... much more advanced concepts:

Animator's Survival Kit

I saw that in your post, but the other poster said they had already read it.

 

[Jintor]

That's a great starter book. I highly recommend following up with this.... much more advanced concepts:

Animator's Survival Kit

alas, we come full circle

Any other recommended animation books? I read Animator's Survival Kit and it's fantastic, but if there's any other reads more game-related (specifically fighting or beat-em-up if possible) that'd be something to look at.

 

[Noogy]

I saw that in your post, but the other poster said they had already read it.

Ah cool, that's what I get for being illiterate!

 

[Ashodin]

Did you ever release that word game you kickstarted?

Still workin' on it.

 

[Pehesse]

OK So we are going to change the way the list works - I will try to make it nice.

You can view the format here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1F8r1Q7dwZyhlcBjzPkmeuJtHeKSYHoNU9Y5lHntKrY4/edit?usp=sharing

Name of your game
User and/or Users
1 pic of your game sized 520x294 (that's 16:9)
2 links - website and social media - if you don't have 2 links - just use 1

Doing this so we can fit 2 titles per page - let me know if you guys like links above the pic or below the pic. Let me know if you guys want any format changes BEFORE we start populating the list.

Games will be ordered alphanumerically by name.

What do you all think, want, like, etc?

When we nail down specifics - I'll let you know how you can send me stuff to put in the doc.

I'll say it again here: this doc will work quite awesomely as a showcase of everyone's work! Thanks, AbsintheGames.

Open question: we're currently working on compiling a list of every game mentioned in this thread (this is going to take a while - sorry by advance if we/I miss some of them). Do you want us to take the screenshots posted in here as the image used to represent your game, or do you want to make a custom image, 520x294, either a single screenshot or a combination of several ? If so, don't hesitate to send a PM with your desired image!

Nice one. Could the image be rotated for portrait mobile games?

I don't think the template would be modified, but you could use the 520x294 size to fit in several vertical screenshots side by side as a single image. Would that be okay?

alas, we come full circle

Unfortunately I don't know of any more books than the two mentioned (but those two can already take you pretty far) - but there are also video excerpts on youtube, vimeo and dailymotion of some of Richard William's classes. That can help!
He also just opened a Twitter account, maybe it's worth a follow or two? https://twitter.com/RWAnimator

You were also asking about who's working on beat'em ups - Honey isn't an *entire* beat'em up game, but it does have beat'em up segments.

 

[Dynamite Shikoku]

I don't think the template would be modified, but you could use the 520x294 size to fit in several vertical screenshots side by side as a single image. Would that be okay?

Yeah, it wouldn't really matter. I could do a banner thing too.

 

[Pehesse]

Yeah, it wouldn't really matter. I could do a banner thing too.

I think so! Absinthe would need to confirm, but that's the way I understood it.

 

[UsagiWare]

So much has happend in this thread since I last poste. Some really great stuff was posted here!

I got quite busy with normal life, for the rest I got overwhelmed at game polishing, setting up a developer account, social items, ad integration, etc.
It all seemed so simple before starting...and it is still far from done

Anyways, here is my first attempt at designing an app-icon

 

[Jintor]

what i'm really looking for specifically is stuff to think about when animating fighting/beat-em-up/platformer 2d game sprites... i've already read most of the stuff that pops up on related google searches (the pretty good pixel tutorial, the thesis about 2d fighting game animation, various this and that) but was wondering if there was anything I was missing.

 

[Pehesse]

what i'm really looking for specifically is stuff to think about when animating fighting/beat-em-up/platformer 2d game sprites... i've already read most of the stuff that pops up on related google searches (the pretty good pixel tutorial, the thesis about 2d fighting game animation, various this and that) but was wondering if there was anything I was missing.

Apart from that and what's on shoryuken.com, really, I believe you'll learn most by doing yourself at this point, and learning from what you come up with/fail to implement during your first tries. Theory can only take you so far.

There was also the excellent post by Lilith about hit/collision boxes, I think it's linked in the OP now - it's not specifically beat'em up related, but the same logic applies.

 

[Jacksinthe]

I think so! Absinthe would need to confirm, but that's the way I understood it.

I would just like to see at least 2 games listed per page. Larger pics knock other games off but multiple aide by side can work, too.

Pehesse worked on another template last night much nicer than mine which can include more than a few links. I like that one much better.

 

[Pehesse]

I would just like to see at least 2 games listed per page. Larger pics knock other games off but multiple aide by side can work, too.

Pehesse worked on another template last night much nicer than mine which can include more than a few links. I like that one much better.

Haha, thanks, but it's really your template, I just retooled it a bit :-D

There's Taku's version as well, which is a spreadsheet, but Absinthe does raise an interesting point about it being harder to read on smaller screens, since it requires left/right scrolling in addition to up/down.

Not my call to make, so I'll let you guys decide which we choose ultimately!

For reference, Absinthe's template looks like this:

While Taku's is this:

 

[Jintor]

Apart from that and what's on shoryuken.com, really, I believe you'll learn most by doing yourself at this point, and learning from what you come up with/fail to implement during your first tries. Theory can only take you so far.

There was also the excellent post by Lilith about hit/collision boxes, I think it's linked in the OP now - it's not specifically beat'em up related, but the same logic applies.

cheers. i guess i'll just... keep making stuff.

i do want to find a better technique tutorial for using layers in photoshop, i'm sure there's something on tumblr tho. (Literally been making frame by frame and it looks okay? But not like i'd like. I want something like those sick Battle Chef animations)

 

[Pehesse]

cheers. i guess i'll just... keep making stuff.

i do want to find a better technique tutorial for using layers in photoshop, i'm sure there's something on tumblr tho. (Literally been making frame by frame and it looks okay? But not like i'd like. I want something like those sick Battle Chef animations)

You'll probably find different techniques there, yeah :-D

But really, one image per layer is the way I've been doing it, not even using PS animation timeline, and it works well enough! You can simulate the onion skin effect using the layer opacity, which is arguably the most important/only thing you really need when doing frame by frame animation. Rest comes mostly from execution, not really tools, or at least from those I've seen/used!

 

[Jacksinthe]

Haha, thanks, but it's really your template, I just retooled it a bit :-D

There's Taku's version as well, which is a spreadsheet, but Absinthe does raise an interesting point about it being harder to read on smaller screens, since it requires left/right scrolling in addition to up/down.

Not my call to make, so I'll let you guys decide which we choose ultimately!

For reference, Absinthe's template looks like this:



While Taku's is this:

Ha!

My template is Itos template but retooled. This is clearly a community effort!

 

[WanderingWind]

You know, if there is a demand for it, I can throw up a website that we can use as a hub to start getting the word out there. I can just use the data from the document.

 

[Jacksinthe]

You know, if there is a demand for it, I can throw up a website that we can use as a hub to start getting the word out there. I can just use the data from the document.

Also doing something similar - Email me (can see my email in a quote below)

All devs can start to follow this and I will make sure to follow all of us back. Only devs on GAF will be followed
https://twitter.com/DevGAF

I'll get some images up there - if anyone wants to write a better quick BIO PM me - i just threw that up there for the time being. I can have a few people curating this using TweetDeck so if you are good with the social media stuff - PM me and I'll give access to this account.

We can use this to begin blasting information to the socialsphere as we get more news for our things.

I'm running off an on today so if anyone needs to reach me - best place is email

QUOTE TO C vvv


Or if you want to hit me up in a Google Hangout - just hit me up via G+: https://plus.google.com/+JackSipich/posts

I really don't use G+ often but use Hangouts all the time. You can reach me easy there.

Lots of peeps in here doing good shit - we need a better way to blast info about everyone's things to the public and this is a start.

Anything else don't hesitate and email me - I may not be hopping on GAF much today but want to get this moving.

EDIT:
Also - drop me a line here in a PM or an EMAIL and let me know who you are on Twitter if you're not in the GAF list so I know exactly who i'm going to be following.

Game accounts and personal accounts from you all are BOSS! The more of us the account follows the better.

 

[mStudios]

New Update

Music:
Home_1
Home_2
Situation_Final_Version_(Looped)

Background:

Outside home.

mStudio, think she should cast a shadow in her room poses or not? Looks good regardless, but

Working on that

 

[Noogy]

cheers. i guess i'll just... keep making stuff.

i do want to find a better technique tutorial for using layers in photoshop, i'm sure there's something on tumblr tho. (Literally been making frame by frame and it looks okay? But not like i'd like. I want something like those sick Battle Chef animations)

For what it's worth I still do animation the old fashioned way.... pencil on paper with a lightboard. Then each frame inked and scanned into Photoshop and composited in After Effects. AE isn't really touted as a traditional animation tool but I've used it as such for over a decade and love it. I touch on some of this in my postmortem: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/180520/postmortem_humble_hearts_dust_.php

Sometimes I think I'd like to go all digital with my animation (I do with my backgrounds) but I don't think I'll ever be able to match my abilities with a pencil. I just don't as fine of control with a Wacom.

 

[Granadier]

Welp I just got phat paid from Nintendo and I'm thinking of making a quick but incredibly fun game to release on Wii U. Something to do with stamps.

Whoop whoop!!

 

[Jacksinthe]

Welp I just got phat paid from Nintendo and I'm thinking of making a quick but incredibly fun game to release on Wii U. Something to do with stamps.

Goddammit i missed this train when you posted

Anyhow - I may be late BUT:

 

[Jacksinthe]

https://twitter.com/DevGAF

OK - can one of you folks do us all a solid and create some art like a collage of our games screens for a Twitter backdrop?

Pehesse knocked out the profile pic

Then mail them to:
QUOTE TO SEE:

THANKS! DD

 

[Pehesse]

https://twitter.com/DevGAF

OK - can one of you folks do us all a solid and create some art like a collage of our games screens for a Twitter backdrop and maybe a nice large profile pic as well?

Or one of you do one and the another do another?

Then mail them to:
QUOTE TO SEE:

THANKS! DD

Think we crossed each other on the way here :-D Check your mail!

 

[Jacksinthe]

Think we crossed each other on the way here :-D Check your mail!

DON'T TELL ME HOW TO LIVE MY LIFE

 

[Ito]

That twitter Avatar is gorgeous, Pehesse

Please tell me something I can do, I want to help as well!

 

[Five]

That twitter Avatar is gorgeous, Pehesse

Please tell me something I can do, I want to help as well!

Wow, no kidding! I also love how many different characters were fit into it. This is really coming along quite well.

 

[Pehesse]

That twitter Avatar is gorgeous, Pehesse

Please tell me something I can do, I want to help as well!

Thanks :-D
Here's a higher-res version for those curious!

(if your char is in it and you'd rather it not be, PM me and I'll correct!)

Back to dev'/animation updates from me soon.. right after some sleep :v

(btw, didn't post the latest honey stuff here, so have on actual gamedev update on the house, with a new background for a new match, forcefully using an inappropriate script from another match:

Yes yes, there are actually more bugs in this single screenshot than ever before. I don't fix bugs, I make more of them. That's what it's all about)

 

[mStudios]

Is there a high-res version of the avatar?

edit: I see it

The skull-like character, which game is he from?

 

[Ito]

Is there a high-res version of the avatar?

edit: I see it

The skull type of character, which game is he from?

EDIT: Oh you meant the skelletor-like? No idea

 

[Five]

Is there a high-res version of the avatar?

edit: I see it

The skull-like character, which game is he from?

That's from Ancestry.

 

[Jobbs]

Oooo Little Blue got the front seat

 

[Jacksinthe]

Oooo Little Blue got the front seat

Ito and I are giving you bunny ears XD

 

[Ito]

Ito and I are giving you bunny ears XD

Pehesse totally captured my trolling-towards-jobbs spirit

 

[mabec]

Thanks :-D
Here's a higher-res version for those curious!

i loled. is that going to be the "Ingame" audience? (if not it should be) will it be animated too?

 

[Jacksinthe]

Anyone PM me that is interested in having access to @DevGAF to share the workload or just email me
Link with quote >> <<

We will get a set of rules sorted before going nuts with posting updates.

 

[Pehesse]

i loled. is that going to be the "Ingame" audience? (if not it should be) will it be animated too?

You mean as a background audience for Honey? There's quite a few cameos in the previous background already :-D
As for the new background's audience... I'm not sure! Animating a large crowd takes quite a long while, and they're further away than on the previous scene, so I'm not sure it'd be really visible enough.
So I'm not saying either way, yet! First, I'll get the match up and running, and then we'll see where I am planning-wise :-D