that sprite looks good nax , though you seem to be unknown with the FG42.
as the magazine goes into the gun sideways thus you only see the bottom of the magazine. what you called "spikes" , was the magazine anyway.

or rather you see no magazine at all , after i had to flip it to make it point the right way.

there are 2 models. FG42-1 and FG42-2 last has pistol grip.
http://www.gun-world.net/german/r/fg42/12.jpg
heres a good example , though slighty to big to imgtag it.

Nax's point still stands, you should make it 3 px tall. Tried to say this myself but it turned out pretty cryptic.

As you may or may not be aware...

I am making a Ronin extension faction. I'm still not sure if this is a first or not, but it doesn't matter.

I'm having great trouble getting my first craft together. I decided I'd use layers in Photoshop for it. It literally sped up the sprite creation process ten-fold, (I really mean it) but since lays only work in non-index mode, I simply created it in RGB but only used palette colors. The problem is, I found out that when you change things into the palette after you've done it, it screws up your colors. I'm seeing it change colors I know I never changed from the rocklet whenever I try to palette it.

Could someone convert these sprites to the palette for me? Thanks.

I may need to make more... I'm not sure if these sprites are all I need for making my own rocket. (Can someone help me with that?)

How are these?

For some reason the forum is blurring the image so you might need to click on the link :/
http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/2195/workl.png

I've actually already got them up and working (to a given definition of working, still having some problems with random levitation and weird weapon holding positions) in game already, not counting the firearms.
It probably should have dawned on me earlier to get comments on the sprites FIRST :P
If you are interested, I'm not using the version of the pistol with the ugly green rectangle on. That was just an experiment.

If the guns don't take too long I'll probably be posting the first version within the next one or two days so no guarantees any fixed sprites will be in there by then.

Well I don't really understand where your pillow shading claims come from, that's sourceless shading right? I thought my light source was pretty clear :/
You're right about the outlines though, I've become more and more phobic of outlining during my stay on the PW forums but I suppose you're right, if I want to fit with the style I'm going to have to put them in :P

They look good. Maybe try and make it contrast a little better or try and find extra colours to shade with?
And yeah, you'll be needing outlines to fit with CC's art style.

No. Pillow shading refers to shading where the light source is directly on top of the object.


The left is pillow shaded. The right is not.

I didn't get around to making those guns and decided to work on the sprites instead.
So... outlines.
These look any better?


http://a.yfrog.com/img521/7339/workb.png
Apart from the outlines not much has changed, I moved the eyes on the helmet around a bit but not much else.
I'm still not really used to working with a set palette, I tried to add a bit more contrast but couldn't really find any of the right colours for it.
Doesn't help that my vision isn't exactly the best in the world :P

I'd also like to know about the armoured guy at the bottom, do you prefer the thin (right) or fat (left) version?
The fat version is easier to program because then the helmet and body armour just become attachables, which is also cooler as you can shoot them off and reduce it to an unarmoured state. That won't work with the thin one because armour that is the exact size of the original sprite doesn't actually intercept incoming projectiles.

First I'd like to say that the 'spirit' of your sprites is very strong, which, as cryptic as that sounds, is very important.

I think the main thing atm is that your sprites have too much smooth surface. I think you would benefit greatly from little details, like gills or horns or flaps of skin. I understand if you protest to that- and I agree that artificially piling on details is extremely unfaithful to your original idea- but the alternative is much more difficult. Texture, either in roughness or smoothness. The Crobos, I think, are the best demonstration of this. Prom's stuff puts more emphasis on space and balance than on lighting and shape, which I think Capn Bubs has demonstrated very vividly. Even just using more colours would help. If you are sneaky enough, you can make use of colours that, at first glance, appear like they would only clash with the rest. I think the Crobo's red is a very good example of this. Vanilla in general does this. I can't really give you much advice as it is not something I can do with any competence (among the many other things), but right now I am identifying that as your major area of improvement.

I say you should try to convey the bandages a bit more.

Well doing that covered both yours and contrary's suggestions so I gave it a go.

http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/1787/workn.png

That looks a lot better.

How attached are you to circular heads? The overall sprite still suffers from being comprised of simple shapes.

Try having lighter things on it, with outlines on it aswell.
Helps sometimes.

So guys, i want feedback after sitting hunch-backed over the computer monitor for an hour.

Augh, outside borders! They might be either lightened, or recolored, possibly both. Otherwise, excellent design, Dragonxp. I suggest picking a light reddish color for the outside borders...
And oh, to save your back from future problems, use the zoom! This is if you were using photoshop 7 and up though... zoom up to 1600%, the max.