Spacethumper 2: Mechanic Sprite Development Thread

[Flateur]

Gonna just make this its own thread so I don’t clog up the main one with updates.

The story so far:

@Flateur

I’ve been given the okay by Chubberdy to go ahead and try my hand at spriting the old Mechanic! Right now there’s no guarantee it’ll make it into the final game (and if it doesn’t, I can just release it as a custom skin instead), but here’s what I’ve got so far!

Chubberdy mentioned having trouble getting animations to look good at higher weight stages, so I decided to start at the maximum size so that I have a better idea of what size/shape I’m aiming for with the other sizes. The idea here is that the stored energy is much more heavily focused on Mechanic’s belly for whatever reason (probably the difference in anatomy between the two species) and he ends up basically having to push it along the ground, causing the lump of fat to shift inwards and upwards.

This gif switches between one of the standing frames and one of the “”“running”“” frames so that you can see the difference in shape. I’m not sure if it’s too much distortion or not, I think it looks good but obviously I don’t have a good frame of reference for what’s realistic here, so I’m open to feedback and/or suggestions.

Also, no markings on the suit yet since it’s a WIP sprite. When I finish the final version, it’ll be updated to match the Spacethumper 2 palette and have the lines and the belt and everything.

@Flateur

Rough lines done for the full WG sequence. All I need to do is make the lineart less bad, refine any shapes that look wonky, add the suit details, and then I’ll have the base sprites for standing!

Stages 1-3 are entirely Chubberdy’s work, from some WIP files they generously lent me. (before you ask, NO i will not share them since they’re not mine to give out. please don’t bug chubberdy about them either) There might be one or two pixels changed here and there, but barely enough to call it an edit. Stages 4-6 are mostly Chubberdy’s work, with some bits rearranged and re-traced to better fit my stage 13 proportions. Stages 7-13 are from me, with only the head being traced from the original sprite. This is my first time making a proper WG sequence, so PLEASE let me know if anything looks off.

And now the continuation…

Lines done for the standing sprite, now just to add details. After that I’ll transition to the first frame of each running sprite to get the belly distortion set up, and then it’s off to the grinder to animate.

[Flateur]

He runs! Well, “run” is a generous term past, like, stage 5. But “ambulate forward with increasing difficulty due to growing belly” makes for too long a filename, so “run” it is.

And a quick shading test using the new palette. Since Mechanic’s original sprites predate the new palette, I had to mix colors for his skin and horns myself. I think they look pretty good, and fit with the rest of the sprite well!

[Flateur]

Running sprites are partially done- I’m doing the arms and legs separately this time around since they’ll have to be moving significantly. Right now my plan is to recycle Chubberdy’s old art for frames 1-4, with the rest being my own work.