Looking for Artist to Draw a Pole-Vaulting Crusader
Hello!
I'm looking for a simple 2D artist to draw and animate a few frames of a character for a simple platform runner. The character will be loosely based off of this knight with a few moderate changes.
The knight will be armed not with a sword and shield, but with a pole. Not a halberd, not a pike, not a spear. A pole. A basic stick.
The knight will (as of now) consist of:
- idle - knight takes a running stance before the game starts. Maybe a couple frames for breathing. Knight should be holding pole against the floor
- run - knight runs in a somewhat similar fashion as a pole-vaulter, but with the pole being held at a slight angle upwards. Knight's body should slightly twist during animation. Make his cape wavy a bit as he runs. Ya know, artsy things
- attack - knight swings his pole in a horizontal manner, vanquishing foes with his stick fury. Feet should still be running during this attack
- jump - knight vaults himself with his pole. May look funny due to the limited size of the frames compared to the actual relative size of a real pole-vaulting pole, but that is perfectly fine, we'll work with what we got. No landing animation needed
- die - knight dies. I'm open to suggestions here
I have no set amount of frames needed per animation and it doesn't have to be flawlessly smooth by any means. Each frame should be 64x64 and named in a convention like "idle0, idle1, run0, run1, run2" etc. I use a texture packing tool for my games, so it would be very convenient if finished works are zipped and sent as individual frames as opposed to a sprite sheet. I'm looking for a bit more than pixel art, but it doesn't have to be high definition either (or as high-def as 64x64 allows) If you have any immediate idea of what price you'd be looking for, be sure and let me know so that we're on the right foot and I don't take up too much of your time. I will definitely be needing more artwork for this game in the near-future, so if I like the style, I will definitely be commissioning you for additional works. Thank you!
I think I'd be able to do that. I see you don't want pixel art, but I do cartoons as well, I'll make a little example for you.
That'd be great, thank you!
I'm not too sure what the term would be, but I'm picturing a more cartoony, but not quite pixel artsy, but somewhat close-ish style of art. Like almost on the verge of pixel art, I suppose. I know that's absolutely no help, but maybe it'll give at least the direction
It sure is an interesting challenge to make an animation as tiny as this without using pixel art.
I wonder if anyone else will be able to do it better ^^
Also, I realize this is not completely the crouching stance you want, this is more of a test thing ^^
The jaggy appearance of the cape, etc. here is due to the gif format. He'd look better in your game than this.
That is awesome, definitely along the style I'm getting at!
I do realize that the size has its limitations, and have re-evaluated my needs. As long as all five animations can fit on a 2048x2048 sheet (due to device restrictions) The actual size can vary, be it 128x128 or 256x256 even.
Should I try again with 128x128 or 256x256, you think?
Also, for all the animations you state you need in your original post, I'd probably charge about 70$.
I think that might be best. Since he's going to have only 5 animations, as long as his animations average 6 or fewer frames, 256x256 would be fine. It would allow more room for freedom, without a doubt, even his idle animation could have a more definitive runner stance in that case
Also, your rate appraisal is definitely fair
I'll try 256x256 then ^^
I use the email address rspringenterprises@gmail.com for paypal, which I assume you have.
Here we have a 256x256 attempt ^^ hopefully the pose is a little bit more like what you want, I at least tried to make it that way.
Tbh I don't really know about these ...
I should probably give them a little more time, but you can consider these drafts until then.
Tha's actually really good, I am impressed with what you could do with such limited information. The increased image dimensions were able to project a very good representation. His angry-yet-eager running stance absolutely makes it hahah!
The pole vault jump animation may be a bit complex, so I may need to elaborate on that and get some input from you when the time comes
Thank you!! If you like them I can also continue with this style, I just find them slightly rough around the edges.
Yeah, I do believe it could be smoothed out a bit. But other than that the style is perfect
Here these two animations have been smoothened up a bit using a simple method and also given a little extra shininess. Also in the frame format you wanted ^^
I'm also working on an attack animation, that might take a little longer, but I'll try and get it done as soon as I can ~
(I'll put them in a zip in the future)
it's just so you can see how they look like.
Just tested these two in-game, the smoother frames are exactly what we're looking for!
Could the end results be scaled so that the sprite takes up the most it possibly can of the 256x256? By this, I mean there's little to no whitespace surrounding the sprite in the image, the left and right sides of the sprite touch the edges of the image, and the sprite's feet are at the bottom (Y=0) of the image. This would assist with scaling and collision in the game.
I don't know if I replied about payment earlier, but yes, PayPal would be the easiest way to go here.
Thank you again, I'm impressed by both the speed and the quality of work!
Ahh, I'm glad you like them ^^
I don't think your suggestion about the frame sizes would work beacuse all of the frames also need to be the correct size in relation to each other between all the animations. I can certainly move the sprite's feet to the bottom of the image without problems, though.
Ahh, I see, that's alright.
As long as they're a consistent size, I can just programmatically adjust their rendered size to accommodate. But either way, putting the sprite at the bottom of the image wherever possible would definitely help
I tried doing that here, I can't upload zips here on the forums so a google drive link will suffice.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1zM20rKAet9J5qq3vACrAkTsetnv3QSpv
That worked wonderfully. I edited my code so that it can scale accordingly, so the sidelines whitespace is not an issue. The consistent size looks awesome, and I certainly don't want to disrupt that haha
That's great!
I'll work on that attack animation soon.
Sounds good to me! I think the attack and jump animations may be a little more complicated (the jump moreso) so if you run into anything or have any questions, feel free to ask.
Also, let me know how you would like to be credited in-game, and if you'd like me to link somewhere other than your OGA page
Here are frames of an attack animation ^^
You can credit me as Spring but if you prefer a real name it is "Rasmus Damsgaard"
They've a few minor errors, but I'll polish those up.-
Here's a zipped version where some improvements have been made to the attack animation.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1dFMAO-SrNc_qHijKPwRvMRB8B-tEXtrF
I think that'll be all that I'll be able to manage for today, but we're off to a good start ^^
Just added and tested the hit frames, this is great!
A few minor requests, if I may:
All in all, I'm very impressed and very happy with how this is kicking off. You're very skilled at what you do, and it's great to be working with you!
Thanks!
I'lll be taking a look at the things you mentioned.
It also feels great to receive so much praise ^^
Here I think I did what you wanted ^^
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1QL7URV-Olvjvo09pF2GjUr0heUSzaY3x
with the hit animation
I just applied the new animation and sped up the frame rate, and wow, what a difference that made! I'd venture even so far as to say that this may be the best rendition of a pole-vaulting Crusading knight I've ever laid my eyes upon.
Also, the transition from the end of the attack frame to the beginning of the running frame ended up flowing exceptionally well. I don't know if that was coincidental or purposeful, but kudos there
It was somewhat purposeful, I had at least been playing it in a loop to see how it looked ^^
Now, for that pole vaulting animation, is he supposed to land on his back or just his feet?
Ah, the pole-vaulting animation. This is where the complexity kicks in.
For the initial jump, I want the actual pole-vaulting aspect of the animation to be quick, maybe two or three frames. This way the delay on the actual jump input isn't delayed too much.
Now, at first, I couldn't decide if I wanted the in-air animation for the knight to be a flip or a standard looking jump. I'm still open to suggestions on that one. Either way, I'd like the cape to reflect his aerial move. Basic physic-looking stuff. I think a flip going into a standard fall would look cool.
Finally, as for the landing, despite going against standard pole-vaulting, I'd like the knight to land on his feet. Since he's going to be running immediately upon impact with the ground, there doesn't need to be any landing animation. I'll probably just add an impact animation, like a wind-looking thing.
So it's actually kinda 3 different animatons? It does seem a little complex, I hope you have the patience ^^
I'm definitely patient! And I hope you are as well because I'm terrible at trying to convey what I'm picturing.
Try and see if this works for you:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1e3iZEx5uz0ZYJ8drKHlwGoet2zZqb70p
That works out great!
Since the knight often falls longer than he jumps due to platform heights, could we see about adding a small, two or three frame falling animation to it? Essentially just the last frame, maybe angled back a bit more in preparation to land, with his body and cape wavering a bit in the wind?
And by the way, I'm not trying to squeeze any extras out of you that I can. If my requests end up being more than you had originally anticipated, let me know. I understand that if I keep asking for extras, I"m more than happy to compensate for it.
The sprite is flowing wonderfully in this game, I'm having a great time with it. Thank you once again!
I have to admit that I didn't expect to make a landing animation when you stated that none was necessary. I will probably have to make it more expensive if it's something you really want, I gave you a pretty lenient price to begin with.
That being said, thanks for your compliments ^^
Oh no, I'm actually not looking for a landing animation. I just want the end of the jump to simulate him falling so that it looks smooth when the animation is done. Just like the last frame is, except animated, like his cape moving back and forth in the wind as he falls, and a little bit of movement. No more than three frames, all similar to the last frame as it is, just moving a bit so that the knight isn't static when he falls.
Ok, I guess I can do that ^^
Here I just done literally what you said and just redrew the cape and rotated the body a bit as he's falling, it doesn't look that good imo, but if that's what you want to go with it's not for me to judge.
Just tested this animation in-game and it appears to be fine, what aren't you a fan of?
The leg movement, but if you can use it, it's just fine.
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