Character Design, from concept to sprite!

      Good Saturday Sunday everyone, I hope that anyone reading this is having a great weekend! I have been progressing on my game slowly but surely, though with current Beta tests for some games I enjoy it has been hard not to get distracted. With that said, I have been trying to nail down what I want our hero Grimmy to look like.

      In the VERY early stages of pre-development I started with some concept art for the character, as seen above. In my mind I was never trying to create a very seriously toned game, like Super Metroid, but more of a game that can be lighthearted and fun like the Mega Man series. The primary focus of my game is not deep story or world building but instead game design. With that said, I knew I wanted my character to be very stylized and "cartoony" in proportions and facial expression.

      Unfortunately as I progressed and choose an art style for the environment I realized I was going to have to cut back slightly on how much detail the sprites could contain. As such I ended up with the two resulting sprites. The one on the left maintaining more of the original concept art while the one on the right has a much more stylized look to it but also matches the art style better.

      At the end of the day, for consistency I will probably expand on the right sprite since it works with the tile sets much better and maintains a consistent visual aesthetic. The sprite will need some cleaning up and is nowhere near a finished sprite but I feel its a good start. With that, I hope that you all have a good weekend and are enjoying a look into the early development of my game.