Scratch

Don't forget to put it on the official gallery!

try and have it by Wednesday it won't be in this issue it will be in the next 

alright, here is the comic.
sorry i'm late! I was (still am) sick!
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/Earthboundjeff/1658013
I would like constructive and constructed criticism!

Last edited by Earthboundjeff (2011-03-15 12:36:43)

lets get articles together for the next issue 

ok 

ok. that's fine hope you get better 

sure just pick a column on the first page and write it 

ok sure 

yea 

Here's my article, sorry it's a little late.

Creating good graphics

The key to creating good graphics is patience, not artistic ability. If you spend enough time doing something, anything is possible. It just takes time.

The first thing you want to do is make an image in your head. This is something you really want to practice. Make an image of what the object looks like in real life. This is probably the most important thing to do.

Then imagine what you want it to look like in your game. Think about the style that you want. It's important to have an image of what you want the game to look like. Here's a few tips when it comes to style:
If you're going for a cartoon style, try to use a max of 5 colors in the sprite. Then add a thick dark outline to the border and anything that would stick out in real life.
A neat style to try is something called cell shading. this is where you add a black outline to everything.
If you're going for a detailed style, try to make things fade into each other. For example, lets say you have red next to blue. Put purple n between each of  them. Also don't keep it consistent, don't make any area look the same. Add a few shades of the color to make it look different everywhere you look. Especially when there is a big open space of the same color. Try to put lots of different shades in those areas.
Making detailed sprites is very hard and requires a lot of patience, I wouldn't attempt them until you're really good an spriting
Try not to use white backgrounds. For some cool effects use a black background on bright colors, and a faded background between to a dark blue and a light blue for lighter sprites.

When you start your sprite, make an outline of what it's going to look like. Then make changes if it doesn't look right. Then slowly start making the sprite, take it one piece at a time.

And finally, here's a few 'Dos's' and 'Don't's'
Do NOT use Microsoft Paint for ANYTHING, this will just make your sprites look blurry and horrible.
Try not to use professional editors like Gimp or Photoshop, they create different transparency levels, and scratch doesn't support this.
My personal preference is the Scratch paint editor, it's simple and easy to use, I use this for all of my games.
Try something new for each project, don't stay in one style.
DO NOT EVER just draw a rectangle for the ground and a one-framed stick figure for the character, projects like this just make me want to scream, put a little effort into it.
Try not to use other people's sprites, they're made for their games, and will look out of place in yours
And remember, don't settle for less, you can always do better.

Take a look at my projects for good examples of graphics.

Any questions, feel free to ask.

~Olivora

Last edited by olivora (2011-03-23 23:14:16)

jji7skyline wrote:

olivora wrote:

Here's my article, sorry it's a little late.

Creating good graphics

The key to creating good graphics is patience, not artistic ability. If you spend enough time doing something, anything is possible. It just takes time.

The first thing you want to do is make an image in your head. This is something you really want to practice. Make an image of what the object looks like in real life. This is probably the most important thing to do.

Then imagine what you want it to look like in your game. Think about the style that you want. It's important to have an image of what you want the game to look like. Here's a few tips when it comes to style:
If you're going for a cartoon style, try to use a max of 5 colors in the sprite. Then add a thick dark outline to the border and anything that would stick out in real life.
A neat style to try is something called cell shading. this is where you add a black outline to everything.
If you're going for a detailed style, try to make things fade into each other. For example, lets say you have red next to blue. Put purple n between each of  them. Also don't keep it consistent, don't make any area look the same. Add a few shades of the color to make it look different everywhere you look. Especially when there is a big open space of the same color. Try to put lots of different shades in those areas.
Making detailed sprites is very hard and requires a lot of patience, I wouldn't attempt them until you're really good an spriting
Try not to use white backgrounds. For some cool effects use a black background on bright colors, and a faded background between to a dark blue and a light blue for lighter sprites.

When you start your sprite, make an outline of what it's going to look like. Then make changes if it doesn't look right. Then slowly start making the sprite, take it one piece at a time.

And finally, here's a few 'Dos's' and 'Don't's'
Do NOT use Microsoft Paint for ANYTHING, this will just make your sprites look blurry and horrible.
Try not to use professional editors like Gimp or Photoshop, they create different transparency levels, and scratch doesn't support this.
My personal preference is the Scratch paint editor, it's simple and easy to use, I use this for all of my games.
Try something new for each project, don't stay in one style.
DO NOT EVER just draw a rectangle for the ground and a one-framed stick figure for the character, projects like this just make me want to scream, put a little effort into it.
Try not to use other people's sprites, they're made for their games, and will look out of place in yours
And remember, don't settle for less, you can always do better.

Take a look at my projects for good examples of graphics.

Any questions, feel free to ask.

~Olivora

Great article, I love the part about microsoft paint, maybe you could tell them any software that are good, other than scratch paint editor.

Thanks, and the scratch paint editor is the only one I can think of, although I do sometimes use Paint.net, but only for a few tools that scratch doesn't have.

lilacfuzz101 wrote:

are you (scratchlive) or someone else gonna write about my contest? whoever does, please mention that there may be another extention of the deadline. thanks 

there was an awesome article right after i originally posted this so *post bump*