Goonhub
11-29-2019, 01:12 PM
(This post was last modified: 12-02-2019, 07:23 PM by Studenterhue. Edited 8 times in total.
Edit Reason: verisimilitude-that's the word I'm looking for
)
oh wow it's the 29th already I forgot there were only 30 days in November
I'm thinking of submitting my own entries soon, but first I want to give props to all the entrants. Spriting's hard work, and I'm sure that some of you are privately worried your sprites aren't good enough for the game/contest. SaccharineChampion's talked to me a bit about that and so have a few other peeps whose names I'm a bit sad to have forgotten.
I just want to say that the very fact that you (that's plural) submitted despite this fear is something to be praised; maybe it's not Nobel Prize level praise, but like Mr. Rogers has always said, you don't have to do anything extraordinary to be loved. I also just want to say (and I hope this doesn't sound cynical, because all my other attempts to phrase this did) that because winning entries are randomly chosen rather than competitively selected based on artistic skill, that means even if you don't think your entry's up to snuff, it can still make it into SS13. Speaking of which, even if you aren't happy with your entry, I am! (And know some things that would make me even happier with them.)
With that out of the way, I've some more specific compliments and criticism for each person and their entries. Maybe not of much use with one and roughly a half days left in the contest, but you know what they say, better late than never. (Or in this case, better when the contest is almost closed than when it's going to close in a few hours or when it already has closed.)
pali6
Dunno what that shelterbee's deal is, but it looks kinda cute, in same the way gifs of anime characters blushing are kinda cute. Seems a little dark though, perhaps you could liven up the colors, especially the yellows? I have similar feelings about the pentagram/pentacle.
Thunderscore has a nice austerity to it, a good kind of minimalism. It's not a vague overly-simplistic sketch that doesn't really tell you much about the band or the piece and is only hiding behind the label of minimalism, but it's a clean, concise finished piece, as if the band knows that all people need to recognize it are two letters and a character.
The LGBT sleeves are all good. I think the color scheme should extend to the entire area of the record, but they look fine the way they are.
The AI sleeve looks fair as it is, but I think it could use a few more details. I can't quite make a design I myself am happy with, but try adding a grey border around the blue, so it looks like the display is sunken into the record/computer, and shortening the smile a tinsy bit.
sartorius
Comparing it the actual album cover, the perspective seems a little off, and the colors on the clothes are a little too bright. That said, I'd have no clue how to transfer that kind of perspective onto to 24x25 pixels, so the choice in perspective is understandable. Besides, if I'm looking on it on its own, I can see what it's trying to accomplish; I can tell it's man wearing a top hat, scarf (or maybe it's a boa? A boa of tried fish meat?), and funny fish mask waving at the viewer. One thing perhaps worth doing: try shortening the width of the scarf thing. Something like this, perhaps.
PlainInsane
I love how you really expanded upon the nuclear auth disk sprite, instead of merely resizing it. In particular, I admire how the notch to open the sleeve is the section where the floppy disk is read--how appropriate, even if it may be accidental. The little wavy lines are a little thin, but are otherwise quite nice.
Wisecrack34
Mmm, a fruitcake album, very fitting considering what next month is. Sure looks like fruitcake alright, and the note contrasts with the fruitcake enough that it doesn't confusingly blend into it. That particular green is a bit uncommon and lil strange-looking, but it fits the general festive theme well enough. You didn't have to make a record, but boy does it sure look delicious. (Future Questionable Idea incoming...)
Tewf
The Pink Floyd album really looks like the real deal, and it definitely looks better now that the pure black is a matte dark grey. I admire the pixel letters, and the shortening of Pink Floyd into PK FD is a stroke of genius. Worthy sprite for one of the most famous albums of all time.
Crazyabe
I dunno what the album this is referencing is, so pardon me if I'm just completely wrong. It reminds me of those pseudo-3D images where the picture's broken up into three parts that give the illusion of perspective. As for the content, I see a sort of jungle with a mountain in the distance. It's quite visually appealing, at least.
The skull is absolutely superb. I think it's good enough that you can remove the grey and let it stand on its own, like The Punisher logo.
The corners are good, and the eye is nice, but it seems to lack a certain character. Like, it's not an "eye of knowledge" or "creepy eye of nightmares", it's just an eye. Again, it looks good, but seems uncompleted.
Schwicky_Schwag
I can only recognize 8 out of 10 of the albums shown, but they're superbly faithful renditions. I particularly like how you recreated the chopped up pictures pieces that don't quite align together for the Ex-Military album. I also like how you converted the man in the Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs album into a lil' SS13 man.
I also really adore the textwork specifically. While I can't really "read" the text on them, (save for the Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs one), the general shape is close enough to the real thing that I can recognize what it's trying to get at, sort of Chinese Room style. Very clever and very well-done.
Bologna Prime
If there're any sleeves based on real life ones, I don't recognize them, but I can recognize that they're all good. There's a nice of variety of designs, from simple to complex, in all sorts of interesting colors. In particular, I like how some of them have SS13 elements that make them seem like a real part of the SS13 universe. Verisimilitude, you know.
The face on the mouse seems a little weird, but it looks alright.
I also like how you put the notch where the album opens in different places. It shows a good attention to detail. I especially like how the notch on the Martian one looks like its mouth.
The gun looks neat too, but the grey on the barrel seems a bit too close to the grey of the parts under it. Perhaps make the parts or the barrel darker?
gerblederp
Solid brass knuckles, can't wait to see what they look like when bloodied up. Is this your first time spriting? Looks pretty good if it is, you could be a prodigy.
monolithburger
I have a hard time making out the statue and toucan in the jungle image. In fact, it feels like the album image was resized from the original rather than recreated. Still, I think you have a good base. Try drawing out the statue and bird, and for the text, try adding some gaps to represent spaces, so it's more interesting than just a solid yellow line.
SaccharineChampion
Really good job rendering the zigzag patterns on the sides of the Macca album, they're quite beautiful. The titular ram and the man tending to the animal are well-made. The little purple box for the album title looks kinda funky, but considering you have so little space to work with given all the other stuff, I'll give it a pass. Besides, I can still tell it's meant to be text. I'd also use a somewhat darker shade for the yellow, but the current one works.
Good job with the colors and harlequin clown head, but the chains on the ICP album don't really look like chains, but it's understandable given you're working at the <32x32 pixel art scale. When I was attempting to redraw the chains myself, I decided to use some artistic license and make them straight like so. It might not be an absolutely faithful rendition, but it still encapsulates the general "clownhead wearing a necklace with the band logo" theme.
That said, your chains kinda work in its own way; to me they look like little legs on the clownhead, like a mutant clownwalker, which is suitable for a monster clown band.
Speaking of which, having POO instead of ICP is a good touch--and very fitting if the album happens to have one of those every-sound-is-poo-in-different-pitches songs.
The Sweet Heart Sweet Light album is beautifully Spartan, and it both nicely fits well with the other similarly minimalistic albums in this thread and stands out in a good way with the more finely detailed ones. The decision to use three questions marks instead of a Huh? is interesting; I think it's possible to write it out if you expand the green octagon (here's my attempt at it), but it's fine. You also didn't have to include the grey stuff on one of Gannet's album sprites, but it doesn't detract from the piece much.
Concluding Thoughts
I wish all the entries made it into the game like the Spacemas tree sprite drive; while I critiqued most of them, I still want them all in the game. Darn shame we don't have nearly as many music pieces as we do album sprite entries.
I'm thinking of submitting my own entries soon, but first I want to give props to all the entrants. Spriting's hard work, and I'm sure that some of you are privately worried your sprites aren't good enough for the game/contest. SaccharineChampion's talked to me a bit about that and so have a few other peeps whose names I'm a bit sad to have forgotten.
I just want to say that the very fact that you (that's plural) submitted despite this fear is something to be praised; maybe it's not Nobel Prize level praise, but like Mr. Rogers has always said, you don't have to do anything extraordinary to be loved. I also just want to say (and I hope this doesn't sound cynical, because all my other attempts to phrase this did) that because winning entries are randomly chosen rather than competitively selected based on artistic skill, that means even if you don't think your entry's up to snuff, it can still make it into SS13. Speaking of which, even if you aren't happy with your entry, I am! (And know some things that would make me even happier with them.)
With that out of the way, I've some more specific compliments and criticism for each person and their entries. Maybe not of much use with one and roughly a half days left in the contest, but you know what they say, better late than never. (Or in this case, better when the contest is almost closed than when it's going to close in a few hours or when it already has closed.)
pali6
Dunno what that shelterbee's deal is, but it looks kinda cute, in same the way gifs of anime characters blushing are kinda cute. Seems a little dark though, perhaps you could liven up the colors, especially the yellows? I have similar feelings about the pentagram/pentacle.
Thunderscore has a nice austerity to it, a good kind of minimalism. It's not a vague overly-simplistic sketch that doesn't really tell you much about the band or the piece and is only hiding behind the label of minimalism, but it's a clean, concise finished piece, as if the band knows that all people need to recognize it are two letters and a character.
The LGBT sleeves are all good. I think the color scheme should extend to the entire area of the record, but they look fine the way they are.
The AI sleeve looks fair as it is, but I think it could use a few more details. I can't quite make a design I myself am happy with, but try adding a grey border around the blue, so it looks like the display is sunken into the record/computer, and shortening the smile a tinsy bit.
sartorius
Comparing it the actual album cover, the perspective seems a little off, and the colors on the clothes are a little too bright. That said, I'd have no clue how to transfer that kind of perspective onto to 24x25 pixels, so the choice in perspective is understandable. Besides, if I'm looking on it on its own, I can see what it's trying to accomplish; I can tell it's man wearing a top hat, scarf (or maybe it's a boa? A boa of tried fish meat?), and funny fish mask waving at the viewer. One thing perhaps worth doing: try shortening the width of the scarf thing. Something like this, perhaps.
PlainInsane
I love how you really expanded upon the nuclear auth disk sprite, instead of merely resizing it. In particular, I admire how the notch to open the sleeve is the section where the floppy disk is read--how appropriate, even if it may be accidental. The little wavy lines are a little thin, but are otherwise quite nice.
Wisecrack34
Mmm, a fruitcake album, very fitting considering what next month is. Sure looks like fruitcake alright, and the note contrasts with the fruitcake enough that it doesn't confusingly blend into it. That particular green is a bit uncommon and lil strange-looking, but it fits the general festive theme well enough. You didn't have to make a record, but boy does it sure look delicious. (Future Questionable Idea incoming...)
Tewf
The Pink Floyd album really looks like the real deal, and it definitely looks better now that the pure black is a matte dark grey. I admire the pixel letters, and the shortening of Pink Floyd into PK FD is a stroke of genius. Worthy sprite for one of the most famous albums of all time.
Crazyabe
I dunno what the album this is referencing is, so pardon me if I'm just completely wrong. It reminds me of those pseudo-3D images where the picture's broken up into three parts that give the illusion of perspective. As for the content, I see a sort of jungle with a mountain in the distance. It's quite visually appealing, at least.
The skull is absolutely superb. I think it's good enough that you can remove the grey and let it stand on its own, like The Punisher logo.
The corners are good, and the eye is nice, but it seems to lack a certain character. Like, it's not an "eye of knowledge" or "creepy eye of nightmares", it's just an eye. Again, it looks good, but seems uncompleted.
Schwicky_Schwag
I can only recognize 8 out of 10 of the albums shown, but they're superbly faithful renditions. I particularly like how you recreated the chopped up pictures pieces that don't quite align together for the Ex-Military album. I also like how you converted the man in the Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs album into a lil' SS13 man.
I also really adore the textwork specifically. While I can't really "read" the text on them, (save for the Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs one), the general shape is close enough to the real thing that I can recognize what it's trying to get at, sort of Chinese Room style. Very clever and very well-done.
Bologna Prime
If there're any sleeves based on real life ones, I don't recognize them, but I can recognize that they're all good. There's a nice of variety of designs, from simple to complex, in all sorts of interesting colors. In particular, I like how some of them have SS13 elements that make them seem like a real part of the SS13 universe. Verisimilitude, you know.
The face on the mouse seems a little weird, but it looks alright.
I also like how you put the notch where the album opens in different places. It shows a good attention to detail. I especially like how the notch on the Martian one looks like its mouth.
The gun looks neat too, but the grey on the barrel seems a bit too close to the grey of the parts under it. Perhaps make the parts or the barrel darker?
gerblederp
Solid brass knuckles, can't wait to see what they look like when bloodied up. Is this your first time spriting? Looks pretty good if it is, you could be a prodigy.
monolithburger
I have a hard time making out the statue and toucan in the jungle image. In fact, it feels like the album image was resized from the original rather than recreated. Still, I think you have a good base. Try drawing out the statue and bird, and for the text, try adding some gaps to represent spaces, so it's more interesting than just a solid yellow line.
SaccharineChampion
Really good job rendering the zigzag patterns on the sides of the Macca album, they're quite beautiful. The titular ram and the man tending to the animal are well-made. The little purple box for the album title looks kinda funky, but considering you have so little space to work with given all the other stuff, I'll give it a pass. Besides, I can still tell it's meant to be text. I'd also use a somewhat darker shade for the yellow, but the current one works.
Good job with the colors and harlequin clown head, but the chains on the ICP album don't really look like chains, but it's understandable given you're working at the <32x32 pixel art scale. When I was attempting to redraw the chains myself, I decided to use some artistic license and make them straight like so. It might not be an absolutely faithful rendition, but it still encapsulates the general "clownhead wearing a necklace with the band logo" theme.
That said, your chains kinda work in its own way; to me they look like little legs on the clownhead, like a mutant clownwalker, which is suitable for a monster clown band.
Speaking of which, having POO instead of ICP is a good touch--and very fitting if the album happens to have one of those every-sound-is-poo-in-different-pitches songs.
The Sweet Heart Sweet Light album is beautifully Spartan, and it both nicely fits well with the other similarly minimalistic albums in this thread and stands out in a good way with the more finely detailed ones. The decision to use three questions marks instead of a Huh? is interesting; I think it's possible to write it out if you expand the green octagon (here's my attempt at it), but it's fine. You also didn't have to include the grey stuff on one of Gannet's album sprites, but it doesn't detract from the piece much.
Concluding Thoughts
I wish all the entries made it into the game like the Spacemas tree sprite drive; while I critiqued most of them, I still want them all in the game. Darn shame we don't have nearly as many music pieces as we do album sprite entries.