A Slight Detour with Grendel Sprites
After successfully updating many of the female C1 Grendel sprites and body data this week, I figured I would move onto other things and get back to my usual game play. Not so! I had plans to update the female Grendels head with a new look, so I decided to experiment with the baby male Grendel head to see how I fared with spriting. Even though these images are tiny, there is a ton of detail packed into a very small space! I admire those who can create sprites from scratch: It’s nothing short of difficult! This little male should look a little different… Can you spot all of the elements of his new look?
There are actually many, many minor changes. The major change is his hairstyle: I figured that male Grendels should earn their Elvis hairstyle with age! Thus, this baby male has a smaller amount of hair that made me think he was even more adorable. I also updated most of the body data files to give him a better overall appearance and pose. This pose actually took me a day to complete, because his right arm was literally detached and floating in the air! It kept me up all night, and gave new meaning to the phrase “mad scientist!” Fortunately, I found the issue in an incorrect variable in a body data file. Such a relief to locate the problem at last!
Another main difference is the order of the head sprites: These are actually reversed, both in baby and adult male Grendels. When they attempt to reach for something high up, their heads actually point down. I always thought it looked rather cute, but impractical. I was thrilled when I watched this little one follow the hand with the correct head carriage! I also know that my excitement is over small things, but I never really tried working with sprites in the past, and I’ve learned a lot.
I am still finalizing certain aspects of this update for the baby male Grendel: For instance, his arm and hand placement appears slightly off in this pose, although he looks like he’s ready to dance with the spinning top! There are also multiple sprite fixes, although these mostly involve one or two pixels in a few images. My goal is to update the male Grendel before moving onto the female. Feel free to share any ideas or suggestions about the C1 male and/or female Grendels!
Being a 3D artist I’m familiar with both graphics and programming. But there’s nothing quite like that feeling when you see the two come together and your creations start moving about correctly. I understand the excitement over the small things ;)
You’re going all out with these guys, aren’t you? Not that it’s a bad thing – quite the opposite, actually. It’s about time grendels got some love.
ArchDragon: Celebrations over the small things are quite fun! Especially when you’re first getting the hang of everything, and nothing seems to make much sense. I just found another pretty major error in the body data files, and it’s actually present in adult male Grendels, too! Definitely going to correct that so the shoulders are in the right places and the hands show up correctly!
Grendel Man: Indeed, I’m going all out! Ha ha! I imagine that in the end, many of the minor changes won’t even be noticed. Still, it’s nice to know that I kind of know what I’m doing when it comes to sprites and body data. This opens up more possibilities, especially since I know of a few other issues with the C1 Norn files. Projects, projects! I’m pretty happy with where I am right now with the baby males: I’ll have to slow down to get some other (non-Creatures) things done, but they should be ready with their adult and senior counterparts in the next week! After that, it’s onto the difficult part of creating a new look for the female Grendels. I’m excited, though, and hopefully the end result will be enjoyed by many!