Shiroiyuki's Battler Tutorial

[Shiroiyuki]

Note

**This tutorial will be using Photoshop primarily. I have no idea how GIMP works but I’m sure you can follow along if need be. These programs mostly do artists a universal courtesy by naming tools in similar fashion to each other**

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****Shiroiyuki's Battler Tutorial****
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Hi there!

Ever have an idea for a totally awesome-tastical battler but didn't know where to start?

WELL, this tutorial aims to assist you in creating RTP-esque battlers* for your game, as well as to discuss coloring tips, cropping and cutting techniques, finishing touches that set your battler apart, and saving outputs for optimal performance.

Important Note of Totally Useless Information

I can’t teach you how to draw but I can arm you with the tools necessary to expand upon your skills. Practice often, look at other action-type drawings to guide you, watch some old Bruce Lee movies...whatever. Just get a good idea of what you’re heading into before you start.

So how does one actually take what they have floating around their heads and turn it into artwork? Honestly, with practice, but for a more practical answer –

1. You should start with a very firm design in mind.

~Have a concept to work off of, even if that means just a face-set and/or sprite. Knowing the basics – like clothing style, hair length, facial features, etc. – helps a lot.

2. Familiarize yourself with the theme of your game and focus on enhancing it through your artwork – instead of clashing.

~For instance if your game is set in feudal Japan, circa 1400’s, you wouldn’t want characters fresh out of an Abercrombie & Fitch catalog. Research the era and other relevant information so players take your game seriously.

3. Learn to really look at people.

~Sit in a crowded area with a sketch pad and practice drawing ‘gestures’ – quick, 30 second-or-less sketches that showcase the figure’s position and placement ONLY, disregarding details. There will be time for that later.

~Stare at people, pretend you have heat-vision if need be. Yes, this is happening. Learn how different parts of the body move, bend, and look under different lighting, from different angles, etc. If anyone questions you, tell them you don’t speak English. In plain English. Quickly sketch them and ignore.

~Study how clothing moves and how the weight of fabric affects folds. This is important! Silk folds a lot differently than, say, denim. You will increase your skill level tenfold by learning to draw realistic fabric, no pun intended.


Later on in this tutorial for those who do not possess artistic skills but still wish to have original battlers, I will show you how to make isolated color adjustments and easy tweaks to found art. Make sure you ALWAYS HAVE THE ORIGINAL ARTIST’S PERMISSION before even thinking about touching their artwork. It’s just proper and respectful, and will keep you from being bludgeoned by an easel.

After you feel comfortable with your pencil, read on.

Lesson One: Turning that Sprite into Workable Artwork! Part One


We’ll start with this sprite:


As you can see I’ve taken a regular, plain old RTP sprite from the database to work off of. Yes, you can use your own for this example, too.

1) First we want to find out as much as possible from the reference sprite.

Take a good look, note all details for later.



What I can see from looking at this sprite (and yes, I’m deviating from the built-in battler) is:
Pink hair, rather short in length and boxy. Thick bangs.

What looks like a ‘V’-cut orange tunic with red/orange puff sleeves and an open square back, which slits into two sections (front and back) towards the bottom. A silver belt. Grey/silver gloves and boots.



**I’ve just decided she’ll be a Chinese Kung-Fu fighter. Don’t ask me why, just accept it.**




Points of artistic freedom and interpretation (the sprite sheet will be changed later on): [/size]

A skintight dark – most likely dark grey or black – leotard/catsuit will be added underneath with collar exposed. This is due to the questionable dark areas already visible in sprite sheet....

Outfit shall be given oriental design elements to fit character and arm/leg skin will be darkened to show catsuit beneath. Boot details will change shape.



With me so far?

2) Next we will decide what kind of weapon would suit this character.

I’m gonna pretend she’s a minx with a Guan Dao (glaive**) and her history includes such liberties as: extensive training in martial arts, a steady diet of beating the hell out of people, and so on and so forth. Beloved child of a recently-blinded Shaolin Kung-Fu master whose only goal in life was to avenge his wife’s murderer vicariously through the daughter he raised alone.

*Snort*

Pick your own destiny but make sure to get reference pictures of the weapon of choice (including some of the weapon in use).

For completely original weaponry try to find something comparable and scout reference images for that item, tweaking as you go along. This way you can prevent such embarrassing moments as ‘wielding a crossbow like an axe’ and ‘why yes, that is a shotgun in my pocket’.

3) Sketch, sketch, sketch!

Get a pad of paper and a pencil (I use a mechanical one because I’m lazy) and start laying out the basics.

Use what you’ve established so far to pick a fitting pose.

My character is a serious, mildly sexy, no-nonsense chick who’s been bottle-fed Kung-Fu since the womb. She may have pink hair but she definitely isn’t your typical bubbly girl-next-door. She’s ready to battle at any moment, lives to kill bad guys, wastes no time in doing so, and won’t even break a sweat. Her pose is going to reflect that personality.


Side note: I was totally criticized for this piece on another forum this morning and had to LOL. Especially since the one throwing darts was in fact a crappy, crappy artist himself. HAHAHA


You may be asking yourself, ‘is all that detail really freakin’ necessary??!’ No, no it’s not. I just wanted you to see the sketch for what it will be. Simple shapes could be all it takes to get the image cemented in your mind.

As long as you know which lines to keep and which to erase you are GOOD.




Get these steps done and when ready, head to Part Two!

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Part Two will be up shortly; stay tuned ^_^


*At this time I will not be covering animated battlers; reason being they take so much damn time!
**Sort of a glaive, anyway. It’s the Chinese version of a really really pointy polearm with a crescent-shaped blade. Nasty when stabbing you. Don’t use to eat with. Try not to pick babies up with it.

I know...that last one was a tough call.