December 2024 Sprint Recap
All about the character design
December was the time to sit at my computer and finally work on my character. I may or may not have put this off a bit, given that I have not felt confident in my abilities to draw people in the past. But I did it. Captain Seaward has been designed and animated (at least in the sketch state).
I started with a design I had many months ago while working in Fresco. I thought it was good and went about animating it in frame-by-frame style for each of the animations I needed: walk, jump, attack, and idle. However, when I got to attack, the first one that required moving from 3/4 view to profile view, I understood that my character wasn’t so good. So, with some assistance from a manga chibi drawing book and the internet, I took what I had and improved it.
Along the way, I learned about character turnarounds and finally did one. I also learned that you shouldn’t be animating with all the colors and shadows in place until you have at least a sketched-out animation. Trust me, once I realized that last one, the animation process became easier (still quite tricky, but more straightforward).
After I finished the side-view and the 3/4 view of the character in sketch form, I could finally animate from there. Since I spent almost the first two weeks animating the previous drawing and then having to redo the design, I didn’t have much time left in the sprint. By the time it came to a close, I had finished the following animations: walk and attack.
I am still debating whether the next sprint will be to finish the other two animations in the sketch stage or if I should return to working on the game's development. To give me a break and some time away from staring at the same thing for another month, I will likely work on setting up what happens when the character dies.
Stay tuned!