Trying to go for a custom feel, I wanted my battlers to look better than what’s provided, and I’m not a huge fan of the chibi style, at least not for this game. When searching how to make my own battlers, I happened upon a forum discussing the same and switching out one character for another without having to change the model and simply the skin depending on the equipment being worn. Turns out there’s a plugin for that, which could help me when it comes to the player switching between classes.
There will be multiple classes in my game, with multiple outfits for each gender and varying ranks depending on the faction. In the world of The Daemos Chronicles: Graduation Day, students of the Academy pick a faction to follow when they graduate, and each opens new possibilities for the character and the player. When I think about it and may days of sprites, I remember how long sprite sheets took. Pixel-by-pixel art is no longer a medium I work in, being a 2D Illustrator for years now. I did try making a couple of sprites, and although I’m better than I thought, I don’t practice enough to get better, and I know I draw very inconsistently, so the style won’t match throughout the game.
How to beat this? Hire an artist, of course. On that same forum I mentioned, someone posted a screenshot. I liked the art style, but no one gave credit. So to Google Image search I go, and lucky for me, the Twitter for the game posted the same screenshot. That led me to the author of the game, and their RPG Maker profile, and then their artist portfolio, and then I got into contact with the artist.
I can be very determined.
Although no contracts have been signed (I own everything under copyright anyways), nor cash has switched hands, I’m pretty confident this is the guy I want to do the art for my game. His work is similar to Avatar: The Last Airbender, which is a style I’m a large fan of and would like to replicate one day. Sprite works and comic works of course differ, and the two look completely different, but what game is complete without some cut scenes? I don’t want to get ahead of myself, though.
Let’s see how far this project goes.