Spritework Improvements | Patreon Poll #26

Hey Patrons!

I’ve got a pretty long list of poll decisions I still have to deliver on (though they’re all coming in v1.2.0!) and I’m quite busy with other work as well, so for this month the poll is going to be a bit simpler.

I’m largely happy with the pixel art in Shattered, but some of it is definitely more …rough… than I’d like. I’ve compiled a list of five places where I’d like to make improvements to some of the game’s non-animated sprites, let me know which ones you guys think are most in need of some adjustments!

The strength of support for each option will determine how I prioritize these improvements!

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Please vote for all the options that you like, not just for your one favourite! I allow multiple votes as it means that a higher proportion of people will end up voting for the winning choice.

All patrons are encouraged to share their opinion by commenting and voting, but currently only the votes from Golden+ Supporters are counted when determining a poll winner. Votes from Shattered Supporters are worth double!

Chalice of Blood

This sprite does look decently like a chalice, but the shading is extremely flat and dark. You would expect an item made of silver and adorned with rubies to be a bit shinier! I’d like to take another crack at this sprite by adjusting the shape a bit, improving the details, and making it sparkle!

Shield Sprites

This one is mainly aimed at the round shield. Back when I made it, I was having trouble shading its shape, so I eventually just gave up and used the gradient tool in my image editor. The result is a sprite that’s over-shaded compared to the rest of the game, and still ends up looking a bit flat. I’d like to give it another pass. While I’m there, the greatshield is in a much better position, but still looks a bit simple compared to the other T5 weapons. I’d like to see if I could add a bit of detail to it.

Spell Item Sprites

My original drafts for the item sprites of spells were a lot fancier. I wanted to make a variety of crystal shapes, somewhat like how traps have a variety of different shape possibilities. Instead I ended up with a lot less shape variety, and shapes that are very uniform. At the very least I’d like to try and come up with one or two new spell shapes, and hopefully ones that are a bit more irregular, like real crystals.

Overhead Spell Effects

This one’s more focused on additions than improvements. I added a new spell effect sprite fairly recently when I reworked ankhs, and it made me realize that the effect is a fair bit underused. These are the visual effects that pop up above the hero when performing various types of magic. For example, the little map effect that shows up when reading a scroll of magic mapping. Some of these are more particle-based as well, such as scrolls of identification. It would be nice to think up at least a few more situations where overhead spell effects effects could be used.

Re-used Buff Icons

Another one that’s at least partially addition-focused. Currently several buffs re-use the icons of other buffs. Sometimes this makes sense, such as aquatic rejuvenation having a black and teal version of the normally red and white healing buff. Other times they’re more phoned in, such as adrenaline using literally the exact same icon as amok. I’d like to find some of the worst offenders here and either give them more appropriate recolors, or new icons entirely.