Creating Unit Art - Revision history

Sub2pewds: Removing extraneous whitespace

2019-02-25T04:33:31Z

Removing extraneous whitespace

Zookeeper: Fixed color depth instruction from 24-bit to 32-bit

2015-07-19T13:01:51Z

Fixed color depth instruction from 24-bit to 32-bit

Tr0ll: /* Basic unit image specifications */ add Alaranta's diagram showing overlap recommendations for oversized images

2013-01-18T04:20:17Z

‎Basic unit image specifications: add Alaranta's diagram showing overlap recommendations for oversized images

Tr0ll: /* Basic unit image specifications */ insert referenced image inline

2013-01-18T03:50:32Z

‎Basic unit image specifications: insert referenced image inline

Tr0ll: switch bolding to level1 section headers in order to modularize future editing and auto-insert table of contents

2013-01-18T03:34:16Z

switch bolding to level1 section headers in order to modularize future editing and auto-insert table of contents

Deusite: updated links for glossary merger

2012-12-22T01:54:34Z

updated links for glossary merger

Artisticdude: Changed spellings of "colour" to "color", clarified some information

2012-05-31T13:25:04Z

Changed spellings of "colour" to "color", clarified some information

Artisticdude at 20:15, 1 February 2012

2012-02-01T20:15:52Z

Artisticdude: Clarified some points

2012-01-08T15:15:05Z

Clarified some points

Artisticdude: Specified the medium for unit art as pixel art, some other clarifications

2012-01-06T14:36:07Z

Specified the medium for unit art as pixel art, some other clarifications

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 Here's the information needed to start doing units art for Wesnoth. Please update the wiki with links to examples and other tips and tricks realted to unit art. This page started from [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=104809#104809 this forum thread].
 == The Medium ==
 The medium used to create unit art is known as 'pixel art'. If you do not understand what pixel art is, or if you have only a general understanding of what it is, I suggest reading [http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11299 The Pixel Art Tutorial] by Cure. It is a tutorial comprised of a series of sequential forum posts on the www.pixeljoint.com forum and gives an in-depth overview of pixel art, explaining in detail what pixel art is and what it is not. Using other mediums (such as brush art) to create unit art is fine if you are creating unit art for [[Glossary|UMC]] add-ons (although it is still strongly recommended that you use pixel art for the sake of consistency with mainline units), but only units drawn in pure pixel art will be accepted into mainline.
 == Basic unit image specifications ==
@@ Line 32: / Line 30: @@
 *directional attacks (generally are desired for any attack that's a straight motion, rather than a slash.  I.e. spears and thundersticks)
 *defense (usually 2 frames long not including the base frame, separate animations may be drawn for ranged and melee defense animations)
 == Additional Notes ==

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 Wesnoth can only use two kinds of graphic files:  PNGs, or JPEGs.  JPEGs aren't suitable for unit images, because they can't store transparency data (and are lossy).  Because of this, we always use PNGs for unit images.
 *Final format: transparent PNG
-** Color depth should be 24-bit (8 bits per RGB channel).  This may be listed as "PNG-24" or "8-bit RGBA".
+** Color depth should be 32-bit (8 bits per RGBA channel).  This may be listed for example as "PNG-32" or "8-bit RGBA".
 ** Be aware that "Indexed color", "color map", or "PNG-8" is a different format.  Although it might work in a buggy way, we strongly recommend you not use these.
 *  Canvas size is 72 x 72 pixels (it can actually be slightly wider, and can fit in the area of a hex and its immediately surrounding tiles, but try not to do this if at all possible, because it has performance and graphical glitch issues).

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 ** Be aware that "Indexed color", "color map", or "PNG-8" is a different format.  Although it might work in a buggy way, we strongly recommend you not use these.
 *  Canvas size is 72 x 72 pixels (it can actually be slightly wider, and can fit in the area of a hex and its immediately surrounding tiles, but try not to do this if at all possible, because it has performance and graphical glitch issues).
-*All but exceptionally large units should be contained in the hex if possible - the white in the  template shown here: http://forums.wesnoth.org/download/file.php?id=4334&type=.png
+*All but exceptionally large units should be contained in the hex if possible - the white in the  template shown at right: http://forums.wesnoth.org/download/file.php?id=4334&type=.png
-*Compare the size of your unit to the size of similar existing core units
+*Compare the size of your unit to the size of similar existing core units.
 *Light comes from the artist's (''not'' the unit's!) upper right (for shading and highlights)
 *Unit must look in the lower right (again, the artist's lower right, not the unit's) direction

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 ** Be aware that "Indexed color", "color map", or "PNG-8" is a different format.  Although it might work in a buggy way, we strongly recommend you not use these.
 *  Canvas size is 72 x 72 pixels (it can actually be slightly wider, and can fit in the area of a hex and its immediately surrounding tiles, but try not to do this if at all possible, because it has performance and graphical glitch issues).
-*All but exceptionally large units should be contained in the hex if possible (the white in the attached template)
+*All but exceptionally large units should be contained in the hex if possible - the white in the  template shown here: http://forums.wesnoth.org/download/file.php?id=4334&type=.png
 *Compare the size of your unit to the size of similar existing core units
 *Light comes from the artist's (''not'' the unit's!) upper right (for shading and highlights)
@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 *Outlines should be used, made with a darker, but similar color to what they're surrounding, this makes the unit feel bigger then the amount of pixels you'd use for the same with a black outline. Note that pure black (RGB #000000) should ''never'' be used to outline a sprite.
 *Use consistent names for your files, beginning with the unit name, so that they are kept together when browsing the files.  Try to imitate the naming scheme used for mainline units.
 == Unit animation specifications ==

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
+== The Medium ==
 The medium used to create unit art is known as 'pixel art'. If you do not understand what pixel art is, or if you have only a general understanding of what it is, I suggest reading [http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11299 The Pixel Art Tutorial] by Cure. It is a tutorial comprised of a series of sequential forum posts on the www.pixeljoint.com forum and gives an in-depth overview of pixel art, explaining in detail what pixel art is and what it is not. Using other mediums (such as brush art) to create unit art is fine if you are creating unit art for [[Glossary|UMC]] add-ons (although it is still strongly recommended that you use pixel art for the sake of consistency with mainline units), but only units drawn in pure pixel art will be accepted into mainline.
+== Basic unit image specifications ==
 Wesnoth can only use two kinds of graphic files:  PNGs, or JPEGs.  JPEGs aren't suitable for unit images, because they can't store transparency data (and are lossy).  Because of this, we always use PNGs for unit images.
@@ Line 28: / Line 25: @@
+== Unit animation specifications ==
 You can have as many frames for animations as you like, and in fact, for any given cue, you can have more than one animation, which will be randomly chosen by the game.  Images and animations must be done for:
@@ Line 38: / Line 34: @@
+== Additional Notes ==
 *Test early with different backgrounds. Go to your game terrain files, pick, say, 3 terrains, preferably with different colors, and have a look what they look like against the background, because that way if you have used alpha channels, it may look better in game than as the average standard sprite.

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:54, 22 December 2012
Line 6:		Line 6:
	''' The Medium '''		''' The Medium '''

−	The medium used to create unit art is known as 'pixel art'. If you do not understand what pixel art is, or if you have only a general understanding of what it is, I suggest reading [http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11299 The Pixel Art Tutorial] by Cure. It is a tutorial comprised of a series of sequential forum posts on the www.pixeljoint.com forum and gives an in-depth overview of pixel art, explaining in detail what pixel art is and what it is not. Using other mediums (such as brush art) to create unit art is fine if you are creating unit art for [[~~WesnothAcronyms~~\|UMC]] add-ons (although it is still strongly recommended that you use pixel art for the sake of consistency with mainline units), but only units drawn in pure pixel art will be accepted into mainline.	+	The medium used to create unit art is known as 'pixel art'. If you do not understand what pixel art is, or if you have only a general understanding of what it is, I suggest reading [http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11299 The Pixel Art Tutorial] by Cure. It is a tutorial comprised of a series of sequential forum posts on the www.pixeljoint.com forum and gives an in-depth overview of pixel art, explaining in detail what pixel art is and what it is not. Using other mediums (such as brush art) to create unit art is fine if you are creating unit art for [[Glossary\|UMC]] add-ons (although it is still strongly recommended that you use pixel art for the sake of consistency with mainline units), but only units drawn in pure pixel art will be accepted into mainline.

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 *Compare the size of your unit to the size of similar existing core units
 *Light comes from the artist's (''not'' the unit's!) upper right (for shading and highlights)
-*Unit must look in the lower right direction
+*Unit must look in the lower right (again, the artist's lower right, not the unit's) direction
 *Units are centered horizontally
-*Unit's feet are positioned around 55 pixel from the top, lower for taller units if necessary
+*Unit's feet are positioned around 55 pixel down from the top edge of the canvas, lower for taller units if necessary
-*Shadows at 60 opacity, dark blue color (see [[Creating_Shadows_Under_Units|Creating Shadows Under Units]]).
+*Shadows at 60 opacity, using a specific dark blue color (see [[Creating_Shadows_Under_Units|Creating Shadows Under Units]]).
-*Outlines should be used, made with a darker, but similar colour to what they're surrounding, this makes the unit feel bigger then the amount of pixels you'd use for the same with a black outline. Note that pure black (RGB #000000) should ''never'' be used to outline a sprite.
+*Outlines should be used, made with a darker, but similar color to what they're surrounding, this makes the unit feel bigger then the amount of pixels you'd use for the same with a black outline. Note that pure black (RGB #000000) should ''never'' be used to outline a sprite.
 *Use consistent names for your files, beginning with the unit name, so that they are kept together when browsing the files.  Try to imitate the naming scheme used for mainline units.
@@ Line 41: / Line 41: @@
 ''' Additional Notes '''
-*Test early with different backgrounds. Go to your game terrain files, pick, say, 3 terrains, preferably with different colours, and have a look what they look like against the background, because that way if you have used alpha channels, it may look better in game than as the average standard sprite.
+*Test early with different backgrounds. Go to your game terrain files, pick, say, 3 terrains, preferably with different colors, and have a look what they look like against the background, because that way if you have used alpha channels, it may look better in game than as the average standard sprite.
 *Test your unit early in the game. Replacing an existing unit graphic with yours is the fastest way (be sure to make a copy of the originals so you don't lose them.)

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:15, 1 February 2012
Line 6:		Line 6:
	''' The Medium '''		''' The Medium '''

−	The medium used to create unit art is known as 'pixel art'. If you do not understand what pixel art is, or if you have only a general understanding of what it is, I suggest reading [http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11299 The Pixel Art Tutorial] by Cure. It is a tutorial comprised of a series of sequential forum posts on the www.pixeljoint.com forum and gives an in-depth overview of pixel art, explaining in detail what pixel art is and what it is not. Using other mediums (such as ~~vector~~ art) to create unit art is fine if you are creating unit art for [[WesnothAcronyms\|UMC]] add-ons (although it is still strongly recommended that you ~~try and~~ use pixel art for the sake of consistency with mainline units), but only units drawn in pure pixel art will be accepted into mainline.	+	The medium used to create unit art is known as 'pixel art'. If you do not understand what pixel art is, or if you have only a general understanding of what it is, I suggest reading [http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11299 The Pixel Art Tutorial] by Cure. It is a tutorial comprised of a series of sequential forum posts on the www.pixeljoint.com forum and gives an in-depth overview of pixel art, explaining in detail what pixel art is and what it is not. Using other mediums (such as brush art) to create unit art is fine if you are creating unit art for [[WesnothAcronyms\|UMC]] add-ons (although it is still strongly recommended that you use pixel art for the sake of consistency with mainline units), but only units drawn in pure pixel art will be accepted into mainline.

@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 You can have as many frames for animations as you like, and in fact, for any given cue, you can have more than one animation, which will be randomly chosen by the game.  Images and animations must be done for:
 *base frame (1 frame)
-*attack for each type (at least 3 frames, about 6 frames is optimal depending on the type of attack and the weapon(s) involved)
+*attack for each type (at least 4 frames, about 6 frames is optimal depending on the type of attack and the weapon(s) involved)
 *directional attacks (generally are desired for any attack that's a straight motion, rather than a slash.  I.e. spears and thundersticks)
-*defense (usually 2 frames long not including the base frame, can be split into ranged and melee defense animations)
+*defense (usually 2 frames long not including the base frame, separate animations may be drawn for ranged and melee defense animations)

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:36, 6 January 2012
Line 1:		Line 1:
	Here's the information needed to start doing units art for Wesnoth. Please update the wiki with links to examples and other tips and tricks realted to unit art. This page started from [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=104809#104809 this forum thread].		Here's the information needed to start doing units art for Wesnoth. Please update the wiki with links to examples and other tips and tricks realted to unit art. This page started from [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=104809#104809 this forum thread].
		+
		+
		+
		+
		+	''' The Medium '''
		+
		+	The medium used to create unit art is known as 'pixel art'. If you do not understand what pixel art is, or if you have only a general understanding of what it is, I suggest reading [http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11299 The Pixel Art Tutorial] by Cure. It is a tutorial comprised of a series of sequential forum posts on the www.pixeljoint.com forum and gives an in-depth overview of pixel art, explaining in detail what pixel art is and what it is not. Using other mediums (such as vector art) to create unit art is fine if you are creating unit art for [[WesnothAcronyms\|UMC]] add-ons (although it is still strongly recommended that you try and use pixel art for the sake of consistency with mainline units), but only units drawn in pure pixel art will be accepted into mainline.
		+