[tokumaru]

I don't know why everyone is so sure he's smiling in S3&K, it's just two diagonal pixels... they could be interpreted as a smile, but the line could just as easily be curved down instead of up:



Both would look the same in such low resolution.

[W.A.C.]

He was smiling in the Sonic 3 sprites, no need to imagine it. =|

I used to think everyone assumed he was smiling until I joined this forum. >_> It could be interpreted in a different way but it seems far more likely he was smiling.

[The Growler]

If he was smiling already, then he must REALLY be smiling/grinning by the end of a stage:

Sorry the size aspects are off here btw.

This post has been edited by The Growler: 04 March 2011 - 02:54 PM

[Retroman]

I'd think Sonic's 3 sprite is not smiling nor he is frowning. It's more in the middle, his face tending towards 'being neutral' in the sprites. He has a 'optimistic' type of adventure face in the Sonic 3 game. Abit determined, but still enjoying things as he moves in motion, fighting bad guys with his pal Tails and what-not.

This post has been edited by Retroman: 05 March 2011 - 05:23 AM

[Chimpo]

What interesting discussion for the Sonic 2 HD forums.

[jasonchrist]

Meh, the Sonic 3 sprite was shit ugly anyway. If Modern, stretchy Sonic is one extreme, then Sonic 3's sprite is the other.

Basing the characters off the official artwork was definitely the right move!

[steveswede]

Meh, the Sonic 3 sprite was shit ugly anyway. If Modern, stretchy Sonic is one extreme, then Sonic 3's sprite is the other.

Basing the characters off the official artwork was definitely the right move!

Very true. Basing off the official artwork does a great balance between keeping it fresh looking and keeping it classic. I have my niggles over certain things but ultimately I know this was a smart move for the S2HD staff to do.

This post has been edited by steveswede: 05 March 2011 - 09:06 AM

[Canned Karma]

As every bit of bad news deserves some good to balance it out, here's an update we've been waiting to show off for some time now:



Best viewed in Firefox or Opera for APNG compatibility

[steveswede]

They are incredible with those extra animations.

[tokumaru]

Buzzer looks great! And its animation is incredible! I just can't understand why the jets are so long, seeing as they are much shorter in both the sprite and the artwork...

Coconuts looks much better as well, and the arm and tail animations are cool. The leg animation, on the other hand, appears to consist in just moving the individual shapes around, so it looks a bit stiff. I think it's basically the knee that still needs some work.

I know these are probably finished and are not going to change anymore, but I wanted to share my opinion anyway. Please don't think I'm "bitching".

[Lapper]

Fantastic detail and effects! The motion blur is pretty cool, I can see it on both badniks there (Edit: just buzz bomber).
I'm glad that you made the jets longer, as it looks much more balanced.

Sweet.

This post has been edited by Sonica: 08 March 2011 - 02:25 AM

[Titan]

Buzzer looks much better I'm glad the official artwork is being used as reference.

[Caitlin]

The Buzzer's new jets are reminding me of the nacelle design from the Enterprise from the classic Star Trek series. That alone gets it my seal of approval. :P

[Neo]

Well apparently negative criticism is considered as "trolling" or something around here. Thing is, I really want to get my opinion across, so here is version 2.0 of Feedback Nega!



This is the buzzer sprite from the Wai prototype. It was depicted as looking down, evidently keeping tabs on Sonic. It ended up being tweaked for the final build:



The buzzer is now not looking down, but was intentionally changed to have a blank, almost innocent gaze. This was a conscious design decision, and not just lack of detail attributed to the small sprite size. However, this is what was actually depicted when the enemy was drawn in large detail:



This is not a new thing. Most of the time there is a large disparity between official artwork and in-game sprite. But right now I'd just like you to notice the eyes once more. Again, they face downwards, much like in the prototype sprite, however, this time, a further change was introduced -- the buzzer is clearly irritated! So which is it? Dumbfounded look, staring at the horizon, or angry, eyes fixated on the blue hedgehog?



This is what you presented as an upscaled sprite. It is clearly based more on the official artwork than it is on the original sprite, which is in no way a bad thing. However to be honest it took me a while (and I had to squint close at the screen) to figure out what was going on with the eyes. Frankly, they look messy, and it's hard to read them without paying close attention, something which would undoubtedly be even harder when you're playing the game and everything is in motion. So I think you should clean up the eyes, like so:



What I've done here is straighten out the eyelid, giving a clear, menacing look to its eyes, and more importantly I've removed the shine on the eyeball which was not there in the official artwork, and was frankly adding too much visual noise to the picture, inhibiting perception of what was actually going on.



Alternatively you could reinstate the child-like look to its face, which is still cute and obviously fits with the consistent design of (most) enemies having big, cartoony eyes despite being lethal threats to the player.

Also, the animation job is great, but the jets are needlessly long.

[ICEknight]

I'm loving these, but aren't Coconut's ears a tad too high?


EDIT: Just wondering, is his body going to at least wobble a little while going up and down?

This post has been edited by ICEknight: 08 March 2011 - 07:59 AM