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I couldn't sleep last night, so have some concept art:


I'm really not much of an artist.

Alp wrote:I'm really not much of an artist.

Are you kidding? I'm even more sold now than before! :3

Judging from the picture, is the character supposed to be female? And personally, I'd try to go for a more chibi-esque, less antrho style for the box art. Think something like VGCats.

I completely agree with OneCrudeDude. The image of a furry naked female-shaped body is a little bit disturbing and doesn't match the cuteness of the sprites. If you change that, I think the box art will be much more attractive.

My input on this...

Generally, when I think of NES box art, 4 categories of box art come to mind. I know there are exceptions, but here are my 4...

First, you have the old "black box" art for old arcade ports like Ice Climbers. Then, you have the cutesy Japanese box art for platformers like Mr. Gimmick. There's also the super-gritty box art for more violent games like Castlevania or minimalist, logo-only box art for RPGs like MOTHER and Zelda II.

The problem I think you have here is that you're creating an RPG/Adventure game like the Legend of Zelda, but the way you've drawn the box art makes it look like an action game or platformer. My personal suggestion would be to go for a logo-only design for your box art. It'll also make things easier to draw, since you admitted earlier you're not that much of an artist.

I think box art focusing on the character would be the most appealing, regardless of the style she'd be drawn in.

Alp wrote:I couldn't sleep last night, so have some concept art:


I'm really not much of an artist.

Looks like a good start. You look to have some artist skills.

tokumaru wrote:I completely agree with OneCrudeDude. The image of a furry naked female-shaped body is a little bit disturbing and doesn't match the cuteness of the sprites. If you change that, I think the box art will be much more attractive.

Every classic children's show is disturbing? I rather like the Looney Tunes!
Plus, I used "Barbie Doll Censoring", to make it acceptable for general audiences.
The Sims did it, why can't I?! >.>

DragonDePlatino wrote:The problem I think you have here is that you're creating an RPG/Adventure game like the Legend of Zelda, but the way you've drawn the box art makes it look like an action game or platformer.

I tried to make the character look as care-free as possible, she has no idea that the world is soon to be in turmoil, and that she's going to be travelling into Tartarus to defeat the Algol once and for all.

Most wild animals have noticeably shorter legs than humans, including cats in Looney Tunes. Some of the "omg furry" comes when you make the legs as long as those of humans.


Sylvester, © WB

tepples wrote:"omg furry"

I don't think it helps, that I AM a furry artist! Haha.

Alp wrote:Every classic children's show is disturbing?

Obviously, this is subjective, so some people will find it disturbing and some won't. I honestly don't remember much about the design of anthropomorphic female animals in cartoons, but yours has very well defined breasts and crotch, thick thighs and long legs, features I don't remember seeing in many cartoons for children.

Plus, I used "Barbie Doll Censoring", to make it acceptable for general audiences.

Barbie dolls are still supposed to be sexy, even without pubic hair or nipples.

The Sims did it, why can't I?! >.>

Didn't The Sims use pixelation for censoring nude characters? Either way, you can do whatever you want, it's your game. =)

Anyway, I'm not a puritan or anything, I just happen to think that the sexy animal thing doesn't fit with the mood of a top-down perspective quest game. The art looks out of place, specially since the sprites don't suggest any sexiness at all, and that characteristic doesn't appear to be relevant to the actual game. She is sexy in the box art "just because", and that looks kinda cheap to me.

Alp wrote:I don't think it helps, that I AM a furry artist! Haha.

That explains it. I guess it will be pretty hard to persuade you into toning down the sexy, then. =)

How about something like this? It captures the character's innocence and the unexpected task she's been given.

tokumaru wrote:She is sexy in the box art "just because", and that looks kinda cheap to me.

Sexy?! That's not what I was going for. Cute and carefree, was my intention. >.>

Drag wrote:How about something like this? It captures the character's innocence and the unexpected task she's been given.

While that example does look nice, it looks far too serious for this character. That does make me think, to spruce up the logo, however! A gothic font would look very nice!

I've been having some computer troubles, which now seem to be resolved. Chrome is a terrible browser!

I've been porting over some tile data from a java-based dungeon crawler I was making over a year ago. Look how many CHR tiles are NOT being used! There's a few redundant ones mixed in, because I decided to change the mapping format slightly, to save some palettes. I'll find and remove those later.



The goal to this, is the ability to make dungeon layouts, like this:

That dungeon looks really good, probably better than most made for the console! Let's hope this dungeon crawler would be fun and not tedious.

Reminds me of the improved graphics that the Zelda Classic community have.

As for problems with a lack of innocence, let us remember the idea of innocence as a lack of knowledge, and the problem seems easily solved. (Might want to add a sword, though.)