Yesterday I started to practice some pixel art skeleton, which was taught to me by one of my tutors. The reason I did this was to test out a few things:
- How to draw a pixel art character?
- Is smooth animation worth it?
- To gain experience
I didn’t know how to draw pixel art at first and am still not amazing at it, however from drawing the skeleton base, it has made it a lot easier, because all I need to do is draw over it.
I have learnt that it is a good idea to use multiple layers, even though it is a small sprite. This is because, when animating the limbs get so close that it is hard to tell what is what.
Is smooth animation worth it?
The answer to this varies, but overall no it is not. By making smooth animation, you require more frames, which are typically harder to draw, because of how close limbs are. The end result isn’t too noticeable, but can make the game feel much better than using less smooth animation.
On the upside for making animation smooth is, that small errors are not noticeable by most people.
At the end of the day depending on resources, skills and time available, depends on if it is worth it.
Game Growth 