Hi guys!

I am a pretty shabby article maker but I will give it a crackin good go.

When you make a sprite particular steps could be inherited befor doing so. This article will look down and explain what I mean (thats a tough one) on each part.

#What is the graphic going to be?

Well this is pretty obvious. Before you can start you need to decide what graphic you want, why, and how it is going to be used in the game. Perhaps draw it.

#What is the role of the graphic?

This is importatnt for later stages. If you are going to have an animated sprite then I suggest you keep it as simple as you can, moreover background objects can be as detailed and complicated as you like.

#Start with the outline!

Well duh, you cant shade without an outline. The edge should be dark if that is appropriate e.g. the tile does not have to be connected with a series of the same tile like a pattern. if it is a pattern object at say the standard size of 32x32 then it is important to eliminate the grid. Try to disguise the fact that it isnt one big tile. Keep the outside as thick as the inside.

#Shading?

Shading plays an important part in you graphic. A plain colour on a round ball will make it look flat. Try to select a light source c and shade it light then step down a few colours and add any darker parts where the is shadow etc. /!\ Be carefull /!\ Make sure that the light source is not the center of the graphic ( it is normally at the top left of the graphic ) because the effect of the light sourece provides a very bad looking curved gradient. The effects will be very clear if you try it out for yourself.

#Animation?

This can be the most difficult stage that you could face in your whole game. Animation is simple in itself but to make it look smooth is a tricky business. If you have kept it simple then a lotta frames ( morphing i dont really suggest depending on the animation required) and a bit of rotating and re shading then you will get a good looking animation but remember

Think of how it is going to move and it what motion

And

Never try to cut the animation short Too many animations or not enough animations can really impair the quality!

Thanks for reading this article and i'm sure that lots of you have lots of criticism for me so fire away