What software do you use

Hello people, I am wondering if there are any good pieces of software out there that can assist with creating characters and sprites - iv got adobe photoshop but I'm pretty hopeless - what software do you guys use and find best. Is there any kind of drop and drag software that assist you ? (don't think so ) cheers in advance

Comments

  • francis.charland@videotron.ca[email protected] 3D Artist/Generalist Quebec, CanadaMember, PRO Posts: 48
    edited July 2015

    Illustrator for me for the assets creation. If your on mac, Affinity Designer is more affordable and very friendly user.
    Spriter or Spine(the best but more expensive) for animation.
    GS does not support sprite sheets so you need to export images sequences for animations.

  • The_Gamesalad_GuruThe_Gamesalad_Guru Member Posts: 9,922

    Most of us either are artists, hire artists or are partnered with an artist.

  • MentalDonkeyGamesMentalDonkeyGames Member Posts: 1,276

    @francis[email protected]

    Affinity Photo is also a great tuol. It's currently in free public beta.

    Mental Donkey Games
    Website - Facebook - Twitter

  • jamie_cjamie_c ImagineLabs.rocks Member, PRO Posts: 5,772

    Creating art is more about learning to create good art and not so much what software you use to do it. Check out the link below for some good tutorials:

    http://www.2dgameartguru.com/

  • francis.charland@videotron.ca[email protected] 3D Artist/Generalist Quebec, CanadaMember, PRO Posts: 48
    edited July 2015

    @jamie_c said:
    Creating art is more about learning to create good art and not so much what software you use to do it. Check out the link below for some good tutorials:

    http://www.2dgameartguru.com/

    Agree for the basics and for learning the creation process. Learning to do proper art is a dedication in itself... When productivity come into play though, good software do matter, quite a lot actually, even more in video games.
    Nice tutorial btw, I like it...

    InkScape(Uses in the Jamie_c post) is another nice free sofware for PC and Mac

  • IceboxIcebox Member Posts: 1,485

    Adobe Flash is good :) its easy to use

  • jamie_cjamie_c ImagineLabs.rocks Member, PRO Posts: 5,772

    @francis[email protected] said... When productivity come into play though, good software do matter, quite a lot actually...

    Agreed. :)

  • ThoPelThoPel GermanyMember, PRO Posts: 184

    Regarding Sprites

    • Tiled (www.mapeditor.org) Good software to create backgrounds / maps from sprites.
    • ImageSplitter (www.imagesplitter.net) For splitting a sprite in multiple images.
  • bjandthekatzbjandthekatz Orlando, FlMember Posts: 1,375

    I use illustrator, but for complex projects or high quality art I hire an artist. I can recommend a few if you would like to go that route.

  • kolabokolabo Member Posts: 240

    @The_Gamesalad_Guru said:
    Most of us either are artists, hire artists or are partnered with an artist.

    Rewrite: Most of us are aspiring artists, have money or have connections! :)

    I use illustrator, but whatever tool you use get to know it well.

  • RPRP Member Posts: 1,990
    edited July 2015

    Don't get discouraged if you feel that you are not Photoshop savvy. Keep working with it, keep practicing your art skills and take advantage of all those video tutorials out there. Even if you find that your art skills are not to your own liking, you should be able to pick up a lot of knowledge that is still relative/relevant to the process.

    I have a variety of software Suites, but for general graphics and art I use Fireworks the most. If you have a pro app, stick with it. The more acclimated you become with it the more you will be able to accomplish!

  • The_Gamesalad_GuruThe_Gamesalad_Guru Member Posts: 9,922

    @kolabo said:
    Rewrite: Most of us are aspiring artists, have money or have connections! :)

    You may not be aware as I make it known, I'm dyslexic so correct away but my brain can't process, sorry.

  • owen_dennisowen_dennis Just a guy, you know. Member, PRO Posts: 236
    edited July 2015

    It sounds to me more that your issue is your artistic abilities than your software.

    If you're having trouble with art, stick to an art style that you can do and work from there. Pixel art is a great place to start. One of the reasons I think pixel art has taken off in recent years is that less artistically inclined people can make it look good. While you might not be able to draw a perfect looking human face, just about anyone can draw a 3x6 square with two black dots for eyes. A trained artist can, of course, make it look really great. However, anyone can make at least passable pixel art and no one would bat an eye.

    You can also try using stock or creative commons photos, cut them out into what you need, and make your game look like big photo collage. Another option might be to use extreme simplification (another recent trend for, I think, similar reasons as pixels) and just use squares or circles or triangles as your player character or enemies.

    When it comes to art, there is always an option that can fit your abilities.

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