pixel art tips

[Hyper2Snyper]

ive been trying to make different types of laser weapons but the gun doesn't look right. Any tips?

[The Reaver of Darkness]

I can see the triangle in the red part on the big one. Otherwise it looks okay.


If you could explain better to me what you're trying to make it look like, then perhaps I could give better pointers.


There's a lot of laser reskins out there already. I can try and get you some links if you're interested. Do you like the red/blue types? I know of at least 4 artists who have done those (I am one). Others are Chiko and some others I'd have to dig up. AwesomeGuns.Laser also has some nice light-brown lasers. And robin did a unique set of laser weapons.

[ohartenstein23]

I've been doing a little bit of spritework recently; the palette is already organized for doing lighting effect gradients, so I really like using it for that.  Pick one or two parts of the sprite to be light sources and have a bit of a gradient outward from those, and pick a direction for 'off-camera' lighting to give some depth to the flatter parts.

I like making a few small parts for guns like grips, stocks, barrels, etc. and copy-pasting the ones I like with filler to make larger guns.  Personally, I also like using a very dark shade to outline a part, then do lighting to fill the inside of it.  Here's the latest thing I've been working on:

Edit: A little more specific to your lasers - perhaps have a bit more of a dynamic range in the red parts, a larger gradient between light and dark?

[Hyper2Snyper]

im trying to make a laser smg that has resemblance to the other laser guns but still looks like a smg
and the second one is a 1x1 laser pistol that looks like a laser pistol but smaller.

[The Reaver of Darkness]

SMGs tend to have a pistolgrip, possibly also with a small shoulder brace. The magazine is very long, to hold a lot of ammo. The iron sights are quite large in relation to the weapon, because it is so small. There is a strong emphasis on getting rid of extra weight and size, leading to a short barrel and the weapon generally lacks any fluff.

[Hyper2Snyper]

OK but some do have stocks like the p90 or the mp5

[Solarius Scorch]

There is no cast in stone rule; for example PPSh was certainly an SMG, but I don't think anyone could effectively use it one-handed.
But this is more related to general weapon knowledge than spriting. Obviously if you want to design weapons, you may need to do some basic research on the subject.

[Hyper2Snyper]

OK thanks

[The Reaver of Darkness]

Here's a laser SMG I drew by hand. I'm not very good at drawing things of my own design. At least it might get the general shape down, and you can adjust it from there. No need to credit me for this piece of crap.

I kind of failed on the blue part, but in retrospect I realize it can be fixed by adding more contrast, more lighter blue.

[Yankes]

btw is any point of having laser SMG? Per definition SMG is close quarter automatic weapon using pistol ammo. Lasers do not have ammo and in theory have unlimited range.

I would suggest to going back to drawing board and think how lases work in your world and what weapon archetype you want have.
Remember that another reason for having SMG is better control of firing because pistol ammo have less recoil but lasers do not have any recoil.
This mean you can have tank destroying laser and shoot it in one hand (of corse if you can lift it at all ). Bigger problem is heat and energy source for lasers.

Laser "SMG" could differ from pistol by having secondary "barrel" to increase fire rate without overheating firing components.

[The Reaver of Darkness]

It could be one of a set of faster-firing lasers that use "ammo", in which they expel hot coolant canisters rather than wait for the heat to dissipate.

[Hyper2Snyper]

I'll try that.