Making of the Volcanion Mount

[Dandeliona]

Hello, I'm a new artist and some of my sprites were released with the recent client update, including the Volcanion Mount.

 

I've seen a bunch of people disliking it, and I don't blame them. I listed the main complaints from you about the mount:

- The colors were off.

- You can't see your character's face when riding the mount in front view.

- The size of its head is too small compared to the body.

 

Before I explain the process and the issues, I would like to say I was requested to do this mount in 1 day. I didn't have too much time to plan, add details and adjust the proportion.

Anyway, let's go through the making of.

 

 

 

Volcanion Mount - Making of

When I do mounts or any other sprite, I first take some time to plan/imagine in my head how it would be first.

Well, I didn't have time to plan first. As I said, it had to be done in one day. I basically just looked at Volcanion's picture, started moving my mouse and prayed that it would end up being a Volcanion mount.

 

 

 

Pixel Size

 

In PRO, all sprites are usually 64 pixels. Some pokemon follow sprites (pokemon following you in game) are 128 pixels (Gyarados, Onix, etc.). Mounts though are always 64 pixels.

That means, doesn't matter the size of the actual pokemon, it must be designed inside a square of 64 pixels.

You can see I designed the mount inside the 64 pixels square. I could have made it few pixels longer and wider to occupy the entire square since it is a huge pokemon. I'm not sure if this would mess up the pokemon's proportion, but it is something I can test out later and fix for the next client update.

 

 

 

Front View

 

In the image you can also see that the mount is hiding the characters face. Well, you know how Volcanion looks like. If you try to ride one, its huge triangular back will be in front of you. That's how the pokemon is. However, during the process, I got suggested by some staff to make the character riding the top of his back, that way the character would be visible. Well, unfortunately, that can't be done because the character template cannot be moved. That's how it is coded in PRO. The only way to make it happen was if I made the Volcanion MUCH smaller than it is already.

 

I also noticed the head was too small compared to the body, so I even increased the size.

For me, the size of the head looks fine in this one. Some people still thinks it is too small though. The head is actually bigger than its front paws. I can't make it bigger.

Have a look on the original pokemon design:

 

 

 

Colors

 

When you compare the colors of the original design and my sprite, the Volcanion mount does look off.

I'm actually still confused. I used the SAME color pallet from Bulbapedia sprite.

 

 

 

Bulbapedia sprite | My sprite

However, the Sugimori's artwork has a different tone of red, I would say a wine-red, while the Global Link artwork is a brighter red.

 

 

Sugimori's artwork | Global Link arwork

 

Maybe I should have recolored to something closer to the Global Link's one. That way it would look more "appealing" like all the legendaries should look like.

But again, I was rushed to do this mount. I didn't have time to adjust/add details.

 

Another thing that could have made the mount look off apart from the tone of red was probably the lack of shading. I did shade it well in my opinion, but the tone of red I chose for the shading was too close to the pokemon color, so it didn't look like it had shading. - which is something I would like to fix for next client update.

 

By the way, I also made a shiny one which obviously is not obtainable, but I used a much brighter color for it.

Again, I used the same color pallet from Bulbapedia sprite.

 

 

 

 

 

Back View

 

For the Back view, I just copy-pasted the front view one and deleted the face and paws. Also recolored the ring above the pokemon.

However, unlike the front view where I designed everything in one layer (above characters layer), I used two layers (above and under chatacter layer).

The pasted part was put in the bot layer. Then I designed its butt, tail and back paws in the top layer. That way the character would sit in between.

Pg pls.

 

 

 

 

Side View

 

The side view could also have been done in two layers, but I decided to do it on bot layer, the opposite of the front view which was all made on top layer.

I did it on the bot layer because I wanted the characters face to appear.

 

However, I haven't done the side view entirely on bot layer. There's a little bit of it on top layer.

The highlighted part is the top layer. I did that to hide the character's left arm as I wanted that arm to be on the other side of the mount.

 

 

 

Animation

 

Im not sure if you guys noticed, but usually the mounts animation are all the same. First sprite with both front paws going up. Middle sprite with paws standing still. Last sprite with front paws going down.

There are only few mounts that doesn't follow the same model, like the Aurorus mount. It has the first sprite moving one front paw up, one front paw down. Middle stand still. Last sprite the same as the first one, but flipped horizontally. This is what I did with the Volcanion mount front and back view.

 

I confess I was a little bit lazy to draw four paws in the side view. I actually didn't have space, so I did the side view like how the other mounts usually are.

Nobody noticed it until I mentioned it though.

 

The tail also wiggles from back and side view.

 

 

 

Concerns

 

To be honest, I think the Volcanion mount was a bad idea for PRO, only because of how the sprites are made. Not being able to move the character template and having to do most of them in 64 pixels does not give you freedom enough to design the pokemon with a proper structure and proportion, but I think I did a good job. I noticed the Volcanion and Rapidash mount are the same size, which is good since both pokemon are 1.7m (5'07").

 

Now there's also something that I would like to say about these new legendary mounts.

Have you noticed that the shiny mounts have a little sparkle trial that follows the mount when it moves? The legendary mounts have something similar too. Moltres mount has little fire balls following it around, while Zapdos has some lightning and Articuno snow balls. However, the new mounts since Xerneas, if I'm correct, don't have it anymore. I know those effects can be done on Unity, which I have no idea how to use it yet, but I'm already downloading it to learn.

I think these little effects are essential to make the legendary mounts look unique and could be causing people to dislike the new ones.

 

 

 

Anyway, please give me your feedback.

Let me know if you like the mount or if you have any concerns about it.

What would you like me to change on it?

Do you want me to recolor into a brighter red? Or the wine-red from Sugimori's artwork?

Should I add more contrast on the shading?

Let me know what you think!

 

Thanks for your time. =)

Edited September 10, 2019 by Dandeliona

[Zelkova]

Thank you for your hardworking and sharing the struggles you get in this project. I am also thinking about the same thoughs , however, it is still better than most of the projects ever been made. So dont worry about it , keep on good working :)

[Comrader]

The mount is really good for 1 days work, i'll only say that you should make it look what you think it should look in regard to shading and all that stuff. You seem really talented in pixel art so i trust you fully with it and i'll wait for more content made by you.

[Allsmell]

Personally I like the mount, makes me feel like I'm riding a tank. Also I like that you've written this post but I think if your gonna be designing more stuff for pro(which you should), then you could do the best mount/art ever and there will still be haters. The most vocal people are always the extremes and we remember bad stuff more vividly than good.

 

Tldr: gj

[Yauga]

Hello [uSER=2510188]@Candace[/uSER]

 

I found a littke bug with your mount with the face of the pokemon ! (priority layers ?)

 

 

I also give me my opinion:

 

- 24 hours is very very short for doing a nice job → it was hard for you ; logic !

- The pokémon isn't very nice ; it's a big tank with strange forms

- I agree with this problem : "You can't see your character's face when riding the mount in front view. " ; it is a little problem imo.

- I also prefer a strong red like the image you linked "Global Link arwork " ; these colours are like a robot.

 

But as i said ; still a nice job for this little time (24hrs) and a weird pokemon ♥

[Aspheric]

Hello @Candace

 

I found a littke bug with your mount with the face of the pokemon ! (priority layers ?)

 

 

That is actually a mapping issue. Could you please tell me the name of the map? Thanks.

[Dandeliona]

Hello [uSER=2510188]@Candace[/uSER]

 

I found a littke bug with your mount with the face of the pokemon ! (priority layers ?)

 

 

I also give me my opinion:

 

- 24 hours is very very short for doing a nice job → it was hard for you ; logic !

- The pokémon isn't very nice ; it's a big tank with strange forms

- I agree with this problem : "You can't see your character's face when riding the mount in front view. " ; it is a little problem imo.

- I also prefer a strong red like the image you linked "Global Link arwork " ; these colours are like a robot.

 

But as i said ; still a nice job for this little time (24hrs) and a weird pokemon ♥

Hello Alixx7, thank you for your feedback.

The bug has been reported.

 

For the "you can't see your characters face" problem. Well... There's nothing I can do really. Even if I tried to make the pokemon a little bit smaller, it would still hide the character in front view if I wanna keep the pokemon's proportion. Otherwise it would look like Ditto just so you can see its face.

And I agree, Volcanion is a weird pokemon. Not everyone will like it. However, the pokemon is literally a tank/robot based. It has canes connecting his body and a very geometric shape, just like a robot. Some people love it though.

And yes, the mount definitively needs a recolor and some pixel fixing.

 

Thank you for your time!

[Comrader]

After using the mount for some time now i can really say that i love it, i love how it feels like i'm riding a tank. The front doesn't bother me at all cause i don't use any headgear items, usually only wings. It's a beautiful mount, not everyone will love it, but i do.

[Dandeliona]

By the way, I'm very happy to see you are enjoying the mount.

[Thatkid]

I think people need to be more appreciative of the fact that a new artist went out of their way to create a well-made mount, that is actually FREE if you beat the emerald boss in Vulcan Temple. Ofcourse constructive criticism is welcome but come on guys, credit where it's due, the volcanion mount is amazing and by extension the new PRO Artist should be thanked for their hardwork.

 

Thanks Candace,

Regards

ThatKid