Elemental Warriors

Princess
Nature Mage
Shadow Hunter
Jewel Warrior
Light Healer

Inspiration

Nine Parchments and Castle Crashers are some of the inspirations for this game. I've always loved collaborative gaming, especially those that are just the right amount of difficulty: not too hard so you quit, not too easy so it's boring. However, most of these that I've seen make all the characters the same type, e.g. all wizards or all warriors. I wanted my four characters to have different strengths and skills, like a well balanced Dungeons & Dragons party.

What it does

I designs four playable characters (mage, hunter, warrior, and healer) and one non-player character (the princess). After I was confident with their designs, I translated them into pixel art. Each character, except the princess, has an element as their theme: the mage is nature, the hunter is shadow, the warrior is jewels, and the healer is light.

How we built it

I did all of my art-making in photoshop. For the pixel art, I used the pencil tool on an extremely low-resolution canvas.

Challenges we ran into

It was a challenge to create engaging designs that were representative of their element and could also be read in the pixel art. I got feedback from some friends and family on my designs and that helped iron out the kinks.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I'm very accomplished that I finished this project. I'm about to graduate in May and have some freelance jobs going at the moment, so my time is limited. I was really inspired to create these characters, I'm proud of each of them.

What we learned

I learned a lot about pixel art. I've done some freelance work with pixel art and animations, but never really had the time to explore a personal project. I have a few systems for converting designs into pixel characters now.

What's next for Elemental Warriors

I would really like to animate these characters, and design an environment where they can all exist. My biggest goal for this project would be a short sample animation where each character could show off a use of their power.