InDee Toons - Customizable Animated Game Characters

[Dee]

* Kickstarter updated: The characters are now customizable!

Hey guys,

My name is Dennis and I am running a Kickstarter for a stock of animated 2D game characters, named InDee Toons.
The idea behind this project is to provide a library of characters, game developers can freely choose from and directly integrate them into their games while being able to concentrate on other aspects of development.

The goal is a pool of 50 game characters of high quality, in the form of sprite sequences for maximum compatibilty, as well as source files for Spine, exchangeable body parts and a custom face generator for every single character.
With InDee Toons, everybody can create their own individual game characters in a few clicks by combining different elements, just like a paper doll.



For more details, videos and pictures, please check out the Kickstarter:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2dee/indee-toons-animated-game-characters

[Peteck]

The characers look cool and I think that maybe someone will find them usefull. But cant see me using it my self.

But I don't really see how this relate as a SFML project?

[eXpl0it3r]

Looks cool, but I'm not such a huge fan of the presented models (so far). I mean they are all kind of monstery looking and would only match something like a zombie/Halloween game. Will there more natural characters as well? (Sorry if I haven't read everything...)
Also do you use Spine by any chance (kind of looks like it) and maybe Sprite Lamp?

Anyways I'll make sure to keep an eye on your project.

But I don't really see how this relate as a SFML project?

Well it can be used with SFML (I assume). If they indeed use Spine, it should be rather easy to integrate it with SFML. On the other hand, it's of course a promotional thing and up to Laurent to judge whether it's appreciated or not.

[Dee]

Indeed, I used Spine to animate the characters. And I backed Sprite Lamp, too, but my normal maps were created from depth maps rather than lighting profiles (creating 4 lighting profiles for each animation frame would be very time-consuming).

However, I decided to provide the toons as sprite sequences, so they can be used with any engine.
So this is not a project related to SFML only but could be of use for some developers here.

The characters all have some kind of cartoonish look, and the gnome wizard girl so far is the only one that doesn't look "monstery", I think.

[eXpl0it3r]

(creating 4 lighting profiles for each animation frame would be very time-consuming).

Yep.

However, I decided to provide the toons as sprite sequences, so they can be used with any engine.

Makes sense. Would you also consider providing the Spine JSON data etc?

The characters all have some kind of cartoonish look, and the gnome wizard girl so far is the only one that doesn't look "monstery", I think.

Well all of the characters have a head that looks like a plain skull, so to me they all look kind of "dead". I'd rather like to see some "normal", that doesn't emphasize the eye sockets and don't expose the jaw/jawbone as if there was nothing to it.

I don't expect it to be anything like the follow picture, but it's just an example of a more natural head, instead of the these "zombie" heads:



Also don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they are bad, but I can only imagine a few genres that could make use of them, thus limiting the idea of making a "general purpose" sprites.

[Dee]

The Giana Sisters! I love them. And the company that created them is just around the corner from where I live
Of course I can do cute characters, too.

But would you really call this little cutie "monstery looking"?

I won't tell her, so you can be honest

Would you also consider providing the Spine JSON data etc?

Yes, I am considering that. However, I do not know if this would bring up some legal issues.

[eXpl0it3r]

But would you really call this little cutie "monstery looking"?

I won't tell her, so you can be honest

Unfortunately yes (are you sure she can't hear me?).

I find it hard to describe, bit it's just something about the skull, in combination with highlighted eye sockets and the huge mouth, maybe the jaw bone is to edgy.

Bit then again it might just be me, so don't waste your time on my baised opinion.

[Grimshaw]

I also think that character is creepy. It certainly is not cute, despite being well made

On the other hand, I'd love to thank Dee for his amazing tutorials in his blog, really great initiative

[Dee]

Okay, so no more monsters, only sweet little dollies from now on

Unfortunately yes (are you sure she can't hear me?).

You never know... If your ear starts itching, you know why...

[BaneTrapper]

If the "girl zombie" image was the first thing i saw in the morning i would probably scream "Get it away from me"
i vote for being "monstery" looking.
Few things id like to point out that "should"(I am not expert) make it look cute:
Her ear is at her neck, more to the point her whole face should be scaled down and moved upwards to the proper face position, and make her smile not grin like she just hit corner of a table with her pinky (smallest foot finger).
Despite me disliking the face, great skills!
It reminded me of something, for me it looking really similar to the giff posted.

[Deathbeam]

The Giana Sisters! I love them. And the company that created them is just around the corner from where I live
Of course I can do cute characters, too.

But would you really call this little cutie "monstery looking"?

I won't tell her, so you can be honest

Would you also consider providing the Spine JSON data etc?

Yes, I am considering that. However, I do not know if this would bring up some legal issues.

Wow that is looking like male version of Justin Bieber (so yes, very scary)...

To be honest, that character bodies do not match their heads. It is okay for zombies, but it is looking too un-natural for normal humans if you are planning to do some. Just my 2 cents, but you should not make that beards that big or atleast move entire heads a bit higher (I apologize for my awful english, I am from poland-like country lol).

[lolz123]

Hi,

I think it's the jaw  (and the mouth). In the following image, I moved the jaw up and made the mouth smaller as a result of the copy/paste operation. I fixed the seems a bit, and I think it looks much more friendly now.

I am not an artist, so take it or leave it 

[lolz123]

Here is another image, with the mouth even smaller and less make-up.

[Dee]

The wizard girl actually is a gnome (so the proportions are not supposed to be like a human's) and I wanted her to be a bit less cute than gnomes are usually depicted, that's why she has those sharp teeth and darker eye sockets.

I have gathered more feedback and the tendency is that most people want a real customization feature.
So I am planning to include Spine source files for the toons, and a custom head generator.

In this clip you can see what this will look like with a female head (not monstery looking!!!) in many different variations:

The first half of the clip is the head composed of the plain parts, the second half is the same with rim lights applied.

Please tell me how you like it.

[eXpl0it3r]

I have gathered more feedback and the tendency is that most people want a real customization feature.
So I am planning to include Spine source files for the toons, and a custom head generator.

In this clip you can see what this will look like with a female head (not monstery looking!!!) in many different variations:

This is awesome!
Definitely like the heads in the video.