Cool, that works much better! I'm not necessarily opposed to the artstyle, I wasn't being a smartass or facetious before. I just legitimately couldn't tell it was supposed to be a tan until I took a closer look at the un-tanned pattern. It's much clearer now that it's more browned instead of being shadowed/grey/ashy.
As for the character design and artstyle generally, I do think there's a balance to be struck in that since part of the point of creating something is to share it with others, but I also completely agree that there's no sense in compromising your own preferences in the process. The trick, I think, lies in finding ways to communicate those preferences in the best possible way and present them in the best possible light. There's a world of difference between criticism that says "I don't like your designs, you should change them" and criticism that says "I like the designs, but they're not presented as well as they could be," and there's no shortage of both types on these forums. Finding a way to distingush between them is key.
dw, you're all good. i legitimately dont mind criticism on my designs, but even then i'm not planning on changing them. yes, i was aware, that i'll receive feedback on every single thing once i put the game out there, and was also aware that i wont like everything people have to say, but that didnt stop me. when being totally honest, this game is a personal project. of course i want to make it as good as i can and feedback always helps, and yes, i also "raise money" for the development through patreon etc, but i'm not forcing anyone to pay anything.
the whole thing is more of a "i want to make a game for myself" rather than trying to appeal to as many people as possible. The game itself, such as the designs and artstyle are probably more niche and that's fine. i want to keep them like this.
when it comes to criticism like the tanned color being bad, i am more than happy to accept that feedback and improve, but things like "please change her ears" and such i wont, as it's a big part of her design, at least for myself.
Personally, I think a few things come as strange for the character or may turn off people you otherwise would entice: The rendering/shading on the face is inconsistent with the rest of the body. The legs/torso has dramatic delineations between light and dark, while the face is very gentle. The legs have these huge highlights while the highlights on the face are very subtle, despite them being in the same lighting conditions. The reason the face looks like it's covered in soot or makeup is it seems like it absorbs light in a way different from the rest of her skin, so it implies some sort of applicative makeup or covering. Your choice to reconcile this is to either increase the contrast between highlights and shadows on the face or decrease it for the body.
yes, the leg highlights are definitely a thing i still need to adjust.
i like to think that i did a better job with the combat assets(although the legs are mostly hidden by the UI), but there definitely is still room for improvement, same with the facial lighting
That, and I know it's a style choice, but the blonde eyelashes look
uncanny on a tanned character. The only time you see light colored eyelashes is on people with albinism, and they
literally cannot tan, so it just looks offputting, which is not what you want for an attractive character.
Anyway, that's my two cents, you can take it or leave it, but I wouldn't be offering it if I didn't see potential!
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The updated one is better than it was before, but I just wanted to illustrate how saturated tan skin is compared to untanned pale skin.
the colored eyelashes are a deliberate choice and i can totally see people not liking them, however it's a thing i personally am very fond of and wont change.
yeah, i see what you mean and i did look further into refs while doing the new colors and to be 100% honest, i'm still not 100% satisfied and am still trying different things and am talking to some professional artists for support.
