I am trying to get the art style for my voxel characters right. I have hired a voxel artist but it's still not quite what I intended.

This is what the artist made (first attempt):

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1096631521881890927/1098013570505130085/snap2023-04-19-00-29-03.png

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1096631521881890927/1098013571549511810/snap2023-04-19-00-30-26.png

And this is what it was before:

https://www.beosar.com/img/cu_krainos_interactive_background.jpg

https://www.beosar.com/img/cu_blacksmith_2_full.jpg

Could you guys maybe give us some advice?

The new one isn't bad per se but it looks a little off, maybe it is too detailed in terms of geometry? I also think that it's impossible to animate the arm like that, where would you even split the mesh?

I kinda want the art style to match the background in that blacksmith image, especially the workbench looks really good in my opinion.

When I look at other voxel games, the characters are often very small (Cube World) or just made out of a couple boxes like in Minecraft. So it is hard to find any visual references.

Start smaller. Your chicken has too much detail, yet not enough detail at the same time. It needs revision.

Check these MagicaVoxel vox files out:

https://github.com/ephtracy/voxel-model/tree/master/vox/character​​

$10

https://www.domestika.org/en/courses/1404-introduction-to-voxel-art-for-character-design

If you like the blocky look of voxel art, use a lower resolution. If you don't, use polygons instead. High-res voxel art will always look awkward.

a light breeze said:

If you like the blocky look of voxel art, use a lower resolution. If you don't, use polygons instead. High-res voxel art will always look awkward.

Yeah, that's exactly what I was about to post.

I've hired another artist, this draft is at a resolution of 64 voxels per meter. However, the rest of the game is at 128 voxels (or pixels) per meter. What do I do now? Have him make a higher resolution model (which may not look good) or just use this one and reduce the resolution on all the other stuff so that it fits?

I can't just texture that one at 128 pixels per meter because of how the armor texture will be applied, some voxels and therefore parts of the armor texture would be obstructed when viewed from e.g. the front. Or maybe it's not that big of a problem? I'm not sure.