Looking for Feedback: Game-Icons (Abilities and Skills)

[Accname]

Hi folks, i would like to get some feedback to my most recent work.

I am currently working on a game project which i, more or less, develope on my own.
This leaves me with the task of not just coding all that crap but also providing the graphics for the game.

To be honest, my artistic skills are very limited, and my experience with such is almost nonexistant.
I just opened Paint.net and started drawing some quick graphics for my game.
Now i want to get some feedback from you all, i would really appreciate if all of you could leave a comment.


To explain:
I made icons for the abilities and skills in my game.
Those abilities are divided in active ones (magic, skills, anything you actively use in combat or outside) and passive abilities (how to use certain equipment, situational bonuses, etc).
All icons must fit a size of 26x26 pixels (on a 32x32 button which i also made myself) and use only a single color. Yes, correct.
Everything is hand-drawn with the paint.net pen tool.

What i need:
I need your opinion on whether or not you can really understand what these icons are supposed to mean.
I want them to tell the user as best as possible, without words, what the ability behind it does.
This way it will be easier for not english speaking people to play the game and i will not need to print the names of the abilities everywhere in combat.

Here is the image, the background is of course not part of the game.
View attachment 17762

 

[FireCat]

First of all, what is your game about?

 

[Accname]

Its a fantasy rpg dungeon crawler point and click adventure. Or something like that.
Badly drawn 2D-Graphics with round based dungeon exploring with point and click elements and round based tactical rpg battles with several characters in your party.

 

[GFreak45]

interesting, thats pixel art correct? it seems rather simple but neat at the same time, sort of reminds me of gameboy game items like zelda and a few others... I do notice however that one of your templates is not used yet, the witches hat. Do you plan on using it for anything?

It has a nostalgic effect to it, but im sure if you teamed up with a few of the people on here you could make some interesting game art

@firecat
Wassup bra?

 

[FireCat]

Its a fantasy rpg dungeon crawler point and click adventure. Or something like that.

Ah, okay.
Hmm maybe you could add more color to the icons.? Well, at least different colors for each of the icons. It would look better.

@GFreak45 I'm trying to figure out how to catch bubbles. But they are really hard to catch. You see see

 

[KaerfNomekop]

Passive
1). Attack/Sword
2). Sword & Shield/Attack & Defend
3). Cross Swords/Battle/Hold Position
4). Weapon Change/Multiweapon
5). Hurl Knives/Throw Weapon
6). Armor/Put On Armor/Defend
7). Tunic/Remove Armor/Stop Defend
8). Sleep/Alert - sleeping enemy!
9). Fleetfoot/Winged Boots/Run
10). Fist/Punch/War Cry/Boost Morale

Active
1). Break Sword
2). Behead/Kill
3). Defend/Hide
4). Attack to Defense/Defense to Attack/Change Stance
5). Force Field/Magic
6). Multisword/Illusion/Split Blades/Spin Attack
7). Force Field/Radiate/Release Magic
8). Forward Thrust/Rush Strike
9). Roar/Shout/Sonic Projection
10). Acid Bomb/Concoction/Corrosive - Do not touch. Will melt weapons.
11). Backstab
12). Vocal Strike/Holy Word/Speak Enchantment
13). Below the Belt
14). Set Trap
15). Break Trap
16). Open Lock/Pick Lock/Break Lock
17). Semi-invisibility/Shadow Form/Appear from Shadows
18). Focus Fire/Draw Attacks/Taunt
19). Total invisibility/Ghost Form/Return to Shadows
20). Strengthen/Muscle Up/Fortitude

Template
1). Sword
2). Dagger
3). Staff
4). Axe
5). Wizard Hat
6). Shield
7). Normal Stance/Calm
8). Battle Stance/Fear

How many points out of 38?

 

[Accname]

interesting, thats pixel art correct? it seems rather simple but neat at the same time, sort of reminds me of gameboy game items like zelda and a few others... I do notice however that one of your templates is not used yet, the witches hat. Do you plan on using it for anything?

It has a nostalgic effect to it, but im sure if you teamed up with a few of the people on here you could make some interesting game art

Yeah, its all pixeled by hand. I wanted to keep it simple, not just because it is much easier for me this way (and safes valueable time) but also because i wanted to get that nostalgic effect.
I made the templates before i actually started to make the icons for the abilities, i dont know if i will ever use it.

Ah, okay.
Hmm maybe you could add more color to the icons.? Well, at least different colors for each of the icons. It would look better.

I intentionally want to keep the color count down. Its meant to look like old paintings or engravings.
I try to get an effect similar to those oldschool western RPG's like baldurs gate and icewind dale.

Passive
1). Attack/Sword
2). Sword & Shield/Attack & Defend
[...]

You guessed pretty well!
I will upload a spoiler with all the icons and you guys can have a look what they are supposed to mean. But please read it only after guessing, i want an unbiased opinion.

Spoiler

Passive:

• Fight with two handed weapons: Shows a very big sword with a long handle. (Claymore)
• Fight with weapon and shield: A sword and shield.
• Fight with two weapons: Shows two crossed swords.
• Fight with melee weapon: Shows a varity of melee weapons, an axe, a sword and a mace.
• Fight with throwing weapons: Shows flying daggers.
• Fight with heavy armor: Shows a plate mail.
• Fight without armor: Shows a shirt. (I am not happy with that...)
• Sleepyhead: <You regenerate faster when resting and you cannot be sneak attacked when asleep>
• Nimble Movement: <You can attack enemies in the back rows with melee attacks without getting attacked by front row fighters>
• Fight without weapons: Shows a fist.

Active:

• Break Weapon: Shows a broken sword.
• Execute: Shows the execution of a man.
• Bodyguard: Shows a man being protected by a giant shield.
• Fighting Style Aggressive/Defensive: <You can turn either on/off but not both at the same time>
• Brawl: <You can engage in a melee brawl with an enemy. The enemy cannot do anything but attack you with a melee weapon for as long as the brawl goes on.> Shows two man fighting each other with their fists.
• Wild fighting Style: <You gain additional attack speed for the cost of more energy per attack> Shows a sword being swung so fast it looks as if it were three.
• Fighting Spirit: <You heal your own wounds for the cost of energy.>
• Charge!: Shows a man rushing towards his enemy, his arm became a sword.
• Battle Cry: Shows a man shouting really loud.
• Use Poison: Shows a bottle of poison and a dagger tipped in it.
• Backstab: Shows a man being stabbed in his back. (I am not happy with it right now)
• Silence: Shows a mouth and a sword hanging over it.
• Dirty Attack: Shows a sword pointing below the belt.
• Set Traps: Shows a trap.
• Break Traps: A broken trap.
• Pick Lock: Shows an opened lock and a lock pick.
• Dodge: Shows a man moving very fast.
• Disarm: Shows a man dropping his weapon and shield to the ground.
• Invisibility: Shows an invisible man (yeah... right...)
• Strengthen: Shows a muscular arm with a magic aura around it.

Thank you very much so far. I am going to upload additional icons soon i guess but i would really like to get some more feedback.

 

[Accname]

Here is the next version of icons.
Some new ones were added, some old ones were slightly changed. Its still not all of them but i am quite satisfied with how they turned out.

What do you guys think? Please, i need feedback!

 

[FireCat]

Your "new version" looks somehow better than your first.
Well seriously, I don't think there's so much to add really. It looks good.

 

[Accname]

Your "new version" looks somehow better than your first.
Well seriously, I don't think there's so much to add really. It looks good.

Thank you for your feedback.