Question: Weapon Graphics
 

In your opinion, is it easier to draw a weapon such as Axe, Sword, or a Mace
diagonally or vertical and then rotating it diagonally?

Your thoughts.

Vertically first and then diagonally. You can count how many pixels high it is vertically and then do the same number of pixels diagonally

either is fine

i find diagonal axes to be quite challenging

I'm used to draw weapons vertically, blade always pointing north.
Diagonally? As much as I hate fixing rotated weapons, it's certainly not my thing :p

I knew there was another who didn't stand their monitor up like everyone else.

north, up, you know what I mean :whatever:

pro tip: you dont need to make your graphics as pixel art, then you can rotate and resize as much as you want without worry.

Working with 90 degree angles first will work better towards your design, in my opinion. Once you start messing with diagonals you end up having to fight with pixels because of the way they interact diagonally. That's not to say diagonal < straight, but design-wise 90 degrees is probably better. For example when you work with diagonals, you have to consider how "straight lines" collide at intersections depending on their alignment. Sometimes they collide in a way that makes a 2x2 box, which is most of the time undesirable. Or how you want to portray certain shapes at a diagonal angle can be quite hard(like Crono said, axes can be challenging).

I say make it at 90 degrees, then make the 45 degree version and optimize it there, that way you don't have to worry about optimizing AND design.

Or just get photoshop and have it auto rotate to a 45 angle from a 90. Then refresh the colors to get rid of the blur.

Lazy way to do it. Use it as a reference, but don't use the graphic itself. It looks like crap. not to mention in Photoshop you can turn off the bilinear effect, but then it looks even worse. If anything use Rotsprite.

My professional opinion of course~

Axes seem a lot easier to me xP

Swords and maces, you're tempted use the rotate tool and fix the distortions, which take time and might not end up exactly the way you'd like.

Axes are simple enough to just redraw the stick quickly and then it's simpler to redraw the head than with maces or swords w/ hilts.

Always start with it pointing either north or east tho. :o

Wow. I love you forever now.