Hi, thanks for asking!
- Variations depend on what you really want and need. If you need frame-by-frame animation, you must draw all parts. If you wanna combine pixel art and skeletal animation, one static part is enough. However, since this pack is frame-by-frame, you’ll need to draw all parts
- Dont overdraw. A 16px character is small and every pixel is expensive. Instead focusing on every body part, I focused on the head (the key feature) for my Unit Character
- KISS principle! The last S hits me in the face every time I start messing around: use blocking, avoid so much pixel noise/orphan, avoid unnecessary micro acc, etc. Keep it simple!
Edit: 4. Use references to make life easier. Keep in mind that referencing is not tracing :)
For tool, Aseprite is enough