Cleaning House

***Cosmonautical*** · 05-25-2011, 02:09 PM

This forum is loaded with ancient junk. A few things:

1. I've un-stickied the rules thread because it was superfluous. Standard rules apply across the board, etc.

2. I've fixed up the resources thread. Feel free to recommend some new resource sites there if you find any, I will try to remember to update the main post.

3. Want me to tear down some of those old tutorials, you want to make something fresh? Let's talk.

4. Are "Comix" a dying art? Jay's long gone, and there's probably only a small amount of you spriters around. You're the vets, you tell me where you want to go with it, if you have any thoughts on the subject.

And yeah, I'm the mod here now. New topics get made after 25 pages, be respectful of eachother, and PM me first if you have any concerns with this forum that aren't obvious. If spammers/trolls show up, use the report button like you would anywhere else.

Oh, and I'm in charge of art direction for the VGF RPG. If you want to see a sprite of yours make it in the game, I'm sure we could use another enemy or two. Let me know what's up, if that's the case.

1-up Salesman · 05-25-2011, 02:59 PM

(Jay's the guy that did NC for a while, right) I don't really think Spriting's a dying art, it was always a fairly small part of the internet community. It'd be nice to see some collaborative efforts. Speed and I were going to do such, and we should continue with that soon.

Dizzy · 05-25-2011, 07:02 PM

Spriting did use to be bigger, back in the days of MIDI and HTML.

However, none of those things are really dead, just glossed over in favor of more modern alternatives (not really sure what a modern alternative of spriting would be, but there you go).

Also, it's possible I may make a sprite or two for the RPG.

***Cosmonautical*** · 05-26-2011, 06:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1-up Salesman

(Jay's the guy that did NC for a while, right) I don't really think Spriting's a dying art, it was always a fairly small part of the internet community. It'd be nice to see some collaborative efforts. Speed and I were going to do such, and we should continue with that soon.

Jay created NC and invented sprite comics. Not surprised if you didn't know that - with MMan over-glorifying every second of his own being, it'd be hard to see past the blazing sun that is his ego.

Thanks for your input, guys. If you get any ideas for a community project (maybe a quick arcade game featuring your sprites, etc), share here.

1-up Salesman · 05-26-2011, 10:44 AM

That'd be great! If I get good at making sprites, it'll probably just be drawing poses with a drawing tablet, honestly. And some wouldn't even consider that spriting.

Vgfian · 05-26-2011, 10:51 AM

Not sure how legitimate the question is, but Are Edits and Customs acceptable for submission or do they need to be completely original? (Edit meaning something along the lines of the character and possibly many of the basic shapes of the sprite being different, not just the color)

Dizzy · 05-26-2011, 11:20 AM

^You mean heavy-edits? I don't see who could stop you, but that's ultimately up to AI.

Vgfian · 05-26-2011, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkZero

^You mean heavy-edits? I don't see who could stop you, but that's ultimately up to AI.

EXACTLY.

and yeah.

***Cosmonautical*** · 05-27-2011, 12:10 AM

Edits aren't totally out of the question if you just want to make a fun game, but game-building lends itself toward tailored sprites best. Mario doesn't have any karate-chop poses, making more for him is a bit frivolous if you could've just made something that suits it in the first place. But no, I don't see why we'd ban them from the game for any reason.

Can you guys make recommendations for what type of game you'd like to sprite?

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1-up Salesman

That'd be great! If I get good at making sprites, it'll probably just be drawing poses with a drawing tablet, honestly. And some wouldn't even consider that spriting.

Multiple paths to the end result. Sprites are just rasterized/matriculated node animations, sometimes with severe space restrictions. Animation is always a struggle with creating visually recognizable imagery within restraints of colors and set detail levels.

Dizzy · 05-27-2011, 06:34 AM

Platformers and top-down puzzle games are probably what I could sprite best.

***Cosmonautical*** · 05-31-2011, 01:16 PM

That jives well with me, I've never gotten the chance to do much with an original platformer. Any kind of preference for combat?

Dizzy · 05-31-2011, 01:32 PM

I've always been fascinated by the idea of a protagonist with a spear. I'd imagine it would work something like Zelda II, or even a beat-em-up.

***Cosmonautical*** · 05-31-2011, 02:13 PM

Spears are all right, but primitive. I'd rather have something more like a halberd.

Here is the coolest halberd that ever actually existed, btw:
http://www.welovedc.com/wp-content/u...08/halberd.jpg

Castlevania, Secret of Mana, and Ghosts n Goblins have all covered spear/halberd/lance territory pretty well, if you're interested in looking up some references. Jabby weapons are largely the same when you put them to use in a game.

A variety of strategies based on choosing heavier standards of weapons could be a good gameplay mechanic. Of course, I'm all for going the absurd route and making a guy throw a variety of sharks or something. Gotta use your imagination.

1-up Salesman · 05-31-2011, 03:42 PM

So...AI's making a platformer now?

***Cosmonautical*** · 06-01-2011, 09:57 AM

It's a project I'd consider doing. I have a lot of experience with MMF2D and it's predecessors, so I can whip up an engine for a simple combat-oriented game pretty easily. Games are getting too complicated of late, anyway. I'd probably want to do it somewhat in the style of Legend of Princess, gameplay-wise. Anyone else have suggestions?

And I think I would be happiest to do background art at most, if you guys want to do sprites. I'd always like to have a large cast of enemies, doesn't bother me if they behave similarly or not.

Dux is not you · 06-01-2011, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wraith to the Finish

I'd always like to have a large cast of enemies, doesn't bother me if they behave similarly or not.

Is there a point to this besides bonus art points? I would believe consistency is more important.

1-up Salesman · 06-03-2011, 04:21 PM

I just realized that I think I'm the only person on here with a currently ongoing sprite comic.

Robotazy · 06-03-2011, 06:54 PM

Dizzy · 06-03-2011, 11:26 PM

^^I really should do more UMB, now that you mention it.

***Cosmonautical*** · 06-05-2011, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dux is not me

Is there a point to this besides bonus art points? I would believe consistency is more important.

What, identical enemies lend a game credibility? I don't buy it. Identical things are the exception, not the default.

05-25-2011, 02:09 PM	#1
*Cosmonautical* Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: I rub my tilde all over your asterisk Gender: Posts: 28,100 Thanks: 2,156 Thanked 5,338 Times in 2,433 Posts	Cleaning House This forum is loaded with ancient junk. A few things: 1. I've un-stickied the rules thread because it was superfluous. Standard rules apply across the board, etc. 2. I've fixed up the resources thread. Feel free to recommend some new resource sites there if you find any, I will try to remember to update the main post. 3. Want me to tear down some of those old tutorials, you want to make something fresh? Let's talk. 4. Are "Comix" a dying art? Jay's long gone, and there's probably only a small amount of you spriters around. You're the vets, you tell me where you want to go with it, if you have any thoughts on the subject. And yeah, I'm the mod here now. New topics get made after 25 pages, be respectful of eachother, and PM me first if you have any concerns with this forum that aren't obvious. If spammers/trolls show up, use the report button like you would anywhere else. Oh, and I'm in charge of art direction for the VGF RPG. If you want to see a sprite of yours make it in the game, I'm sure we could use another enemy or two. Let me know what's up, if that's the case.

05-25-2011, 02:59 PM	#2
1-up Salesman Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Letting you guys know that I'm planning on continuing Attack of the Spammers soon. Gender: Posts: 4,095 Thanks: 2,162 Thanked 250 Times in 194 Posts Blog Entries: 9	(Jay's the guy that did NC for a while, right) I don't really think Spriting's a dying art, it was always a fairly small part of the internet community. It'd be nice to see some collaborative efforts. Speed and I were going to do such, and we should continue with that soon.

05-25-2011, 07:02 PM	#3
Dizzy Podiaphobe Join Date: Oct 2007 Gender: Posts: 19,359 Thanks: 1,764 Thanked 1,161 Times in 804 Posts Blog Entries: 116	Spriting did use to be bigger, back in the days of MIDI and HTML. However, none of those things are really dead, just glossed over in favor of more modern alternatives (not really sure what a modern alternative of spriting would be, but there you go). Also, it's possible I may make a sprite or two for the RPG.

05-26-2011, 10:44 AM	#5
1-up Salesman Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Letting you guys know that I'm planning on continuing Attack of the Spammers soon. Gender: Posts: 4,095 Thanks: 2,162 Thanked 250 Times in 194 Posts Blog Entries: 9	That'd be great! If I get good at making sprites, it'll probably just be drawing poses with a drawing tablet, honestly. And some wouldn't even consider that spriting.

05-26-2011, 10:51 AM	#6
Vgfian Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Listening to Seeking 7 Seven and giving out free hugs. :) Gender: Posts: 6,862 Thanks: 2,433 Thanked 398 Times in 311 Posts	Not sure how legitimate the question is, but Are Edits and Customs acceptable for submission or do they need to be completely original? (Edit meaning something along the lines of the character and possibly many of the basic shapes of the sprite being different, not just the color)

05-26-2011, 11:20 AM	#7
Dizzy Podiaphobe Join Date: Oct 2007 Gender: Posts: 19,359 Thanks: 1,764 Thanked 1,161 Times in 804 Posts Blog Entries: 116	^You mean heavy-edits? I don't see who could stop you, but that's ultimately up to AI.

05-27-2011, 06:34 AM	#10
Dizzy Podiaphobe Join Date: Oct 2007 Gender: Posts: 19,359 Thanks: 1,764 Thanked 1,161 Times in 804 Posts Blog Entries: 116	Platformers and top-down puzzle games are probably what I could sprite best.

05-31-2011, 01:16 PM	#11
*Cosmonautical* Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: I rub my tilde all over your asterisk Gender: Posts: 28,100 Thanks: 2,156 Thanked 5,338 Times in 2,433 Posts	That jives well with me, I've never gotten the chance to do much with an original platformer. Any kind of preference for combat?

05-31-2011, 01:32 PM	#12
Dizzy Podiaphobe Join Date: Oct 2007 Gender: Posts: 19,359 Thanks: 1,764 Thanked 1,161 Times in 804 Posts Blog Entries: 116	I've always been fascinated by the idea of a protagonist with a spear. I'd imagine it would work something like Zelda II, or even a beat-em-up.

05-31-2011, 02:13 PM	#13
*Cosmonautical* Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: I rub my tilde all over your asterisk Gender: Posts: 28,100 Thanks: 2,156 Thanked 5,338 Times in 2,433 Posts	Spears are all right, but primitive. I'd rather have something more like a halberd. Here is the coolest halberd that ever actually existed, btw: http://www.welovedc.com/wp-content/u...08/halberd.jpg Castlevania, Secret of Mana, and Ghosts n Goblins have all covered spear/halberd/lance territory pretty well, if you're interested in looking up some references. Jabby weapons are largely the same when you put them to use in a game. A variety of strategies based on choosing heavier standards of weapons could be a good gameplay mechanic. Of course, I'm all for going the absurd route and making a guy throw a variety of sharks or something. Gotta use your imagination.

05-31-2011, 03:42 PM	#14
1-up Salesman Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Letting you guys know that I'm planning on continuing Attack of the Spammers soon. Gender: Posts: 4,095 Thanks: 2,162 Thanked 250 Times in 194 Posts Blog Entries: 9	So...AI's making a platformer now?

06-03-2011, 06:54 PM	#18
Robotazy PRESS ANY KEY TO PANIC! Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: A Tiny Shed Gender: Posts: 16,483 Thanks: 529 Thanked 1,254 Times in 897 Posts Blog Entries: 46

06-01-2011, 09:57 AM	#15
*Cosmonautical* Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: I rub my tilde all over your asterisk Gender: Posts: 28,100 Thanks: 2,156 Thanked 5,338 Times in 2,433 Posts	It's a project I'd consider doing. I have a lot of experience with MMF2D and it's predecessors, so I can whip up an engine for a simple combat-oriented game pretty easily. Games are getting too complicated of late, anyway. I'd probably want to do it somewhat in the style of Legend of Princess, gameplay-wise. Anyone else have suggestions? And I think I would be happiest to do background art at most, if you guys want to do sprites. I'd always like to have a large cast of enemies, doesn't bother me if they behave similarly or not.

06-03-2011, 04:21 PM	#17
1-up Salesman Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Letting you guys know that I'm planning on continuing Attack of the Spammers soon. Gender: Posts: 4,095 Thanks: 2,162 Thanked 250 Times in 194 Posts Blog Entries: 9	I just realized that I think I'm the only person on here with a currently ongoing sprite comic.

06-03-2011, 11:26 PM	#19
Dizzy Podiaphobe Join Date: Oct 2007 Gender: Posts: 19,359 Thanks: 1,764 Thanked 1,161 Times in 804 Posts Blog Entries: 116	^^I really should do more UMB, now that you mention it.