The VG Resource

It has been five years since I've fallen off the radar of Spriting back in 2006.
What have I been doing during that long absence you ask?
Soul Searching. That is what I have been doing.
I've been contemplating about myself and my previous works in the past three years.
And it was only in 2008 that I have finally come to the realization... that I can do better than this.

It is that realization that I can do better that I what did before that has opened my eyes much wider and helped me to learn more about Spriting and see it in a different manner than I did before.
That alone has been a great and much needed improvement in my personal image and sense of self.
So now when I see good sprite work, I know admiration and a little bit of envy.
But when I see terrible sprite work, I know only disgust and shame.
I constructively use that sense of disgust and shame to see how a terrible work can be fixed and improved to become better.
But now that I have reformed my vision on the concept of spriting for better, I now see many Sprite Sites differently than I used to before. Along with other peoples sprite work.
And unfortunately, to my dismay, I see a great majority of sprite work out there that is shameful and unfit for public use.
It is no wonder that many comic makers and flash animators who use sprites in their works must suffer the inconvenience of using sprite sheets that are sub-par and inefficiently compiled.

I see clearly now that: The organized Works of a Good Spriter means less difficulty for the people using his Works.
While the sub-par Works of a Lazy Spriter bring more difficulty and hardship in due process.

Five years ago, I was blind and immature with a fragile psyche that wanted fame and couldn't take any kind of directed
negativity against it.
That I can shamefully admit.
But now that I've grown wiser and attained better visual clarity, I am even more ashamed at this realization:
Although TSR is alive on the outside, it has become corrupt with overwhelming stagnation on the inside.
All because of a lack of standards and a passive and negligent attitude of "relaxed and lazy lenience."

What I see right now... is a need for salvation.
I have long since contemplated and reevaluated my purpose here in TSR. And I finally know what it is.
It is to rise from the basic roots of a simple, ordinary contributor to a Remediator who wants what is best for TSR, its
patrons, and its future.

So what I ask of you now, as any other reform-minded individual would ask of you, is to set a good example, for the sake of your visitors and your reputation, by cleaning up TSR.
And you can accomplish just that by ADOPTING and EXERCISING "a System of Stringent Quality Requirements" regarding submissions.



To quote President Barack Obama, We can change. YES we can.

And now I ask you, "Can TSR change for the better?"

"YES it can."

Can we make TSR better than it is now?

"YES we can."

"How do we Improve TSR for the better of everyone?"

Through the Approval of these Two Proposals that I've prepared for the Staff to VOTE on:

1. Adopt and Implement E.S.O.F.A., a Quality Check System, to filter out and block bad submissions from the good ones.

2. Appoint correctional Inspectors who are capable of reviewing incoming submissions with extreme scrutiny and impartial judgement.

What I have presented to you is a Petition for Improved Site Efficiency.
And the Promise of this Petition is this:

"More Quality Sheets, Less Bandwidth Waste, and No More Garbage."

This Petition, should it go through successfully and be upheld with unwavering vigilance and focused determination, will undoubtedly clean up and improve TSR's Reputation as a Reliable Sprite Archive.
THAT is what everyone wants and THAT is what everyone needs right now.



To quote another, historical President, John F. Kennedy,
"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what YOU can do for your country."

I have been pondering to myself for a very long time now about what I can do for TSR and this is it.
But I will need your support to make the adoption and implementation of this Petition a successful venture.

So I'd like everyone to review the information THOROUGHLY and CAREFULLY consider adopting the proposals that I have put
forth.

This concludes my return speech to TSR and my proposed petition to reform it for the better of everyone.

~Sincerely Signed, Arima

"Efficiency and Convenience over Thoughtless Incompetence."

---

E.S.O.F.A. 3-Point Grading System for Sprite Sheets

-----

"1. The Entirety Factor: Complete or Incomplete?"
A Sprite Sheet must have every known Sprite from the Game's Subject Character to be considered Complete.
If another Member, who has played the game that the sprites come from, can confirm that the Sheet is missing some Sprites,
then the Sheet is considered Incomplete.
If a Spriter declares his/her Sprite Sheet as a Work-in-Progress, then it is considered Incomplete.
If a Spriter lies about his/her Sprite Sheet as being complete when it is actually incomplete, it is Shameful Perjury.

-----

"2. The Sprite Arrangement & Cataloging Factor"
This Primary Grading Factor depends on how well and efficiently the Sprites were Arranged and Cataloged.

Sheet Grade: A (Exceptional Quality)
The Contributor has cataloged and arranged the Sprite Sheet in a proficient manner that minimizes Blank Space and Bandwidth Use.

Sheet Grade: B (Satisfactory)
The Contributor has cataloged and arranged the Sprite Sheet in an almost perfect manner.
Although there are a few noticeable wrinkles with it that could be ironed out.

Sheet Grade: C (Mediocre)
The Contributor has only put in a partial effort to arrange the Sprites and has made a sheet that is ineligible for uploading.

Sheet Grade: D (Unusable & Unacceptable)
The Contributor has inexcusably failed to arrange and catalog the Sprites efficiently and has created a garbage-quality Sheet.

-----

"3. The Bandwidth Coefficient Factor: Plus or Minus?"
This Secondary Grading Factor depends on how much Blank Space a Sprite Sheet has.
Excessive Amounts of Blank Space can waste precious Site Bandwidth and Hard Drive Space so it is always preferable that you try to keep Blank Space on your Sheets at a Minimum.
When done properly, "Scrunching" can net you Bonus Points in conservative terms and raise your Coefficient Grade.

Coefficient Grade: ++ (Efficient) (Constitutional Ratio of Blank Space is less than 15%)
This Sheet has very little to no Blank Space and is as compact and space-saving as it can be.

Coefficient Grade: + (Barely Efficient) (Constitutional Ratio of Blank Space is between 15% to 30%)
This Sheet is partially eligible for uploading due to the significantly noticeable "Blank Space-to-Sprite" Ratio.

Coefficient Grade: - (Inefficient) (Constitutional Ratio of Blank Space is between 30% to 50%)
The Spriter has only put in a partial effort to arrange the Sprites and has made a sheet that is ineligible for uploading.

Coefficient Grade: -- (Wasteful) (Constitutional Ratio of Blank Space is more than 50%)
This Sheet has an unacceptably high "Blank Space-to-Sprite" Ratio.

-----

Other Technicalities to consider

Exemplary Consideration: "Pre-Assembled VS Some Assembly Required"
The Difference between a Sprite Sheet and a Piece Sheet is this:
Sprite Sheets are ready to use right off the bat while Piece Sheets require a little bit of understanding and assembly.
Most Animators would rather use a convenient Pre-Assembled Sprite Sheet instead of a Do-It-Yourself Piece Sheet.
For that case, one should consider compiling a Sprite Sheet that has a Pre-Assembled Section and a Do-It-Yourself Section.
The Pre-Assembled Section can be used by Everyone while the Do-It-Yourself Section is reserved for Expert Animators.

"Backgrounds & Texture Sheets"
1. Are EXEMPT from the Arrangement & Catalogging Grading Factor since they are NOT Sprite Sheets.
2. Are NOT exempt from the Bandwidth Coefficient Grading Factor.
3A. With the special case of Pokémon Battle Revolution, Texture Sheets are NOT Exempt from the Completion Grading Factor.
3B. Technical Information pertaining to a Background's Appication for the "Wraparound Effect" must be included.
Horizontal (X-Axis) Wraparound: YES/NO
Vertical (Y-Axis) Wraparound: YES/NO

"Spartan Signatures"
1. Tacky, Exorbitant Signatures are a Useless and Highly Discouraged Embellishment. Just Use Plain, Size-12 Text instead.
2. If you really need an Exorbitant Sig to identify your work, make sure it is placed and arranged on the sheet in a manner
that is NOT INCONDUCIVE to the Sheet's Bandwidth Coefficient.

"Original Works"
1. Original Works are EXEMPT from the Entirety Grading Factor.
2. Effort = Success Rate for Acceptance and Useage by other people.

"Proper Naming Convention"
The Naming Convention for Every Sheet in TSR should go like this:

A. Game System - Game Name - Sprite Name
B. Game System - Game Name - Background - Name

Example:
Super Nintendo Entertainment System - Super Mario World - Mario
|
V
Using Abbreviations and/or Acronyms is Optional but strongly recommended for Games and Systems that have Long Titles.
|
V
SNES - SMW - Mario

That way, the Staff will know right away in which section to put the sheet.
Significantly improving Updates by decreasing sorting time.

Summary, please.

Summary, make submitting to the site hard work instead of fun, and lose all of our submissions...

Actually I think he's just tired of the flaming, bashing and everyone waiting to get their own ego boosted.
Too bad he forgot we are dealing with people from many countries (not only US so we usually don't care about Obama or Kennedy. Some of us don't care about the Pope or the Dalai-Lama either) and people from many ages, ranging from 13 years-old and up.

If you need a revolution on custom sprites submissions, then you should start reforming the entire community and stop all the senseless arguments and such. After that (or along with that), get the community really interested and contributing by really making real contributions, not just showing-off. Too bad many just don't care enough, aren't motivated or lose interest fast.
It was a moving..."speech", but too bad it falls into "too long, didn't read" category for 80% of the people around. Don't get me wrong, all communities could use someone with such ideals and dreams, but those without a real goal and plan are just plain...Wasted.

And now if you excuse me, I'm going back to lurk around

I didn't read anything. Period.

Ok, Rorschach.

Fun fact: blank space of one color can add little to nothing to the file size.

Doesn't tSR have quality requirements anyway?

I mean, there have been refused sheets before because of things so I honestly don't understand why you are trying to force us to have something that we already have, and that works quite well with the way we do it.

The way you're trying to list it out is pretty confusing and not as good as what we already have into place, but thanks for trying.

As far as I know tSR does have some standards when it comes to stuff like there has been stuff that's been rejected in the past not just customs but also rips (due to that they have been resized or shrunk by the image uploader or that the backgrounds have the same colour as one of the sprites that can ruin it or even JPEGs).

I tried to at least understand the long post and think that got most of it except the US president thing since not everyone lives in the USA. Having some improvements can be a good thing if done right but what you are suggesting is a bit too strict and would work out worser in the long run. If you want to go into detail (tl,dr time)...

tSR does have some quality control as explained earlier and that there are threads explaining how to make a good sheet. Rippers also have their own quality control from sprite arrangement to optimising the sheets so the file size goes down (whether by PNGOUT or by reducing the colour if the sprites are under 256 colours) and making sure that every sprite (if possible) is on there without any glitches unless it is intentional from the developers. The latter surprising does happen quite a bit.

For the completeness thing, how would a person know that a sheet is complete or not? There are some factors that have to be known. Some old incomplete sheets in the past do get replaced (and that they have been) even by the same ripper, there are emulation and tool issues as well. E.g. 5 years ago it was very hard to rip Genesis games due to both lack of tools and some games couldn't be ripped since Genesis games often had a black background affecting the sprites as well as some games didn't work on emulators. Now with these tools and more accessable emulators, it is easier to rip than before (still not as accessable as GBA games though). There are still to this day some systems that don't have the attention and can't be ripped either by game or even the entire system itself. Stuff that are known to be incomplete like the Scott Pilgram rips will be replaced when emulation would be possible for the 360 or the files have been decompressed by someone very knowledgable of decompression/figured out the file format so they got as much as they can get at this moment in time. Another thing is that a game could have unused sprites but the game uses compression that might be difficult to crack, how would a person know if a game has unused sprites just by playing the game? A person shouldn't be punished for that.

For the organisation, it is really up to the ripper but providing that there isn't much blank space unless it can't be helped like if it is an isometric rip but yet just enough so people can at least grab the sprites without mixing or making it hard for the person using the sprites is okay. From looking at rips on the forums, most people having some sort of organisation from standing pose, walking poses, action poses, dying pose unless ripped directly from files or the data in some cases (in that case, the organisation is the order the files/data go in) all with a reasonable amount of blank space [not silly like having a few sprites and lots of blank space]. Besides bandwidth isn't too much of an issue here if the sheet is useful, some people even put sprites into zips cause they know that the sprites could be too big to put on a sheet without being resized by every image uploader and the fact that it could crash someones Internet browser (also to make it easier to use the sprites as well). Assembly really depends on the game, some it might be insanely hard to get every single possible pose especially if a game uses software scaling and rotation so it is up to the ripper, plus there is also the fact of emulator glitches.

Ripping isn't about how many sheets that you have, it is about the passion of helping people to have sprites of a game that they wanted, a game that you really like that you enjoy ripping, preserving sprites so people in the future can look at the style maybe even attempt to replicate it and even the original company or game magazine can use the sprites. It is having a hobby to do however ripping can turn from a passion into a chore (like ripping horrible games that you have to rip or thinking that you have to singlehandly rip a game/console to yourself due to lack of help). Some rippers even have jobs and lives that are very important and might not have much time to rip. With a grading system, it would put people off ripping sprites/textures and figuring that it would be too much of a hassle. It would also cause the uploaders to feel like it is a chore checking every single sheet just to make sure that it is ripped right or not (again some sheets are old, some at least dating back to 2004 and a few are from TSGK) and the uploaders don't have knowledge of every single game to know every single character/ action/ regional difference (some games have Japanese/European only sprites or the American versions are censored/uncensored) in the game.

Also some of things mentioned like the very small text only sigs would actually cause most if not the entire community to leave due to the over the top strictness, not just the people who submit to the site but also the people who use the forums to have a chat and may not have interest what so ever in what tSR does. It's like sending a nuclear bomb just to get rid of a few flies.

Sorry that it is too long for people to read...