YEAH! PUNCH EVERYTHING!!
('cause that's what you do in a beat 'em up)

*Updated 6/26/2012

SO I GUESS I'M MAKING A BEAT 'EM UP GAME
this whole thing originally spawned from me discovering a program that lets you modify characters in Streets of Rage 2, both graphically and... gamely. i wanted to insert gatsby and myself into the game, but it was just too limiting for what i wanted to do. so i just said screw it and decided to make my own game.

it's going to feature me, as well as some of my closest friends. right now, it's only in the planning stages, with no programming, but i'm slowly working on the art and music. i'll occasionally update this topic with new sprites, mockups, game concepts, and--eventually--backgrounds.

-CHARACTERS-

Crappy

- Current Sheet -

Bio - "A shifty, blue-clad plumber whose fresh-baked pies will knock you off your feet."
Stats -
Power= **
Style= ****
Speed= *****
Jump= ******
Reach= ***

Gatsby

- Current Sheet -

Bio - "A billionaire crab with a fancy hat, a strange cane, and a mean pair of boxing claws."
Stats -
Power= ****
Style= ****
Speed= ******
Jump= **
Reach= ****

Tyler

- Current Sheet -

Bio - "A living cartoon character who's quick to the punch, and even quicker to the pelvic thrust."
Stats -
Power= ****
Style= ******
Speed= *****
Jump= ***
Reach= **

Amber

Current Sheet N/A
Bio - "A brunette girl with eloquence and a penchant for the written word."
Stats -
Power = ******
Style = *****
Speed = ***
Jump = ***
Reach = ***

Stevo

Current Sheet N/A
Bio - "A half-robot, half-human genius with an affinity for hitting things."
Stats -
Power= *******
Style= **
Speed= ***
Jump= ***
Reach= *****

Loaf
Animations N/A
Current Sheet N/A
Bio N/A
Stats -
Power= ****
Style= ******
Speed= ****
Jump= **
Reach= ****
(planning on revamping loaf's sprite soon)

-STORY-
THE YEAR IS 2XXX.
CRAPPY AND GATSBY, AN ODD DUO
OF PLUMBER AND CRAB, ARE
ENJOYING A PEACEFUL RETREAT IN
THE OUTSKIRTS OF VERA CITY.
JUST WHEN EVERYTHING SEEMS
FINE, THE TWO SPOT RED SMOKE
RISING FROM THEIR BUSTLING CITY.

UPON THEIR RETURN, THEY
DISCOVER THAT VERA CITY HAS
BEEN TAKEN OVER BY A MYSTERIOUS
"MR. Z!" WHEN CRAPPY AND GATSBY
MAKE THEIR WAY TO THEIR
APARTMENT, THEY DISCOVER
GATSBY'S LITTLE BROTHER, LAMMY,
TO HAVE BEEN KIDNAPPED!

WITH THE POLICE FORCE
CORRUPTED BY MR. Z'S RULE,
CRAPPY AND GATSBY HAVE NO OTHER
OPTION BUT TO TAKE THE LAW INTO
THEIR OWN HANDS. THEY RECRUIT
THE HELP OF THEIR CLOSEST FRIENDS;
TYLER, A CARTOONISH MAN MADE OF
RUBBER; AMBER, AN AMBITIOUS
WRITER; STEVO, A HALF-CYBERNETIC
WRESTLER; AND LOAF, A SLOTH
WITH A TRAFFIC CONE ON HIS HEAD.

TOGETHER, THEY TAKE TO THE
STREETS TO SAVE VERA CITY AND
LAMMY FROM MR. Z'S EVIL GRASP.

show your support for this silly project by putting this silly image in your signature!

The sprites look incredibly good, and the animations are very nice and smooth. However, I'm worried as to how they will look against a lighter background, which obviously is going to be the case in the game.

hah, are you sure about that? i've always loved the city-at-night kind of setting in the (first two) Streets of Rage games, and i'm thinking i'll go that route. i made a couple mockups with my sprites on backgrounds from Streets of Rage 1 and 2.


the second one is definitely better, but i think both give a general idea of the contrast i'm going for. while CBL's legs might be a bit tricky to make out in the first one, you can still clearly see his shoes and his top half.

obviously, whenever i get around to backgrounds, they're going to be a bit more cartoony and will use colors more contrasting with the main characters (of which there will be more).

for the sake of comparison (and because i think you implied you wanted to see this), i've slapped them in front of the Skull and Crossbones level from TMNT: Turtles in Time, which is decidedly a pretty bright background.


honestly? i think they look pretty okay. i can see that CBL's legs are a bit of an issue again, but they're still more visible than in the Streets of Rage background.

i think i'll try to work on an actual background for a more satisfactory mockup.

EDIT: working on walks now:

Thank you, that was exactly what I needed to see. I'm sure now that it will work perfectly well on purpose-built backgrounds. Carry on.

does anybody else see anything off about crappy's walk? there's something that doesn't look right with the arms, but i can't quite put my finger on it.

(04-03-2012, 06:31 PM)Crappy Blue Luigi Wrote:


does anybody else see anything off about crappy's walk? there's something that doesn't look right with the arms, but i can't quite put my finger on it.

i think the magnitude of the arm swing is a bit too intense, considering the movement speed of his legs. try increasing the angle of the elbow and making it swing less.

does this look better?

(04-03-2012, 06:51 PM)Crappy Blue Luigi Wrote:

does this look better?

yus, the legs and arms have a more springy rhythm

This is looking awesome so far, keep up the great work.

this looks great!

Keep in mind for backgrounds the characters have to be distinguished from it easily, so they don't blend in.

(04-03-2012, 09:04 PM)Omega Wrote: this looks great!

Keep in mind for backgrounds the characters have to be distinguished from it easily, so they don't blend in.

unless the main character is a ninja

no ninjas here, just a runnin' gatsby

this is probably the silliest attack animation i've ever made

(incidentally, it's also the smoothest)

EDIT: i think it's time for a SHEET UPDATE

Crappy Blue Luigi: Confirmed wife beater.

get it? he's wearing a wife beater

i'm so witty