Bit Rot

[DragonDePlatino]

First off, let me say I don't expect this character to make it into TFR and I am primarily spriting him for fun. Nevertheless, if I can finish this character, we'll one more TFR-style example and I'll learn a lot along the way! Heck, if I feel like it, I could later turn this guy into a M.U.G.E.N. character. Anyways, here's Bit Rot. He's not a persona or a mascot, but a character I created specifically for TFR. Comments and critiques much appreciated!

DESCRIPTION

A small-time villian of the spriting universe, Bit Rot is a digital imp-like creature with powers over game corruption. He is a highly mischievous character who preys on weaker games, but in recent times has been driven to corrupt more modern games to satisfy his never-ending hunger. His power is derived from old consoles, and thus he has many low-fi attacks inspired by the Vectrex, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, etc. A challenging-to-use character, the hitboxes of his attacks are scattered into pieces which can miss opponents and he generally feels "unresponsive". Despite this, he's a versatile character with different stances and attacks depending on whether he last moved forwards or backwards.

Possible character theme?
https://soundcloud.com/kayfaraday/mean-n...-2a03-vrc6

Out of 15 *s:
Health: ***
Attack: ***
Defense: ****
Speed: **
Jump: ***

SPRITE SHEET (UNFINISHED)

BASIC ANIMATIONS (FINISHED)

Forward Idle

Backward Idle

Forward Walk

Backward Walk

Forward Duck

Backward Duck

Forward Jump

Backward Jump

Forward Stance

Backward Stance

ATTACK ANIMATIONS (UNFINISHED)

Punch

DEFENSE/HIT ANIMATIONS (NOT STARTED)

OTHER ANIMATIONS (UNFINISHED)

Palettes

[Chris2Balls [:B]]

I like this character!

However, I feel as if the backwards jump needs more build-up/spring to it, and the backpedalling doesn't seem quite right - maybe make it more serpentine/wavy instead of back and forth?

[DragonDePlatino]

I like this character!

However, I feel as if the backwards jump needs more build-up/spring to it, and the backpedalling doesn't seem quite right - maybe make it more serpentine/wavy instead of back and forth?

Hey, thanks for the feedback! I think what I'll do is add another frame between the backward-jump's startup and motion-blur. I'll also tweak the strokes of the backpedal and will probably use the current version for my backward punch.

[Baegal]

Looks cool!

Although I'm not sure how much you need the motion blur for the back walk.
Have you considered making it less of a smoothly moving motion, and more of a buildup?

It could be frame 1+2 are buildup, 3 is a blur/jump back, and 4 is recoil, almost like an attack animation (in that it's a repetitive effort--does that make sense?)
Kind of like a snake pushing back
okay this is hard to explain, sorry

basically, I think it would serve the character better to have a motion more like a snake scooting back as a jut that repeats rather than that tail spin

Keep it up!

[TomGuycott]

The fact this looks so good and so original makes me disappointed that you don't want it in the actual game.

Oh well.

[DragonDePlatino]

basically, I think it would serve the character better to have a motion more like a snake scooting back as a jut that repeats rather than that tail spin

Thanks! I'm glad people so far have been liking the design. It took a couple of concept sketches until I arrived at something I liked!

So, in a nutshell, something a bit more jerky, with more defined pushes? I think I can make that work. As a matter of fact, that's what I was going for the first time I made his backpedal.

The fact this looks so good and so original makes me disappointed that you don't want it in the actual game.

Oh well.

Well, the thing is, I really didn't want Bit Rot in because I didn't want to get my hopes hopes up and I doubt I'd he'd be able to make it in in the first place. Pretty much one of the unwritten rules of the TFR guidelines is that you have to have a strong community presence and...*looks over at post count and awkwardly laughs*

But at the same time, you could also argue a villian character wouldn't need to "fit in" with the rest of the cast and could stand on it's own. But ultimately, it's not my call. That's entirely up to our programmer here. ^.^

[Zadaben]

I have three things to say about your character

One: I love it

Two: As far as critique goes I would suggest shading the inside of his mouth as the darker pink/purple color, because I could hardly tell in the animations that it was opening

Three: This is just a suggestion, but if you want to convey a mischievous imp, flipping those green ear things so that they point upwards might make him appear slightly more diabolical. Right now his head looks quite cute and doglike, and I'm not sure if that's what you want.

[DragonDePlatino]

I have three things to say about your character

One: I love it

Two: As far as critique goes I would suggest shading the inside of his mouth as the darker pink/purple color, because I could hardly tell in the animations that it was opening

Three: This is just a suggestion, but if you want to convey a mischievous imp, flipping those green ear things so that they point upwards might make him appear slightly more diabolical. Right now his head looks quite cute and doglike, and I'm not sure if that's what you want.

Thankies! I've been quite surprised at the reception of this character!

Yeah, I've just started working on his punches (bites) so I've found a much better way to sprite the inside of his mouth. Soon, I'll be update the sprite sheet with that along with the updated backwards jump and backwards walk. And the horns, you mean? Hmmm...lemme give that a shot.



Ohhh...I think it quite suits him! Is that what you were going for? I'd like to be certain on this because it'll involve going back and changing a dozen or so frames. I could even go for something that isn't horns at all, like ears or some sort of headgear.

[Zadaben]

That's even better than what I was envisioning, the curl is a nice touch, nice job.

[DragonDePlatino]

== Update 6/10/14 ==

• 16 x 16 Portrait
  
• Updated backwards jump and backwards walk
  
• Tweaked inside of mouth on jump animations
  
• Added new horns to all animations
  
• Punch 1 and Punch 2
  

*Whew* That took longer than I expected...I know it's not a lot, but next update will be all the punches and a few defense things. Another big thanks to everyone so far who's helped me polish this!

[Baegal]

The back walk looks much better : )
The motion tweens don't really seem all that necessary for the jump, though.
I understand it helps it smooth out better, but the player is going to be jumping on a regular basis, and it seems strange to see blurs so often for actions that are somewhat minor.
I'd save motion tweens for attacks that look like they need some 'oomph' to them

[DragonDePlatino]

The back walk looks much better : )
The motion tweens don't really seem all that necessary for the jump, though.
I understand it helps it smooth out better, but the player is going to be jumping on a regular basis, and it seems strange to see blurs so often for actions that are somewhat minor.
I'd save motion tweens for attacks that look like they need some 'oomph' to them

Hmm...seems reasonable enough. I think in that case, I'll just remove the motion blur frame and add in a falling sprite to round out that animation to 4 frames.

[Kosheh]

Closing thread at OP's request (and funnily enough, the thread itself seems to have suffered from Bit Rot)