Flip this sprite

[Kirbyfan]

You know to make it easier we could limit the amount of frames by putting in motion blurs. It would substantially decrease the amount of sprites.

We weren't doing that already? Hmmm.... Well, okay then.

[Kitsu]

The old style didn't have motion blurs. However, no animations have been done for the new style, so it hasn't really been determined yet.

[Ton]

Honestly I think motion blurs are a bit of a cop-out...

[Alpha Six]

Motion blurs only work for actions, not turning around.

[Ton]

Yeah, why are we on this discussion anyway? As for items in the hand, I'd like to hear if we can address that in the coding. And if not, will the swapping hands be a major determent from the game?

[Gors]

Sprite-making takes a lot of time, and doubling the work will just make the process boring and the sprite sheet's file size will become huge. I know it'll look odd if we flip the sprite, but it will not change the gameplay in any way, and most people won't notice. Think about SMB, for example.

[Kitsu]

Like has been said, it's only a big deal for characters that have established handedness, or is always carrying some sort of item. Most characters can get away with simple flips. Heck, Kirby does it all the time, and no one's ever complained about it...

Really, the only character that would require more than flipping are Link (and his clones...), Samus, Marth, Ike, Megaman, and maybe Captain Falcon.

[Wes]

Like has been said, it's only a big deal for characters that have established handedness, or is always carrying some sort of item. Most characters can get away with simple flips. Heck, Kirby does it all the time, and no one's ever complained about it...

Really, the only character that would require more than flipping are Link (and his clones...), Samus, Marth, Ike, Megaman, and maybe Captain Falcon.

More than that. Pit (bow), Metaknight (sword), Ice Climbers (hammers), Bowser Jr (Paintbrush, but thats only if we decide on him using it), ZSS (gun/whip), Krystal (if she uses her staff), Masked Man (sword), Roy (sword), the other FE rep (unless its a magic user), and maybe the other Konami rep and the other 3rd party, depending on who they are. And that's not counting people who use one-handed items for attacks, like the StarFox characters' blasters.

Maybe the blaster or ZSS wouldn't require to be different, but a lot of people use one-handed items. Maybe the turn animation could be used to show the character switching the hand they hold their weapon in, but that doesn't work for everyone.

[Ton]

I don't think minor things like the Ice climbers' hammers and Krystal's staff are big deals.

[Kitsu]

You don't have to do it with Metaknight, as he sprite flips in Kirby games. I also don't think you'd have to do it with Pit either; his stance is pretty open to flipping (he can have the hand switch animation for turning). ZSS would need to have it though. As for Bowser Jr., if the Paintbrush is out all the time, it depends on his stance; if his stance is weird, like Fox's or something, then you'd either have to sprite both ways, or have a switch hands animation. Same thing with Masked Man and Krystal.
I left out Roy on purpose, but he'd also be the same as Ike and Marth (no sprite-flipping). As for people who have weapons similar to Fox's blaster, you'd only have to resprite those poses.

[Ton]

I think it's very minor if they pull out a gun with the opposite hand. If it's possible, I think the best idea would be to sprite all the characters without the weapons in their hands (except Samus) and then figure something out later for them, be it something as simple as pasting the weapons on when they're flipped, or coding something so the weapons change hands when they turn around by saving the weapons sprites as different files (if possible).

[Kitsu]

Oh yeah. The second option should be pretty easy.

[Kirbyfan]

Yeah. I guess that would be simplest. But still, stances are an issue. And don't bring up how Kirby does is in his games, because Sakurai is an idiot.

[Black Boo]

Guys seriously, who's really gonna CARE? I mean, unless the players are supernerds, then we can probably get away with flipping a lot of characters, but Link and Toon Link would probably have to be re-sprited anyway, mostly Link because of his belts and bracer and such.

[Kitsu]

I rage when I see a flipped Samus. That's really about it, though.

I think it has to do with the Metroid series' greater attention to detail to most of Nintendo's other franchises, along with the Zelda series.