::: Z E R O 2 D ::: -- now with 100% more M3D

[DarkDragoon]

Laptop charger went ka-poot on me. I'll finish the base for sure tomorrow!
-DD

 

[Psytrese]

I'd love to have one of my characters featured in the final roster if there's a good explanation as to why there would be a superhero in it.

It would either be a serious superhero, or a comedic superhero with a ridiculous power.

You say there are no limitations, but is this literal?

I wouldn't mind doing some concept also. Not expecting to take on the main artists job, but it's worth a shot.

 

[Red Arremer]

The roster won't be ridiculously big, keep that in mind. Buzz and I each already have a few character ideas we'd like to put into the main game, as well.

As for the limitations - basically there are none in terms of concepts, but a superhero, for instance, would be hard to implement to the main story since it crosses the line here. So everyone who has a character idea has to be aware of the fact that IF the character is accepted, chances are that the character will be adapted to fit better into the roster.

However, I repeat.

For NOW we DON'T need ANY character concept. We first want to get the basic engine running and everything before any creative submission can be taken into account.

 

[Psytrese]

I thought as much. It would be hard to adapt a superhero then, as by definition, they are pretty much defined by colourful costumes. A magician's clothing and the metallics of a robot have some sort of basis from real life material.

Just to clarify, I wasn't suggesting doing concept of my own characters, but when the basic engine is up and running I'd appreciate the opportunity to do concept of the 2 initial characters.

And maybe then offer additional suggestions at a later date. Probably not of the superhero variety, lol.

 

[smashbro29]

Any chance I can try out for the narrator or is it too soon?

 

[Red Arremer]

I thought as much. It would be hard to adapt a superhero then, as by definition, they are pretty much defined by colourful costumes. A magician's clothing and the metallics of a robot have some sort of basis from real life material.

It has nothing to do with the costumes, like, at all. The mages in the storyline also aren't bound to be robed bookworms. I will explain everything later as soon as I have developed the story well enough to say "That's how it'd work."

It's just that the concept of supernatural powers not caused by technology (i.e. magic) runs completely different in the world I intend to create for Zero2D's main game. A superhero just doesn't properly fit into this world.

 

[Terra~]

I've done coding in C++, although it's been some time, I have to learn quickly (or relearn :]). I used Visual Basic for that, however I have used NetBeans for Java. I've worked with Linux a little but nothing really major. I was trying to get some type of coding project for the summer and nothing has came up. This seems interesting enough. Also, I'm aware of what type of time and effort and coordination and communication a project of this size demands.

To whoever is in charge of the programming atm, feel free to PM me, we can chat a little!

 

[TheBuzzSaw]

I thought as much. It would be hard to adapt a superhero then, as by definition, they are pretty much defined by colourful costumes. A magician's clothing and the metallics of a robot have some sort of basis from real life material.

Just to clarify, I wasn't suggesting doing concept of my own characters, but when the basic engine is up and running I'd appreciate the opportunity to do concept of the 2 initial characters.

And maybe then offer additional suggestions at a later date. Probably not of the superhero variety, lol.

Keep in mind that outside of the official roster, anything goes. If you take the time to produce graphics, sound, and hitboxes for a character, heck, we'll throw it up on the download site! It will be separate from the actual engine download, but you'll have your character!

Any chance I can try out for the narrator or is it too soon?

Well, I am not hosting formal tryouts right now, but another guy has already sent in his voice acting. Get in touch with me! I wanna hear your voice too.

I've done coding in C++, although it's been some time, I have to learn quickly (or relearn :]). I used Visual Basic for that, however I have used NetBeans for Java. I've worked with Linux a little but nothing really major. I was trying to get some type of coding project for the summer and nothing has came up. This seems interesting enough. Also, I'm aware of what type of time and effort and coordination and communication a project of this size demands.

To whoever is in charge of the programming atm, feel free to PM me, we can chat a little!

You do not have to develop in Linux. Ubuntu is simply my weapon of choice, but the project is compatible with Windows and Mac as well. A friend and I just finished a programming project for school using SDL (the library that Zero2D will use), and we shared code the entire way through even though I'm on Linux, and he is on Windows.

I am preparing the first big code submission, but I'm still fighting to finish school right now. The coding collaboration will begin next week.

 

[DarkDragoon]

Wasn't pleased with the shading style of my first draft. Doing it over.

>_> I'm picky.
-DD

 

[Red Arremer]

Ladies and gentlemen, we have first concept art!

I would like you to meet Darius, one of our first beta characters, the "generic medieval swordsman". He will be changed a bit in terms of a few details, but in general, this is our first official art! =D

 

[DarkDragoon]

Ladies and gentlemen, we have first concept art!

I would like you to meet Darius, one of our first beta characters, the "generic medieval swordsman". He will be changed a bit in terms of a few details, but in general, this is our first official art! =D

Did I say I needed to redo the shading?

Brb while I redo the entire sprite. LOL.
-DD

 

[Terra~]

You do not have to develop in Linux. Ubuntu is simply my weapon of choice, but the project is compatible with Windows and Mac as well. A friend and I just finished a programming project for school using SDL (the library that Zero2D will use), and we shared code the entire way through even though I'm on Linux, and he is on Windows.

I am preparing the first big code submission, but I'm still fighting to finish school right now. The coding collaboration will begin next week.

What I meant was basically that I'm at ease with a Linux interface.

Good luck with school btw!

 

[TheBuzzSaw]

What I meant was basically that I'm at ease with a Linux interface.

Good luck with school btw!

Ah, that's fine. And thanx!

Do we have any Mac developers anywhere? A Mac developer wouldn't have to do much in terms of actual coding. We just need someone who can SVN the code, compile it, and produce binary releases for Mac users.

 

[Psytrese]

Cool, loving the character art. Legs are a little thin and short, but overall I love the character design.

The gauntlet especially is sexy. ^^

 

[Red Arremer]

The legs look thin because the left one is covered by the right one and the right one is covered by the skirt. And they look short because of the boots.

 

[Psytrese]

I wouldn't say so. Per standard the male figure is roughly 7 heads in size and that figure is 6.5 heads. Which may not sound a lot, but that's almost 10%, which is why they look short.

The reason the legs are thin is mainly due to the waist. The tunic is drooping over the belt, but because the breastplate is so tight underarm and because the sleeves are baggy, it gives the impression that he's got a massive upper body and a very skinny lower body.

But of course, it's the initial concept. It's not supposed to be perfect. It's a solid character design, and shading is very nice...so if that's how the shading looks before you're happy with it then it'll probably blow me away when it's done. ^^

Edit: My bad, opened it in Photoshop and length wise everything is fine. Still would thicken the legs or thin the body however.

 

[DarkDragoon]

>_> Well, here is the initial sprite.

Its cartoony. That's how I roll.

If you guys want, I could make the head smaller, make the sprite more proportional...but once that starts happening I'm going to need another sprite artist...because then its going to start taking me too long to do these x_x;

Yea, missing a lot of little details- Belt, shines on the gauntlet, other things, etc.
-DD

 

[Kris121]

Hmmm thats our first sprite? I probbably can't do this but maybe if we keep layering the colors on it it will look a bit better IDK. It looks fine now though. Like in that card sagas war thing on the earlier pages...


Please dont give our generic fighter a headband. PLEASE. They look ugly. Lol

Good work DD. I remember you from that tourney in CT a whiles ago. With that G&W dude who was really happy.

 

[Samuri Scearious]

Hey, it's me, Rudy Roughnight -- the music composer. I signed up here (under a username I feel more comfortable using) just to post a little something now and then in this thread.

For the first piece of concept art, that's pretty impressive. Can't wait to see how the others come along.

 

[DarkDragoon]

Hmmm thats our first sprite? I probbably can't do this but maybe if we keep layering the colors on it it will look a bit better IDK. It looks fine now though. Like in that card sagas war thing on the earlier pages...


Please dont give our generic fighter a headband. PLEASE. They look ugly. Lol

Good work DD. I remember you from that tourney in CT a whiles ago. With that G&W dude who was really happy.

o_o Eh? Was it a reaper game or something else? The only GaW I remember is the 9 year old kid I lost against in Losers after having a gay MK match in winners @ RG2 or 3.

-DD

 

[Kris121]

lol he was 13 and yeah it was the reapers game. :D

 

[TheBuzzSaw]

Hey, it's me, Rudy Roughnight -- the music composer. I signed up here (under a username I feel more comfortable using) just to post a little something now and then in this thread.

For the first piece of concept art, that's pretty impressive. Can't wait to see how the others come along.

Welcome! Welcome!

When can we get some epic music samples? :D

 

[Psytrese]

Well, I had plans of maybe doing my own character sheet when the time came, so I thought I might give sprite art a try beforehand...not as fun as I thought!

You guys can consider it your first quasi-fan art, lol. Enjoy.

http://www.cuttheheroics.com/other/nonsiterelated/Darius.png

Apologies for the lack of detail in the boots and the sword...I was getting rather bored by that point. ^^

 

[Red Arremer]

Too bad! That looks pretty kickass. :O

 

[DarkDragoon]

Well, I had plans of maybe doing my own character sheet when the time came, so I thought I might give sprite art a try beforehand...not as fun as I thought!

You guys can consider it your first quasi-fan art, lol. Enjoy.

http://www.cuttheheroics.com/other/nonsiterelated/Darius.png

Apologies for the lack of detail in the boots and the sword...I was getting rather bored by that point. ^^

DX Well its a different style than mine, and doing it like that does get pretty boring/tedious.

-DD

 

[TheBuzzSaw]

http://zero2d.blogspot.com/

 

[Psytrese]

DX Well its a different style than mine, and doing it like that does get pretty boring/tedious.

-DD

Exactly. It took me, like, 3 hours to do that one frame! Fair enough doing it as a one shot, but an entire sprite sheet would probably take me the better part of a month.

I'll probably do it eventually, however, when I have time to devote to it.

 

[DarkDragoon]

Exactly. It took me, like, 3 hours to do that one frame! Fair enough doing it as a one shot, but an entire sprite sheet would probably take me the better part of a month.

I'll probably do it eventually, however, when I have time to devote to it.

Well, after the first frame its pretty easy to make the rest. Just use some sort of movement tool on his individual limbs and put them into place, then apply proper shading and editing as needed.

If I sit down and concentrate I could probably do another frame every 20-30 minutes.
-DD

 

[4nace]

There are ton of sprite artists around looking for work if you're willing to pay. I've heard of rates like 75-150 dollars for quality sprite sheets the size you want within around 1-2 weeks. If you want the game to look really professional, i would recommend it.
Check out http://www.pixeljoint.com/
or http://lepixelists.deviantart.com/

Good luck!

 

[MarioMariox2]

Are you going to add GCN Mario's Pocket Mario/ Pocket Luigi except Scaled by x2 (for normal size)?

 

[TheBuzzSaw]

There are ton of sprite artists around looking for work if you're willing to pay. I've heard of rates like 75-150 dollars for quality sprite sheets the size you want within around 1-2 weeks. If you want the game to look really professional, i would recommend it.
Check out http://www.pixeljoint.com/
or http://lepixelists.deviantart.com/

Good luck!

Well, considering no one is paying me for the coding, the best I could offer them is "free exposure/fame". There is no way I could throw down 75-150 dollars for a sprite sheet right now. I'll just have to depend on the free services of my wife's artistry.

 

[Psytrese]

If he went down that route you're talking thousands of dollars for the sprites in the game. Waste of money if you ask me.

Stick with what you're doing Buzz, lol.

 

[TheBuzzSaw]

New blog post! Comment on it!

http://zero2d.blogspot.com/2009/07/clone-characters.html

Are you going to add GCN Mario's Pocket Mario/ Pocket Luigi except Scaled by x2 (for normal size)?

Anyone is more than free to design and implement them once the engine is up and running! There are no immediate plans to implement those characters, no.

If he went down that route you're talking thousands of dollars for the sprites in the game. Waste of money if you ask me.

Stick with what you're doing Buzz, lol.

Well, it's not so much a waste of money as it is just an unaffordable luxury. I do believe quality sprites cost good money, but good money is just something we lack at the moment. XD

 

[4nace]

If he went down that route you're talking thousands of dollars for the sprites in the game. Waste of money if you ask me.

Stick with what you're doing Buzz, lol.

Actually it would cost around 150-200 bucks to get 2 full sheets and a background or two for the game. Im sure you could find a good UI artist who works for free. From what i have seen, Buzz is only attempting two charcaters and allowing the rest to be player-made.

What the sprites would do is give your project credence, now i know 250 bucks is alot to drop on a project, but even looking for a pro pixel artist who is interested in fame/credit would be a good idea because for this project to run smoothly you will need animations with a ton of frames.(like 10-25 frames per attack)

Many people can pixel fairly well, but animation is a whole different story.

And please dont use spriters-resource graphics, if i see another super smash flash knockoff i think i'll cry.

-Good Luck

EDIT: or for a much cheaper/reasonable fee find a flash artist. Animation is easier and you may be able to get someone who will work for free. The game would look different, but the style would be much easier to match for future players. If you dont know what kind of style im talking about then check out Newgrounds Rumble on newgrounds.com. You can just export the animations from Flash as image-sequences and be on your merry way.

 

[TheBuzzSaw]

I agree that top quality usually must be bought and paid for.

I will consider paid options once I verify that the Zero2D core is well developed and worth spending money on.

 

[Red Arremer]

4nace, we will have an "official" roster with several characters, not only the 2 test characters. ^^

 

[Psytrese]

Buzz is only attempting two charcaters and allowing the rest to be player-made.

From what I can gather, the 2 initial characters are just for the testing phase. I wouldn't say it's too much of a long shot to expect a lot more. Now, 10-25frames per attack might seem ideal for details sake, but it would be expensive to produce in your way, and would make it completely inaccessible to your basic fan who just wants to make a character; but will be put off having to do 30animations at 25frames.

You can compare the potential of the community of this to MUGEN. The basic engine was created with only 1 poor character with next to no attacks, and it wasn't long before you could implement just about every character from just about every series.

The engine is the important part. If you build it they will come.

 

[DarkDragoon]

Roooaaarrrr!
Give me more concept art!
-DD

 

[TheBuzzSaw]

The current design features 30 frames per second. That means attacks do not need that many frames of animation.

DD, here ya go. Courtesy of Spadefox.

 

[Shadic]

I'm loving the blog entries. I'd like to chat with either Buzz or Spadefox for some character designs as well, to see what we can come up with. I'm certainly not the person to look for in regards of art, though.

I'll throw some ideas around in my head first before bugging either of you though.

Also: 666th Post!