Common mistakes I see all the time.

5 Nov 04

            Here we are with another essay that nobody will read. I read a lot of web comics and download tons of sprite sheets. I have noticed a number of common mistakes. This will probably turn into a rant, so bear with me. This is not meant to be a how to for newbies, and I am not targeting newbies for criticism. I’m going after those who have been doing comics and sprites for years. (Note: when possible, I will use the original material I’m knocking. Of course I will knock myself as much as possible.)

            I’m going to start off with the comics themselves. These are more irritations than mistakes. Speech boxes. Sometimes a comic is overloaded with them. The way most people do the speech boxes, sometimes I can’t tell who is talking.

            The coloured speech boxes save the day. If I used the box method most people use You would think it was Deadeye saying the line that starts in the third panel.

            Mike Renner does this all the time. His speech boxes not only start in the previous panel, but in the ones above and below. I often start reading the wrong line. The line that goes “Doctor, Cutman, Gutsman…” I’ll read that in the third panel and not the fifth. Then maybe I’ll skip a line thinking it’s in another panel.

            A nit-picky thing I will talk about is character placement. I take a great amount of pride in the fact my guys don’t move when they didn’t move. Most people probably wouldn’t even notice this. I save every comic I read. Then once in awhile I will go through and re-read them. I use Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. This program pointed it out.

Now pay special close attention to Cole. He doesn’t move because he hasn’t.

            These are my beefs: The background is drowning out the characters. The speech boxes are too small to be covering up the characters. Finally the speech boxes are partially faded making them hard to read.

My next target will be sprites. First off: Can we please knock off the recolours? Bob and George have about four repainted Megamen. Of course Ravy, Uni and Ron are the only characters that are not Megaman recolours. But, I heavily edit my Megaman recolours. Take a look at Becky and Toni. I give Dave Anez kudos on his character Fisty: that is one cool looking edit/recolour.

When editing from Megaman, keep in mind that he is wearing boots and gloves. When you recolour, a character could look very weird. Cole looks a little like Popeye. Also now is a good time to point out something about this “professionally” made sprite. Because of the colours chosen, it is a bit difficult to tell where Megaman’s arms ends and where his tights begin.

        Pure white is a colour to avoid. When you place a character, the background is going to show through.

          Pure black is okay, but don’t choose black as matting for your sprite sheet. A simple flood fill causes a whole lot of reconstruction to be done. (Note: When I redid this sprite, I used an off black; a number R2 G2 B2 according to Paint Shop.)

            Female characters are very difficult. Hair. It took me almost a year and a half to get Becky’s hair done right. What most people do is when they need female hair they will paste over Roll’s hair and recolour it. Then there are those who try for originality, but come up flat. Especially right on top of the head. Holly-Beth Kraft has done a good job in this area, but can you tell me why Chic-Bot’s hair will suddenly curl up? Dave Anez did a good original hair style for Roll, but dumped it after a few months, apparently some fans were complaining. I say screw it. My comic: my rules.

    Here is something people don’t quite get: when making a female character from a Megaman sprite, you need to slim it down some. People for some reason don’t do this. Their females have Popeye arms, bell-bottom spandex, and look like they are wearing depends under the spandex. Mike Renner, Holly-Beth Kraft, and me all seem to screw this up one way or another. Plant Woman and Amy: (shudders). Sugar Bot waist is slimmed but not her hips, she looks like she is wearing a diaper. Becky/Toni: where are their waist and hips? Cammy: poor girl.

            Speaking of which. Breasts are a huge pain in the ass. Some people think all you have to do is draw some lines across Megaman’s chest. Kind of what I did. Once again Mike Renner comes to mind. Or they skip this part. Then breasts seem to be there, then not, grow, shrink. Look at Cammy and Becky. Amazing what one pixel can do. The only thing worse than putting Roll’s head on Megaman’s body is Megaman’s head on Roll’s Body.

On to sprite sheets. Admittedly mine are a mess, but I’m not going to post them for all to see. I found The Minako sheet to the left on some sprite site. Where did all those excess pixels come from? And why would you post such a crappy rip on a publicly accessed area with your name on it? (Note: there was a name on the sheet at one time, but due to a mistake by [brace yourself] me, it was erased.) I cannot use that sprite, way too much editing is needed to make it look good. I spend less time ripping them myself.

I have the two Minakos facing each other for a reason. It seems there are those who think they are the only ones who know how use the rotate command. So they spend lots of extra time flipping sprites so I don’t have to. Thereby making a sprite sheet twice the size than what is needed. Could we just make one master sheet instead of plastering a hundred or so individual sprites all over a page?

Copyright statements. At a minimum, you should at least put your name or pen name on your sheet so I know who to give credit to. If you must have rules, make them clear. Don’t ramble on about how you’re going to rip such and such body part off. If you want people to ask your permission, give a readable and working e-mail address. I tried e-mailing Ran and Deccus about some sprites. I used about five variations and all were returned as nonexistent. Write your rules on the sheet itself, not the web page. I often go through the internet folders on my hard drive and find all sorts of stuff. I’ll use a sprite in about a hundred comics thinking it was free use (No name and no rules.) Then I will happen across the site it was posted on and in big bold letters are DO NOT USE. Also, if you should decide to make a sprite free use, change your sheet. Of course, if you don’t want people using your work, DON’T PUT IT ON THE INTERNET!!!

Speaking of copyright. I’m at the end. So I need to give a disclaimer. All images copyright their original and mostly respected owners. I meant absolutely no theft. I just wanted to use them for educational purposes. For those who didn’t get that. Remember in high school and college you had to write an essay or term paper? No doubt you quoted from a person, book, magazine, or song. I did no different. If you want to use any of my work in an essay of your own, it’s covered in the fair use clause of the US Copyright Law.