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Hey there everyone, hope everything has been going well for you all. Let's just jump right into things.
The following is going to be a checklist of things that are remaining to be posted for Mario & Sonic: Super-Rival Saga before I can completely call it quits on the series. In one form or another, everything on this list will be posted in due time and will be checked off with a link to said item when it is posted. None of these have release dates or time windows, do not ask when they will come out.
THE LIST:
(DONE) 1. Super-Rival Saga Episode 3 Script
(In Progess) 2. Asset Dump. Including Custom Sprites, Soundtrack, Sound Effects, Posters, etc.
3. Plot Summary. Maybe a wall of text or series of videos featuring concept images, still deciding.
4. Final Farewell
It maybe awhile before all is said and done, but I hope you all are willing to stick around for the ending of this...bizarre journey I've taken you all on.
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Hey there everyone, for all of you still here, it's time for that update I promised. This is gonna be a hard one, so let's jump right in...
THE STATE OF "MARIO & SONIC: SUPER-RIVAL SAGA":
The one question I've been getting a lot the past two years and one I've been dreading to answer. Short and sweet: "Mario & Sonic: Super-Rival Saga" is cancelled.
It's been almost 5 years since Episode 2 was posted and over 2 years since any work has been done on the series. The last two years have been some of the hardest I've been through (this year especially) and I've unfortunately reached a point where I can no longer effectively work on the series. This news probably isn't a shock to a lot of people, due to the lack of updates for the past 2 years, but it's official now.
THE FUTURE:
So...what's next? Well, at the moment...nothing. I'm probably going to leave once again for awhile to finish getting life straighten out and actually living for awhile. However, that doesn't mean I'm done with projects. While a new sprite project is completely out of the question, one thing I do want to do is post up the entire story for "Super-Rival Saga". However, a simple text post is not enough for me. I'd want this to have concept scenes and possibly as a video (or a few). I'll also be eventually posting up custom assets I made for the series in it's short run for anyone to use. I'm not sure when or even if this project will come to fruition, but it is something I do want to do in the future.
I do apologize to everyone for dragging them along for this long with nothing to show for them. It was never my intention to do this and I do apologize again for doing it.
Anyway, that's it. If you guys have any questions, feel free to ask. Until next time...
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This thing still works, apparently...
1 min read
...So...
Been quite the two years, huh...?
That...2016 release date is...yeah...
Look, assuming anyone is still around to read this, there will be a full update on what's the status with the series in the coming days (though you can probably guess what I'm gonna say) and what's next.
See you guys real soon.
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Hey there everyone, hope you all had a great holiday season and hopefully 2016 has been kind to you all so far. Anyway, let's get down to business!
UPDATE ON THE PC SITUATION:
I have some excellent news. With tax season finally here in America, I was finally able to file my W2 from my job and I'm getting back quite a bit more money than I was expecting. With it, I'll finally be able to upgrade this computer into one that can handle programs like Flash and Photoshop (and games) a lot better. According to the emails I've gotten, I should see the refund sometime this week, but it'll still be awhile before I can do anything animation wise. In short, I still have to order the computer parts I'd want to get, build the computer itself and transfer everything I have over to the new machine (little over 400GBs of stuff). Plus, making sure it works and everything. However, should the transition to the new machine go as smoothly as I hope, I can expect production on Episode 3 to go back into full swing around March.
UPDATE (2/13/2016): The new PC has arrived and has been built. Only need to get to a Wifi USB stick now and do the data transfer. Can hopefully start production again before the end of the month.
TRAILER VOICE ACTING
Before anyone asks, no. I am not planning on introducing voice acting into the series. At least, not in the sense you maybe thinking. The main series itself will continue to be un-voiced, however, seeing going text-only in trailers is very hard to do, I am calling for actors and actresses for trailers for the series (and possibly some side videos I may come up with.)
At the current time, I'm only looking for an actor for Toadsworth, but characters like Bowser, Tails, Sonic, E. Gadd and Princess Peach will be open later down the road. Should you be interested in this, or know anyone that maybe interested, just send me a note and we'll go from there.
TAGS
So I got tagged by
in one of those little question journals that tend to go around this website. For future reference, this will be the only one I'm doing. I am only answering the questions that were asked in the journal. I am not tagging anyone, nor am I making up my own questions. Should you wish to ask me something, just post a comment on this page or note me. I don't bite, I promise.
"1.) Who inspired you to start spriting? Who are currently your role models for spriting?"
I have stated in the past that Alvin Earthworm was one of my main driving forces behind starting to animate, but I also have to give major credit to the duo of araskin500/pthouse (who made Bowser's Kingdom and Smash Kingdom) and Bigfoot3290 (who made some hilarious, random Mario flashes back in the day). As for current role models, probably nobody. I don't exactly follow anyone anymore or watch other sprite animations.
"2.) What is your career, or what career do you plan on pursuing?"
Currently work at a local Grocery Store, but that's less of a "career" and more of a "day job". As for what I plan on doing with my life, not exactly sure. Gotta get back to school first.
"3.) What is your favourite video game franchise? And who is your favourite video game character?"
In terms of nostalgia, it'd have to go to Sonic the Hedgehog. The blue blur was my first video game ever and has been with me for over 18 years. Even if his games aren't the best in the end, I still find myself getting hyped with each new game announced. If only SEGA would reveal the 25th anniversary game...
However, in terms of quality, it'd have to go to The Legend of Zelda. Every single game has given me an overall positive experience (except Skyward Sword) and I just want Zelda U info now. Come on, Nintendo!
"4.) If you won 1 million dollars, how would you use the money?"
Probably help my family pay off some debts and use what's left over to go back to school.
"5.) Are you happy with how your life is right now? What could make it better?"
Hey life, if you could make it so my Mom can get a kidney transplant this year, that would be great. Otherwise, things are alright at the moment.
"6.) What are your opinions on the sprite community? What do you like about it, and what problems do you think the sprite community needs to work on?"
I haven't exactly socialized with other spriters (be it artists or animators), so I can't exactly give my opinions on the community as a whole (although the few times I've tried to be social have been...unpleasant, to say the least). As for problems that can be fixed, well, that's an easy one.
Dear Fellow Sprite Animators: STOP putting all of your focus into how a battle looks and put more focus into making a somewhat decent story. Unless all you're making is a simple sprite battle video, give me something to follow. I want good stories, I want dialogue that I can quote, I want the characters to feel three-dimensional. Yeah, your battle scene is epic and looks pretty, but if the story is crap, my review is pretty much gonna be "it's a great looking piece of shit." Do not use your first draft of a story. Stories go through many, MANY changes in the writing process (that's half the fun of it) and your end result maybe completely different from what you started out with.
Fun fact: Super-Rival Saga was meant to be a sequel to "Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time" and involved Fawful resurrecting Cackletta. It also had Shadow instead of Tails. The current story of Super-Rival Saga is nothing like what I had originally came up with. Start with a concept, get a first draft, get friend's opinions on it, let it simmer for awhile, change around things that wouldn't make sense, make a second draft and keep repeating until you get something you think is ready to be written. Writing a good story takes time, yes, but it'll all be worth it in the end.
Here's another thing, stop making DBZ-Style, fast paced battles. Add some variety to your fight scenes. DBZ-Style fights have gotten boring to watch, they're extremely easy to animate and it's a little ridiculous to see a character like Link or Bowser doing stuff like that. If you want it to be funny, go for it, but if you want me to take a fight seriously, make the characters move like they actually would. Also focus on trimming the fat in fight scenes. A standard fight scene that goes on for 5-10 minutes gets boring after awhile. You usually want to save those for the climax of your story, not in the middle. Finally, make sure there's enough quiet time in between fights, otherwise you'll wear your viewer out.
The last thing that needs to be fixed is for everyone to stop using the stupid "It's my series, so I do what I want" defense against criticism. This counter-arguement is extremely weak, childish and is telling me that you do not care to improve yourself. I am very blunt when it comes to judging stuff, I don't pull any punches, but I don't flat-out insult someone, say what they made is complete garbage or just act like a typical asshole on the internet. I offer advice on trying to improve the next time around, things I personally think that can be improved. I believe everyone has the talent to make something amazing, but it will take people pointing out flaws in your work. Embrace those people that offer constructive criticism to you, don't argue with them.
"7.) List your top 5 favourite sprite animators."
Don't watch any, NEXT!
8.) What is your greatest achievement in your spriting career so far?
Actually making one. I talked with my friends for years that I was gonna make one before actually doing it.
"9.) What are you looking forward to this year?"
Give me Zelda U Info, Nintendo. Please. But besides that, Sonic's 25th anniversary game, FFIX FINALLY coming to Steam, Ace Attorney 6 and the Ace Attorney anime. There will probably be more stuff throughout the year that I get hyped for, but those are the ones I want the most right now.
"10.) What are your goals this year? If possible, list at least one related to sprites."
Real life goals being going back to school and getting my driver's license. Spriting wise, I want to finish Episode 3 of Super-Rival Saga and finally move on with the series. Hopefully I'll be able to finish Episode 4 as well and wrap up Bowser's arc.
That's all for now. If you guys have any questions, feel free to ask. Until next time.
UPDATE ON THE PC SITUATION:
I have some excellent news. With tax season finally here in America, I was finally able to file my W2 from my job and I'm getting back quite a bit more money than I was expecting. With it, I'll finally be able to upgrade this computer into one that can handle programs like Flash and Photoshop (and games) a lot better. According to the emails I've gotten, I should see the refund sometime this week, but it'll still be awhile before I can do anything animation wise. In short, I still have to order the computer parts I'd want to get, build the computer itself and transfer everything I have over to the new machine (little over 400GBs of stuff). Plus, making sure it works and everything. However, should the transition to the new machine go as smoothly as I hope, I can expect production on Episode 3 to go back into full swing around March.
UPDATE (2/13/2016): The new PC has arrived and has been built. Only need to get to a Wifi USB stick now and do the data transfer. Can hopefully start production again before the end of the month.
TRAILER VOICE ACTING
Before anyone asks, no. I am not planning on introducing voice acting into the series. At least, not in the sense you maybe thinking. The main series itself will continue to be un-voiced, however, seeing going text-only in trailers is very hard to do, I am calling for actors and actresses for trailers for the series (and possibly some side videos I may come up with.)
At the current time, I'm only looking for an actor for Toadsworth, but characters like Bowser, Tails, Sonic, E. Gadd and Princess Peach will be open later down the road. Should you be interested in this, or know anyone that maybe interested, just send me a note and we'll go from there.
TAGS
So I got tagged by
in one of those little question journals that tend to go around this website. For future reference, this will be the only one I'm doing. I am only answering the questions that were asked in the journal. I am not tagging anyone, nor am I making up my own questions. Should you wish to ask me something, just post a comment on this page or note me. I don't bite, I promise."1.) Who inspired you to start spriting? Who are currently your role models for spriting?"
I have stated in the past that Alvin Earthworm was one of my main driving forces behind starting to animate, but I also have to give major credit to the duo of araskin500/pthouse (who made Bowser's Kingdom and Smash Kingdom) and Bigfoot3290 (who made some hilarious, random Mario flashes back in the day). As for current role models, probably nobody. I don't exactly follow anyone anymore or watch other sprite animations.
"2.) What is your career, or what career do you plan on pursuing?"
Currently work at a local Grocery Store, but that's less of a "career" and more of a "day job". As for what I plan on doing with my life, not exactly sure. Gotta get back to school first.
"3.) What is your favourite video game franchise? And who is your favourite video game character?"
In terms of nostalgia, it'd have to go to Sonic the Hedgehog. The blue blur was my first video game ever and has been with me for over 18 years. Even if his games aren't the best in the end, I still find myself getting hyped with each new game announced. If only SEGA would reveal the 25th anniversary game...
However, in terms of quality, it'd have to go to The Legend of Zelda. Every single game has given me an overall positive experience (except Skyward Sword) and I just want Zelda U info now. Come on, Nintendo!
"4.) If you won 1 million dollars, how would you use the money?"
Probably help my family pay off some debts and use what's left over to go back to school.
"5.) Are you happy with how your life is right now? What could make it better?"
Hey life, if you could make it so my Mom can get a kidney transplant this year, that would be great. Otherwise, things are alright at the moment.
"6.) What are your opinions on the sprite community? What do you like about it, and what problems do you think the sprite community needs to work on?"
I haven't exactly socialized with other spriters (be it artists or animators), so I can't exactly give my opinions on the community as a whole (although the few times I've tried to be social have been...unpleasant, to say the least). As for problems that can be fixed, well, that's an easy one.
Dear Fellow Sprite Animators: STOP putting all of your focus into how a battle looks and put more focus into making a somewhat decent story. Unless all you're making is a simple sprite battle video, give me something to follow. I want good stories, I want dialogue that I can quote, I want the characters to feel three-dimensional. Yeah, your battle scene is epic and looks pretty, but if the story is crap, my review is pretty much gonna be "it's a great looking piece of shit." Do not use your first draft of a story. Stories go through many, MANY changes in the writing process (that's half the fun of it) and your end result maybe completely different from what you started out with.
Fun fact: Super-Rival Saga was meant to be a sequel to "Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time" and involved Fawful resurrecting Cackletta. It also had Shadow instead of Tails. The current story of Super-Rival Saga is nothing like what I had originally came up with. Start with a concept, get a first draft, get friend's opinions on it, let it simmer for awhile, change around things that wouldn't make sense, make a second draft and keep repeating until you get something you think is ready to be written. Writing a good story takes time, yes, but it'll all be worth it in the end.
Here's another thing, stop making DBZ-Style, fast paced battles. Add some variety to your fight scenes. DBZ-Style fights have gotten boring to watch, they're extremely easy to animate and it's a little ridiculous to see a character like Link or Bowser doing stuff like that. If you want it to be funny, go for it, but if you want me to take a fight seriously, make the characters move like they actually would. Also focus on trimming the fat in fight scenes. A standard fight scene that goes on for 5-10 minutes gets boring after awhile. You usually want to save those for the climax of your story, not in the middle. Finally, make sure there's enough quiet time in between fights, otherwise you'll wear your viewer out.
The last thing that needs to be fixed is for everyone to stop using the stupid "It's my series, so I do what I want" defense against criticism. This counter-arguement is extremely weak, childish and is telling me that you do not care to improve yourself. I am very blunt when it comes to judging stuff, I don't pull any punches, but I don't flat-out insult someone, say what they made is complete garbage or just act like a typical asshole on the internet. I offer advice on trying to improve the next time around, things I personally think that can be improved. I believe everyone has the talent to make something amazing, but it will take people pointing out flaws in your work. Embrace those people that offer constructive criticism to you, don't argue with them.
"7.) List your top 5 favourite sprite animators."
Don't watch any, NEXT!
8.) What is your greatest achievement in your spriting career so far?
Actually making one. I talked with my friends for years that I was gonna make one before actually doing it.
"9.) What are you looking forward to this year?"
Give me Zelda U Info, Nintendo. Please. But besides that, Sonic's 25th anniversary game, FFIX FINALLY coming to Steam, Ace Attorney 6 and the Ace Attorney anime. There will probably be more stuff throughout the year that I get hyped for, but those are the ones I want the most right now.
"10.) What are your goals this year? If possible, list at least one related to sprites."
Real life goals being going back to school and getting my driver's license. Spriting wise, I want to finish Episode 3 of Super-Rival Saga and finally move on with the series. Hopefully I'll be able to finish Episode 4 as well and wrap up Bowser's arc.
That's all for now. If you guys have any questions, feel free to ask. Until next time.
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SRS News: Blocking and PC Issues
5 min read
Yes, I still have a pulse, surprise surprise. Save for a SMBZ ramble, sorry I've seem to have kinda disappeared since April. Life tends to do that to ya. Anyway, onto business!
"YOUTUBE RED AND BLOCKED VIDEOS"
So, I was greeted with this little surprise last night:
orig06.deviantart.net/11de/f/2…
Yup. The "Wings of Freedom" Opening for "Mario & Sonic: Super-Rival Saga" has been blocked in the United States due to the Attack on Titan music I used in the video. From the research I've been able to gather, it's due to this new program called "Youtube Red". For those not in the know, Youtube Red will be Youtube's version of Hulu+. In short, pay a monthly fee, get ad-free videos.
That's where the good ends.
The bad part is that Youtube has reached out to a lot of it's publishers and asked them to agree to certain terms. I'm guessing most said yes, but the ones that didn't...had this happen. Technically, I've had a notice on this video since I put it up, but it was just a general "Third-Party media Detected" notices. It wasn't blocked anywhere, the video just ran ads because I used music that didn't belong to me. That's fine.
However, the publisher of said music has not agreed to the terms of Youtube Red, so, from what I've been able to gather, any video containing any media from them will be blocked in the United States until they finally agree, if they ever do. As an article on Destructoid pointed out, it seems videos having media from things like Attack on Titan, Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai 2, and BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma maybe effected. So if you used anything from those videos, don't be surprised if they suddenly get blocked.
Sadly, I'm not sure if there's anything I can do here to restore the original video. The most I can do right now to restore would be to remove the audio or dispute the original claim. I'll see if the publisher will agree to Youtube Red's terms, but I'm not holding my breath. I've never had to dispute a claim on a Youtube video before, so I'm not sure how to go about it.
Anyway, onto Topic #2, which, sadly, isn't the best news either:
"COMPUTER ISSUES"
Earlier this year, January to be exact, one of the fans on my Computer died, which lead it to being replaced. However, things seem to be taking a turn for the worst. My computer is over 6 years old and isn't in the world's greatest shape right now. Earlier this month, it seemed to have overheated during the night, preventing me from even turning it on that day. The error I was getting stated one of the main fans died, even though all 3 fans were working just fine. After a quick dusting, it seems to be working a-ok now, but I'm not sure for how much longer. It doesn't seem to be happy running programs that take a lot of power and I'm afraid if I push it too much, I'm gonna overheat again and that'll be the end of this PC.
So, what does this mean? Well, I could theoretically still make Episode 3 (though I would be afraid to, seeing how much power Flash likes to eat), but I would not be able to finish it. After finishing an animation in Flash, I have to export it to a video file so I can start editing it in Premiere. After the editing is done, I export it again so I can post it on Youtube. Problem is that exporting it takes a LOT of power, to the point where I cannot in good faith export anything until I upgrade this machine. While the Christmas holiday season is coming upon us, we're talking hundreds of dollars, minimum, for the machine I would want to get, so I highly doubt this thing will be fixed that quickly.
However, tax season is right after, which should give me a decent amount of change (at least $400, according to my calculations), so I'm hoping to get started on upgrades around then. Sadly, that won't be until around February/March, maybe even later. So, regrettably, Episode 3 will not be coming out this year.
I cannot apologize enough for how long this episode has been taking and I do not blame you if you gave up waiting a long time ago. Do know, however, that I still have no intentions of cancelling this series in the near future. "Mario & Sonic: Super-Rival Saga" will make a return and I will be posting concept pics of what I have in mind in the near future. This series is not dead, nor will it be if I have any say about it.
That's all for now. If you guys have any questions, feel free to ask. Until next time.
"YOUTUBE RED AND BLOCKED VIDEOS"
So, I was greeted with this little surprise last night:
orig06.deviantart.net/11de/f/2…
Yup. The "Wings of Freedom" Opening for "Mario & Sonic: Super-Rival Saga" has been blocked in the United States due to the Attack on Titan music I used in the video. From the research I've been able to gather, it's due to this new program called "Youtube Red". For those not in the know, Youtube Red will be Youtube's version of Hulu+. In short, pay a monthly fee, get ad-free videos.
That's where the good ends.
The bad part is that Youtube has reached out to a lot of it's publishers and asked them to agree to certain terms. I'm guessing most said yes, but the ones that didn't...had this happen. Technically, I've had a notice on this video since I put it up, but it was just a general "Third-Party media Detected" notices. It wasn't blocked anywhere, the video just ran ads because I used music that didn't belong to me. That's fine.
However, the publisher of said music has not agreed to the terms of Youtube Red, so, from what I've been able to gather, any video containing any media from them will be blocked in the United States until they finally agree, if they ever do. As an article on Destructoid pointed out, it seems videos having media from things like Attack on Titan, Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai 2, and BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma maybe effected. So if you used anything from those videos, don't be surprised if they suddenly get blocked.
Sadly, I'm not sure if there's anything I can do here to restore the original video. The most I can do right now to restore would be to remove the audio or dispute the original claim. I'll see if the publisher will agree to Youtube Red's terms, but I'm not holding my breath. I've never had to dispute a claim on a Youtube video before, so I'm not sure how to go about it.
Anyway, onto Topic #2, which, sadly, isn't the best news either:
"COMPUTER ISSUES"
Earlier this year, January to be exact, one of the fans on my Computer died, which lead it to being replaced. However, things seem to be taking a turn for the worst. My computer is over 6 years old and isn't in the world's greatest shape right now. Earlier this month, it seemed to have overheated during the night, preventing me from even turning it on that day. The error I was getting stated one of the main fans died, even though all 3 fans were working just fine. After a quick dusting, it seems to be working a-ok now, but I'm not sure for how much longer. It doesn't seem to be happy running programs that take a lot of power and I'm afraid if I push it too much, I'm gonna overheat again and that'll be the end of this PC.
So, what does this mean? Well, I could theoretically still make Episode 3 (though I would be afraid to, seeing how much power Flash likes to eat), but I would not be able to finish it. After finishing an animation in Flash, I have to export it to a video file so I can start editing it in Premiere. After the editing is done, I export it again so I can post it on Youtube. Problem is that exporting it takes a LOT of power, to the point where I cannot in good faith export anything until I upgrade this machine. While the Christmas holiday season is coming upon us, we're talking hundreds of dollars, minimum, for the machine I would want to get, so I highly doubt this thing will be fixed that quickly.
However, tax season is right after, which should give me a decent amount of change (at least $400, according to my calculations), so I'm hoping to get started on upgrades around then. Sadly, that won't be until around February/March, maybe even later. So, regrettably, Episode 3 will not be coming out this year.
I cannot apologize enough for how long this episode has been taking and I do not blame you if you gave up waiting a long time ago. Do know, however, that I still have no intentions of cancelling this series in the near future. "Mario & Sonic: Super-Rival Saga" will make a return and I will be posting concept pics of what I have in mind in the near future. This series is not dead, nor will it be if I have any say about it.
That's all for now. If you guys have any questions, feel free to ask. Until next time.
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