Topic: Castlevania: Umbra of Sorrow (1999 Fan Project)

[theplottwist]

Well, at least he didn't have to make a contract with a shifty creature or another. :V
Sprite when tho?

Very soon. Though it will be hard for the tiny sprite to live up to the artwork :3

[TatteredSeraph]

So, today I bring you Alucard, in vampire form!

Wow.  I absolutely love this pic!    Great work!  I love how the ideas for this are developing.  Sorry if anything like this has been brought up before (I haven't had time to read every post sorry), but why that choice of sword style, over the way that his sword is depicted in Ayami Kojima's artwork?  As someone who does a bit of actual swordfighting, the style of blade and shield shown here are from very different eras, and suit different fighting styles.  The basket hilt is a much later thing as a whole than the big shield style.  I don't know if it' to do with perspective, but the blade also looks a smidge on the short side.  Otherwise, I really love Al's look here.

[Chernabogue]

Awesome! 

[darkmanx_429]

So, today I bring you Alucard, in vampire form!



And with this, the explanation behind this form:

When Alucard started guarding the Belmonts, he became unable to fight Dracula together with the Morris clan. So he sealed his powers in his equipment, and forged a weapon from them using alchemy -- the Alucard Spear. This was his way to lend his power to the people who would fight in his place to prevent Dracula's revival. Although the spear carries Alucard's powers, its full potential is locked by a key (a ring, in fact) kept by Alucard so it doesn't overwhelm the spear's user. The ring also contains a small fraction of his power so he can defend himself if needed. As he sealed his powers into the spear, his hair turned black.

In 1999, Alucard recovered his spear, as himself had predicted he would one day. With his spear in hand, Alucard is able to tap again on his full power by separating it back into his equipment. Yet, for having spent one century without them, he is not able to fully submerge himself on this vampire form, only separating the spear to use them for short periods of time.

While in vampire form, Alucard has enough power to keep the Sword Familiar out of its card, and his hair turns white once more. The vampire form grows stronger as the spear evolves.

Now, this is where this all comes from:

-Remember how in Dawn's Julius Mode, Alucard had to dress himself up to "unlock his powers", including having his hair turn platinum blonde again? This is the explanation. He did it by fully disassembling the spear to face Soma.

-The "key" to unlock this power is a special ring. In Aria, when Genya executes the "Soul Steal" to protect Soma and Mina, you can see a glimmer in his hand. THAT is the ring containing a small fraction of his power -- just enough to defend himself -- that can disassemble the spear.

-Fusing equipment into other equipment is not new to this Alucard. Hector was doing that centuries before him, and it's heavily implied to be alchemy. The Alucard Spear is merely a fusion of the Alucard Mail, Alucard Sword and Alucard Shield.

-Pieces of equipment CAN contain someone's powers, as is the case with Dracula's Tunic.

Yes. I turned Alucard into a magical girl.

Don't forget to check the artwork in its full size at Junki's page.

Your artist is legit! This style reminds me alot of Yoshitaka Amano's style.

You should totally make an artbook for your ideas and include everything in one spot. Kinda like those World of Play books.

[TatteredSeraph]

It reminds me of a cross between Ayami Kojima and Amano easily.  Alucard's face, and pose really reminds me of Amano's Vampire Hunter D art.

[X]

I feel Alucard's face is a bit too effeminate. Even more so then Ayami Kojima has ever done when sketching him. No personal offense to the artist in question but there does need to be a balance. I do however like the look of the outfit and also keeping Alucard's traditional SotN sword and shield as well.

[Dracula9]

As someone who does a bit of actual swordfighting, the style of blade and shield shown here are from very different eras, and suit different fighting styles.  The basket hilt is a much later thing as a whole than the big shield style.  I don't know if it' to do with perspective, but the blade also looks a smidge on the short side.  Otherwise, I really love Al's look here.

As far as I know, there's nothing in the canon that explicitly states the Alucard Shield and Sword came from the same era. We're told in Symphony that the Sword is a family heirloom, and that the Shield is strong against all attacks. The implication of the heirlooms being grouped is present, but never outright stated.

What's more, the sword in this piece does NOT appear to be the Alucard Sword, as the hilt design is radically different (more rapier-type here as opposed to the short arming-sword-esque crossguard we see on the Sword in SotN's artwork). I'm not sure why this would be done, though.

But then again, we are talking about a guy who had hamburgers and filet mignon and ice cream parfaits in 1796. I think applying real-world logic to appropriate item eras is a losing battle.

[theplottwist]

why that choice of sword style, over the way that his sword is depicted in Ayami Kojima's artwork?  As someone who does a bit of actual swordfighting, the style of blade and shield shown here are from very different eras, and suit different fighting styles.  The basket hilt is a much later thing as a whole than the big shield style.  I don't know if it' to do with perspective, but the blade also looks a smidge on the short side.  Otherwise, I really love Al's look here.

OK so, as Dracula9 pointed out, the Shield and the Sword could've came from different eras. However, there is the question of the Ayami Kojima artworks.

You see. Recently, people here at the Dungeon were trying to point out just what kind of sword is the Alucard Sword. The question made me interested as I discovered that no one could do that with accuracy, since in Ayami Kojima's artworks Alucard appears holding two different types of swords, and in the game there is one more different sword - the item icon.

That's three different Alucard Swords. If we consider the in-game attack sprite, that would be four.

So, in creating this Alucard, Junki was told to follow the icon for the Alucard Mail. He extended this and decided to follow the icons for both the Alucard Mail and the Alucard Sword, taking the appropriate creative liberties. The icon for the sword is the only thing explicitly called "Alucard Sword" that never changed shape every time it appeared, different from the concept art.

So, while we were inconsistent with Kojima, we are still consistent with the sword

Your artist is legit! This style reminds me alot of Yoshitaka Amano's style.

You should totally make an artbook for your ideas and include everything in one spot. Kinda like those World of Play books.

In fact Junki has been taking big inspiration from Yoshitaka Amano lately! I knew he would apply this to Umbra, and I'm not opposed to it, even if it brings a little discrepancy between the artworks. He's learning, I can't stop the guy.

I feel Alucard's face is a bit too effeminate. Even more so then Ayami Kojima has ever done when sketching him. No personal offense to the artist in question but there does need to be a balance. I do however like the look of the outfit and also keeping Alucard's traditional SotN sword and shield as well.

Indeed it is, and I voiced that to him. HOWEVER I did not tell him that this is an issue, because this is his style. If this is how he envisions vampire Alucard, then this is how it shall be.

I'm not saying it's NOT effeminate, attention here. I'm saying that I want the artist to keep true to his style. I'll not choose the artist and then start telling him what to do when his portifolio tells me precisely what his style is.

[TatteredSeraph]

Thanks!  Either way, I am really looking forward to this game.    The more I see the more I want to play it.

[Dracula9]

To be honest, I'm both completely in favor for Amano inspiration and the slightly-effeminate Alucard, mostly because VHD vibes.

But what's more, I don't necessarily see the issue with Alucard being a bit pretty. It's not like he's ever been portrayed as the big macho man and this is hurting that fragile gender stereotype or anything. Alucard's always been a "speak softly, carry a big stick" kind of character, under which circumstances a macho manly buff dudely man appearance isn't really even necessary.

Plus, he's only half-human. That otherworldly half of him doesn't necessarily have to uphold human standards of appearance. If we compare Junki's human-form Alucard with this one, we can see a clear difference in appearance; conveniently, Alucard's powers are not being suppressed in the most recent image.

I'd like to that there's a reason and deliberate correlation for that.

[DarkPrinceAlucard]

To be honest, I'm both completely in favor for Amano inspiration and the slightly-effeminate Alucard, mostly because VHD vibes.

As a huge Alucard fan myself I agree with this, I don't feel it would be right to give Alucard any kind of masculine appearance or tone whether it be balanced between his prettiness/beauty or not, I feel this artwork catches how I envision Alucard should be nicely and as others have pointed out its a nice little node to the Vampire Hunter series art style which is great since I'm a huge VHD fan as well.

[FeRcHuLeS]

So this game isnt going to be co-op anymore, maybe is for the best but the original co-op concept fascinated me.

[theplottwist]

So here is the sprite versions of Alucard in Human and Vampire forms side by side:



EDIT: Added red outline for better viewing. Also, Alucard is in "Dark Metamorphosis" during this state, so it makes sense.

So this game isnt going to be co-op anymore, maybe is for the best but the original co-op concept fascinated me.

...What? Where did you hear such a thing?

[VladCT]

Nice, very classic warrior-esque, though kinda funny that it actually gives me Final Fantasy nostalgia.

...What? Where did you hear such a thing?

I think he was referring to IGA's original concept of '99 being a multiplayer game, from what I can recall, though yeah, this isn't even set to be a game yet. :V

[theplottwist]

Nice, very classic warrior-esque, though kinda funny that it actually gives me Final Fantasy nostalgia.I think he was referring to IGA's original concept of '99 being a multiplayer game, from what I can recall, though yeah, this isn't even set to be a game yet. :V

Ah indeed! Though if I have mentioned this here ANYWHERE please someone point it out. If I did, I have no idea what I was smoking at the time.

If this turns into a game, it won't be co-op. It'd follow one of these styles:

 -Something along the lines of Resident Evil 6, where you play a separate campaign for each character, needing to play all of them to get the full story and full completion rate. These campaigns would've to be played all at the same time, and getting to certain points in the story with one character unlocks new chapters for other characters.

-A somewhat modified Portrait of Ruin, where characters are not forced to stay with each other, with the "switch character" function going where the other character is.

In the first format each character gets a constant focus, and thus a wider range of mechanics, while in the second format they don't get as much focus nor mechanics, but becomes a varied experience akin to The Lost Vikings where each is able to cover a range of different functions each (one can fly, one can slide, etc).