Topic: New 100% fresh artwork for Castlevania: The Rise of Nosferatu.. Need programmer!

[Corpsecrank]

I actually planned to do what you want. I am in the process of building a game using a mix of the original sprites with slight alterations mostly color and some frames I created that are for the most part original.

Once I get a game done though I want to start building sprites from scratch to use in an all original game. That is a long long ways off. I will be lucky to even finish one game. I am still worried that using something like multimedia fusion is not going to do the job I want. I may have to learn how to build a game from raw code and go that route if I find multimedia fusion is to limited for my taste.

I mostly worry about physics and how solid and polished the game feels. If the controls aren't tight enough the game is going to feel sloppy and awful to play.

By the way those sprites are reminding me of old school pc games for some reason. Not that they are bad sprites but they seem off somehow. The shading seems to be smoother than the rest and the edges seem like they are blending with other things not sure what advice to give you there. Have you considered taking a classic sprite from one of the 16 or 32bit games and compare it while doubling the size and palate? Basically create a sprite with somewhere between 2x and 3x the size of the konami sprites and double the number of colors.

I find that at 200% to 300% the konami sprites are large enough for a 1920x1080 game window. The sprites when enlarged to that size are not going to be the same size as they were in the original game however. They are still about half the size they would normally be which results in a zoomed out view of things. That is a good thing in my opinion but it probably depends on who you ask.

[Belmontoya]

Hey Corpsecrank. Thanks for posting!

I have been comparing my sprites to konami sprites along the way. I have made huge progress in that regard as you can see if you look at the original examples posted on this thread and compare them with the current uploads. It's not perfect yet but I feel that I'm headed in the right direction.

I'm not sure if I understand what you mean about the shading seeming smoother than the rest? Smoother compared to what? Other Castlevania games? I am going with a 16-32 bit era look for this game. With the huge improvements I've made in the past in week in mind, I am confident I will get this game where it needs to be visually. The important thing is that I know what NOT to do with it!

A Castlevania title with new sprites always takes a little getting used to. I remember when Dracula X came out on the Turbo Duo and I thought it looked terrible compared to CV4. But I warmed up to it (little did I realize I would still be seeing sprites used from that game in official CV titles almost 10 years later). This game will have a new look, and will likely take a little warming up to as well (but hopefully not too much).

I am interested in the game engine you are working on. If you're interested in combining our efforts let me know. Otherwise, your critiques, as always, are welcomed. I absolutely agree with you about the controls and physics being tight.

I have been talking with some people over this last week that are interested in making this a group effort. I feel that this is a really unique and cool take on this game as it relates to the Castlevania universe. I like to think of it as a alternate re-boot for the 2Dvanias. I want to bring the eloquence of CV4 and the cinematic elements of Dracula X together, along with a plethora of new ideas, to create a new vision of the ultimate CV 2d action experience.

[Donoffrio]

 
Hey Montoya..
I see you seem to have quite the initiative to make such a game..
Although i would recommend you downscale EVERYTHING when it comes to the graphics..Since large ones are a lot higher detail wise.
Otherwise,it seems fine..
The fact that everything seemed to be scratch made is nice as well..

GOod Luck! 

[JooohnShaft]

This guy reminds me of me in my early dungeonite days...
Just saying.
Anyway the origional character stills you made gave me a very nostalgic NES feel,
like on the metal gear NES manual.
Kudos and great work uhhh... MontoyaGraphics!

[Belmontoya]

Thanks Donoffrio and Mr. Shaft.

I am indeed very motivated to make this game, if not a little obsessed! I have every intention of drilling away at this until it looks perfect. I am definitely trying to evoke a sense of nostalgia with this game, Shaft. It makes me happy to know I've managed to pull that off with original work.

I have observed some of your work Donoffrio, and it has a nice quality to it. If you are interested at all in helping me with the sprites for this game let me know. I could use a lot of help with enemy frames and any ideas you might have to improve my main character or the look of any characters.

[Donoffrio]

Thanks Donoffrio and Mr. Shaft.

I am indeed very motivated to make this game, if not a little obsessed! I have every intention of drilling away at this until it looks perfect. I am definitely trying to evoke a sense of nostalgia with this game, Shaft. It makes me happy to know I've managed to pull that off with original work.

I have observed some of your work Donoffrio, and it has a nice quality to it. If you are interested at all in helping me with the sprites for this game let me know. I could use a lot of help with enemy frames and any ideas you might have to improve my main character or the look of any characters.

Why thank you Mont..
I might be interested in spriting out a single sprite of Enthulu..
But a single sprite so you can use a base for..
Would that be fine?

[Belmontoya]

Yeah that would be great! What is your e-mail? I'll send you what I have for him so you can have a look.

[Donoffrio]

 
Here's the spriteset,as promised..


Basically its Sotn scale sooo yeah,you might wanna downscale pretty much everything if you intend to use these.

[VladCT]

Here's the spriteset,as promised..


Basically its Sotn scale sooo yeah,you might wanna downscale pretty much everything if you intend to use these.

Wait...didn't he say that he wanted to go for a new style instead of recycling the Dracula X/SotN style?

[Donoffrio]

Dear god!
I got everything wrong! Terribly sorry,montoyagraphics for wasting your time!
I didn't bother to read the few earlier posts in the first place.

[Belmontoya]

Don't worry about that! That's actually really cool looking. I like the standing pose you have him in. It will be really cool to have SOTN compatible version of Enthu!

[Belmontoya]

Oh and by the way, thanks Donoffrio! You certainly didn't waste my time! That's an awesome looking version of Enthu. Makes me want to see him in action!

[JooohnShaft]

BTW Thanks for the Mr Shaft.
That sprite would look great.
Hey, have you thought of any bosses?
Because if you want me to I can design some for you Montoya Man.

[Belmontoya]

I would love to see what you come up with Shaft! The bosses that I do have are Vlad (human and vampire form), Death, and Medusa.

I think it would be cool if three of the bosses in the game were demons who help Enthu become stronger after he defeats them. For example; Enthu could face the demon Andras in level 1 as the main boss after he kills Vlad. In this battle Enthu defeats Andras but does not kill him. In exchange, Andras gives Enthu the Vampire Killer, which has the power to vanquish the undead,  as he promotes discord and quarreling and wants to see the young Enthu cause trouble for Vlad and Death.

Here is a link with a picture and information about Andras http://www.deliriumsrealm.com/92/andras/

There could be a demon who would better fit this scenario.. But I'm not sure.

Here's a list of demons, if you get any ideas let me know! http://www.deliriumsrealm.com/demons/

[Corpsecrank]

Hey Corpsecrank. Thanks for posting!

I have been comparing my sprites to konami sprites along the way. I have made huge progress in that regard as you can see if you look at the original examples posted on this thread and compare them with the current uploads. It's not perfect yet but I feel that I'm headed in the right direction.

I'm not sure if I understand what you mean about the shading seeming smoother than the rest? Smoother compared to what? Other Castlevania games? I am going with a 16-32 bit era look for this game. With the huge improvements I've made in the past in week in mind, I am confident I will get this game where it needs to be visually. The important thing is that I know what NOT to do with it!

A Castlevania title with new sprites always takes a little getting used to. I remember when Dracula X came out on the Turbo Duo and I thought it looked terrible compared to CV4. But I warmed up to it (little did I realize I would still be seeing sprites used from that game in official CV titles almost 10 years later). This game will have a new look, and will likely take a little warming up to as well (but hopefully not too much).

I am interested in the game engine you are working on. If you're interested in combining our efforts let me know. Otherwise, your critiques, as always, are welcomed. I absolutely agree with you about the controls and physics being tight.

I have been talking with some people over this last week that are interested in making this a group effort. I feel that this is a really unique and cool take on this game as it relates to the Castlevania universe. I like to think of it as a alternate re-boot for the 2Dvanias. I want to bring the eloquence of CV4 and the cinematic elements of Dracula X together, along with a plethora of new ideas, to create a new vision of the ultimate CV 2d action experience.

You are on the right track with these graphics. You have the right idea. But I grabbed a screen you posted and made some notes in areas I would work on if it were me.

I am attaching the image to this so check it out and if your not sure what I mean just ask I will try to explain it.

One of the biggest things I think I notice after looking more closely is the palate is way off. What I mean is that there are lots of colors but no actual definitive palate of colors. That makes things look off. The background for example is much closer to having a set amount of colors as is the skeleton. Not perfect but closer. The plant on the left uses one set of green while the ground and leaves on the trees both use a completely different set from each other and from the plant. So three sets of green just in the environment makes it look out of place. The ground is super vibrant but the plant is washed out in comparison and the tree leaves are really dark compared to both. If you matched them to one another in brightness and contrast they would fit together much better even though the actual shade of green might be completely different.

Where I noted soft objects transitioning with hard edges you could make the edges of the soft objects more defined and then the transition wouldn't be so harsh. Those soft objects could use some more defined inner details like the plant on the left for example could use some hard lines inside of it to define the detail a bit.

Just basic polish though. It is really really difficult to create stuff like this from scratch and your not doing half bad with it really. It just takes going over the graphics again and again touching them up and polishing them until they all look exactly the way you want them to.

I don't normally critique other people's work so don't think I am trying to put down your efforts at all I just wanted to point out a couple things and hopefully help make this a success for you. It's hard to do good work without input from others on what they think after all