Seriously. don't worry, I'm not just here to advertise this, I plan on being a full contact member, but you chould check it out anyway. Look at the rave reviews we are getting.
[URL=http://www.angelfire.com/planet/anykey/] Click here![/URL]
Are you :
Lazy?
Obnoxious?
Asinine?
Not bored enough?
An angel fire hater?
Weary about clicking links?
Then look below for some of our exclusive content previously only available to those willing to actually visit the site...tards>_>
[IMG]http://images6.theimagehosting.com/PPB4.d5b.PNG[/IMG]
[IMG]http://images6.theimagehosting.com/SPP.PNG[/IMG]
[IMG]http://images6.theimagehosting.com/poormage2.PNG[/IMG]
Tell me what you think y'all.
Cannot find server.
Those really sucked.
[quote=PWND_U_IN_MK]How would you know? You're not funny. ;)
Unfortunately, he got you there, Ant...
The material wasn't all that bad, but it's incredibly ugly. Even using nothing but Paint, you can do much better than that. They also seem to be stretched out much too far since they're only 8-bit, if that.
Also, why do all of the "comments" come from people with incredibly generic names, huh? ;)
Edit: A fraction of the material wasn't all that bad, I mean. I just checked out the rest.
"Numeber 1", just because it's 8-bit doesn't mean it has to look like it does.
2. Wow, the G4 forums? That's quite the achievement.
3. Why? Apathy?
hay guyz I made my own comic too lol
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/AntmanMadness/final3.png[/IMG]
There's actually a line where being constructive just seems mean, as you'd be deluding someone instead of helping them. I kind of feel I crossed that line.
As for being full on sprites, that's kind of the idea of a sprite comic. Using sprites isn't a handicap in the slightest. I'm a spriter myself, so I would know. My point stands, though. Even if you do like to remember the characters in their "blocky" glory, that's no reason to make a blocky, subpar looking comic. Again, you can make better comics with 8-bit. It's not that big of a handicap that your comic is coming out as is.
Alright, something you would consider constructive. In all honesty, tone down the comic size, and clean it up. The comic doesn't need to be that big. Stretching out a comic that far when the text barely contains a sentence is pretty unnecessary. If I were to go into Paint and scale the second comic you posted by 50%, it'd probably be at a good size. It would also probably look alot less blocky if it were smaller, so try that.
The text boxes could use some cleaning, as well. Try using legible font colors; red and green are hard to see on white. I'd suggest using black text, and making the border around the text bubble the color of the character. I can show you some examples if need be.
Third one was witty, though I did not chuckle.
And you make me feel like making sprites comics again.
So I'd have made more than... like 3.
I never said I was a master, I just said I'm a spriter.
And by the second one you posted, I meant http://images6.theimagehosting.com/final3.PNG . The second one you posted in your most recent most. >_>
There's a whole blog for sprites/sprite comics here, y'know. You can get some very constructive and detailed advice there. I've got some stuff there as well, but anything recent will have been with Linkman. I haven't done a steady solo project in atleast two years.
http://www.vgchat.com/forumdisplay.php?f=64
AHHHH, ok. Yeah, that one could stand to be smaller.
Show me some good 8-bit comics then... :)
http://www.nuklearpower.com/
Uses Photoshop, but still.
The earlier episodes may just be Paint. I've never really been too into the comic, personally, but it's a good example.
Edit: Yeah, the earlier episodes are very Paint-ish.
Of course they're not all 8-bit. I mentioned that already.
As for one that's not story-driven, good luck. The best 8-bit comics I know of are 8-Bit Theater and MS Paint Masterpieces, and they're both story driven. It's hard to have a widely successful comic without having a good story behind it, since you've got so much competition. Not saying that one that isn't story-driven can't be successful, but it'd be a hell of alot harder to get your comic as widely known as something like Penny Arcade.
i made a sprite comic specifically in the interests of posting it in this thread
comments plz
I'm not really doing it for teh money or fame, it's an angelfire site you can;t even find it on google >_>
It's just something fun to do and show to friends and co-workers and such.
Stalolin :: It's clean. You pass.
PWND_U_IN_MK :: I see exactly what you want to do with your comic, but I'm just offering suggestions to help it look better. Leaving it in the two-character video game parody style is fine, but you could execute the comics better. Stalolin's was actually a decent example of a clean comic. You could fit frames in that. He chose a clean font, a great size, and made a clean border that wasn't too thick.
Every comic doesn't have to be huge to be legible; just keep that in mind. :)
Just try toning them down. I'm on a 1152x864 resolution, and I think they're way too big. They must be huge on 800x600.
Try something like this. http://www.freewebs.com/spacekiller/fillerthespacekiller.htm
Possibly bigger, but you can fit plenty of text in comics the size of these.
My first suggestion is to match sprites a little better. Using Mario from the original Donkey Kong along with Toad from Super Mario Brothers 3 or Luigi from Super Mario World looks really, really bad. Try just getting sprites from one game, and if you need to get a character from another series like Kirby, pick a game that has sprites as similar as possible to the ones you have.
Next, make sure you match your sprites to a proper background. Avoid using side-scrolling sprites on a background with depth, like you did in the first three you posted; it can look good, but it's a little cleaner when side-scrolling sprites meet a side-scrolling background.
The picture size has already been mentioned, so I'll lay off that. Otherwise, your jokes are pretty good. I encourage you to frequent the Spriter's Block, the blog that Alastor mentioned a few posts ago, where you'll find other spriters eager to help.
YOUR WEBCOMIC MADE ME CRY
I'm pretty sure the first couple MegaMan X games were only 16 bit. And I actually meant just the way the layout was, not the sprites alone.
This is a large improvement, I think. The red text for Mario wasn't nearly as bad as the lime green on Luigi's. Green on white is a big no-no, since it's nearly impossible to read.
[img]http://www.h22s.com/imghost/uploads/pwnduinmk_comic1_clean.PNG[/img]
Something like that. Not overly huge, big enough to read. It's clear enough who's speaking in comics where there aren't many characters, so there's no need to color the text. Black and white schemes will work fine. Two of your panels weren't the same size as the others, but I didn't bother spending the time to fix it. Not that big a deal since this is just a rough example. I edited the whole thing in under ten minutes. No huge feat.
All I did was resize it, recolor the text, change the border, and edit the text at the very bottom.
Again, I have not used different colors since that comic, all of my other ones only feature black text. As for the size, I dunno. I can read it fine on my super spiffy monitor, but my old one barely shows it. I kinda want it to be readible on even shiite monitors. It looks small to me. Yeah, one or two of my slides always ends up semi fooked for unknown reasons.
[URL=http://www.angelfire.com/planet/anykey]Chex it out![/URL]
Once again you aren't being forced to visit the site to participate.
NEW:
[IMG]http://images6.theimagehosting.com/parody2.PNG[/IMG]
What do yall think?
Just use one thread for all your comics. If you made a new thread for every addition, the place would be a mess.
I've merged them and renamed it after your comic.
Works for me :)
Not bad. Not fantastic, but that's alright. ^^; You said you're mostly doing comics for your own enjoyment and for friends and co-workers, right? That's fine; that's pretty much why I make comics, too. x3 How long have you been making comics?
I dunno why that link back to Space Killer wouldn't have worked. O_o Here: [url=http://www.freewebs.com/spacekiller/]this should work[/url]. x3
I don't typically work in 8-bit, but [url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v89/LovelyConcerto/FTSK/Filler42_MeglompV2.png]here's[/url] a quick one I did a while back. Wif Metools. x3 And [url=http://www.freewebs.com/spacekiller/Filler56b.PNG]here's[/url] the Bloopers reel. XD
Alrighty. *cracks knuckles* This'll be lengthy, but PAY ATTENTION! It's chock full of helpful goodness. =D Time for ZS's Sprite Comics 101!
#1! Ditch the circle text bubbles. >.O Your said you work with Paint, right? The ellipse tool doesn't work very well for text bubbles. =( In Paint, the simplest and cleanest tool for making text areas is actually the rectangle tool. If you really want a rounded text bubble, try the rounded rectangle tool instead. All the tidiness of the rectangle, with the roundedness of the ellipse. XD
I find the cleanest way to make text boxes is this: Put the text down in a blank area outside the comic, then use the rounded rectangle or rectangle tools to outline it. Either make the area inside the text bubble or the area outside a different color, then move it over to where you want it in the comic. =) With the rectangle tool, you can just leave the Opaque background in effect, select the text box, and move it without having to worry about changing colors and whatnot. =) (I'm assuming you know about working with opaque and transparent background colors?)
#2! Don't make your sprites any bigger than 2x their original size. 3x at the VERY most. >.< It makes your comics far too big. =( Pick a managable frame size and stick with it - maybe save a copy of a blank framework. I work in three sizes - (height x width) 200x200, 250x200, and 250x250. Some people do go bigger, but typically only in one direction (y'know, long up-and-down, or left-to-right, but not both), and even then they have a set size for the frames. For example, your last one was better sized to be a desktop wallpaper than a comic. XD
#3! If you're planning on using only 8-bit sprites, then plan on using only 8-bit backgrounds. Otherwise, they look silly. T_T After all, as gamers, we're used to seeing these characters in 8-bit environments, right? And I think Linko already mentioned this, but try keeping characters from side-scrolling games in side-scrolling backgrounds, although that's not a requirement.
When you use character from a single series, make sure the sprites used are from the same game. For example, a Mega Man sprite comic should never use a Mega Man sprite from, say, Mega Man 6 alongside Zero from X4. ^^; (And the sprites Stalolin used were 16-bit - NES/GB are 8bit, SNES is 16-bit, PS is 32-bit. =) )
#4! I don't think Alastor was actually complaining about your font, but still, there's nothing wrong with Comic Sans MS. XD DON'T LET ANYONE TELL YOU OTHERWISE! =O ... though, it looks more like you used Arial. O.o; Which is also good. =D Of course, don't let that stop you from trying other fonts, too. Just don't use anything that's too elaborate to be read. ^^;
#5! Before you even CONSIDER putting your comics up for public viewing, take a [B]good look at the text.[/B] Even better, have someone else preview it for you. =D Check the spelling, the grammar, the punctuation. Even if the graphics are insanely good, no one will take you seriously if it looks like you pulled the text out of a chatroom. =) You're generally pretty good, and your idea comes across, but your writing is still sloppy, and that takes away from the overall effect. Take the time to make it tidier and more correct, and it'll be well worth it. =)
And the last thing I can think of at the moment is your choice of file-type. PNGs! Huzzah! Good choice. =) Stick with those. =D
Your comics won't become mind-bogglingly spetacular overnight, but keep plugging away at it, especially if you have fun doing them. =)
1. I couldn't make a text bubble/box to save my life I copied one form the interewb, cleaned it, added a border and flipped it, so I can just resize/color these
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/jojohamy/txbox.png[/IMG]
2. I agree here I recently decided to go down to 3x
3.already been established, look at the newest 2
TY for the advice
I like the ones in your first post. I chuckled. :)
I think what Minesweeper meant was to ditch the round shape of them. Use text boxes instead. They're alot easier to work with. Using an actual bubble really limits how much text can be fit into one speech balloon.
@MK: 1- Anyway, round ones are hard to work with, and resizing those particular ones made them look pretty sloppy. =( Try my suggestion for making text boxes, and see it that helps.
2- 3x is good, much better than 4x or 5x. But 2x would actually be better. Or, even just regular ol' 1x. Your audience isn't blind, y'know. =) Also, change sizes from time-to-time for effect. TV shows and movies change camera angles all the time, they're (typically, anyway) not pinned to one spot.
Have you decided on a frame size? O_o Try a few. For single-frame ones, obviously they don't have to be 200x200, but a full-blown 800x600 (or somewhere around 700x300, which you seem to be using) is a bit much. ^^; Unless you really do intend to use your comics as your desktop wallpapers. O_O;
3- That's good. =) And you're welcome. I aim's ta please. ^^
Just a quick addition I forgot to mention before: you should probably pick one font and stick with it - consistancy in things like that make for an overall prettier comic.
I have used only comic ms for all speech since the second comic. I only used Crow font for the last one because it looked good in context.
I tried the whole "Box" thing, ad I don't think it worked out.
New comic:
[IMG]http://images6.theimagehosting.com/FVJ2.PNG[/IMG]
Hey there. Webcomic artist about to tear into you under the guise of 'constructive criticism'. Hope you don't mind.
First of all, sprite comics. No. While yours is good enough to become popular, it really, really needs to be hand-drawn. Write down your scripts and learn to draw before launching it, or advertise on forums for an artist who's willing to do it - the CAD forums are a good place to do this, but you need to have been a member for a while. The reason for this is simple - most sprite comics are awful. This is because it's all too easy to make them, but not at all easy to make them good, and any quality ones just get sucked into the reputation from all the rest.
The other thing is the jokes - again, the basis for good humour is there, but there's no real attention to detail. The Mario/Luigi Hammer one I really, really like, but it's slapdash. You can make that a four-panel comic and it'll work just as well, if not better.
Panel 1: Mario and Luigi watch a troupe of all the female characters dance by, out of a pipe.
Luigi: I'd hit that, and that, stop spitting eggs and we'll talk, hit that...
Panel 2: Mario: I'd hit that. (no-one except Mario & Luigi in-panel - Mario looking suggestively at Luigi)
Panel 3: A beat. No word balloons at all. This is a lot funnier (and a lot more tense) than a word balloon with '?!' in it. Luigi looks scared, Mario's expression hasn't changed much from the last panel
Panel 4: Luigi cringing/running away as Mario begins to whale on him with a hammer.
And scene. Sprite comics seem to rely more on beats than anything else, though - you need to avoid this. Work on your scripts. Get an artist. And you'll do well. I'll be keeping an eye on you.
Let's just treat that last comic to the Wingsification...
Panel 1: Splash panel.
"Freddy Shyguy-ger vs. Marioson X! PLACE YOUR BETS!"
Panel 2: Bets shown at top of screen. Fighters squaring off.
Panel 3: Mario notices his bet is much smaller.
Mario: Oh, come ON! He's just a Shy Guy with a knife!
Shy Guy: No. It's a bad-*** knife.
Panel 4: Mario leaping to get the mushroom.
Shy Guy: HAX!
This one isn't perfect, I know, but - four panels. Anything after this and people start getting bored of reading (and scrolling down). Not only that - people can see that it's dripping blood. your readers know that mushrooms make Mario grow. Don't repeat yourself in the text when you're depicting in the comic.
Aside from that, just a few random pointers:
Keep the comic to 780px wide, as some people still use 800x600 resolution and hate scrolling sideways.
If you're drawing it, scan it and colour it at a much higher resolution that you'll end up with at the end, and when you're finished, blur it and shrink it. This'll give a much cleaner final image.
Always include your URL on the comic image. That way, if people steal your images and post them on forums or in their LiveJournals or whatever, people still know where it came from.
And make sure you've got some sort of script for uploading it. Either do it through LiveJournal to begin with - the advantage of this is a very intuitive comments system - or download and use a script like iStrip, which is what we use.
I'm going to knock together some quick sketches of those strips I outlined above, and show you what I mean about emotional range and the humour being conveyed much better. But by no means take my word as gospel. I just have a bit of experience in what people want from a webcomic :)
As a fellow spriter, I'm not gonna elaborate on anything, since everyone has done that for you. In regards to the text boxes: they look good. 'Specially for a first time, uh, textbox maker. The only problem I see, is that you made the arrows coming out of them way too big.A good way to make the arrow thing pointing to the talker, is to get the line tool, make a thin one, then color the space between it white.
If you want to look at more comics and such, visit Alastor's and Minesweeper's blog. It's all for spriting.
new comic, I took what you said to heart
[IMG]http://images6.theimagehosting.com/killme.PNG[/IMG]
New comic, I started makeing my own text bubbles..in the middle :)
[img]http://images6.theimagehosting.com/polygonphelia.PNG[/img]
Much better. They're alot cleaner, and easier on the eyes. Well done.
I do have to say that I've seen an all-too-similar punchline in 16 (I think it was 16. The "Lazy Fairy" one.). Maybe it's just me, but that's very similar to a quote from Red vs Blue.
nice comics, funny.
Caboose : "Does this mean I should try to kill Church now?"
Tucker : "Tell you what, kill me. I promise not to come back."
:)
One minor qualm: Learn to spell.
That's about it. :)
Haha! That's the best retort I've ever seen.
Just in case it wasn't a joke, though - he's referring to things like 'your' and 'you're', to pick out just one from a quick scan.