I did not expect you to take back what you said anyhow. if it sucked it sucked. thanks for giving it your opinion.
no problem.
pretty much.
Here are my comments in order from best to worst, followed by comments on my own piece.
I’ll do animations later.
STILLS
“Prince Of Hell”
monkeyspank
Some artists I can just tell by the AV, and monkeyspank is one of them. His signature effects like the fire used here are really in a class of their own. Despite being the only non-prem sized entry, this is one def one of my favs. However, it look OC pointing it out for me to realize that the black blob on the right is Demitri bowing in silhouette form, and I agree that the shift from shadow to light is a bit too abrupt.
“Rikuo”
ClouDC
Beautiful. Still, that transparency kinda irks me. Why;s it there? Why wasn’t another color used? Still, I bet this av would look smokin’ in the “red hotness” skin. Aulbath is one of my favorite DS chars, so I’m glad that someone used him!
“Qbee”
ToyRobotTerror
I loved this one the moment I saw it. If it wasn’t for the blue bg, I’d give it first place. Hey TRT, use a transparent bg next time instead of just swiping the blue from SRK, because that will look kinda bad on other skins.
“Cat License”
tru3tn01
The catalogue look is very cool. That’s also a great chibi-felicia you’ve got there. To nit pick, I think the BG doesn’t fit too well with the “catalogue” theme, and that pink glow has gotta go. You always turn in quality work, though tru3tn01, and I’m hoping you enter again in the next one
“Growling Gallon”
BIG BEEF!
I can spot a BIG BEEF! av a mile away these days…it’s the BG’s! I thought this one worked really well, but Gallon tends to get lost in it because the colors are too similar. The hair behind his head ends up being the focal point. But man…that pic of Talbain is so smooth! Only a couple “jaggies” on the curvature of the tail.
“Marilyn Lilith Monroe”
SunocO
Classic. I’d rate this higher if it wasn’t for the fact that Lilith/Morrigan sprites just tend to look fugly. The other DS sprites don’t have quite the jagged black outline that morrigan/lilith tend to have, and I think that it’s that outline that keeps the av from blending well. Also, I think the bg may be a bit too busy. Still this av has agreat idea, and the animated version SunocO turned in is even better, as the animation takes your eye back to Lilith and way from the bg.
“Talbain”
aLee
I think the monochomatic nature of this piece helps it, and hurts it. The unity brought by having Talbain mesh with the BG is great, because it looks like his fireball is affecting the whole screen. He meshes really well with it. On the other hand, he meshes really well with it, and tends to get lost. If Talbain and his fireball were different colors, this would have worked a lot better.
“Etch-a-sketch B.B. Hood”
mvc2demon
A lot of people have pointed out that the pic of Bulletta just doesn’t look like it was drawn by an etch-a-sketch. Still, it’s a very creative frame, and I like the concept. I also love how the text is so small you can barely read it, but you can still make it out…I love how it says “Darkstalkers Edition” at the bottom.
“MMM…Pussy!”
shatterstar
This reminds me of those old Tex Avery cartoons where the wolf character leers at every woman that passes by. I think the eye could have been a little less prominent, with more attention being given to the action between Talbain and Felicia. The title (pun and all) makes this a better av for me. Anyone wearing this wuold have to put “Mmmm…Pussy!” as their custom user title.
“Jedah”
Hunter D
I’m not sure why so many judges picked this one. I think that it’s waaay too bright, for starters. Everything looks washed out, Jedah, the bg, everything. The shadow in the bg makes the brightness of everything else stand out that much more. The glow trails are pretty, but the rest of it is blah.
“Midnight Victor”
Tantin
I think the flashy effects in this one were a bit too over-the-top, especially with that sprite. I think it woulda a lot worked better with standard victor (maybe doing an electrical attack) instead of Midnight Bliss Victor. Still, It’s very flashy, and the effects are nice overall, I just wish they didn’t overshadow Victor so much.
“Pink-Stalkers”
Slide
While funny, I wasn’t too impressed with Slide’s still entry. The Porno theme is funny, but the text is very blurry and hard to read. This also suffers from the same “black border” problem as “Marilyn Lilith Monroe”. The bg is also a wee bit too cluttered for all that text. Then again, have you ever seen a porno cover that focused on artistic form?
“Anakaris”
Taichi
Hmmm…just not much going on here. The plain black background isn’t very appealing, and The portrait is a bit too muddles for a still av…Around the eyes you can see a lot of artifacting, and there are white alias “jaggies” on the collar. I’m also not sure the space was used too well. There’s a big empty spot in the middle of the av, and all the text and the sprite on the right-hand side seem to be run together. Still, the portrait of Anakaris is a really good choice, and the thick yellow border is nice.
“Foul Odor”
DarkGiygas
Haha DG. This new style of yours is something. I think mixing the “poor MS-paint” with sprites was a bad idea tho. Drawing Bulletta and Sasquatch in MS paint woulda been cooler. Uhhh…that’s all I have to say.
“Weekly World News”
Master Chibi
The idea was good, but the execution was horrible. Come on Chibi, there’s not excuse for a still av to be that grainy. Graininess (especially in sprites like that panda) is one of my pet peeves. In an animated av, I’ll forgive a certain amount of graininess, but in a still one, you have 48 k to play with to fit in 1 frame…don’t tell me it got grainy due to size constraints…especially in something grayscale, which minimizes the size to begin with. It hurts to see midnight bliss’d zabel so clear, and the grainy photo beneath it.
MY OWN:
“The Mummy Arises”
givequicheachance
Yes, I made this. I spent a good while looking for a DS sprite to use, and when I stumbled upon this anakaris one, I knew I had it. Though it looks like he’s kicking ass, it’s actually the sprite of him burnt after being hit by a fire attack…lol
I used a really nice graveyard & moon BG I’ve been saving for a month or so, and the fog was actually a cloud from an ocean pic from a Nintendo puzzle game…lol.
I’ll show you the bg and the cloud pics if anyone cares (or still doesn’t believe I made this av) Anyway, I spent a lot of time on this av just messing with the layers…what should be in front of what. If you look closely, on the hand on the left, the palm is in the fog, but the fingers are reaching through it…I’m not sure anyone noticed that.
…seriously.
I guess I’m the only one who likes the purple lightning in tru3tn01’s. Good work everyone.
EDIT: btw Slide’s Morrigan av is dope. Straight up EEK shit.
there’s that one bg
http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/psx/c/ds3vsbbh-2.gif
@slide, can i get that animated av but modeled after this
http://cretoh.ld.infoseek.co.jp/morigan/images/img007.jpg
if not then i aint trippin’
edit:
i was surprised no one used this:
http://www.devilsdue.net/5pagers/darkstalkerstpb/pages/darkstalkers_tpb01_000.html
i know i wanted to
quiche made that mummy still av, very interesting. Never would have guessed, EVER. *
*I’m not implying anything with this post.
@ Quiche:
Bro, it’s grainy on purpose, this is the Weekly World News we’re talking about, every front page photo is grainy and obviously fake, because to them, that’s what actually sells. They don’t pride themselves on having paparazzi to stalk the next big scandal, they just take something and make it cock eyed beyond belief. The whole newspaper is in black and white too, so do realize that the grain was there on purpose; 1) to mimic the newspaper and 2) to best intergrate Hsienko-panda-CHAN into the fake photo. Raptor is clear because she’s not part of the photo, and the entire layout (picture, top bar, and even the WWN logo) were taken directly from a cover too.
In fact I talked to Slide before submitting because I obviously knew he had done the trend in the past, so the only thing I took from him are suggestions. Also (to OrangeCat) I’m not sure why I would have cut it off to mimic the paper’s real size, that wouldn’t have worked at all.
I didn’t expect to actually get any votes, so I’m surprised a few people liked it.
Also, as Slide mentioned, NO JUDGES ENTERING next time, cut the amount in half, and keep up the good work.
Give me a bit to go over all the avatars:
THE GORDON FISHERMAN:
Ok, the choice of stock is interesting enough, our fishman here is quite sad, but exactly what does the background do to compliment him, or the expression he’s portraying? Nothing. There’s a bit of grunge lingering around in there, and it adds a wee bit of angst, but not enough to carry the entire piece. The transparency also doesn’t work in the rest of the space left in the avatar, and the colors don’t well either. In the end the background pretty much needs an overhaul and something else to control the rest of the space left of the stock.
CHEERIOS:
I understand that with Q-Bee being a bee and all that you would go with the honeycombs here. I commend the choice to break out, but it fell a bit flat with its execution. First off, if you didn’t have her name there in the bottom left I wouldn’t have a clue who it was in the avatar. It’s far too messy (once again, I understand the choice of colors, but they don’t work here) and convoluted. Going with the pictures original state but keeping the honeycomb frame would have likely been the better way to go about it.
PUSSY FOR SALE:
I love your style tru3nt01, but I think the good idea you had here actually clashed with your style. You have good line work / control space well with your work, but that’s just not apparent here. The whole catalogue idea (which I didn’t even catch until Quiche mentioned it) just wasn’t executed well enough, even with the nice touches you added (the purple light and the ZATO ONE tag). Don’t you dare give up though, I always look foward to more of you work, so keep it up.
KIBBLESNBITS:
Ok, don’t take this too hard BB, but this doesn’t work at all. You would have done better with a complete transparent background because the sprite doesn’t compliment the background, nor does the background compilment the sprite. The two don’t contrast positively either, they’re just there, one atop the other. Also, having the background be purple doesn’t work either. I’ve seen some good stuff from you, but this isn’t one of them buddy.
I don’t have time to go over all of them right now, but I will later tonight.
Sorry.
i did animated. I have like 4 different versions of it. Ask quiche, he even said to keep this one as an animated but i didnt listen, I DID NOT LISTEN :sad:
oh well, i had fun, first time in a contest and barely got into doing av’s.
Cant wait for the next.
And congrats to the winners
So how do judges determine who won? By mortal kombat?
OC
MORTAL KOMBAAAAAAT!!!
i had to do that…
This isn’t over, not by a longshot buddy.
Not by a longshot.
Buddy.
It has BEGUN!
\
Babality then Evil Morrigan?
/
OC
I’m down for that. As long as we all agree on a No Fatality Rule…I’m too youg to die.
I swear if I start Losing and I see one of you Fuckers reach for my Spine… I will summon Vin Diesel.
Edit - Babalities will work.
Friendship
Nice work, everyone. Sorry I didn’t enter this time, but I honestly couldn’t think of any good ideas. “Prince of Hell”, “Growling Gallon”, “Rikou”, and “The Mummy Arises” are all wonderful in terms of color and composition, and I got a few chuckles out of “Chase the Chuck Wagon”, “Pink-Stalkers” (although I wonder how it might have looked using Felicia’s P2 palette rather than just recoloring her hair), and “Strip Poker”.
Big ups to EEK for the inspiration way back in the days.
huh you want me to image manipulate, the same masuimi max picture, into that new one?
or are you just saying you want the similar style?
either question you answer, i’ll think about it.
cause again, there’s time issues, and the if i feel like it issues.
Hey Shatterstar Is that a Resin Figure? If so what site did you see it on?
@EM…im not sure. that was just a pic i found when i was goolin’ for the av battle. i never seen morrigan in white with an eye patch…but go HERE and see for yourself.
@Slide…ay, just disregard it then. i’ll just rock my own av cuz i’m the only who liked it…a lil’ bit…:sad:
That figure has to be the most horribly disproportionate Morrigan I have ever seen.
ANIMATIONS
“A Darkstalkers Lesson”
DarkDragon
Best in show, IMO. This one looks great. The whole thing has a great storybook atmosphere and is funny as hell. When it goes to letterbox with the small portrait of talbain, it’s just perfect. The word bubbles even put mine to shame. The only thing I would change is to make the white text on black at the end bitmapped, instead of antialised.
“Darkness Illusion”
Nastradamus
This one really wowed me. At the last minute, Nas turns this in. The color is a perfect choice and the speed change to the animation is perfect. The brush strokes, everything just works. No nits to pick with this one.
“Chase the Chuck-Wagon”
Impact Hound
Wow…I’ve collaborated with Impact Hound before, and the one thing I admire about him most are his ideas. He was the one who came up with the popeye-full-parry idea, and we fleshed it out together to have popeye parrying olive doing chun’s SA2, etc. Seriously, I wanna steal this idea so bad. This is partly due to the fact that it w asn’t executed as well as it could have been. The black LCD “sprites” shouldn’t have had to be so grainy…black with a dark gray outline woulda looked better. Also, that bg didn’t work too well. Instead, you shoulda used a basic gray-yellow LCD screen bg with trees and a trail painted on in single colors, like on the old tiger games. This reminds me that I need to collaborate with Impact Hound again. I dunno what programs you use IH, but your work always ends up grainier than it should.
“Demitri…Analyzing”
BlodiaVulcan5
I coulda recognized BlodiaVulcan5’s work without knowing it was from him. Those colors are sooo good. I love it! A little more animation woulda been great though.
“Raptor Chainsaw”
DarkGiygas
OMG! That border is so cool, What a great idea, DG!
“Morrigan’s Eyes”
Slide
What can be said about this one that hasn’t already? Truly masterful, but there’s one too-bright pixel just above the cleft in her lips, that bugs me when I look at it now.
“Digital Morrigan”
ROBOTRON/ROBOTRON2084
Classic ROBOTRON. I don’t care what you say, ROBO, you have a great style, and it’s very unique. Your combination of moving sprites and still bgs always amazes me. In fact, I’m jealous of you. That being said, though this isn’t your best work, it has no flaws…great!
“Demitri”
aLee
Really great, but woulda been better as a still. The bat doesn’t add much to it. Other than that, it’s really great! Good job, aLee!
“Karin Aensland”
Rei
I loved the bg so muh on this one. The colors were great. But the colors on Karin didn’t really fit. I wish you’d recolored her dress to something that didn’t clash with the bg, and made her hair all green…all or nothing here. One other small nitpick, The words FULL & CHARGE over the v-meter is a bit out of place, and unecessary. You coulda taken those words out, and we’d all still know that the meter was full. This is a fighting game forum, after all.
“Emo Public Service”
Spooty Whiteboy
Funny as hell. I laughed aloud. It was a little text-heavy though, and I wish the last frame of jedah cutting his head off had a longer pause, because it switches to the next text a little too abruptly.
“Strip Poker”
SunocO
Ah, SunocO. Your animating skills are improving vastly since you started. The sprites in this one are clear, and not grainy at all (like those in your DS karoake entry) Funny and clean, but you still need to work on your animation’s timing…something seems off.
“Spinnin’ Lilith”
Nightraid
I love the colors, as well as the text in the bg…your street fighter competitive edge! who doesn’t know those words around here?
“April Fools!”
mvc2demon
I’m not a big fan of the way mvc2demon scals down sprites. I wish he’d keep them at theit standard size. The rolling laughing at the end is good, but the whole affair is just too ugly, grainy, etc. Even the text is poorly done.
“Come Hoes”
BIG BEEF!
Is that another BIG BEEF! bg I smell? The text just doesn’t stay on screen long enough, and the animation resets at an awkward point, making it too jerky.
“Sorry About This Avatar”
Zandwich
You asshole.
MY OWN:
“Air Zabel”
givequicheachance
I originally wanted to have zabel in one of those contests where a crowd-member gets to make a free throw to win a free car or something, but only had enough room in the av for the dunk itself. I was gonna have the darkstalkers women showing off the prizes like the “price is right” girls.
What do you want Zabel?
The new car?
The island getaway vacation?
or…the jar of brains?
Zabel: I do believe I’ll take the brains.
Ah well…I shoulda gone with the NBA Jam crowd instead of a real one to save space, but I’m sure I still wouldn’t have had enough room. As it was, I had to cut out about half the frames from his dribble/jump/dunk.
…seriously.
P.S.: Will someone start a feedback thread? I wanna know what people thing I should do differently for the next one (which starts monday, peeps!)
As far as the judges go, I’ve got a dilemma. I think OC is the best judge, but I also want him to enter an av…what should I do?
Either way, I’m cutting down the number of judges for next time…
…seriously.
P.P.S.: sorry for saying seriously twice.
…seriously. (3 times! d’oh!)
EDIT: actually put them in order from best to worst now!
…seriously (4!)