Pegasus Seiya (5th Cloth) Project Page)

[Graphicus]

Just felt it was time to announce a project I've been working on. As you may be able to tell from the title, the character in question is the protagonist of an anime series called Saint Seiya, which you might also know from it's unfortunate alternative title: Knights of the Zodiac.

There are a lot of Saint Seiya characters available in MUGEN already. The biggest issue I have with the ones I've tried is that they're pretty much broken. Not only that, but it seems to be a standard habit to give them a 30-second-or-more startup for every super move, just because "that's the way it is in the anime!". It gets old in the anime too, people... no need to be so literal in a fighting game, it ruins the pacing.

I'm hoping to change the bad rep Saint Seiya has in MUGEN by creating a CVS/KOF-ish version of the character with flashy, yet tight and non-stupid/overpowered moves. I've got the movelist all planned out already, but I'm still looking for a coder who might share an interest in bringing a decent version of this character to life. If no one's interested, I'll have to learn how to code from scratch and do it myself, of course...

Planned Movelist:

Spoiler (click to show)

Basics:
- 2 punches and 2 kicks (weak and strong)
- Dashes.
- Dodges (a la KOF98's "Advanced" mode)
- Super Jump (KOF-styled, NOT MVC).
- Air Block (only when jumping backwards)

Special Moves:
- Ryuseiken: Seiya will throw a single meteor.
                  *The beam does NOT have full-screen range. Closest move would be the Ryo's Ko'ou Ken in KOF96 (i.e., long startup, although with a bit more travel).
                  *The meteor can be shot forward (typical projectile), or diagonally upwards (anti-air, a la SSF4 Gouki, although at a 45 degree angle).

- Rolling Crush: Seiya will grab the oponent and lift him up into the air. He will then turn upside down with the opponent mid-air and crush him against the ground, spinning.
                  *Close-range grab special move. Closest move would be Ralf and Clark's Argentine Backbreaker (except that the player flies with the opponent and let's go of him just before hitting the ground). The properties of the move are exactly the same as the Argentine Backbreaker in KOF98 onwards

Super Moves:
- Pegasus Ryuseiken (1 stock): Seiya will throw a full barrage of meteors in front of him.
                  *The move does not have full screen range. Closest thing would be Moriya's "Kassatsu Izayoi Gekka" from Last Blade 2, although with a bit more range. No holding the button down to delay the move, though.
                  *Startup takes a second while Seiya does his "pointing at the stars in the Pegasus Constellation" move (again, ONE second, not 30. Also, opponent is not frozen in place, so he can attack Seiya, causing him to cancel the move and waste the super bar).

- Pegasus Rolling Crush (1 stock): Same as Rolling crush, except that the move has added range, since Seiya will dash towards the opponent. If the move hits, he will then do a flashier version of the move.
                  *Closest move would be Orochi Yashiro's "Odoru Daichi" move, with half-screen range
                  *Move is unblockable and cannot be avoided with any type of dodge. Move can be avoided by jumping, or can be interrupted if Seiya is hit before he reaches the opponent.

- Pegasus Suiseiken (2 stocks): Seiya will throw a huge comet punch forward that hits once for big damage (minimal when blocked)
                  *Closest move is Orochi Yashiro's "Hoeru Daichi".
Move has some startup time, and just like Pegasus RyuSeiken, it can be interrupted during this time.
                  *NOT DECIDED YET UNLESS I CAN GUARANTEE IT'S NOT ABUSABLE: Move may be charged, exactly like the "Hoeru Daichi", so that it becomes unblockable when fully charged.

Hidden Super Move:
- Sagittarius Arrow (3 stocks + 15% or less health): Seiya's cosmos will explode, causing a nearby opponent to be launched into the air. If the move connects, it will start a short cinematic in which Seiya's cloth disappears and is replaced with the Sagittarius cloth. Seiya will then shoot an arrow at the opponent while he's still mid-air, causing quite a bit of damage.
                  *Closest Move (visually, not damage-wise) is Potemkin's Instant Kill move "Magnum Opera", from Guilty Gear (where the explosion has to hit to trigger the rest of the move).

Here are some sprites I've been working on (note that the colors are flat, since I'm still animating. This is NOT the actual palette, nor does it represent the total number of colors that are going to be available in the palette!)


I'm still working on the stance... the arms look nice but the body lacks movement.


This is actually a combination of both the weak and strong punches. I'm planning to make the former cancellable into the latter, so I made sure the transition was smooth.

[Lord Kain]

looks very promising, like the animations... if you pull this out real nice we could have the best saint seiya character to existence.... good luck!

[Cybaster]

Very smooth anims. It's promising indeed.
Good luck.

[HadeS]

Very smooth anims. It's promising indeed.
Good luck.

2nd!

Oh my gawd! This gonna be awesome

What style (of spriting) will he have?

[Graphicus]

Oh my gawd! This gonna be awesome

What style (of spriting) will he have?

Um... you mean "shading"? (the sprites are right there as far as style is concerned, lol).

Dunno... I was thinking I should go for a clean cartoon-like CVS shading... every other Seiya character I've seen uses a pseudo-SNK shading style, so I'd like to change things up a little. Since the gameplay is planned to be closer to CVS than anything else, I'm thinking that even the colors should match up nicely when facing other CVS chars.

By the way, there are plenty of other sprites available... I'm just lazy to make a gif out of them yet. I've edited my first post to show what has been completed.

[Blue Monkey]

pretty cool Graphicus, even tough Seiya its my least favorite saints of them all i hope you success on this project, will he have Sagitarius golden clothes as an ultra move or something?, perhaps even an Odin Cloth  desperation Move?

[Graphicus]

pretty cool Graphicus, even tough Seiya its my least favorite saints of them all i hope you success on this project

Thanks! He's not my favorite Saint either, but I figured I should start with him, since he's the protagonist. If people like the character, I may work on the rest of the Saints later (next should be Dragon Shiryu).

will he have Sagitarius golden clothes as an ultra move or something?, perhaps even an Odin Cloth  desperation Move?

If you look at the Move List, you'll see that he does. He'll put on the cloth momentarily to shoot the golden arrow, then revert back to the Pegasus cloth (just in case anyone was hoping for a transformation).

I'm not giving him an Odin Cloth desperation move. While I did find the Asgard saga interesting, this is supposed to be more of a manga-faithful character... I don't plan to add anything that comes from any filler episodes in the anime (hence the reason it's called Pegasus Seiya 5th Cloth, and not 3rd Cloth). The default palette for the character will be white clothes underneath the cloth (he will have an anime palette too, don't worry).

[HadeS]

Oh my gawd! This gonna be awesome

What style (of spriting) will he have?

Um... you mean "shading"? (the sprites are right there as far as style is concerned, lol).

Dunno... I was thinking I should go for a clean cartoon-like CVS shading... every other Seiya character I've seen uses a pseudo-SNK shading style, so I'd like to change things up a little. Since the gameplay is planned to be closer to CVS than anything else, I'm thinking that even the colors should match up nicely when facing other CVS chars.

By the way, there are plenty of other sprites available... I'm just lazy to make a gif out of them yet. I've edited my first post to show what has been completed.

Oh, yep, I wanted to say that Excellent, I'd like to see them in CVS shading! And Ikki is my favourite but as Seiya is the protagonist, it's ok

[Graphicus]

Ikki is EVERYONE'S favorite... lol. The only Bronze Saint that's not a crying pansy...

My problem with Ikki is coming up with a movelist that sets him apart from the other saints. If Seiya is a success (which I'm kind of struggling with, as this is my first char), I'll probably work on Dragon Shiryu next. Just because I already have a fun movelist in my head.

Here are more gifs to keep you guys excited about the project (hopefully?)


Awkward kick, I know... I like it, though.


Here's the face get-hit... the floor's just there for reference. Love the detail on the face... too bad it's barely noticeable.


This one looks odd because I can't make the gif go faster... It looks fine in GraphicsGale.

[Balthazar]

Anims looking good Looks promising!

[xxxx]

looks pretty well done and smooth,keep it up

[YoungSamurai5]

wow those anims look very nice

[HadeS]

They're looking fking awesome, dude! And yep! Ikki FTW!

Are you thinking to do some funny intro or something with Koga/Tenma?

[ZayOsiris Gaming]

You've got an amazing way of spriting! I wish you luck man! If you need any effects, let me know! :O

[AlexSin]

A question: if you're going for open source, are you going to release the sketches (they're really good), or are you going to release the CvS sprites?
I ask you because if someone would like to give a different shading, he could be free to do that instead of editing already shaded sprites; you know, to make things easier.
Good luck with this!

[Graphicus]

You've got an amazing way of spriting! I wish you luck man! If you need any effects, let me know! :O

I do need effects, actually!

It's kind of early to start with those yet, though... but I'll definitely ask you for some when the time comes (there's not that many, don't worry).

A question: if you're going for open source, are you going to release the sketches (they're really good), or are you going to release the CvS sprites?
I ask you because if someone would like to give a different shading, he could be free to do that instead of editing already shaded sprites; you know, to make things easier.
Good luck with this!

Hmmm... it's my first character, so I hadn't considered that... not sure if they're going to be open source, yet... probably AFTER I find a programmer and do my version of the character first. When that time comes, sure, I can probably release the sprites the way they appear in the gifs, so that people can shade them differently, if they feel like it. I hope I don't come off as a jerk for saying this, but even if they're open source, I'd still like to get credit (at least in the character's Readme, or something).

Are you thinking to do some funny intro or something with Koga/Tenma?

I was thinking I'd just do the typical Pandora Box intro, where the cloth appears in its constellation form, then splits up and jumps onto Seiya's body.

[Graphicus]

Sorry for double posting.

All standing and crouching moves are done! Here's a preview of some crouching moves! (sorry for the abuse of speed lines... they're there for reference, mostly... the animation looks fine without the frames in which they appear, too).

[Iced]

that looks very neat! Glad to see you making more stuff.

[YoungSamurai5]

i really like the way you sprite man

[methiou]

Nice graphicus !!! If you need some help for the shading i'm your guy !!