NJ's WIPS Revived! (Bandit Keith & Moon repair project)

[MugenFreak30]

Last time I started this, it was Bandit Keith being a WIP, but due to many holdups, he's on the back burner for now.

Last time, before the locking of the old WIP thread until I considered my hiatus over, I was working on a repair project of Sailor Jupiter originally made by the now retired PoshPsylocke. So far, her damage has been adjusted to where she seems more balanced against other characters, a hyper was changed from one to another, portraits for hypers and the big portrait have been changed to some new ones provided by Ky, a CLSN redux, and a few other things I can't think of right now.

At this time, Keith is still in the process of having his sprites edited from Ralf, and Jupiter is looking almost ready for at least a beta release. She just needs some more tweaks in frame speeds (Similar to Mars after my edits), some new fx, new voice clips, etc. I could also use some actual beta testers for any and all works of mine that I am somewhat ready to release since I admit to not knowing everything about character coding. Hell, there may be some things that I may miss when doing my edits/actual releases.

I'd post pics, but unfortunately I don't have anything other than one pic of Jupiter that I used for the release thread back when I was a bit of a whiny bitch, so yeah.

Also, I'm hoping not to be the only one posting here anymore, especially if there are parts in which I welcome any and all help, or ask for comments/suggestions regarding certain elements of a character in progress. If I am, oh well, I just hope that things turn out slightly better this time around.

[MugenFreak30]

Er, Houston, we have a problem... And it's a doozy.

So, I'm working with some new lightning fx that I got from 2OS, and...





Yeah. Now here's the kicker, it looks like the zero color is there, but it isn't working for some damn reason. Got anything on this one so I can hopefully move on here? (I know it's also misalligned, but I can fix that.)

[walt]

Substractive Transparency needed?

[MugenFreak30]

Possibly, but I don't know much about working with sprites and transparency, which may be where I'll need help.

Hopefully though, after this is resolved, I can continue to work on the fx and other aesthetics.

[walt]

Post a thread in this board

http://mugenguild.com/forumx/index.php?board=315.0

Many people might miss this problem in this thread, but as a new thread there, it might work

[aznperson569M]

Er, Houston, we have a problem... And it's a doozy.

So, I'm working with some new lightning fx that I got from 2OS, and...





Yeah. Now here's the kicker, it looks like the zero color is there, but it isn't working for some damn reason. Got anything on this one so I can hopefully move on here? (I know it's also misalligned, but I can fix that.)

Is the palette for the effect set? (Like the transparency; the palette order. Should be the first one on it)

[MugenFreak30]

I'll post a thread there. Though, I'll be lucky if anyone will help with this issue after I went off at the people in that area when I wasn't getting help with one issue and said "Fuck the community" those few months ago. Either way, thanks for the little tidbit there, Walt.

As for aznperson's comment, I checked it all out. The effect does have the palette set to where the black is the zero color (For transparency), yet I still get the black box.

[MugenFreak30]

Well, finals are coming up, so my time working on her is going to be shot for a while, so I released Jupiter as a beta until I can get more time to finish things such as hitsparks, visual fx, etc.

http://mugenguild.com/forumx/index.php?topic=123652.0

Feedback welcome. Also, for this and future works, I'm going to need good beta testers.

[MugenFreak30]

Well gang, I know it'll be a long road, but I'm willing to take the time to do it. I'm going to go back to working on the sprites for Bandit Keith so I can maybe try to get this project off the ground. My main areas of concern are making sure that the sprites don't act funky on me while compiling the sff for him (This may mean asking for help on making sure that I can get the main palette applied to each sprite), and time when it comes to making these sprites (I have a move and a new semester at a new college coming up, so I can't really promise that these sprites will be ready). I'm sure that amid these issues, as well as the lost contact with LK regarding those voice clips (He may be waiting until I have some physical progress before anything), Keith will be done before the end of 2011.

In the meantime, I'll be working on updating my current edits and tinkering with another one. I'm not stating which one at this point...

Spoiler (click to show)

Anyway, with the next scout, I'm going to need a new big portrait and a new hyper portrait. I'm probably also going to need new effects, but that's for a later time. I'd also like to note that the new scout edit is also an experiment with keeping its original AI while working on all of the repairs and such (The previous edits had their AI's removed out of fear that the character would not know what to do if stuff was removed). If the experiment fails and I'm still in the market for an AI, I'll probably put out a want-ad as I cannot make an AI myself (Tried it once, and the character was still KFM in terms of AI).

Okay, enough rambling. Merry Christmas, and looking forward to releasing these sometime in the new year.

[MugenFreak30]

Okay gang, we got a poll.

Anyway, we have an aerial projectile move that is both a typical special move and an aerial super move in the original Moon. Since I'm working on it, I'm curious as to which form of it should be kept. I'd also like to know your reason behind your choice.

[Kirishima]

Both.

Personally, I believe it fits well with Moon's gameplay, should she be a bit more of a projectile user compared to Mars and Jupiter.

[MugenFreak30]

Okay, while I go over the thoughts in my head, as well as any poll results, I'm posting Moon's sff for palette purposes. I've already provided her with the typical Oakland Athletics palette, and her other palettes she had to begin with... Yeah, they're crap. I'd appreciate any and all palette help I can get.

Anyway, here's a link to her sff: http://www.mediafire.com/?mmdkiws2nm5i8fj (If I'm right, her default palette should be embedded in the sprites of the sff)

[Kirishima]

Yeah, it shows the default.



http://www.sendspace.com/file/rq0mw8

[MugenFreak30]

Thanks for the palettes Kirishima.

Update on the Moon repair project! After some playing around with her AI (Meaning many minutes of watch mode matches and debug repairs), I've noticed that sometimes the AI does stuff that isn't possible by the human player, such as being able to launch a normal Spiral Heart Attack projectile immediately after the hyper version has been performed. There have also been some strange physics with the guardpush states as the AI is attempting to perform them, specifically during the air guardpush. So basically after all these observations, I believe I may have to go forth with my traditional thing when doing these edits, and that's remove her default AI and hope to gain an AI patcher of some kind to take it over and make it better than what was originally made by PoshPsylocke.

[MugenFreak30]

Update type thing, I guess.

Just got back to working on Moon as I have been busy moving from one state to another. Anyway, this is an idea that concerns all scouts I release. I have been considering giving them match over winscreens like Fervicante did with his B. Jenet (For those who don't know what I'm talking about, view the image in the spoiler).

Spoiler (click to show)

First thing's first, I would like some feedback on the idea before implementation. Also, since I have a fear of making the scouts seem out of character with winquotes, if the idea does get passed, I'm going to be requesting winquotes for each of the scouts when they are being worked on (Moon is the only real WIP at this point, while Mars and Jupiter were already released). Oh yeah, I'm also hoping that maybe I can get some decent elements for the winscreen that would work for the scouts (Portraits, Sailor Moon logo, maybe some bars with a fitting design instead of just plain black, etc.).

That's pretty much all I have at this point as I'm still settling in to my new place.

[MugenFreak30]

Well, back from a long bout of unpacking, and lucky to get in when there wasn't maintenance going on.

Anyway, I have implemented KOF XI winquote screens in all the scouts after a positive reception in a test release with Mars. Now I'm going to work on Moon's attacks, including deciding which supers will stay and which will go. I am also going to be working on how her damage will be done, which is where our next poll will come in. How should Moon's damage and defense be done? Make your choice in the poll and/or post your thoughts on the subject here.

[MugenFreak30]

Well, I have been considering replacing one of Moon's supers with something different after finding some animation frames in her AIR file that apparently were meant for a super that was never implemented, but now am not sure. Along with that, I don't know which of her supers to keep and which to remove. From where I'm at now, Moon has had her Gorgeous Meditation super changed from multiple projectiles to a beam, and sped up animation frames for the super version of Spiral Heart Attack. I'm almost curious if releasing a beta of the edit would help with figuring out how much is too much.

In addition, I'm looking to implement a new hyper background for when the hyper portrait comes up, like how Mars has the flames going on behind hers and Jupiter has a lightning effect behind hers (Jupiter's hasn't been implemented yet, but will in the next update). Something fitting, yet I so far have no ideas on this one. Suggestions/providers (Those who provide are credited)? Please throw some ideas on this out, I can't do everything myself here.

[MugenFreak30]

Well, it's been a while hasn't it? Anyway, Moon's progressing well, and Keith just had all the sprites from Ralf redone for at least the base work (So all that's left is the hair dye, shirt color change, sunglasses, and American flag bandanna).

Right now with Moon, I am removing one aerial super and one ground super. There is one ground super I'd like to keep, but I don't have any decent audio for it, so it may go out too. There were the sprites and animations I would have liked to have implemented for a super, but have not been able to figure out the best way to use them, nor do I have a decent audio clip for it, so I may just throw those out as well. One thing I may be in the market for are new hit sounds for some moves as for some reason, Gorgeous Meditation's current hitsound mutes the KO announcer on any lifebar after all the hits have been dealt.

In addition, I know I've asked for this a few times to the point of it being annoying, but I am looking for an AI patcher for my Scout releases since I had to kill their old AI due to it not reacting properly to the new pushguard codes. I know most people are going to tell me to do it myself, but the fact is that even after I studied the method for it, I failed hard, and my experiment with that said "No thanks, I'll just act like I don't have an AI like before you tried to give me one."

That's the current report. Read it and give thoughts, or just up and ignore me for better creators. Your choice.

[ThatIdahoGuy]

Well, I decided not to use the unused sprites and animations after all. I have been trying to find a way to use them for a new super, but came up with nothing. Also, after receiving some helpful feedback at the Guild, I have implemented a damage dampener similar to MVC, and have made some other changes to Mars and Jupiter. Moon is still going through some changes, many of which are going to be coming from Mars and Jupiter. One thing I noticed is that I never implemented a Hyper-Combo KO effect to any of these characters, and before I took over updating them, apparently Posh didn't think to add one. So, here comes the question, which Hyper-Combo KO effect should I use for these characters (May also be implemented in future non-Sailor Scout creations)? MVC1? MVC2? Finest KO from CVS2, JJBA? I don't know. Thoughts please?

[Zero-Sennin]

When it comes to something like Hyper Combo finish FX, it's mostly up to whatever aesthetic you prefer.

Personally I'd go with the JJBA one since the strobey-like lights from MvC always gave me a little bit of a headache.