Basic packages

[Diva]

This is kind of a roundabout question, and I'm not sure whether this is the right sub-forum. Anyway, I downloaded MUGEN stuffs for the first time on Tuesday night, and eagerly started on the character-creation stuff when I found out it was something I could comprehend. =P

I've done sprite-work before, but never been able to do it quickly. I've text-modded game mechanics before, but never had the mind of an actual programmer. I'm trying to build an original character, and it's clear that it'll take the long haul to do. My plan is this:

1) Having found a highly appropriate 'skeleton sprite', make basic changes to the proportion, color, features, and 'positioning' until it looks mostly right for the character and for the attacks I want to add.
2) Load the sprite and only the sprite into Fighter Factory and build the animation/behavior/attacks from the ground-up.
3) Go back through the sprite files and make the character's outfit/poses more character-appropriate.
4) Iron out the gameplay problems, after I know more of what I'm doing with them.
5) Possibly rebuild the sprite competely.
6) You know the drill.


Now, much of my MUGEN-time since Tuesday night has been spent reading tutorials and poking through Fighter Factory features and such, but as of this morning, all I've got done is the standing-idle frames for Step 1. So yea, long haul. I have 1 major question and 1 minor one:


*Any there any standard/recommended "packages" for beginning MUGEN 1.0? I'm not worried about wanting to use any specific character etc, but I'd kinda like to have a game to play while I work on this. Hell, I'll burn myself out if I don't. Not to mention that I need to be mucking around with character-mechanics before I actually get to Step 2. But overall, the less time I spend constructing my basic game environment, the more I can spend working on my character. (And if the break-times feel like work, too... Eww)

So, what basic collections of screenpacks/characters/etc would you point newcomers toward, for playing around with?


*I'm not to this point yet, so this is mostly just a "can this be done" question. But can you require a non-zero variable to be decremented as part of the cost of a 'Super'? As in, I want my character to have to spend 'charge stocks' (of some sort) as an additional 'cost' to use a Super move (but still have to spend Power as well). Is this currently possible?

[Cyanide]

For your second question. Absolutely. Varset and Varadd will allow this to occur quite happily as well as the Power bar itself.

For your first question. Well... you could download a giant compilation, there's lots but you'll get out some decidedly average stuff and it won't necessarily all be to your taste.

If you want some quick quality, get a few things off the main page of mugen guild. I also suggest going to both Trinity Mugen and Random Select who list/host many of the higher quality characters available.

In the end it's going to depend on your tastes a bit. What do YOU like and then we can suggest better options. (and this part of the topic should be in discussion once you have a decent idea of what sort of thing you want)

[Diva]

Kinda looking for something like this, I think, although without being so buggy and without the 'space fiction' theme:

http://mugenguild.com/forumx/index.php?topic=121777.0

[Cyanide]

I recommend you visit requests and or discussion to ask about screenpacks and which one suits your needs best then.

If you ask for a recommendation, give themes you would like, or specifically don't want, and number of slots. You will not normally get characters with these.

[Diva]

Guess it's kind of irrelevant now anyway. I decided to take things a lot slower and adjust to/experiment with the Mugen engine more thoroughly before trying to go full-throttle on the sprites. I said I didn't want to piece together everything bit-by-bit, but that's exactly what I spent yesterday doing. =P

I really took a shine to Zero's Ky-Chan character, so I'll probably start borking her in various ways as my means of learning state/command/hitbox type stuff. Though all I've done so far is just change a few entries in the primary CNS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXWGxwNopRQ&hd=1

...If you see this, Zero, consider it fan-mail. I know it's an edit, but the moveset is a lot of what I like about the character. =D


Anyway, thanks for your comments, Cyanide.