AuthorTopic: Blaster Master  (Read 8605 times)

Offline Arne

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Re: Blaster Master

Reply #10 on: July 14, 2007, 10:44:52 pm
There's not a single good spritesheet for this game on the net (just bad rips). I think I gave you the stuff I extracted though...?

Outlines on sprites the size of Jason doesn't work well, imo. Proportionally you're wasting a lot of pixels on lines, both internal and external, where color/values contrast between adjacent pixels would suffice to separate parts. Every pixel is precious. I recall seeing a badly ripped BM spritesheet with added outlines.

I don't think you're adressing the key features of the design. Looking at the orig. sprite and design, we conclude:

    It can jump by using suspension, the wheels are not firmy attached are relative to a center node, and can be morphed/replaced with other things (in my remake: jets, legs, tracks, propellers, suction cups).
    It's a tank,
    ...with a huge gun.
    It can rotate it's turret around a center node.
    Jason can enter and exit the cockpit easily via an opening hatch.
    The wheels have a screw-like feature so you can tell they rotate.
    It's red-pink and white.
    Decorative rear wing.
    (Also, the robots are grey. )


Right now your Sophia has a lot of little knobs, grills and decoration which uses up space which could be better utilized defining the gameplay relevant properties of Sophia.

Of course, one can feel free to change a thing or two, but the more you deviate, the less BM remains.



Yeah, grey can be dangerous to use for the protagonist because it's mid everything, making the character harder to spot. Red with a purple tone along with white is a good high contrast solution featuring an unnatural color unlikely to appear in terrain etc.

I'm not sure about using the more obscure images of the Sophia design as ref. The design people have been staring at is the gameplay sprite.

I'd place the turret on a ring which goes across the cockpit center.. somehow... hmm now I gotta draw that.
« Last Edit: July 14, 2007, 10:46:24 pm by Arne »

Offline Derek

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Re: Blaster Master

Reply #11 on: July 16, 2007, 02:17:15 am
Hey, Arne!  I think you sent me some rips once... on IRC maybe?  Because I can't find it in my GTalk downloads folder (where I keep the rest of my Arne pics ;)).

But yeah, re: your critiques... I'm not sure I understand completely how my design deviates (other than the color).  It seems that the basic elements you mentioned are there.  Generally, I tried to look at as many sources as possible and then selected features that I liked.  I think looking only at the original sprite itself, you run into problems, because of the limitations of the hardware.  For one thing, the design deviates within the game, from ingame to the cutscenes.  A lot of the concept art is official, also.  The Nintendo Power version seems to be in line somewhat with the ingame concepts.

Also, my intent isn't to recreate the first game, which is perfect for what it is.  Which isn't an excuse for poor pixelling, but I think I can get away with adding some of my own ideas (for better or for worse).  My idea now is that Jason Frudnick, having been in so many battles with the Plutonium boss, has become irradiated and is himself turning into a mutant (another incarnation of the Plutonium Boss?).  He goes nuts and takes SOPHIA the 3rd with him.  You're playing as someone else, maybe his son or his assistant, and you're piloting a new generation of vehicles.  Maybe the ATHENA (All-Terrain Hyper-responsive Energy-efficient Neutralizing Abdicator)? :hehe:

But thanks for the advice - I'll spend some more time thinking about what you said and see if I can improve the readability of both sprites.  What everyone is saying has merits and I'll see how capable I am of making the improvements.

And I'd love to see your take on it, as well, if you have the inclination. :)

Offline Derek

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Re: Blaster Master

Reply #12 on: July 23, 2007, 11:03:00 am

Offline tocky

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Re: Blaster Master

Reply #13 on: July 23, 2007, 11:53:00 am
Looking pretty schmick. The main thing that bugs me is the stone tile, because you can see where it's mirrored in parts, and it doesn't tile well vertically - whereas the stone in the original tiles endlessly, even if it doesn't do it very well. I don't imagine it'd be too hard to pull off something similar to that, but, you know, better. Here, I'll see if I can't show you what I mean.

Offline Derek

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Re: Blaster Master

Reply #14 on: July 23, 2007, 11:59:08 am
Looking pretty schmick. The main thing that bugs me is the stone tile, because you can see where it's mirrored in parts, and it doesn't tile well vertically - whereas the stone in the original tiles endlessly, even if it doesn't do it very well. I don't imagine it'd be too hard to pull off something similar to that, but, you know, better. Here, I'll see if I can't show you what I mean.

Thanks!  I know exactly what you mean - there are seams in the tiling!  Will be taken care of in later updates. :)

Offline tocky

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Re: Blaster Master

Reply #15 on: July 23, 2007, 12:22:13 pm
Yeah, I had a feeling you know what you're doing :D

I threw together a quick edit, anyways.

Offline Xion

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Re: Blaster Master

Reply #16 on: July 23, 2007, 03:55:49 pm
The shading on the sides of the cliffs confuses my poor li'l brain.