NEPETAQUEST 2011 Thread 4: Oh god, the quadrants!

[-Benedict]

No.

Also, Nepeta's coat is wider from the front than it is from the back.



Which side is the preferred shape?

Front- the swishing coat animation is specifically for that, while the backsprites just have a moving tail. Not that it matters much.

And oh, man, it's gonna be tiresome digging through the thread for music and tilesets I missed with this new theme. I mean what is even the deal????????

EDIT: ok all the tileset stuff excavated
so are we using the stuff at the end?

[Zizzo]

I hope it only lasts for April Fool's, because oh god my eyes.

And those are our current framework, yeah-- they'll need their grid effect cleaned up. I've started fiddling with the desert tiles, but it's slow going. It's been ages since I did any! I am so rusty at this :V

[8oy Skylark]

I think the stuff at the very end there isn't workable as it is; it feels too much like static. But the second to last is probably usable.

[-Benedict]

All right, so until further notice, the following will be our wilderness base.

[Geekthras]

Having looked at the way the game looks right now, I think we should check out this guy's method for making textures look less tiled:
general technique description

In other news, I made a wicked sweet Alternia remix last night - Alternia (Prankster vers.)

Here's the pdf
by the way, note the pattern of the notes in the treble clef :-)

nice timing with the colors thing, hopefully people are still on the lookout for hidden text?

anyway

happy april 1st

[-Benedict]

oh wow that is the best and longest most amazing remix ever
congrats geekthras

EDIT: ok i totally posted this but i guess they rolled it back


spiky curly plant thing from the concept art

EDIT2: oh hi fucked up thread title

[Geekthras]

Woo forums fixed! In the meantime I remixed Alternia twice for real as a battle win + battle lose combo:

:33 < oh noooooooo!
:33 < oh yessssssss!

Very short obviously, but I'd like a bit of input if possible.

edit: hmm after listening to oh noooooooo I think I want to redo the melody significantly. Doesn't flow as well as I thought it did while I was making it.

edit2: much better, I think?

[8oy Skylark]

So I finally scanned that temple sketch. Keep in mind this is a very quick sketch and is focused on getting the idea across; if the basic design gets used I'll probably do some major edits to what's there now.

show spoiler

hide spoiler

The basic idea I focused on when working on the build was "ancient ruins." This thing has suffered a lot of wear and tear and looks as though it used to be much more magnificent and has since fallen into decay. Only the entrance remains entirely intact. I built it into what is effectively a rock wall for visual effect; having a canyon suddenly open up into this has always been something I've considered kind of awe inspiring.

For the gate design I decided to play with the metroid inspirations we've talked about for the interior; I made two pillars which you put the keys into, with one representing blackrom and one red. I added the cats as a design element; they look a little too animatronic right now, and in further edits I'd probably make them look more like statues. I was also considering having engravings reminiscent of celtic designs representing the fountain on the actual door.

Definitely enjoy the use of Alternia as the victory sound and the fail.

[Dudemaster47]

I guess I have an arrangement of Alternia as well that could be used for a credits theme:

[Cucurbita]

Victory theme needs more power and/or playfullness. Feels thin as is. I've already stated my opinion on dudemaster alternia remix.
I dunno, Alternia is a really powerful theme, taking it out of it's original context feels a bit... cheap.

A carefree victory remix with some walls covered in blood thrown in might work better for a victory theme, due to being a, you know, victory theme.

Liking the sketches of the temple. I think there should be a clear path up to the gate, so I'm not sure there should be a pillar in the way. That might be me misunderstanding the sketch though. Ground could be overgrown cobblestone? The celtic markings might make the sprite look cluttered so I would be wary of including them. Just some simple engravings should be fine.

[konec0]

I'm going to point out that VeritasUnae already did a little victory jingle quite a while back, which I quite liked. But I can't find it right now. I guess we have to wait for him to get back on and repost it.

Personally, I agree with Cucurbita re: the usage of Alternia's theme. Using it for an ending theme though, that's something I can get behind. =3

...
Comments coming tomorrow morning, when I'm more conscious and not half-asleep. As a preliminary comment re: Dudemaster's remix, I'm finding the strings a bit jarring because they keep starting and stopping; they really need to be smoother, especially with a theme like Alternia, a very "flow-y" sort of theme IMO if that made sense to anyone who's not me.

I like how it happens to be 4:13 though. =3

[OrangeAipom]

We're not using this Karkat, right? It's still in the first post.

[Drillgorg]

Hey guys I have some time on my hands for some small odd job graphics things. Any requests?

[-Benedict]

@Aipom: Naw, messed up head, frames inconsistent with the way walking animations are supposed to work, short compared to the frontsprite, etc. New one's in the game already.

@Drillgorg: Oh hey, helping with odd graphical jobs? Aside from the general need for tilesets and in-game objects, we could also use someone to go over this Karkat battle animation by Zerovirus and add shading and detail work to the in-between frames. He's redoing the second attack (line), though, so I guess the first one is what could use work.

EDIT: Who went through the wiki and replaced all those image files with "external image" boxes? And also adding duplicate images? This is why people should sign up, so I can ask them about this stuff directly- changelog just lists a guest IP.

[Dudemaster47]

I smoothed it up:

[OrangeAipom]

I think the first line is being redone too.



I'll have to listen to the real Alternia afterwards. :3

[Geekthras]

If oh noooooooo ever gets edited into the OP, here's the tindeck link (I like to know how many downloads my songs have, also it's not really slow like my normal links)

[8oy Skylark]

Is there a general consensus on it because if so I'll edit it in.

[Cucurbita]

I dunno, I'm still not comfortable with using Alternia like this. I mean it's better to use it as a game over theme rather than a victory theme, but both just don't sit right with me. Shouldn't they be a bit longer anyway? Just a tiny bit. Victory theme needs to be longer for sure, so that the battlers can do their little victory dance.

[Dudemaster47]

So how is the smoother Alternia? Is it more fitting for a credits theme?

[Zerovirus]

@Drillgorg: Oh hey, helping with odd graphical jobs? Aside from the general need for tilesets and in-game objects, we could also use someone to go over this Karkat battle animation by Zerovirus and add shading and detail work to the in-between frames. He's redoing the second attack (line), though, so I guess the first one is what could use work.

EDIT: Who went through the wiki and replaced all those image files with "external image" boxes? And also adding duplicate images? This is why people should sign up, so I can ask them about this stuff directly- changelog just lists a guest IP.

I tried posting my updated 2x attack thing twice while the forums were spazzing. None of the posts went through.


not sure if improved or not, i also don't have an updated spritesheet yet sorry

Also, I signed up and I have no idea if I got accepted because I haven't been to the wiki in a while.

[Dudemaster47]

Looks great, man. All it needs is shading.

Of course, it's not finished yet so that can wait, right?

[Geekthras]

I didn't relink the victory theme because after listening to it later, when I hadn't been working on it for a while, I can see that it's not very good.

I'm a little annoyed about the argument about not taking out of its original context. You can remix a good song and put it in utterly different contexts! Witness Harlequin --> Hardlyquin, Chorale for Jaspers <--> Pony Chorale <--> Chorale for War, or the songs that Radiation himself remixed from Theme to produce a title screen song, a victory jingle, and an ending theme. All I'm really doing is borrowing the general theme of the piano bassline, anyway!

I realize I might be acting a bit touchy about 10 seconds of music, but this is like the only music I've written so far that I'm basically completely happy with, and I don't think not wanting to take Alternia out of its original context is a legitimate concern.

[Cucurbita]

Yeah I think we're holding off on all the shading untill you've finished a full five(?) link combo that you're happy with.

Unless Geekthras wants us to start messing around with the first step so he can have atleast one attack animation or something?

e: Yeah see, it is a legitmate concern. Because Alternia is a powerful theme and it has gotten pretty powerful reactions out of a lot of people, there is a chance of said people feeling weirded out when it's used like that, as is evident from both me and konec0s reactions. I'm not saying it's impossible to do a good alternia remix but what I am saying is that you have to do something pretty spectacular so it doesn't just feel like a cheap knock off to the original.

[Geekthras]

I love Alternia as much as the next person, but I don't like the way you're putting it up on a pedestal. Music is something that should be experienced fully and interacted with, not left untouched as if it's this holy thing; remixing is one of the best ways to show your love for the original. I haven't talked to anyone else who shares your opinion that it feels weird to use it as a game over song and at least one told me they think it would fit perfectly. Personally, I think using Alternia as the base for a Game Over theme enhances it. Furthermore, using it as an end song will cheapen it in my eyes because we're going to be making a version to use in almost the exact same context and there's no way we're going to make something as good as the original, so it would come off as a cheap knock-off to me.

As for animations, as long as there are basic versions in place, I'll be very happy.