WIP Focus: Sentry, created by Acey

Volzilla has been gracious enough to share an interview he conducted with Acey. If you have been part of the Mugen community for any length of time, you would have undoubtedly have heard his name. He has been part of bringing some of the best made characters to Mugen. In this interview, Acey spoke candidly about one of his newest characters from Mugen: Sentry from Marvel Comics. Anything I wrote in this post will be in blue. Volzilla's questions will be in black bold and Acey's responses will be in black and unbolded.


1) So how did you decide upon bringing Sentry to MUGEN?

I've always been a big Marvel fan but I missed a lot of the story arcs from 1999 through until 2004. I only really began catching up about the time that the New Avengers were formed, which included the Sentry. I really liked the entire design and concept of the "lost character of Stan Lee" that had supposedly predated even the Fantastic Four. I decided I wanted to make him for Mugen, so I picked up all the Sentry material I could get, did my research and here we are today.

2) Please tell me your thoughts about his general comic back history and about the character in general.
The story of the Sentry is the most original I have ever heard. Marvel comics and Wizard magazine got together to sell the idea to the public that this character was actually created by Stan Lee back in the 1960s but was lost to time, and the entire story was built from that concept. Also I think the Sentry fills a major roll in the Marvel Universe without straying from the essential Marvel characteristic that even heroes have flaws.

3) What bases have you used during the creation process?

Ever since Captain Marvel (who uses Urien as a base character) the most popular base in Mugen has become Urien, not because of Captain Marvel but just coincidentally. The inception of Sentry for Mugen followed close on the heels of Captain Marvel although the Sentry wasn't finished about a year later so back then I felt perfectly comfortable overusing Urien as a base since it hadn't been done much yet really. Because of his special attacks it is obvious I used Charlie & Guile, although the animations attached to each attack are different from those two street fighters. Most were actually custom animations, like the reverse flash kick and the clap hyper. In addition, I also used Demitri from Darkstalkers, Magneto from X-Men and I even took an animation or two from the recent Infinity Batman.

4) What all has been finished thus far and what are your thoughts on how the EoH beta version turned out? As in thoughts on current gameplay and move sets, what your proudest of, what gave you trouble, etc.

I am quite happy with the EoH beta version though there is much to be done to make him complete. Originally I had his air reverse flash kick animated as a punch move and I still have that animation which could be put to good use somewhere. He's also missing a throw, which is necessary for balanced game play, any vocal work, or any reference to the Void, his alter ego Bob, or his computer C.L.O.C.K. He has no dizzy animation yet and there were a few bugs in his cape. For example it would disappear after performing an air attack until he landed again. These are all being worked on.

To answer what I'm the most proud of, it's the fact that I designed a character that is right now my favorite character to play as in Mugen, and he is a fair fighter. Game play is always first in my characters.



5) Please tell me about his special and hyper moves to still be completed.

I am planning on one final hyper, which will be related to the Void, Sentry's arch nemesis (who is actually part of Sentry's psyche). Other than that anything is up in the air. The final character always changes so much from the initial concept.
6) Any other plans on implementing The Void into the character? I think I speak for a large portion of the audience when I say that it would be really cool to see him as much as possible.

I agree that we all want to see the Void return again and again in this character. Expect to see him referenced in an intro eventually and like mentioned above, he will also have that hyper move we just discussed.

7) Do you have any special plans in regards to intros/exits with other characters?

I tend to avoid "special intros" unless I'm collaborating with another creator who wants one done. I do this for two reasons, the first because you'll hardly ever see the custom versus intro and second because I would prefer to spend that time making a new character. I too usually enjoy seeing an unexpected custom intro, but for the amount of work necessary, which has no effect on the game play, I'm not motivated enough to make them.


8) Lastly, can you share any thoughts on a timeframe for his individual release?

One thing that the Infinity Mugen Team has always agreed upon internally is that we want to get these characters into your hands. We've all heard stories about "rare characters" that people don't share, or about how creators decided to not finish/release characters because of some perceived "public disrespect". I think this is all absurd and often time it's even just an excuse to get out of the responsibility of finishing or releasing a character you have grown tired of making. Regarding a specific release date, I just don't have one. In 2007, I released characters on the holidays, St. Patrick’s day, 4th of July, etc. In 2008, we had a big release party where we let loose 28 new characters and 13 new stages. I think we're all leaning towards the release party concept but didn't want it to overlap with the Scruffy Dragon team's 12 days of Christmas or the Unlimited's 15 days of Chinese New Years. Either way, most of these new characters found in Super Marvel vs. Capcom: Eternity of Heroes will be available for your own personal Mugen before we release the final build of the completed game project which we expect and have advertised as a 2009 release. We've only missed one dead line so far and that was only by a single day so I feel confident that our track record speaks for itself.


*Thank you for your time and consideration for this article, Acey. To see more of Sentry yourself, download Eternity of Heroes