Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Mugen: Nightcrawler



Nightcrawler is an awesome character. I enjoy reading the character in the books or watching him in animation. He was also well-done in X-Men 2. I love the way he makes jokes to deal with his appearance. Like Beast, Nightcrawler can't go around normal people and fit in. He uses his faith and humor to deal with that. I also like how he constantly helps other people even if he knows that they would not do the same for him. I admire that. That is what a hero does. Nightcrawler has cool powers. He can teleport himself and anything he is touching to any plkace he can see or has been. Here is some information on the character:
http://www.marvel.com/universe/Nightcrawler

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightcrawler_(comics)




















Nightcrawler Mugen Versions
ImageCreator

Fun


Factor

AILookDownloads
Twinimage969Download Nightcrawler.zip from twinimage - Host-A Hosting



Twinimage did an awesome job. I loved playing with his Nightcrawler. It's awesome. The controls are great because you can pull special moves without too much problems. My favorite move is the one where Nightcrawler uppercuts his opponent, launching the other character into the air and then he teleports next to them hitting them multiple times. I also like the super where he calls Excalibur for help and they come in and beat up the opponent. Good times. Trust...this is one character you want on your mugen roster.



Marvel's Top 70 Issues


There is a contest to vote on the greatest stories ever published by Marvel over at Marvel.com. I would heartily recommend looking at the 70 nominees. Marvel has a great history there are many stories that deserve to be on the list but here is the "short" list.

What Is It like To Be A Student At the Xavier Institute?


On April 15, Marvel is publishing a book written from the point of view of a student at the Xavier Institute as if it's the student's blog! I like the concept. The only way I'd improve on it is to make it an on-going blog. Fortunately, Marvel is promoting the book by publishing 2 entries a week for the "blog" for a few short weeks. Read the article and the second blog entry at Read X-Student Eric Mattias Blog. I think it is great. The book is called Wolverine: Worst Day Ever. Here is part 3.

Monday, March 30, 2009

March Madness - Day Seven - Finals


This post marks the the final battle of the March Madness Tournament on this blog. It will pit



Savage Hulk --- representing Hyperion76
Vs.
Thing --- representing Batzarro


Since this is the last post, Volzzilla and I wanted to make it special. Volzzilla has recorded three interesting fights. These fights are presented first. Followed by the final official video of the tournament. Here are some comments from Volzzilla where he gives his perspectives and a rundown of possible prizes for the winner.



In this corner we have Savage Hulk! He has had a very difficult journey getting to this point. In his opening match against Bane, he was utterly dominated in the first round. He was then able to close the gap before showing that famous temper streak to finish Bane off. Savage Hulk’s next match was against Spiderman. He got off to a quick start, but then allowed Spiderman to push the match to 5 rounds before finally beating him. The next match was probably his most difficult against the Martian Manhunter. This was a truly epic back and forth that could have had a different outcome had Savage Hulk not interrupted a mind blast and then delivering the killing blow. And in his semifinal match, he had to rely on anger issues once again as he was far behind Lobo, until taking over for the victory.



And in this corner we have The Thing! His trip to the finals was not as tricky, but it was just as interesting in the end. His close call happened in the first round. He traded blows with Silver Surfer for a bit, but was falling further and further behind along the way. There was an attempt at a power cosmic explosion by the Surfer that would have ended things, but The Thing luckily interrupted this move and then finished him off. His next match was against his Fantastic teammate and best friend, Mr. Fantastic. A lot of blows were traded back and forth and the fight went the distance until he pulled out the win. Robin was the next opponent, but this proved to be not much of a challenge to advance out of Group C. And finally we come to the interesting part. Due to a mistake, two different versions of The Thing were used causing a bit of controversy that needed to be overcome. When things were explained fully, the fight took place once again and he took Rorschach behind the woodshed for the beat down.

Why are they going through all this trouble? To be the best representative for their entrant as they can.

Savage Hulk is representing Hyperion76, while The Thing represents Batzarro. The Mugen representative character who comes out on top, will win their entrant the ability to decide on two pieces of future content for the website. These are a few examples of those possibilities you will have to choose from:

- Help decide a future WIP Focus article
- Help decide a future Creator Focus article
- Determine a subject of a poll
- Determine options for a poll
- If you are a creator, we can do a Creator Focus on you or discuss a WIP you are working on
- You can write an article on your favorite storyline from the comics
- Write a reader review of a Mugen character similar to the ones posted on the website, but you can go into whatever details you would like
- Maybe help come up with a brand new article series
- Write your own 'What If?…MUGENized article'

This is just the tip of the iceberg, but it can give you an idea. Basically anything that you can think of that is on the topic of Marvel/DC Mugen or comics in general are fair game in regards to determining this content addition.

However, due to the fact that both of the final contestants are Mugen creators with incredible WIPs in the process, we will sweeten the pot a little. For whoever comes in second place, they are granted a WIP Focus article to be done in the future on one of the current projects of their choice.

One other thing, both contestants will also be allowed to showcase their favorite sprite from a future Sprite Contest that will involve characters from the ‘WhatIf?…MUGENized’ series.

Without further ado, please enjoy this epic showdown it is the best of 3 battles followed by official ending video of the tournament:



There will be another post for March Madness. That Post will officially announce the winner and will give instructions on how the prizes will be awarded. Then there will be a final post explaining what prize package was chosen by the winner.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

March Madness - Day Six - Finals Preview


By now you know that the characters involved in the final battle of the tournament are the Savage Hulk and the Thing. Their rivalry in comic books and animated series is the stuff of legends. Each are immensely powerful and on some level each character envies traits in the other however neither would ever admit it.

Here is a video from YouTube chronicling the Hulk/Thing rivalry.




Well, here it is. The Final battle of the tournament.




Vs.




Savage Hulk --- representing Hyperion76
Vs.
Thing --- representing Batzarro






Tomorrow there will be a special post announcing the winner!

Creator Interview: Twinimage


Well, Volzzilla has done it again. He passed on to me an interview he did with Twinimage. I am really impressed with his work and I was grateful to him for setting aside time to answer Volzzilla's insightful questions. As always, Volzzilla's comments and questions are bolded and Twinimage is unbolded.


1) How and when did you get into Mugen?


Well, I think it was around 2007, I was working with Game Maker and looking for Capcom/Marvel sprites to use for a game I wanted to make. I ran into a MUGEN site and saw Jean Grey and was like, "Wow!” But I didn't understand the file format of what I downloaded. I forgot about it and a month or so later I returned. I downloaded MUGEN and found out all about it and I’ve been hooked ever since.

2) Why did you decide to get into the creation side of MUGEN, and do you focus more on spriting or coding?


I wasn't sure how well I could sprite, so I thought I'd start with stages. I wanted to give something back to the DC vs Marvel team, cause I enjoyed their work and their project so much. So, I created "The Sky Is Bleeding!" stage ("http://host-a.net/twinimage/SkyBleeding.zip), based on a scene from the DCvM comic series. I kept working on stages, until I started to learn about coding. I thought I'd try coding characters and even making Nightcrawler. When the Scruffydragon's released their character template I really started to learn how to code. I think I prefer coding, most of the time. I like spriting too, but it's so time consuming and I'm not the best there is.

3) When you are just focusing on having fun and playing, what characters do you tend to use the most and why?

Loganir's characters for sure, especially Wonder Woman. But also any of the other ScruffyDragon's characters because their top-notch quality and they're comic book characters I want on my Mugen roster. There's a character I made of myself not long ago, so sometimes I play that, lol It's kind of cheap though, sprite-wise, I did it just for fun and to unleash my creativity.

4) What comic character not already made or in the process of being made do you wish was MUGENized?

There are probably a good number of X-men I wish were made. A better Professor X and Jubilee come to mind. I’m also interested in Shadowcat, and Toad. (editor’s note: expect some of those to be discussed in a future ‘What If?…’ article.)

5) You are quite involved in a number of good Mugen projects; lets discuss your involvement with SGM’s Amalgam first.


Well, I'm a programmer, stage maker, and the head creator of Nightcreeper. Sic-1 chose me to be part of the team because of my work on Nightcrawler. It's great being part of such a young and quickly progressing project. We all help each other out. Sic-1 chose a great group of people for this team.

6) And your involvement with Project X?

First I must say, PROJECT X IS NOT DEAD! We just choose to keep its progress a little quieter due to some previous leaks. As for my initially joining Project X, I believe it started when I was making Nightcrawler and jr6 was impressed and wanted to work with me as well. So we talked a little. Eventually, he was also looking for a new programmer for his Dazzler. He chose me and we worked together on Nightcrawler and Dazzler. Later, since I was his programmer I was qualified for being part of Project X! It's a dream come true; when I started out with MUGEN I never imagined I would be part of this project.

7) Let us discuss Dazzler then. Will there be another released version anytime soon?

Well, jr6 is quite busy right now and he's doing some great new stuff with Dazzler. I'm just the coder, and until more sprites are made, we won't be seeing any new release of her for a while. But believe me, from what I've seen; she's going to Dazzle you!

8) Please tell us about your current WIPs.

As most may know, there is Nightcrawler, who is almost completely finished, so be on the look out for him soon. Next in line is Nightcreeper for the Amalgam project. He'll most likely be very similar to Nightcrawler, gameplay-wise. I have the team helping me out on this one, so hopefully we can make him unique and different from Nightcrawler. There are other AOS characters I'm helping with coding and Project X characters I'm helping out on, with spriting or coding. In regards to the other Project X WIPs, I don't want to say anything just yet, but keep an eye on my signature or avatar for my next big project involving them.

9) So what initially got things kicked off with Nightcrawler?

Well, I saw MamboJambo's Nightcrawler previews and very much liked what I saw, but I didn't care for the design of him. So, I just started to create my own Nightcrawler since I had always been a fan. Ironically, I am also coding MamboJambo’s version who will be very much different, but still enjoyable.

10) Tell us about his special and hyper moves.


Well, he can teleport, of course, as well as do a teleport attack, where he does like a flying kick almost. And you can't have Nightcrawler without swords, so he has a sword attack. The real fun is with the hypers. One hyper has him teleport all over the screen, taking the opponent with him, and then knocking them around the screen. There's also his sword hyper, ending with an epic final blow in the air. Then there is his disappearing hyper. It's probably a less known fact that he can fade into shadows easily, making it easier to attack enemies. You can't hit what you can't see. There's a couple more specials and hypers planned, but I may leave those for like a version 2.0 release





A video of Twinimage's and jr6's Dazzler can be seen at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMxZcMRMHq0&feature=channel_page

11) Sounds incredible, I especially like the Excaliber hyper in addition to those. When will Nightcrawler be ready for full release?


I was hoping to release him March 1st, 2009, to celebrate my graduating from college. But real life stuff, like graduating from college and the flu got in the way. But he's closer than ever. His basics are done; most of his specials and hypers are done. Just need to add the finishing touches to him. Let’s just say, expect something very, very soon ;)


12) Looking forward to him already. Any tips you would like to share on how you all work that may help other creators?


Well, first off, take your time. Learn what you're good at, whether it be coding, spriting or something indirectly related to MUGEN creation. Maybe start off with stages, or maybe just plain sprite edits not intended for a character WIP. And if you want to be part of a project, like I wanted when I first started out, show your work to people and wait. See if project team members like your work and try to subtly start conversations with them. I became part of projects because jr6 liked my work and we just talked a little bit.

13) Everyone knows that MUGEN creation is very detailed oriented and time consuming. What keeps you motivated to continue your work?


I have no idea. A number of times I thought of not finishing Nightcrawler. I think being part of a project team helped me stay motivated. Sometimes I take huge breaks from working on anything MUGEN, then I go all out spriting or coding. And of course releasing video previews and finally releasing my work and seeing that people like it really motivates me to continue.


Be sure to keep an eye out at Favorite Fiction as we will update you on Nightcrawler’s release, as well as offer up a review as soon as we can. To check out Twinimage’s progress on him go to:

http://www.scruffydragon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=4551

To read more about Nightcrawler in general:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightcrawler_(comics)

http://www.comicvine.com/nightcrawler/29-1461/

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Scruffy Dragon's 2009 Scruffyversary Preview and 2008 Recap


Volzzilla has written an awesome article that serves as a preview for the Scruffy Dragon's Release Party for 2009 and a retrospective on the 2008 Release Party.


By Volzzilla

Disclaimer: I do not have much inside information. The following is based off of a few conversations with Buyog (special thanks to him for providing a little bit of guidance here and there for this article), the interview he did for us, my own internet research, and pure conjecture.

Last year’s inaugural Scruffyversary got off to a very interesting start to say the least. The first release was Pocket Batman on April 1st. So because of him being a pocket character, the date, and the community not being ready for an event such as this, people initially thought what was going on, was just an April Fools joke. Boy, were they mistaken, as last years event was truly something memorable. But before we get into the recap, let’s discuss why there even is such an anniversary.

A few years ago, Buyog initially had this vision of bringing a DC vs. Marvel crossover game to Mugen. He posted this idea on a few forums in hopes of finding other creators who may be interested. There was quite a bit of interest shown from people, but the earliest partners that are still around to this day are Magus and SethZankuten. This team would later gain the likes of great creators such as McCready, Loganir, Wucash, Verz36 and others. You can see the official Scruffy Dragon Roster by going to:

http://www.scruffydragon.com/wiki/index.php?title=Dragons

This team, working on one great vision would eventually be known as Scruffy Dragon Productions and set up operations at Scruffydragon.com which became the home of the DCvM project, and shortly there after other projects. They would then celebrate the first anniversary of their coming together at Scruffydragon.com with last years April event and now we are ready for the second one!

Okay, let’s recap last year’s event. The format the Scruffy Dragon team decided to go with for the event was a new theme each week, the first of which, Pocket World Project. Like I said, initially people thought it was an elaborate April Fool’s Joke, but they soon realized this was something real, a new direction for the team, and fun. After Batman, other Pocket releases were: Superman, Wonder Woman, Pocket Gotham City and Pocket Metropolis and Pocket Bizarro (during Bizarro themed week; more on that later). Since then, there have been pocket releases for Ice, Flash, Captain Cold, and the Flash Museum. To see everything you need to know about this project, including the WIPs, go to: http://www.scruffydragon.com/f/pocket.html

The next theme of the week for Scruffyversary was Preview Week. During this period, the team released a number of YouTube videos showing either character WIPs in action, or in the case of Plastic Man, what MamboJambo had in store for an update. Buyog started things off with a humorous video of his Lobo vs. the Duck Hunt bonus stage. This was then followed by previews for: War Machine, Cyborg & Mandarin, Joker, Plastic Man update, Savage Hulk (who has since be released and is awesome), Electro (received a very good beta release), and Iron Man (v.99 released in Janurary which I think is not only the best Iron Man out there, but one of the best comic content related characters out there period).

The third week was sort of multi-tiered under the header of Bizarro Week. During this week numerous things were released all under that same concept. Things were kicked off with a preview video and were then followed by: Pocket Bizarro release, DC Bizarro palettes, Marvel Bizarro palettes, the release of Plasticzarro, and finally culminating with the release of the Bizarro beta. The character releases here were a prelude to the next week of…

…DCvM week, the final event of the 1st annual Scruffyversary. During this week not only were there quite a number of great character releases, but you also had various information about the game dropped. The released content (many times videos were included) consisted of: Storm remix, Bishop w/Danger Room remix stage, Ryker Prison & Lexcorp Tower stages, DC/M Character templates, Mongul & Debstam IV stage, Iceman remix, Silver Surfer and Out In Space stage, sprite tutorial video, DCvM game intro, and finally Starfire.





For more info on the game in general:

http://www.scruffydragon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=474&st=0&p=31763&#entry31763

http://www.scruffydragon.com/f/dcvsm.html

If you would like to check out all of those corresponding threads, go to:

http://www.scruffydragon.com/forum/index.php?showforum=9

What is on the horizon for the 2nd Annual Scruffyversary? Well, that is harder to answer, due to the team deciding to take a more underground approach to progress because of past leaks. But I would expect another weekly theme format where there will be eventual content releases, maybe some contests, more videos, and anything else that they have up their sleeve to build up the anticipation and enjoyment for all.

However, it looks like things have sort of hit a prelude state for this year because of this post about a Treasure Hunt:

http://www.scruffydragon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=6471&st=0

This can also be seen on the front page of their main website, but as of right now, it is hard to deduce what this means. It looks like they are giving hints to finding parts of a website address that will play a huge part in kicking off the festivities but we will have to wait and see what is really going on there.

Other than that, there are other hints here and there of what may come. For instance, there is a possibility that we might see more from the characters previewed in week 2 of the 2008 event. There are also a number of WIPs team members are working on, some of which they have given forum posts about, or in the case of Buyog, listed at his website, Buyog's Lair: Buyog2099's MUGEN Creations. They include:

Bizarro by Buyog

Captain America by Verz36, Alienmorph, and Jinzo

Cyborg Superman by Kal-Elvis

Dr.Octopus by Verz36

Astonishing Cyclops by Verz36

Elektra by Buyog

Mandarin by Buyog and McCready

Parasite by Buyog

Sinestro by Buyog

Ultron by McCready and Enzo

Wildcat by JeffPR and Magus

This team probably has more in the works privately, so perhaps we will find out more about them. And who knows, maybe some community members who are showcasing their WIP topics in their forum will get involved. You can see a table that includes these publicly known WIPs, as well as others, by going to:

http://mmcelhaney-fiction.blogspot.com/2009/03/mugen-wips-sumary-march-2009.html

Please bear with us if information needs to be updated, as the table is also a Work In Progress itself, and relies on readers to help correct things when we can.

We can also expect some potential updates to characters, as the team is very committed to updating their characters for the community. For instance, Buyog has stated at his website that Savage Hulk and Elektra will be updated for Scruffyversary. Savage Hulk is already great, so any improvements will be awesome. And Elektra will basically be a brand new release given the original beta and this new incarnation. During the 12 days event, some of the incredible character releases were not quite v1.0. These are: Darkseid Alpha, Kon-El, Vulture, Electro, and Iron Man (v.99 but still, if .01 is missing, then Magus must have some surprise for us all on what is already a great character.) You want more info? Also check out the current download files for Mongul and Ghost Rider. Mongul is said to be v.80 and Ghost Rider is a beta file on the website and said to be v.60 in the readme file. They already rock, so any chance at updates for them would also be unbelievable. Especially if one of those updates was something called, ‘Penance Stare,’ but that might be wishful thinking on my part ;) So it is fair game that any of those characters, as well as any of their other releases might be updated as well.

Other possibilities discussed include: Parasite and Sinestro beta releases by Buyog at his website, SethZankuten working on general play-balancing and changed effects such as Darkseid’s new Omega Blast, and Amalgam hypers for a number of already released characters. Plus, do not forget, Shazam was previewed during the 12 days of Christmas, so that is another possibility. And perhaps I was seeing things, but I could have sworn I saw a comment about an update to Superman somewhere in the forum. Again, I could be mistaken in that regard.

And finally DCvM Phase 1. Judging by the nature of the teaser post on their front page and in the forum, I would be willing to guess there would be some involvement there. Why do I think this? Well, there were comments during the 12 days event saying they were trying to rush that out the door then, so there has been time to polish up the work that was completed then and do something more. Then all the previous things that relate to the project already discussed in this article. But one more piece of evidence I submit, during that interview with Buyog, he did say he could see the light at the end of a long tunnel in regards to Phase 1. We choose to save this tidbit until later, and I am sharing it with you now. Besides, would this not be the perfect time for something like that? And why go through all the trouble of the elaborate Treasure Hunt if something big was not planned?

I do have one other theory for an additional possibility, but I think it is best if I keep that to myself for now…other than teasing you all here about it, LOL.

Anything else, your guess is as good as mine, but it will be fun watching to see what happens!

Friday, March 27, 2009

March Madness - Day Five - Semi-Finals


And welcome to the Semifinals! It's down to four characters and coming down to the top 2 characters of the tournament. Without any further delay here are the semi-final matches!







Savage Hulk --- representing Hyperion76
vs
Lobo --- representing garyoldman




Thing --- representing Batzarro
Vs.
Rorschach --- representing ivan_kou




It has come to light that I used the version of Thing found at http://www.infinitymugenteam.com but Volzzilla used the version of Thing found at http://www.freewebs.com/warner12/personajeschars.htm in all the previous fights. Therefore, I have re-ran the fight using the other Thing. And here are results:



At the very beginning of the tournament, it was pointed out that we will be pitting versions of characters with similar AI as much as possible. Sorry for any confusion.

Infinity Mugen Team Release Party 2009 Preview

Volzzilla has written an awesome article that serves as a preview for the Infinity Mugen Team's Release Party for 2009 and a retrospective on the 2008 Release Party.

By Volzzilla
Disclaimer: I am not claiming any insider information, as the thoughts expressed here are purely conjecture based on the research done from the IMT Forum.

Last year, Infinity Mugen Team started a new tradition for themselves by having a massive release party for numerous characters, stages, and other add-ons related to their Super Marvel vs. Capcom: Eternity of Heroes project. I will discuss things related to their comic releases here, due to the nature of this website, but you can check out all of the official releases they had by going to:

http://www.infinitymugenteam.com/infinity.wiki/mediawiki/index.php?title=Infinity_2008_Release_Party

Things all kicked off for them by releasing Vyn’s Boneclaw Wolverine and their 2.0 edition of EoH. It is kind of interesting to see all the progress they have made since that release, up to the current 4.6 release from a few weeks ago. After that great start, they ended up releasing 11 new Marvel characters and 7 Marvel related stages:

  • MvC Green Goblin by Acey
  • The Booklyn Bridge stage
  • MvC Hulk 2099 by Acey
  • Lotusland Productions stage
  • MvC Juggernaut by Acey
  • Area Under Construction stage by Iron Fist
  • Silver Surfer by xboy and Acey
  • MvC Human Torch by xboy and Acey
  • Baxter Building stage by Dead x and BigJ
  • MvC Banshee by Acey
  • "On The Top Of The World" stage by Tiago Frossard
  • MvC Gambit by REDHOT
  • MvC Galactus by Acey
  • MvC Beast by Acey
  • X-Lab by Acey
  • Captain Marvel by eSkRo and Acey
  • Infinity Moon stage by Eternaga

The event finished off with the individual release for the boss of their incredible project, Symbiote Onslaught, by Stever76 and Excursion.

This year, you can expect things to be even bigger. There are a number of characters that are in the most recent version of their project that have not been individually released, two of which who have received a lot of buzz on their forums in The Punisher and Wolvenom. The latter of which, DarkTalbain has stated has gone through numerous upgrades, and hopefully this upgraded Wolvenom will make this year’s release party. Other awesome characters that are in EoH and are not yet individually released are: Captain Mar-Vell, Sentry, and Excursion’s Galactus. I hope all of those are released, but Sentry is the one that excites me the most as he has turned into such an iconic character for Marvel Publishing already. Apparently there was a Symbiote Punisher beta that was playable in the 4.6 EoH release as well, but due to the beta status, hard to say if he will be included. To find out more:

http://www.infinitymugenteam.com/infinity.wiki/mediawiki/index.php?title=Super_Marvel_vs._Capcom:_Eternity_of_Heroes





But that is not all, as the team has made various comments about changes. Acey is working on custom versions of Captain America, Hulk, and an Unmasked Wolverine as we speak. Acey has also made a few comments to us in interviews about upgrading Captain Marvel, Genis-Vell edition, but that might or might not be further down the road. There has also been talk of updating some Kong Marvel characters like Magneto, Storm and maybe some others in regards to adjusting some playability for individual release. Sabaki has also made comments about upgrades coming to EoH Psylocke. This is probably just a pipe dream to suggest, but I hope something is seen (even if it is only video content) from Morph and Angel...especially Apocalypse’s Angel as I’ve seen some truly impressive videos involving him.

But the Infinity Mugen Team might not stop at just Eternity of Heroes releases. Check out this video:



Yes, it looks like upgrades are in store for their Batman as Mr. 47 and others have been working very hard on him. There has been a lot of discussion at their forum in regards to what may come, which I hope is a prelude to an updated release.

But that is not all. O Ilusionista has been hard at work on his Pocket Dimension Clash. Among the numerous comic characters involved in this project are: Spawn, Shadowcat, Havok, Emma Frost, and Captain Cold, Harley Quinn, and Rhino. There might be individual releases from this project if we are lucky. To find out more about this project, take the following links:

http://www.infinitymugenteam.com/infinity.wiki/mediawiki/index.php?title=Pocket_Dimension_Clash

http://www.infinitymugenteam.com/Forum_345/index.php?board=58.0

Last years release party also got some of the community members involved in providing us all with some great content. The former Team Spoiler released versions of Robin and Daredevil (both of which have gone through some updates since then). ZVitor also graced us with v1.2 of his awesome Aquaman. There were some great stages released as well during this same period. One of my favorite stage makers, Jor-El, released his Krypton, Doomsday in Metropolis and Green Lantern WarZone stages. Dragonesku also released Blackheart’s Lair, which is the best stage I know of for the character it is named for. I liked all of these stages so much, they were featured in the March Madness , Mugen Style Event .

This year, there may be more community involvement, but that news is kept pretty secretive for the most part. Alexziq, JasonTodd, and Spiderbat have been dropping a lot of interesting hints about their Batman projects in Batman Beyond and JLU Batman lately, but definitely no guarantees for something to happen there. You can check this out for yourself at:

http://www.infinitymugenteam.com/Forum_345/index.php?topic=21536.0

The most significant news along these lines has been dropped about Wonderman by JasonTodd, Daraku, and ZVitor. There have been actual comments about him being released in April sometime. Unfortunately, there have been some data loss issues due to some computer problems, but I’m hopeful they can be overcome, as this character looks absolutely amazing.





To follow the progress of this WIP:

http://www.infinitymugenteam.com/Forum_345/index.php?topic=17550.0

I might have missed something, but I hope that is a good overview of things that might be in store for us from the Infinity Mugen Team Community. And there might be some other surprises that they might drop on us, we will just have to wait and see.

Grudge Match: Snake Eyes vs Solid Snake




Here is another example of how fun I think Mugen really is. Imagine Snake Eyes verses Solid Snake in a one-on-one fight. In my opinion, Snake Eyes would win in a real fight because Snake Eyes is a ninja! Here is a video of the fight. Both combatants are computer controlled at AI level 4.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

March Madness - Day Four - Quarter Finals


And welcome to the Quarterfinals! That last round was a doozy, and everyone that made it to this part of the bracket definitely earned their way in. However, there are a couple matches that try their best to do an impression of that last round for you. And there is a certain match that shows the YouTube debut of a brand new stage, and if you click the more info portion of the video, you will be directed to its download location.

Also, at the end of the article, check for information about the poll in the sidebar

Group A



Martian Manhunter --- representing Sabranigudu
Vs.
Savage Hulk --- representing Hyperion76



Group B



Quasar --- representing bdcirck
>Vs.
Lobo --- representing garyoldman



Group C



Thing --- representing Batzarro
Vs.
Robin --- representing JasonTodd



Group D



Batman --- representing Manic
Vs
Rorschach --- representing ivan_kou



Poll time. You may have noticed the poll in the sidebar asking which 1st or 2nd round match you thought was the best. If you need to recap, take the following links:

Round 1 - Groups A & B
Round 1 - Groups C & D
Round 2

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

March Madness - Day Three - Round Two



This is the round to watch and it includes what I am picking will be the best match of the entire tournament, right here for you tonight! Which one is it? Watch and find out! All of these contestants proved why they advanced to this round and again, for some readers, they will just be even more proud after this batch of matches because your representative truly put on a show for you and everyone else.



Group A



Martian Manhunter --- representing Sabranigudu
Vs.
Cable --- representing Technology



Spiderman --- representing QuEazy BaBy
Vs.
Savage Hulk --- representing Hyperion76



Group B



Quasar --- representing bdcirck
Vs.
Deadpool --- representing M.Chidori



Spawn --- representing Spooky77
Vs.
Lobo --- representing garyoldman



Group C



Thing --- representing Batzarro
Vs.
Mr.Fantastic --- representing DarkTalbain



Aquaman --- representing zvitor
Vs.
Robin --- representing JasonTodd




Group D



Batman --- representing Manic
Vs.
Etrigan --- representing Twinimage




Rorschach --- representing ivan_kou
Vs.
Green Arrow --- representing Buyog


Tuesday, March 24, 2009

March Madness - Day Two


If you thought the matches from day 1 were good, then get ready to be amazed. Most of these matches had their outcome in doubt up to the very end. Not to mention the fact, how every single character represented their reader very proudly with how they utilized their hyper and special moves for the chance at a win. We even have the makings of a Cinderella story in the works, so throw away your expectations of who you think will win until you see the final outcome

Group C



Thing --- representing Batzarro
Vs.
Silver Surfer --- representing techimuyo4ever





Mr.Fantastic --- representing DarkTalbain
Vs.
Rogue --- representing Uche




Aquaman --- representing zvitor
Vs.
Iron Man --- representing Djoulz



Bishop --- representing race45
Vs.
Robin --- representing JasonTodd





Group D



Jean Grey --- representing da_linkwent
Vs.
Batman --- representing Manic




Etrigan --- representing Twinimage
Vs.
Carnage --- representing maxdillon




Rorschach --- representing ivan_kou
Vs.
Cyclops --- representing AngelM




Blackcat --- representing krazy_cueball
Vs.
Green Arrow --- representing Buyog


Monday, March 23, 2009

March Madness Day 1


There were a number of good matches in the first round for Groups A and B both. This included one nail biter that will leave you guessing as to the outcome the entire fight. Every single match did have one other thing in common, they all showed what these characters are capable of as they showcased their special moves and hypers very well.

Group A



Martian Manhunter --- representing Sabranigudu
Vs.
The Joker representing Super_Joker



Cable --- representing Technology
Vs.
Green Lantern --- representing Darkmoon766



Spiderman --- representing QuEazy BaBy
Vs.
Storm --- representing Gate



Savage Hulk --- representing Hyperion76
Vs.
Bane --- representing bizarro_toro



Group B



Quasar --- representing bdcirck
Vs.
Hobgoblin --- representing Horouboi



Psylocke --- representing Kojunho
Vs.
Deadpool --- representing M.Chidori



Ms.Marvel --- representing ace_tales
Vs.
Lobo --- representing garyoldman

Mugen: X-Man


X-Man is Cable from the Age of Apocalypse storyline.He is the correct chronological age Cable would have been if he had never been infected by the techno-organic virus that forced Cyclops to send him to the future. This version of the son of Cyclops has an entirely different set of issues. For more information on the X-Man look at the following links:

http://www.marvel.com/universe/X-Man




















The X-Man Mugen Versions
ImageCreator

Fun


Factor

AILookDownloads
rehap & Comedy'sN/AN/A8Can't find it anymore



Although this character is not complete, I really think that this is a really cool hyper.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Mugen: Cable


Cable is an amazing character. He shares the same space and time as his parents, yet is older, more battle-hardened, and more experienced than they. Which is saying a lot considering his parents are Cyclops and Jean Grey's Clone. Cable is a powerful telepath and telekinetic and a great deal of his body is cybernetic. I have found several versions of Cable for mugen. For more information concerning the character

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_(comics)
http://www.marvel.com/universe/Cable




























The Question Mugen Versions
ImageCreator

Fun


Factor

AILookDownloads
Kong889Download
PhantomN/AN/A8http://www.scruffydragon.com/forum/
index.php?showtopic=5503&st=0



Although Phantom's version isn't available yet, Kong's version is great. It's fun to to use and I like the way Cable looks as he moves and fights.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

March Madness - Mugen Style Update

In summary, Favorite Fiction Blog decided to run a Mugen tourney that corresponds to the Men’s NCAA Basketball tournament better known as March Madness. A group of characters were selected from a wide range of creators and comic history background, but also of comparable fighting ability. Readers were then allowed to select one of these characters to represent them in a first come, first serve process. If that person’s Mugen representative wins the tourney, they will win a prize. There will be more on that later.

To see all the characters and who is representing them, go to:

http://www.youtube.com/user/volzzilla

The format of how fights will be conducted is, 3 on 3 turn based, with the single representatives on either side facing one another. Basically, first to 3 wins, but lifebars do not reset at the end of a round for the winners. This was done as it works well in finding out which characters have the best attrition towards survival and strength, and does a little better in eliminating luck. To see an example of the fight format, watch this fight:



All videos showing fight results will not go public and live until the corresponding article has been published on Favorite Fiction

After every character found representation, they were slotted into the bracket in no particular order, with Spooky77’s Spawn getting a first round bye due to recruiting Technology to select Cable. Because of the difficulty into translating an actual bracket into document form, this was drawn up to show the match-ups and how future matches will happen.

Group A

1.Martian Manhunter vs. Joker

2.Cable vs. Green Lantern

3.Spiderman vs. Storm

4.Savage Hulk vs. Bane

Group B

1.Quasar vs. Hobgoblin

2.Psylocke vs. Deadpool

3.Ms.Marvel vs. Lobo

Spawn vs. ---

Group C

1.Thing vs. Silver Surfer

2.Mr.Fantastic vs. Rogue

3.Aquaman vs. Iron Man

4.Bishop vs. Robin

Group D

1.Jean Grey vs. Batman

2.Etrigan vs. Carnage

3.Rorschach vs. Cyclops

4.Blackcat vs. Green Arrow

Group A

1 vs. 2

3 vs. 4

Winners face each other for Group A Champ

Group B

1 vs. 2

3 vs. Spawn

Winners face each other for Group B Champ

Group C

1 vs. 2

3 vs. 4

Winners face each other for Group C Champ

Group D

1 vs. 2

3 vs. 4

Winners face each other for Group D Champ

Group A Champ vs. Group B Champ

Group C Champ vs. Group D Champ

Winners face each other for Tournament Championship

If you have questions, please check whichever message forum you prefer, or email ff_blog@yahoo.com

And now the small prize that has been discussed. The Mugen representative character who comes out on top, will win their entrant the ability to decide on future content for the website. These are a few examples of those possibilities you will have to choose from:

- Help decide a future WIP Focus article

- Help decide a future Creator Focus article

- Subject of a poll

- Choices for a poll

- If you are a creator, we can do an article on you or a WIP you are working on

- You can write an article on your favorite storyline from the comics

- Write a reader review of a Mugen character similar to the ones posted on the website, but you can go into whatever details you would like

- Maybe help come up with a brand new article series

- Write your own What If?…MUGENized article

This is just the tip of the iceberg, but it can give you an idea. Basically anything that you can think of that is on the topic of Marvel/DC Mugen or comics in general are fair game in regards to determining this content addition. There may other things that are thought of in addition to this as well to get you involved.

Good luck to all of the contestants.

Bruce Lee Vs Iron Man

Here is a very great example of stop-motion animation! Very well done! I like it!