WIP Focus: Hawkman by ZVitor

In February, we had a poll about characters the community wished were MUGENized, Hawkman came in 2^nd on the DC side. Volzzilla recently had a chance to speak with ZVitor about this WIP. I know we all appreciate both of them sharing this with us. Again Volzzilla's questions and comments are in bold and ZVitor's is unbolded. I have to say that all of the characters that ZVitor has been involved in have been fun to use and I think they look awesome. I can't wait for Hawkman!

1) So how did you decide upon bringing Hawkman to Mugen?

After finishing up on Green Arrow, I looked for a character that was wanted but not yet made by anyone. I made some attempts with to create a Daredevil base, but after testing Sagat, some martial masters guy, Captain Commando, the best base for Daredevil happened to be Captain America, and I didn’t want to work with same base again that I had just used for Green Arrow. Then I tried Kitty Pryde with a Cammy base, and Zatanna with Psylocke/Rogue, but I needed to look for sprites rips. This is when I found Lavia sprites ripped by Kong at IMT. I liked how the wings looked so I started to work with them without even knowing what character to do. I tried out Hawkman, Hawkgirl and Angel initially, and a few days later, I finished the first test with this Hawkman stance which I now think is perfect.

2) Interesting start. Please share your thoughts about his general comic back history and about the character in general.

Well, like I just said, I did not start this WIP because I was a Hawkman fan. In fact, I was not really a big DC fan either, until JLA was taken over Grant Morrison making this my favorite group. So when I started out, I had no idea who was behind that mask. Then I went to the comic store for some info, and I found a big book with a Hawkman arc (Hawkman #7-12).

3) So tell the readers what bases you are using for the character and for the various moves themselves.

Nothing special, Urien base with Lavia wings and leo weapons, with some moves from other bases like Sagat and Cable.

4) How is the progress going on Hawkman?

I’m not sure, maybe around 60-70% of sprites, and 0% of code. The first week video was just a quick sprite swap only to show the sprites. This is the most recent video.

5) What has stood out the most during the creation process in a positive manner? What has been giving you the most trouble?

I did not expect all this love for Hawkman at all. First he finished high in the poll for expected characters at Favorite Fiction, then Buyog was quoted as saying this WIP will be, "epic.” I was surprised as I thought the comments would be more like "not a big deal, urien with wings" or "hey, he is missing some colors" or "use more franksprites.” But I do not care about good or bad comments about sprite quality, because I know that I’m a lazy spriter. As for the most trouble, those wings are a pain and this character is really boring to sprite. First I tried separating the wings, but it looked strange. So I merged HM and wings in the same sprites and that was even more boring because I have to merge the wings with some simple sprites for the numerous stances and movements. But the wings are not the only problem because of the mace. It is not so easy to find motions with the arm in an arcing movement in punch bases like this:

6) Well, that looks good to me so far. Please tell the readers about all the special and hyper moves you have planned.

I received two good comments at the Scruff Dragon Forum from kageuchi and ChAoSsEnTrY about move lists, and then merged those ideas to make his move list. This is what I have planned.

Specials:
-Bash move
-Shoryuken move
-crossbow move
-some special throw
-and maybe some sword or/and spear

Hypers:

-some hit, hold and fly
-soldiers from Hawkmen police
-Claw of Horus

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

After learning more about DC, I decided to remove Atom from Green Arrow because he is more of a Hawkman sidekick instead. So when I release Hawkman, I want to do a Green Arrow update with an intro where they both try to fight and the Atom attempts to stops them.

8) So what are your general thoughts on beta releases? Can you give a possible timetable on a beta to release and/or a goal for the full release?

Actually, I don’t have so much time in Mugen these days as I’m starting to code Wonderman. My first plan was to release Hawkman late in 2008, then Jan 09, but we know what happened there. So now I will not say another date because I’m not sure if I will make it in time…let’s just say that it will not be soon. I do not make beta releases, as I think when a character turns playable, then you release, get feedback and re-release when need be, like I did with my other characters.

I’m sure he will turn out just as great as those. And you can keep track of this WIP by going to:

http://www.scruffydragon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=5769

http://www.infinitymugenteam.com/Forum_345/index.php?topic=17825.0

To read more about the character in general, take the following links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawkman

http://www.comicvine.com/hawkman/29-8337/