WIP Focus: Wolvenom by DarkTalbain

Volzzilla has had the opportunity to interview DarkTalbain about his upcoming version of Wolvenom character. Volzzilla's comments and questions are bolded and DarkTalbain responses are unbolded.

1) Since it is an interesting story about how you decided to bring Wolvenom to Mugen, please tell the readers all about it.

Well, I always try to help out new creators and there was a new creator that came to Infinity named Hybasuka. He made a couple of early sprites for this character and he really seemed eager to become a creator, but his sprites needed a lot of work. I basically made a couple of sprites just to show him how to make Wolvenom "the easy way.” We ended up talking in PM's and he kind of asked me to make a bunch of sprites for him but I was so busy with me own projects, that I just really didn't have the time. One day I received a PM from him and he mentioned that he just really wanted to see the character in Mugen and he couldn't sprite him like I did. So he wanted me to make the character. Normally, I wouldn't do this, but since I had so much fun making the few sprites I made and I did have some cool ideas for him, I started to put forth all this effort into him.

2) Glad you became inspired there. He does not have as much comic history to draw from as many other characters, so please tell us how you got inspired to do the work you did for him.

Here's the deal, I didn't even know this character existed in the comics at all. So I went off this pic [see beginning of article] when I designed him…

…which I guess is just "fan art,” but I loved it. As I started working on the character I realized he did exist somewhat. So I went to the local comic store and picked up some New Avengers issues for research. There was a 3-part story arc where Dr. Doom dropped a symbiote bomb and most of the Marvel heroes became symbiotes with The Avengers having to save the day. Wolverine was one of them that turned into a symbiote. Although he really didn't do much in the book, I did get some ideas for the character there. You'll see that in the new hyper & win poses that didn't have time to be put in the EoH version

3) Please tell us how Wolvenom got involved in Eternity of Heroes.

The story is pretty simple. I think the Infinity team noticed my work before Wolvenom because they liked my Medieval Spawn WIP, but he really just didn't fit into EoH. Then I started making Wolvenom for reasons described above and after I posted the stance/walk vid, I received a PM from Acey that Infinity would like to have him in EoH. It was decided that he would be a secret character that everyone will be surprised to see in the game. I thought that was pretty cool, so I accepted. I kept it under wraps the whole time I was working on him, with even my closest internet friends not knowing he was being made for EoH. I'll never forget the first member that found him and posted about it. I don't think a lot of members actually believed him at first, lol.

4) Other than Wolverine and Venom, what all bases did you use for the animations and moves?

I really just used Wolverine, Venom and Spiderman, though mostly Wolverine. Spiderman was used for the webbing and Venom was used for some symbiote things. For the most part, I just custom sprited a lot of things for him. And I recall using the SNK Demetri for something, but it was a pain reshading the sprites to MVC style, so I didn't use much. I pulled some things from Lord Raptor and Morrigan. However, I think most of that stuff was scrapped moves. Then for the new hyper and win poses you will see the bases I used, as they are pretty obvious.

5) You have been quoted, as saying this newer version of Wolvenom will be very much different than the Eternity of Heroes version. Can you tell us how that progress is going?

The new version of Wolvenom is completely different. He plays like a totally different character than the EoH beta. I made over 1500 sprites for the character. The early version in EoH only used 500 of them. So everyone is in for some surprises in the next version.

As for new progress; one hyper has to be coded, the other new hypers have to be tweaked, all the sounds, intros and win poses need to be added. We went back to the drawing board and totally started him from the ground up, so everything had to be coded. This has been being worked on for months now. So he's almost ready to run rampant on a Mugen near you.

6) What will be the differences between the two versions? Any chance of releasing the EoH edition as well in the future?

I initially really wanted Wolvenom to be like Wolverine with the added symbiote bonus. This way he would have all kinds of moves, new and old. My theory was, just because Wolvie has a symbiote on him, he's still Wolverine. That just didn't happen for the beta 4.2-4.6 EOH version because of time issues. Now he is pretty much how I envisioned him. He has most of Wolverine's moves and all the added symbiote stuff, plus things you haven't even seen yet. The hypers that existed have been improved and new ones added.

So new things to look for:
- The new stance, win poses and intros.
- Some moves have been altered to be more defensive. With the right timing he can counter a lot of attacks now.
- He also has something to help him with projectile spammers.
- All hypers are improved and new ones added. His higher-level hypers should be pretty impressive…let's just say one is called "madness”. The other one is “contagious” and will actually make him infect others. It’s a pretty cool effect.

- Wolverine’s moves and more combos and more combos

- Many sprites have been remade to look better. But, what everyone loved about him in EOH is all intact. Just improved upon.

As of right now the Original EOH beta will probably never be released. That version was somewhat rushed and incomplete to make it in time for EOH Christmas release. I think once everyone who uses the new version with all the added stuff will not even want the old one.

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

Really, what stood out was the character itself. After I did so many sprites, I just wanted to do more. I had a lot of fun working on him; I almost hate to see it end. Other things that stand out were the members of Infinity. The way they supported this character and myself was absolutely incredible. Also the way people banded together to help me with things I didn't have time to get done or was having problems with. Check out the Read me when he's released, as I had a lot of help with things and I appreciate it all. Even if it some of it seems very minor, I will always remember about this character, is the fact that Wolvenom "got me noticed" to a point. I think many people began to open their eyes and say "Hey this DT may be the real deal”, and “he can make some cool stuff”. Plus, the fact that I have now been accepted officially into the Infinity team because of Wolvenom.

What gave me the most trouble? Well there were a few things, but like I said I had a lot of people willing to help. The voices, there was no way I was going to pull this off without the Infinity member, Elmatador, who luckily was there to help me on that. He did a great job and actually just did some new voices this week. The other problem was the stance. I wanted a new one just for him and I just couldn't really come up with anything. So Toxin was a big help in that department as he sent me a Wolverine stance he worked on and I turned it into Wolvenom

8) Please tell the readers about all the special and hyper moves you have planned for this version.

You had to ask this question, lol. I want to answer, but I want to leave somethings as a surprise.

Well, he has new lower level hypers that are just combo orientated. The hypers everyone liked have been recoded. The "maximum spider" one has been redone. It is less like the maximum spider now. The symbiote sludge hyper, you can now move him when he's doing it and it has been opened up to where can use it with combos.

His new hyper is one that nobody has even seen yet. It happens when he becomes temporarily invincible to most attacks. But if the hyper misses, it even looks cool. Pieces of symbiote hit the screen. You'll just have to see it.

The big hyper is chaos! Things are jumping out on the screen. That hyper could actually backfire on Wolvenom and give the opponent the upper hand at one point. That is if all goes well with the coding. This hyper is being worked on still currently.

9) Okay, that all sounds awesome J Do you have any special plans in regards to intros/exits with any other characters?

I was going to do some special intros and win poses with other characters such as Venom or Spiderman, but that will be now be in a later release. Since symbiotes hate loud noises or sonic waves, Wolvenom does have that one win pose where Banshee flies out, does a Sonic scream and basically destroys the symbiote. When it happens against Banshee, Syren flies out & does it instead

10) Is there anything else about the character that we have not covered that you would like to share?

I pretty much went into everything. I hope everyone has as much fun playing him as I did working on him as I really did take a lot of time making the sprites. Once I found out I had to get him done for December EoH, I used all my free time working on him 3 months straight. That was a lot of spriting

11) So when can we expect to have him in our individual Mugen rosters?

I cannot give a specific date, due to the fact that he is still being worked on. But it should be sometime in April, if not then at least early May.