This blog will hold profiles and comments about my favorite fictional characters. This will include the work of others that I like and some of my own work.
Due to deanjo2000 winning the Favorite Fiction blog sprite contest at IMT, he was given the chance to select the subject of a WIP Focus article. He decided to go with Wonderman by rozeros.
1) So how did you decide upon bringing Wonderman to Mugen?
Wonderman is Marvel's Superman. He's one of the most powerful heroes in that universe. Sometime ago I saw an edit of him by Deanjo2000 and I was shocked - it was simple and really good looking. I decided to make him, because the project that I'm working on with some of the Scruffy Dragon members (MSH2), needs to have the most powerful and recognizable marvel icons.
2) What influence did Zvitor and JasonTodd's version make upon that decision?
Their version is completely different from mine, from what i saw. I haven't played it much. To be honest I often don't play Mugen, I only do characters. It's a hobby for me. I don't want to compete with them in any way. 3) Please share your thoughts about his general comic back history and about the character in general.
Simon Williams - known as Wonderman, grew up in a rich family, he was an A-student. He owes his powers to Baron Zemo, who gave Simon ionic rays. After that his strength was at 100 ton range - comparable to Thor, Iron Man or Anti-Venom. He's a powerhouse full of ionic energy.
4) So tell the readers what bases you are using for the character and for the various moves themselves.
The main base is Urien/Gill. I used also Cable, Captain America, Necro, Sagat. In the future I plan to use more bases to make him a more original character. 5) I know its early on, but may I ask how the progress going on Wonderman?
Some of the the basics are already sprited and coded, but there's still more stuff to do. I want this character to be my best.
6) What has stood out the most during the creation process in a positive manner to this point? What has been giving you the most trouble?
The best thing is that I have a scheme how I sprite him. I do three steps. Reducing colors, resizing the base, and then adding the details. The hardest thing I think, is making original moves. When I frankesprited a hypermove from Sagat and Captain America, I had to add one extra color, change the structure of the muscles to match Urien's. It takes some time, but I think it's worth it. 7) Did I see something somewhere about 2 modes? Please explain all of that further.
Yes, he will have 2 modes - Normal and Ionic. Ionic mode will be exclusive only to MSH2.
8) What moves might we see that are fairly similar to Zvitor and JasonTodd's version, but with your different take on how the work?
I also will have ionic blasts, and eye beams, but with different positions and effects. As I said earlier - I don't want to compete with them.
9) Beyond what you just said, can you tell us any more about other plans for specials and hypers?
I would like to do a hyper including all west coast avengers. Ionic blasts are inevitable for him. I want to do at least four hypers in each mode. 10) I know it did not work out completely as you envisioned, but tell us about the Wonder Gold competition and what were your motivations to do such in the first place?
I wanted to see how people imagine Wonder Gold, it's always good to achieve help from others. (Editor's note: Trexrell and I won this contest, but it was probably due more to the fact we were the only entrants.)
11) Will she have any intros or winposes with any other comic characters, and if so can you tell us about some of your ideas along those lines please?
He should have custom intros with some chars, I think of Ms. Marvel, Hulk, Ultron. It depends if I get permission from their creators. 12) 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?
I don't have a date when I plan to release him. I can only promise that when I decide to do it, the character will be fun to play with. When I won't have the certainty that I did all I could - I won't release him.
Thanks for your time, rozeros. To find out more about the character in general, follow these links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonder_Man http://www.comicvine.com/wonder-man/29-1465/
I recently had time to speak with Gate about his Songbird work in progress. The following questions are asked by me in bold, and his answers will then follow.
1) So how did you decide upon bringing Songbird to Mugen?
I'm a big fan of the Thunderbolts team. In the '90 they were like a beacon of light in the middle of a gritty and grinning buffed characters with oversized guns sea. My original plan was converting Baron Zemo, but I couldn't find a good base, then I switched to Mrs. Gold, because she was the heart of the team for some years. 2) I recall that original beautiful sprite you made of her a little while back. Did the reception it got play any part in that decision?
In fact, yes. In the Brazilian forums the people praised the sprite, but the vast majority doesn't know the character. And in the international forums, I've found a lot of people who like Songbird. Then my decision was start the character to expand her fanbase, even by a minimum part.
3) Please share your thoughts about his general comic back history and about the character in general.
Songbird is Melissa Joan Gold, a former wrestler and super-villain with the alias Screaming Mimi. As a part of Masters of Evil, helped in the siege of Avengers Mansion, and later, Baron Zemo's plan to disguise as heroes. But Zemo betrayed the team, and they started to work as legitimate heroes. For me the best Marvel female character. She is tough, strong willed, and a great team player and leader. 4) So tell the readers what bases you are using for the character and for the various moves themselves.
I'm respecting the comics and using wrestling moves for the basics. The Capcom female wrestlers are mostly comic and exaggerated, and this don't combine well with Songbird. Then I'm using mostly SNK bases, like Vice, Shermie, Blue Mary and Angel. Some special moves will use Captain Commando, Marrow and Rosemary.
5) I know its early on, but may I ask how the progress going on Songbird?
I have some basic movements and moves. Some of them look awkward without effects though. But now I'm finishing some more of the character and she's in the second plane.
6) What has stood out the most during the creation process in a positive manner to this point? What has been giving you the most trouble?
The better thing I'm learning in this character is using characters with totally different shading and make them blend with MvC style. But this is the hardest part too, because it's a lot more difficult and time consuming. 7) She has a very interesting power in how she can use sound to create constructs. May I ask how you plan on bringing this ability to Mugen and what current characters are helping you with the inspiration of this?
Actually I'm looking for the comic books and MUA2 with the shapes of the constructs. They're much simpler than Green Lantern's. The only thing I'm looking for in the current characters is make different from the various GL characters, or at least, having different functions.
8) Beyond what you just said, can you tell us any more about other plans for specials and hypers?
Mel will be a "keep away" character, using various moves to maintain distance, so she will have some type of projectiles, a mace swing move and energy shield. But when the fight will be close, she can use some special throws, since in the past, Songbird was a wrestler. In the hypers area, two of them will be new twists in existing moves, and the lv3 hyper Justice Like Lightning, summoning the classic Thunderbolts.
9) I've read you are a fan of the Marvel Ultimate Alliance game series. Is her depiction in that providing you with any ideas?
Actually that was a Zvitor's joke because I vanished for a little. In reality, my pc doesn't run most of newer games, and I only bought a PS2 after MUA2 was released, to play with Songbird of course (laughs). But some of the moves will be inspired in MUA2, and I've ripped her voices from game already. 10) Will she have any intros or winposes with any other comic characters, and if so can you tell us about some of your ideas along those lines please?
Firstly, members of the Thunderbolts team: Hawkeye, Green Goblin and MacGargan (some of them not released yet, but I'll edit the intros). Then, each of the helpers will have a intro against some character related to them. Like Citizen V appearing when the opponent is Captain America, or Atlas with Hercules or Wonder Man.
11) 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? The character will be released when it's ready. I didn't like to rush my work, but the beta question is a question for the coder. I usually only send all the sprites to the coder when the character is nearly done. So if a beta version will be released, probably will be the near the final character.
For more information on Songbird: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songbird_(comics) http://www.comicvine.com/songbird/29-3281/
And to follow Gate's progress on her, go to: http://www.scruffydragon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7163 http://cvgunited.com/index.php/topic,3754.0.html
I recently had time to speak with McCready about his Ultron work in progress. The following questions are asked by me in bold, and his answers will then follow.
1) There is no other WIP in all of comic Mugen that garners more talk than Ultron. Personally speaking, no other WIP has been asked of me for an article such as this than him. May I ask how it feels to have one of the most anticipated WIPs in this genre? Does that add any pressure to you and his creation?
Is that so? I Did not know that there was this much anticipation for him. I don´t think it adds pressure though. I want him to be my best character ever, so I add that pressure onto myself.
2) How did you decide upon bringing Ultron to Mugen?
On Mugenesis, we needed a Marvel villain for our MvC project. So, I suggested we make Ultron as a team wip. I made the design and a tutorial pic to show how to turn Doom into him. We started making him with me as the "wip leader?", people would draw sprites and I would take them and make sure they all looked the same. I forgot now who did what. But a few people did about 4 or 5 animations...and then they all couldn´t anymore. So there were only Enzo and I left...but now with lots of animations done. I consider it to be a wip by Enzo and I. With help of a few friends.(sprite wise)
3) Please share your thoughts about his general comic back history and about the character in general.
I´m not a comic book expert. I like the visual aspect of Ultron and how he is to me the great Avenger foe. Also, an adamanthium robot that kills the population of an entire country is something to respect. 4) So please tell the readers what bases you are using for the character and for the various moves themselves.
Well, the main base is Dr.Doom. But i used lots of others characters, Cap.America, Sabertooth, Cable, the list is endless.
5) May I ask how the progress going on Ultron?
Ultron is currently on hold. But he´s got almost all of the sprites done, and a basic code for almost everything. 6) What has stood out the most during the creation process in a positive manner to this point? What has been giving you the most trouble?
Positive? Working with Enzo is so easy. Most animations I outlined and he shaded. Trouble? Making the original moves.
7) Ultron is one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe with a ton of different powers. May I ask how you intend to translate those into his special and hyper moves?
Sorry, but that us a secret. I just can say that he will be a boss type char.
8 ) Did I see something in the Scruffyversary video about a 2nd mode? May I ask how this will work exactly?
Also a secret. Just to words: Adamanthium / Nanotech
9) Do you plan on having any special intros and winposes with various other comic Mugen characters?
Against other chars? Yes. If we have time. But right now there is nothing to discuss on the topic. 10) 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?
No beta will be released. If all goes well we will have one release. No time table can be set as he is on hold.
For more information on Ultron: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultron http://www.comicvine.com/ultron/29-2242/
Be sure to check out Scruffy Dragon's 12 days of Christmas Event to see if anything else is shared about him.
At CVGUnited.com, CarnageBrunner won a mini contest that allowed him to choose the focus of a WIP Focus article. This was his choice.
1) So how did you decide upon bringing Scorpion to Mugen?
Well, I'm a big Spider-man fan, and I always loved Scorpion, so when I found some good bases to use for him, I thought to myself, "why not?"
2) Sounds like a good reason to me. Please share your thoughts about his general comic back history and about the character in general.
Scorpion was a private investigator named Mac Gargen. He was hired by JJ to follow around peter parker in order to know how Peter gets those marvelous pictures of Spider-man. When Gargen had his transformation to the Scorpion, he became insane and because he is so crazy, I think he'll make an interesting character to play in MUGEN.
3) So tell the readers what bases you are using for the character and for the various moves themselves.
At the moment, the main base is Venom. For the tail, I'm using a shortened version of Justice's tail from Guilty Gear. About the moves, Scorpion's going to have punches, but no kicks…instead of kicks he'll have tail-related attacks.
4) I know its early on, but may I ask how the progress going on Scorpion?
Right now, Scorpion has all the standing basic attacks. He also has his stance, walking forward, and 2 standing get hits.
5) What has stood out the most during the creation process in a positive manner to this point? What has been giving you the most trouble?
The thing that has been giving me the most trouble is…you guessed it, the tail. But the most annoying thing to draw from scratch is the tail "pack" which connecting the tail to his back.
6) Everyone wants to know about that tail, so can you please tell us what all you have planned for that tail?
Well, I'm planning him to use the tail a lot, as I've mentioned earlier, he won't have kicks, but tail strikes. I want him to use his tail to grab an opponent, and use his tail for many "gadget” attacks he have beyond just the stinger.
7) What kind of special and hyper moves might we expect beyond what you might have just mentioned in the previous question?
I don't have many ideas on how he will use just the tail yet, but I’ll figure out something. Although, Scorpion is pretty fast as well, so he might have hypers related to that. As for the "gadgets" I've mentioned earlier, I plan to have laser, acid, poison, etc, coming from the tail.
8) I'm fairly new to Mugen still, but I know at one point there is/was a Web Crawler project. If this is still active, will Scorpion be a part of this? May I ask how things are going on that project in general?
Well, I don't know if the project is still active, so I'm pretty sure Scorpion won't be part of it. I am interested in having a Spider-man project related to the Scruffy Dragon site, but haven't really discussed anyone about it.
9) That project sounds like a great idea. Any hints you would like to share on how his intro might be with Spider-Man? Will he have any intros or winposes with any other characters?
He will have intros with other characters. As for Spider-man, I'm planning an intro involving JJ. And who knows? Maybe he'll have something with vulture too.
10) 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?
Well as stated before, Scorpion is very early on and would take some good time to complete. I don't have a date on release, but he will need to have all the basics done, plus a couple of hyper and specials before even considering a beta release.
1) So how did you decide upon bringing Morph to MUGEN?
Well basically, I was a huge fan of the animated X-men show back in the `90s. I wanted all the X-men from the team on that show, in the MvC series, we already had the majority, the only remaining were Prof x, Beast, Morph, Jean and Jubilee. Obviously Beast has been taken care of and very well. There are a couple Jean's and Prof X's floating around and always WIPs of them on various forums, I thought I'd take care of Morph (and later Jubilee) myself.
2) Please share your thoughts about his general comic back history and about the character in general.
He's not got a huge comic back history actually, he was known as Changeling in the early X-men comics. He was killed off in the comics and was used on the show `because he was essentially a blank character. I think he is a great character; he was really funny and made me laugh. He has an awesome mutant power... Possibly the best you can possibly have. Also, you've just got to love that suit ;).
3) So tell the readers what bases you are using for the character and for the various moves themselves. This is probably more complicated due to his shapeshifting capabilities I'd imagine.
His main base was Iceman; I think I did a good job making him unique from Iceman though; he has some very funny and unique moves. Because of his morphing I used absolutely loads of bases for the character though; this ranges from John Talbain to Norimaro, and Zangief to Servbot.
4) How is the progress going on Morph?
His sprites are finished now, we just have to play the waiting game now and have him coded. However, there is much more left to do, as he is essentially 4 characters being coded into one, so something like that will take time.
5) What has stood out the most during the creation process in a positive manner? What has been giving you the most trouble?
Because of the characters mutant powers, I've been able to be incredibly creative with the moves and everything. He's a goofball so I made sure that was incorporated into the character and without making it too over the top. I'm really happy with a certain intro ;). What gave me the most trouble was having to redo all his sprites, I sprited the character to start with, based on the action figure design. So I wasn't happy with that and decided to revise all the sprites making them all more true to the TV show.
6) I have read on Wikipedia that Morph has some minor telepathic and levitation abilities. Will you be incorporating any of those things into some of his special moves?
Morph does have some minor telepathic and levitation abilities, although that's not really the same person, it's the one from Exiles (which will be making cameos in the character). I wanted to do the character how Capcom would have done him.
7) How exactly will his morphing ability work in regards to the various special and hyper attacks you have planned?
Without revealing too much how I have approached the character, Acey had the idea that he could morph completely into existing X-men characters, these will include Cyclops and Wolverine. I will say this though about his basic attacks: He uses his morphing powers in his basic attacks (to enhance his damage and stuff), he has some pretty cool moves, but I didn't want it to feel like you weren't playing as Morph.
8) Do you have any special plans in regards to intros/exits with any other characters?
I had originally thought about Sinister. I also pitched the idea to Acey about a special Intro with Beast, which would be dialogue on Morph's part.
9) Is there anything else about the character that we have not covered that you would like to share?
Let's just say that Morph has an evil side to him ;).
10) 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?
By the end of the year you should have Morph in your personal MUGEN. I know that's a long way off, but he could be ready in the next couple months. But at the latest, the end of the year he will definitely have a release.
Back in April, Favorite Fiction started a two part question and answer session on one of the very most anticipated characters in all of Mugen, Kratos: God of War. Then we spoke with Kratos who is in charge of the programming of him, which you can read here: WIP Focus: Kratos part 1. Due to real life, we did not get a chance to have part 2 with DooM until now. He is tasked with everything graphical on Kratos, as well as overseeing the website they have designed for the character.
1) Why did you personally decide to start work on this character?
Heh...actually, I have some question for you: do you know the feeling when you're at work and working really hard, and your boss is watching you only when you're taking some little break from time to time ('cause you're tired), and he's thinking that you're probably doing so all the time? You want to prove him wrong, that you're worth more than that, that you deserve more.
Well, it's almost like that with me in the MUGEN Community. I spent a lot of time in the community, not leeching but learning how to program and design stuff for it. Opened a couple of MUGEN related websites, started few projects and released some screenpacks and stages, but never characters. So people are always like: "Umm... you consider yourself as a MUGEN veteran. OK. Did you release any characters?" I didn't. Why? I have had some real bad luck when it comes to the long term creations. There were a few accidents when I've been working on some (IMO) real nice characters (DM-Akuma, DM-Chun-Li, DM-Saiyaman and Nappa for the DBZ/GT MUGEN Project.) and when I was 50% or even 90% done(!), I always lost it somehow. My HDD crashed or my computer was so virused that there was no other option but to format all the drives. I know that I could backup all of those, but I didn't back then, so it's pretty late for such sayings now. And starting over? Well trust me that it's really hard to work on something again with such attitude you had before.
Now, when I'm turning 35 this year, I plan to quit MUGEN for good. But for that last time, I want to leave some EPIC character behind, to prove that those who had doubts on how I roll, were simply wrong.
When I was thinking about some epic character I could Mugenize, Kratos (GoW) popped up in my head really quickly. I was like "Yeah. Now that would be epic for sure!" When I showed a sprite of him at MFG, Robert (Kratos) came online on my MSN messenger. I thought "Dang, long time no see. Maybe he, as a great fan of GoW series, (like me) can help me out somehow - give some ideas about the gameplay, etc." So we started chatting for some few hours and decided to work together. Me spriting and Robert programming, because I knew his programming kicked ass.
2) Glad you too hooked up like that as Kratos looks amazing, what bases did you use for the character himself? Was it difficult transitioning him into a MvC style look?
First of all, let me thank you for the compliment. It's always nice to hear that it's not just me liking the results of my work.
As for the base, I'm using Urien and Gill from Street Fighter 3: Third Strike, just reducing their color count so it fits my private favorite spriting style: MvC. I reduce the animations' frames count too, 'cause SF3:TS is too smooth sometimes.
Generally, Urien and Gill are very good bases for my edits. They're almost naked, so I don't have to erase any parts of their bodies. But they're not that perfect either - You see... sometimes people use bases that already got some parts which they need, like folded pants, high boots or long jackets. To edit Urien and Gill into Kratos, I have to draw all the clothes and other stuff all by my own. Though, I enjoy it very much to be honest.
3) Most of the fans know that his signature weapons are the chained blades attached to his arms called Athena's Blades. They are probably also dying to know what are the bases that you are using for the various attacks with them? Also, can you go more into detail about some of the attacks that are planned?
Not just Athena's Blades. Blades of Chaos were his signature weapons in the GoW1 series, and those will be available in our character too (just a palette matter, but it's still some kind of a candy thing for the hardcore GoW fans).
Concerning the bases for the attacks, all of the attacks that you know from GoW 1,2,3 are going to be seen in our character, and only Urien and Gill will be our bases. You may ask how is that possible, so let me stop you there and answer right away.
There is a good friend of mine, GODzilla, that is taking care of all the frankenspritings needed for our Kratos. He made Urien run and perform such poses that you couldn't imagine. He's doing some seriously great job, really.
Chains itself are very fun to animate for perspectives, and me, but not the blades all those angles. Still, once I'm done with each animation of the blades, I look at it and know that it was worth it.
4) Last time we spoke of a few weapons and magical spells that will be accessible. In your opinion, which of each will be the most fun to sprite? Which will be the most difficult?
They all seem like fun to me and I can't wait to get to work on them. As for now, Kratos and I are working on the basics - all the simple movements and gethits - that's pretty boring, I can tell you that. Actually, I can show you one of the weapons that will be available in Kratos' inventory:
It was a lot of fun working on it.
5) Also before, there was talk of QTE events for fatalities, can you go into more detail about what we might see graphically when they happen?
Sure. If you played God of War: Betrayal (2d mobile game), you probably have seen that action where when you beat some boss almost to death, some rotating circle button pops up under the opponent's head letting you know that you can finish him in some brutal GoW style. Well, our Kratos is going to have couple of those too.
When this button will pops up under the opponent's head, you will have to press a button that's typed in that rotating circle, and then a list of buttons you will have to press quickly will show up. If you're successful pressing them all in the limited period of time, Kratos will jump in slow motion and do something nasty. On another hand, if you'll fail pressing all the button quickly, Kratos will jump and then fall on his back loosing a little of his life.
6) Your teammate said you all will push the graphical limits of Mugen with this creation, can you be more specific of what all is planned of this nature?
I believe he didn't mean just the graphical aspects, but everything in general - Programming and graphics. Sony pushed PS2 console to its limits when making the God of War games, and that's what we want to do with the MUGEN engine. We wanted people to ask themselves: "Wait, wait... how did they do that? Was that even possible in MUGEN?! It's the first time I've seen such things!!" We want to shock and surprise, because only those things decide on how much and how long a specific character is going to stay in their minds, and rosters.
7) Can't Wait! As I understand it, the website that is dedicated to the MUGENized version of Kratos is primarily under your charge? The site looks great; tell us more please about the decision process to make such elaborate plans of this nature.
Yes, you're right. There was a day when Robert (Kratos) told me that we got some new posts in our WIP thread and I should check them. I went there and there were no new posts. Then I realized that I'm checking the wrong forums. We agreed that it's a bit of pain for us to check all the forums where we have our WIP thread for new comments from people that are interested in our work, and that there should be some one place where people can leave their feedback and we can leave some progress reports and ALL of the interested people can be sure they're having all the freshest news, without the need to check few forums.
Also, we wanted to show how serious we are about that project. Our character is not going to be just some another release that's going to get drawn in dust in people's MUGEN rosters. We can promise you that we're doing all that's possible to make our Kratos epic, as he is in GoW 1,2,3.
8) Speaking of the website, what updates can we expect to see in the future with each selection?
Recently, we added a FAQ where people can check all the common questions and answers that are floating around our work. As for the future, we plan to put more progress screenshots and videos. Nothing more on the website needs an update I think. Some people have been suggesting an official forum, but we think it would be a bit too much - as for now, the guestbook works fine.
9) Anything else you would like to share about this project?
Just like Robert (Kratos), I would like to thank all the people that are interested in our WIP for their support. We're receiving a lot of good comments, serious feedbacks and some great ideas. If I could ask for favors, I would like to say: Keep it coming people! Peace out, DooM
As some of you may remember, Hyperion76's Mugen Madness representative, Savage Hulk, did pretty well. Because of his finishing 2nd, part of the prize that was won, was the ability to select a future piece of content to be written by me for Favorite Fiction Blog. Obviously, since he was a creator himself, he chose his current WIP Hyperion. Ironically, I was already extremely interested in his progress, so odds are even if he did not win, I would have written an article on him anyway.
1) So how did you decide upon bringing Hyperion to Mugen?
Well, I've been a huge fan of Mark Gruenwald's Squadron Supreme since I was a kid. So naturally after discovering Mugen, I wanted to bring some of my favorite characters to video life as it were. I mean Hyperion, Power Princess, Dr. Spectrum, these aren't going to be in Capcom's next big game. But that's the great thing about Mugen.
2) Please share your thoughts about his general comic back history and about the character in general.
Now that's interesting. See there are no less than four different versions of Hyperion in the comics. There's Gruenwald's classic version, King Hyperion from Exiles, Straczynski's in Supreme Power, and the one in the Earth X story line. For this Mugen character, I'll be focusing mainly on the classic one. If you just know him from the occasional Avengers crossover it might be easy to just write him off as another Superman copy. Yet there is much more to the character. In the original 12-part mini-series you see Hyperion struggle with the burden of being the most powerful man in the world, and the consequences of exerting that power.
3) So tell the readers what bases you are using for the character and for the various moves themselves.
At first I'd talked to Hannibal who gave me permission to use his Superman as a base. But then over at Scruffydragon.com it was suggested to use Sagat's upper body and Capt. America's lower body as a base. My initial thought was that Sagat was too big, but after testing out several sprites I found a combo I really liked.
4) I like how it turned out too! How is the progress going on Hyperion?
Real life is taking a lot of my time right now, so I don't really get to spend as much time on him as I'd like. But I figure it's better to take my time than rush out a sub-par character.
5) What has stood out the most during the creation process in a positive manner? What has been giving you the most trouble?
Here's a good example of what I've enjoyed. The other day I was trying to code a move and I just couldn't get the look right. So I was messing with all the different variables, then suddenly it comes together and it works great. It just feels awesome when it goes as envisioned in your mind. As far as trouble, I'd say probably the normal mistakes made with a first character. Like when I realized three series of sprites I'd saved in the wrong format.
6) Since Hyperion is similar in stature to Superman, due you intend to have his powerset to also be similar? And how will you differentiate those things with his Mugen capabilities?
Yes there will be some similar powers, like flight and flash vision (Hyperion's version of heat vision). But I think throughout the comics Hyperion has evolved into a more physical fighter
than Superman, and I hope to show that in this character.
7) You have been quoted, as saying he moves will be of a more brutal nature. Can you please elaborate on that comment?
I'm glad you asked that. Some seem to have taken from this remark that I would be making him in a MK style. So to make it clear, no t
here's not going to be blood flying everywhere. To me a brutal character is more like Wolverine, Zangief, or Bison. Hyperion will have distance attacks. But in general he'll be more in your face, hitting his opponent with swarms of close attacks. (editor's note: Hyperion76 has recently been quoted as saying he will have some of the stronger basics in regards to effects in all of M
ugen, taking some inspiration from Acey's recent Incredible Hulk release.)
8) Do you have any special plans in regards to intros/exits with any other characters?
In my opinion intros breath life into a character, and help define their personality. So yes I have a few intros in mind. I'd like to do one for Gladiator a
s well as several DC characters. But intros, exits, and taunts will probably be the last things I do.
9) Is there anything else about the character that we have not covered that you would like to share?
Just keep an eye out at CVGUnited.com for further updates.
10) 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?
Personally not a fan of early betas. I mean, I like seeing a characters progress too, but my internet download is limited, so characters with large chunks missing aren't worth it. Like I said above, progress is slow, so a release is still a while down the line. But I'm determined it'll be worth it.
I'm sure he will be! If you would like to follow the further progress of this character, you can do so at:
Volzzilla has had an opportunity to work with Mugen creator Apocalypse on an interview concerning a character that we have all been waiting for: Punisher! We have seen a version of him in the Eternity of Heroes game from Infinity Mugen Team and it only made me want more. This article is a gift to everyone who wants to know more about this character for mugen. Volzzilla's questions and comments are bolded and Apocalypse's comments are unbolded. I thank them both for their time.
In a true shotgun spirit that even Frank Castle would be proud of, Apocalypse and I were able to get together and put this article together for you quickly. I truly appreciate the time he took with this because The Punisher *IS* the most anticipated character release for the majority of the community that follows Marvel/DC Mugen.
1) So how did you decide upon bringing The Punisher to MUGEN? The idea for The Punisher in all honesty wasn't even mine. My best friend Wags, who has a shared interest in Mugen, gave me the idea when we were playing Freeplay and talking about what characters need to be MUGENized. I was working on a SNK Natuto character at the time, but he told me one of the smartest things I’ve heard when it comes to creating.
"If you wanna really leave a mark in the community, you have to build a general character that has never been attempted before and can appeal to the public (from what we had believed) and who better then Punisher".
Smart man... and with that follows additional projects of "Angel" and Image's "The Maxx" as intent to help raise the bar for Mugen Creators.
2) So tell the readers what bases you are using for the character and for the various moves themselves.
The majority of the base for Punisher is obviously Cable, peppered in with a little Cyclops and Captain America and believe it or not, used a refab'D Ryu as a base. The moves however have been custom engineered by Wucash with my original beta design. Currently about 20-30% of his moves show similarity to Cable, with the other 70-80% being quality custom moves.
3) How is the progress going on The Punisher?
Great. He's definitely found a place in my roster as a character with plenty of replay value to it. Great all around character, Long distance, Aerial Rave, Special - to - Hyper combinations. I think I’m more exciting to see people having fun kicking @$$ with my character, then the people excited for me to release him publicly.
4) Can you tell us how the members of the ‘Punisher Project’, you, Excursion, and WuCash got together?
This can get long but I’ll try and be brief about it. The Punisher Project was originally a two-man (Excursion and myself) operation when Excursion had mentioned to me that he had a brother (Evil_Rock81) that was working on a Punisher character with the exact same base, that he had temporarily suspended while he was not creating. I should have figured someone had already tried making Punisher before, but the coincidence to a collaboration with Excursion of the Infinity Mugen Team (I currently hadno ties with any team at that time.)
In exchange for the sprites originally designed by Evil_Rock81, it was said that the sprites would only be released if my Punisher character wasn't going to be developed in vain. Apparently there were just as many people who said this character actually have potential as there were people doubting him, criticizing him as nothing more then a "Cable Clone.” But the two brothers (Excursion and Evil_Rock81) liked what they had seen and opened full rights for me to edit his sprites as we saw fit. As you play, you'll see animations such as the intro jacket toss, the bandana winpose concept, the shotgun, knife throw, and grenade throw attack as just some of the contributing factors from Evil_Rock81 that make Punisher what he is today.
Wucash was inducted as a third member of the Punisher Project after he expressed interest in him, to Excursion over PMs. Wucash and I never met previously but it was noted by Excursion that Wucash was so interested with what I was doing for Frank Castle, that he signed up just to shadow my work. Wucash and Excursion had both agreed Punisher would serve no justice under a typical Cable base, so Wucash had taken it upon himself to redesign all the basic attacks. From there, he and I exchanged contact info and began designing new moves side by side, while Excursion was given the new moves to code for the EOH platform. (Infinity and Scruffy Dragon/Unlimited working side by side, a milestone in the right direction for both forums in quite some time.)
5) What has stood out the most during the creation process in a positive manner? What has been giving you the most trouble?
Coding and.... Coding. LoL. Actually seeing how to adapt and incorporate different sprites at different angles and transform that into new moves would be that most creative move in a positive direction. But coding would have to be the most troublesome. I'm the kind of guy that likes to break things down to put them together again, so I like to know how things tick, and coding (as fun as it can be) was been the most troublesome because of that belief.
6) Please explain more about Symbiote Punisher. Was he initially supposed to be a second mode and then branched out into his own creation? Will he still be a part of the main Punisher character?
The Symbiote Punisher was actually a spur the moment idea I wanted to incorporate with the first release of the EOH project Punisher. It came about after reading up on the Punisher: War Journal story and the World War Hulk era. I wanted to surprise everybody with a fully alternative form of gameplay - an alterbeast move, fully functional with it's own set of attacks, specials and hypers. He had one of these two "What If" hypers that were incorporated with him at the time. But after the EOH Christmas release, it became evident that the current coding was hosting too much and conflicted with it's animations and was seen best to only use it as a straight foward grapple hyper and not the original 2-in-1 character originally seen with the first release.
The future for The Symbiote Punisher is that now going to be a spinoff special separate character with his own set of specials and hypers set to release in early 2010. I'll definitely keep the world informed as more news of that comes about.
7) Please tell us some of the weapons we will be blowing up opponents with soon? Are there other move concept not involving weaponry that you would like to share with us about?
Pistols pwn'N, Desert Eagle .50 uppercut'N, Saw'D off Shotgun blastin', Uzi sprayin' AK-47 Bustin', M4a1 head shoot'N, G36c, MpNavy SMG, Mini Gatlin gun, and knives - lots of knives
Just to kind sum it up.
8) Did I hear something about fatalities? If so please explain more.
Not a fatality, but something I was thinking about dubbing "PUNISHED". A special KO effect for hypers only activated when you perform a hyper as the final move. I still want to add some "dropping bones", splatter blood and stuff (MK-ique, but Capcom styled). Just like the symbiote hyper, I wanted to incorporate one last time to turn some heads and raise some eyebrows. I'm still currently working on molding the code more efficiently, so we'll see if it makes the cut or not. Anything and Everything is always subject to change.
9) Do you have any special plans in regards to intros/exits with any other characters?
Currently I plan to have a special intro featuring Team Unlimited's Deadpool but it still is on the development table between their team and me. (Team Unlimited, if you see this watch this video and let me know:
As you may remember Batzarro won the Mugen Tournament that ran on this blog a few weeks back. He is being rewarded by being able to choose what character's WIP gets spotlighted on this blog. I am grateful that he chose to spotlight one of his own WIPs: Rhino. He was even kind enough to give Volzzilla an interview concerning his Rhino WIP. Volzzilla's comments and questions are in bold and Batzarro's responses are unbolded.
Rhino was already an anticipated character, but being featured in this nature was solidified even further after Batzarro won the Mugen Madness Tournament. Part of his prize for that was this interview. However, odds are I would have been contacting him anyway, lol.
1) So how did you decide upon bringing Rhino to MUGEN?
Well, I think it first started with the general interest people showed for him when I showed off some of his sprite work. This even included a few of the head people at IMT and I got a lot of PMs about him asking if I was going to work on him. Since I had just finished work on Harley Quinn, I thought I'd take up the challenge. At first, it was pretty easy spriting him and all I really cared for was seeing that brute strength of his.
Once I read the two part special on him (Flowers for Rhino) though, that all changed. It was really well written and made you care so much for the character. This is what got me motivated most and it's what gave me the inspiration to do a lot more unique (and better) work on him.
2) Please share your thoughts about his general comic back history and about the character in general.
His actual name is Aleksei Sytsevich, a Russian native. From what I remember, he originally came into the crime business only looking to make some quick cash to help his family (or was it mother?) and became a guinea pig for the "rhino suit" experiment. Seems like he just got mixed up in the wrong things and Rhino is who he became.
Have been trying to read up on him more, but haven't found many comics with him in it. The most I guess I can really say on the character is he's big, strong, and not so bright. However, when it comes to the character, I'm not going to make him some big dumb goon.
3) Heh. So please tell the readers what bases you are using in regards to both the character and the various effects.
Well, he is for the most part, all Zangief, but frankensprited a lot though. There are also some pieces of T. Hawk and Raiden (CvS) in there too. Thought I would use more T. Hawk, but honestly, you don't think removing the vest and rebuilding what is missing will be such a problem until you get there.
Aside from that, I'm using some open source sprites (and some with permission) from various people. Not to mention some Rambi sprites from Donkey Kong as bases for my rhino (actual animal).
4) Actual Rhino? Now that is intriguing, but I’m cool with waiting to see what you mean J How is the progress going on him currently?
Progress is going really fast at the moment. Been busting out sprites for weeks now trying to get him ready (for myself and the general public).
For awhile there, I didn't have very much time to work on him at all, that's why it's taken much longer to get him beta ready then I had imagined.
I'd like to point out though, that this character would not be as great as he is if it weren't for the amazing coding skill of one MGMURROW. Guy can code fast when he gets to work and he can do some amazing stuff. So many, many thanks to him and the time he's put in helping Rhino come to life. I'll be sure to help him out as well for a long time to come whenever I can.
5) Okay, that is breaking news, how did this partnership with MGMURROW come about?
I knew MG was the one to code Rhino the moment he asked me about it. Loved his Hulk and aside from Vyn's Terry, Warner's Evil Homer, and Alucard's Thanos, he was one of the characters I used the most. So it was a big surprise and honor when MG messaged me about this. Wouldn't have it any other way, just think it's a perfect fit when we work together.
6) Very Nice! What has stood out the most during the creation process in a positive manner? What has been giving you the most trouble?
Getting constant feedback and support has stood out the most in a good way. There's this one guy going by the name of “galactus" that seems to be the biggest fan of this WIP. Can always be sure he'll have some supporting words. Acey tends to PM me every once in awhile about him as well, so I'm glad there's a lot of interest in him.
Most troubling would be creating new basic attacks. About half are from Zangief (with a little difference on some) and the other half are brand new. I just didn't want to see any chops coming from Rhino was the main thing.
7) How might we see you utilize the well-known durability into his special and hyper moves for attacks? How about his strength and speed? What other special and hyper moves that are totally unique can you share with the audience?
A few of his specials have already been seen and shown. Which would be his Battering Ram special (the straight head charge). Then there was also shown Stone Star (jumping and coming down at the opponent with a knee attack). Finally, there was The Gore (a bull-like head charge and toss over shoulders).
Aside from those specials that were already shown, I'd rather keep the rest a secret as to not give away too much before the video that will be coming up a bit before release. He will have a great single head charge hyper that will look different from the special though.
8) Do you have any special plans in regards to intros/exits with any other characters?
Definite special intro against Spider-Man. Was thinking of one against Dazzler, Hulk, and Thing would all be great possibilities as well. Most importantly (for me) is if he'd have some intros with Deadpool and Punisher.
Wasn't even thinking about Punisher, but his last few appearances were in War Journal, so that would be something great to look into.
Haven't really thought about exits though, but I would assume against all the mentioned people as well.
9) Can you give a possible timetable on a beta to release and/or a goal for the full release?
Beta, much sooner then you think!
Looking forward to it! Thanks for your time.
You can follow the progress of this character here:
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