Sprite Jam - Fun in the Sun! (Winner Announced!)

[SpacePirateCaine]

Fun in the Sun!

Ahoy there, boys and girls - time for another Sprite Jam. Sorry that it took as long as it did for me to start the new topic, but I was spending some time deliberating on what exactly I wanted to do for the topic this time around. I spent some time playing Tropico 3 and a little Just Cause 2 and thought, "Man, I wish I was in a tropical paradise - Preferably one without the threat of despotism or parachuting terrorists with satchel charges".

So our newest sprite jam will be "Fun in the sun"! - For those of us in the southern hemisphere, Summer's on its way soon. The season of volleyball, string bikinis, surfing, shark attacks, all of those great, warm-weather activities. So I thought just to get pumped up for the upcoming season, let's see some character sprites engaged in markedly "Summery" activities! You are free to interpret that as you will.

Now, for the specifics:

   
• Your sprite should be a character (Human or otherwise is up to the creator)
     
• Your sprite should depict the character engaging in a "summertime" activity (Passive activities, such as sunbathing, etc. are acceptable)
     
• Your sprite should be independent of a background - please include an image with transparent background (or flat color if you are unable to set transparency).
     
• Backgrounds are allowed, but an individual sprite should be provided separately in the format stated above.
     
• If a sprite is not self-explanatory, a text description is encouraged.
     
• Sprite resolution and color depth are not specified
  

The competition will continue for 1 week, and end on Friday, May 6th, 2011 at midnight.
Only 1 sprite will be judged, if submitting multiple entries, please specify the official competition entry.

[Bodrius]

Hi! This is my first time ever in any competition, and here's my entry, I think it needs no explanation.

Hope you like it.

[Armageddon]

I have no idea if that's some gay rocker, or a young girl. And if it's a young girl why is there no top.

[Tabata]

I have no idea if that's some gay rocker, or a young girl. And if it's a young girl why is there no top.

... maybe she doesn't like those white patches left on her body after sunbathing 


@ Bodrius: I like her! She reminds me of the Peanuts somehow   

[Dualnames]

For the love of god, that's Mafalda!! YAY!! 

[TomatoesInTheHead]

For the love of god, that's Mafalda!! YAY!! 

Ahhh, yess! I knew I know her somewhere, but also thought Peanuts first...

But anyway it's a great entry!

[Bodrius]

Thanks! Yes, it is Mafalda. I love her character and wanted to make a sprite of her. 

[Anian]

Not satisified, and definitely needs better shading (but hey these competitions are great motivations for practice), but here goes my first finished sprite in ASE, it was actually sketched in PS then inked in Illustrator, so I figured it'd be a shame to then turn it into very low resolution:
I imagine it's a nice fun day on the beach, at least for other people...

[Tabata]

This is Joey while doing his beloved hobby, but it's only fun in the sun:
                                                                         

... you don't understand why?

Okay â€" only for to explain his hobby (not for the comp.) I'l allow you ...
a little peek over >>> here  

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Hey-o, everyone!  Limey Lizard is wishing you all a fun summer from his shore leave on a double-sunny vacation planet.



Better bring SPF-10000!


He wanted to say he doesn't appreciate being taken from his nice beach chair.

[SpacePirateCaine]

Well done so far, boys and girls - only a little time left! My how the time flies when you're having fun in the sun!

It's already the 7th here, but I'll give the rest of you folk a few more hours to finish any last-minute entries, if there are any to be had.
Also, ProgZ, mind adding a separate, background-free version of your sunbathing Limey Lizard sprite only there, por favor? Looks amazing with the background - I'd like to see him cut out as well (as per ze rules).

Much thanks to everyone who's participating! Not a huge turnout this time, but the lack of quantity is offset by the awesome quality we're seeing.

[SpacePirateCaine]

Well, ladies and gentlemen, the deadline has come and gone and it's time to make a decision on this week's Sprite Jam winner. I'll begin with a quick comment on each of the entries, then proclaim our weekly champion.

First up: Bodrius


I'm not familiar with the character of Mafalda, so the reference is a bit lost on me, but the sprite is absolutely solid. I'd be remiss to say that there's something odd about a little girl sunbathing topless, but as an entry - especially for the topic provided, it's a great job. And for your first competition entry, it's great work.

Next: Anian


A man after my own heart. What's not to love about bikini babes on pink rollerskates with boomboxes? She'd fit perfectly into a high-res 80's-themed adventure game, and reminds me fondly of "Leisure Suit Larry 7: Love for Sail!". If I were to give criticism, I'd say that the shading could be a little higher contrast, but looks great even without. And man is she pale, for being out in the sun all day.

Followed by: Tabata


Looks like Joey's got a bit of a bad habit - but hey, who can blame him (aside from the police)? Great expression and fun posing - the body is twisted in a kind of odd way, but it works. Of course, on a hot sunny day, that outfit would be a little stifling, wouldn't it?

And finally: ProgZmax


Ah, Limey - one of my favorite contemporary AGS characters. A little disappointed to not see Lucky anywhere in the background (unless that's his charred remains there to the side of Limey's beach chair?), but no big deal there. I'd love to see another Limey Lizard game one of these days.

And now the hard part: Deciding on a victor. Going from a technical standpoint, Limey's always amazing with his limited size and palette showing just what ProgZ can do, while from a "The kind of stuff SPC was hoping to see" standpoint, it's Anian hands-down. Fun-factor goes to Tabata, of course - once again, great expression and nice interpretation of the rules, but I think I'm going to go with Bodrius this time around: Great execution, quick turnaround and apparently totally recognizable from the source material. A really good start on the AGS forums.

So again, congratulations, Bodrius!

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with for the next competition, and I plan on participating, whatever it may be! And thank you once again to everyone else, as well, who entered the competition. I had a lot of fun, and hope that you all did as well. See you next time!

[Anian]

Aww, thanks for the comment, I'm trying to make more of a Brokenswordish style but it's pretty similar, and as soon as I manage to make a similar style with Sketchup renderings for backgrounds, there'll be a game coming, in fact the story and sprite concepts are close to done...okay, enough with free promo, that's not what I wanted to say...

Always could be more entries into a comp, but still congrats to Bodrius, very cool sprite. 

[Tabata]

All nice entries, but I would like Mafalda to be seen in a game (to start with her).
Congratulation Bodrius!

.... I'd be remiss to say that there's something odd about a little girl sunbathing topless, ...

Only if you would prefer, every little girl (with nothing to hide) has to wear a top and as soon as they get older ...    

Looks like Joey's got a bit of a bad habit - but hey, who can blame him (aside from the police)? Great expression and fun posing - the body is twisted in a kind of odd way, but it works. ..

Thank you very much for your kind assessment and no worry - Joey is meant to be a harmles young man, who is just a bit curious (gathering the Playboy only because of those interesting reports) and since hiding behind a bush in this position is a bit tiring, he will give up soon  

... Of course, on a hot sunny day, that outfit would be a little stifling, wouldn't it?

Oh yes! But noone wears clothes at the places he prefers - so camouflage is everything (or getting naked, as everyone else)!  


Edit:
Every time, I read my sentences, there is something new I find, to correct 

[MigJ]

I don't think is very fair to just copy a Mafalda´s drawing, of course in this case is totally recognizable from the source material, to anyone that isn't very familiar with the character:



I just wanted to point out that is not fair...

[Khris]

Oh my, it's an exact tracing. Not really the point of this competition.

It's hard not to suspect malice in a situation like this. And 1st place to boot.

Edit: Hmm, Bodrius is the guy who posted all those Simon the Sorcerer style backgrounds and sprites in the CL.
The plot thickens.

[Tabata]

@Bodrius:
Sorry, my enthusiasm for your entry you is fading!
Didn't you know, that this is no „copy&paste“-comp.?  Hmm â€"     Somehow this reminds me of Dr. Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg ...


@all:
I really would prefer to have some more fun with you, instead of grumbeling about someone else,
who likes to harm his own reputation for „   â€œ (nothing).

So how about leaving this theme behind, looking forward to nicer things and go on with a new topic? 

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

He changed the color of the sunglasses and bow, what more do you want? 

[Sephiroth]

So who's the true Winner?

[SpacePirateCaine]

Well, technically since I never stipulated that you couldn't use reference materials, Bodrius still gets the winning spot. However, Bodrius hasn't logged in in over a week now, and I'm afraid that with more than a week and no activity from him, someone else should probably start the next competition in his absence.