Messages

I've got all my old guitars except one, even the ones that are knackered.  The only one i'm missing is the one my cousin has now, that i got as a first guitar as a kid and wasn't really interested in at the time.  I even want that one back, now.

Put me down for $25, too.

Of course he could have Googled for it.
..But he likes to have to wait for his answers instead of finding out immediately.

You guessed correctly, Hero.

I've suspected he's a fake user for a while, my last posts haven't been in praise of Rolf, but in disgust at what some people think counts as "constructive criticism".  If you think it's sh*t, fine. Think that, but don't post it.  Let the people who are more mature and tactful deal with those threads.

Also, Ace..  Those two pics aren't even the same resolution as Rolf's.  It's like saying "improve these c64 graphics, by making them in 32-bit color at 1024x768 resolution with anti-aliasing".

Superman's right arm is wonky, by the way.

Brighten? I was thinking clutter.

It might also be hand if the winners used the trophies as links, so people like me can see the thread and, more importantly, the winning entries.

I've clearly noticed an increase in the number of entries on this sprite jam, in comparison to others I've started.

That might be down to the topic.  It was pretty much a "draw whatever you can think of" situation and not a "draw a cowboy" or "draw a blonde girl in september" or whatever.

I'm with SSH on this one.  Except I'd opt for Paint Shop Pro.
Sprites and backgrounds, I always like to have layers.  For sprites, it's easier to animate certain parts (talking, etc).  For backgrounds, I leave them devoid of detail, and will add objects as new layers as and when I need to.

Trying to defend your obvious cheating is ridiculous, and worse than the cheating itself.  Just accept the fact that you've been busted.

The trousers could do with some more shading.
The hats a bit jaunty.
The belt looks flat.
The boot is puzzling, feet are a nightmare to pixel.

Aside from that, I can't see anything that needs improving.  For a first attempt, I'm pleasantly surprised.

http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=search&sterm=jon+stickman&submit=Search%21

A game with a stickman.  Are you saying it's crap?

I hope not, since games aren't always about graphics.  Jon Stickman was more about a concept.  The same could apply here.  For all we know, Bill might be a character who's world is the pages of a sketchbook.  (An idea I've been thinking about developing for a while).

Just because you don't like the graphics, doesn't give you the right to tell people it's crap.  Whenever you post something to get cristicism, remind to come in a slate it because it's not how I think it should be.

If it's cartoony, I'll whine about how it should be more realistic.  If it's realistic, I'll cry about how it should be cartoony.  If you draw a dog I'll say it should be a cat, and if you draw a cat I'll tell you it should be a giraffe on steroids.  Moreover, whatever it is, I'll start by saying it's sh*t.

Actually, scratch that.  I won't, since I'm not an arrogant, opinionated asshole with nothing better to do than insult other people's creative work.

That would have sounded clever if you hadn't made so many english errors yourself!Ã, 

Define "many".  Anyhow..

Rolf:
It's an interesting style.  Considering you said your favorite game was one of the Monkey Island Games, you've not tried ripping the sprites from that and making a fan game.  I respect that.  This style of art could make an interesting game.

Others:

Boyd's right.  Graphic Nazis.  Surely you realise this is the "Critic's Lounge" and not the "Sh*t on the Parade Before it Even Starts Lounge".  He's not ripping art, he's actually bothered to draw it.  He's come here to improve that art, not get told it's garbage.  The actual body shape alone seems reasonably good (aside from the slanting).  How would you like it if everyone said all your work was crap?

Great work if you're under 5 years old? Great comment if you can't act over 5 years old, too.  Stop being mean and try for constructive critisicism, and not just poking fun at people.

As for the mouth, I think he has a bit more character without one.  I've had a character in mind for years that never has a mouth, getting the eyes to do all the emotions and stuff.  It's hard, but it's possible.  It all depends on the situation, I guess.

Back to Rolf:
Good Luck, I can't wait to see where you go with this.

Billy Corgan whines?

"Graphics: 80%"

Er..

the makers of those are having to churn out comics on a large scale.Ã,  One a day, with over a month in advance.Ã,  It's hard to be funny if it's to a deadline.

So she had all the time in the world, did she?

How often did this "humor newspaper" come out? Most people I've spoke to on school/college/uni news-rags worked per week, not per day.

As for you, Ivy..

It might be that I don't get your humor, that's a definite possibilty, but for someone in your shoes (at the time) you need to cater for those bottom of the barrel pond scum, otherwise you'll be seen as either too high-brow or too artsy or too "eh?*".Ã,  Once you have something that works without fail, then you can alienate readers.

I'm not just putting these here to have my ego stroked...I've got someone in real life who does that..

Damn it..Ã,  And damn you for posting a pic that didn't make you look like the ass-end of a horse's ass-wart.

..I'm fine with that, I don't expect my sense of humour to agree with everyone.Ã,  I do these because our paper reaches thousands of tired, cranky students during the week, and if I can help lighten up their day for them or make class a little more tolerable, cool.

I'm not your target audience, and will most likely never claim to be.Ã,  If it did achieve these goals, then I'm honestly pleased for you.Ã,  But, as for myself, I didn't get the feeling for it.Ã,  Maybe if I'd attended a college or university, I might feel different.


As for being the voice of dissent, I'm not just trying to put you down, without reason.Ã,  Hopefully, you'll improve what you have already, and I genuinely would like to see the results.

And on a third read thru..

I really do think the strips seem really cluttered.Ã,  There's too much chat.Ã,  It's like War and Peace crammed into the pages of a book by Roahl Dahl.Ã,  That's a critiscism in general, not a humor one.Ã,  Any mention of humor in the future might make it seem like that I'm attacking you personally, which I'm definitely not trying to do.Ã,  (For all those out there that might think I am).

Congratulations on the Diorama award.Ã,  As far as I know, a diorama is a table-based center-piece in thanksgiving celebrations, but I'd be intrigued to see where you could take that accolade.

EDIT:
"Eh?": for some reason, I've taken the up assumption that you're a Canuck.  I'm not sure why.

I'm probably going to regret this, but, here goes.. 
Personally, I wasn't keen.

Art-wise, it's much the same as a lot of other comics I've seen.  It's not the greatest thing in the world, sure, but it could've been a hell of a lot worse.  It does seem a little cramped, tho.  It looks like there's too much going on in each strip.  The actual drawings themselves, it's a simplistic style that fits with the genre well.  It's just a little rough around the edges, but fixing that just comes from practice and patience.

As Kinky mentioned..  Stances.  They do look a bit stiff at times, however, this is something that might come from the way it needed to be for printing, so I won't go into it much.  I'm sure with some shading, it'd be easily fixed.

Now, as for the humor..

I'm sorry, I don't mean to offend you or anything, but I just didn't find any of it funny.  It seemed really forced.  Humor's a difficult thing to do, and whilst I appreciate your effort, I think you should work on the plot and jokes a lot more before doing the art.  I read thru the whole thing the first time round, and didn't even crack a smile, let alone laugh.  The second time (now), I re-read the whole thing again, and the only panel I found remotely humorous was the "Did you use Steve's ketchup, too?".  That panel stood out from the rest of the post, as it seemed genuinely humorous, not just trying to be funny and not succeeding.

Sure, newspaper comics I've read in the past are rarely funny.  More often than not, they're drawn really badly (worse than yours),  however, the makers of those are having to churn out comics on a large scale.  One a day, with over a month in advance.  It's hard to be funny if it's to a deadline.

I do see potential, but it needs work.  A lot of work on the humor side.  I'm not trying to be mean, but I'm not going to patronise you like some other people would, thinking "Oh, it's a chick trying to be funny, points for effort and whatnot", or "I'll say it's good because, I'm horny and Ivy's pretty".

For now, I'll just wish you good luck with it.  I'd be interested in seeing what else you come up with in the future.

Running the main program works fine for me.  I hated Zone Alarm when I had it.  If you needed a copy of SPF, I've probly got a copy of it somewhere.  Maybe it just needed a reinstall.

Does your amp have a line-out (or "send", i think. not "return")? Or failing that, a speaker in it with a jack connection?Ã,  If so, feed a wire from those, into the Line-In port of the PC.

EDIT:
..Er, just like m0ds said.

What sort of time frame are you looking at?
If you're willing to wait a few months, I should be able to host it.  Like, free.
But still, there's the waiting until I rent a dedicated server.

Do I have a License? I failed my test twice, nearly killed a family in a BMW, put my head under the dash to try and figure out how to off the wipers whilst driving done a main road and then tried to knock my head teacher off the road after he cut me up.  After that, I gave up on the idea of driving.

Besides, I'm never sober enough to drive.

"Hadware/Software"?