Announcing "Project: Arena" - A Personal Challenge

Character Concept: Hero Girl by ~SAB-CA on deviantART

So, I drew this picture over a year ago, as a game character concept. I also made a pixel portrait of her, which is what you see me using as my avatar on this here blog.

Well, now, I finally want to put her to use! With this post, I announce my intent to make as much of an arena fighting game as I possibly can! (Guardian Heroes Style!) There's only one problem... I'm not really a programmer!

So what does this mean? It means I plan to make the sprites, animation, U.I., Opening cinematic... everything I personally can do, as a sprite artist, and artist in general.

I'll start off, by trying to define a sprite style for the characters I plan to have, starting with the girl at the top. I'll post those here, on this blog, under the Tag "Project: Arena".

Initial assests to look out for are 2 stages, and 4 characters. Get THAT out of the way, first, and we'll see what comes from that! Gotta set some realistic goals to start with!

So look forward to seeing my attempt as making a game! If either I, someone close to me, figure out programming, everyone might get a chance to actually PLAY this thing, too!

Sprite Portrait: Hero Girl by ~SAB-CA on deviantART

G.I. Joe - A REAL Hollywood Remake

Ok, I had a nice detailed writeup for this, and... somehow, it was all deleted. Even my DRAFT got deleted. So now, lucky bloggers, you get a big synopsys of my thoughts, rather than a detail writeup! Some of you impatient readers probably prefer it that way, so this ones for you!

What I liked:

The Actors were well chosen, especially the Baroness! (Who I think looks better with dark hair!)

Marlon Wayans did a great job. He didn't fall back on his families classic brand of comedy, and this made for a plesant suprise.

The theaters of combat were awesome. Very fitting to the old cartoon!

What I disliked:

Cursing in movies targeted to kids, especially with toy lines, is just stupid. Hollywood needs to learn some vocab without "G.D" in it. Leave out the "sh*t" while you're at it, too. It's getting really stupid.

Hollywood doesn't seem to be able to understand that mouthless mask are cool! Giving Optimus Prime a mouth in Transformers... and now putting a mouth on Snake Eye's Mask/Helmet! Cobra Commander's helmet design was boring and forgettable. Destro's was... all right.

The movie lacked fanservice. Not the pervy kind! Would have loved a few classic theme remixes, and a P.S.A! No "...and knowing is half the battle!" Segment? GAH!

My Overall Feelings

I liked the movie... but just not as a G.I. Joe Product. It continues the trends of Hollywood, when viewed as a remake.

Here is the point I think they miss: Traditional works are remembered because THEIR qualities are timeless. Present what made the original great, but "display them in a higher resolution", if you will, and don't try to shine and shape them into matching modern day takes on these ideals.

All you end up making, when you do that, is an ultimately forgettable homage.