R1665 2010-12-01 03:18:04

Nah, this isn't the background music. Not heavy enough for me. It might be a good choice for someone else, though.

R1665

R1665 2010-12-01 03:59:04

It may seem that way, but it's actually quite far from the truth. The popularity of any particular thing generally does not determine whether or not I like it. However, it could be said that popular things draw my attention more and it is the resulting critical analysis that leads to me disliking the popular. That's probably true to a degree.

My issue with popularity is that it is sometimes undeserved, as is the case with shotoclones as a whole. I have no problem with popularity so long as that popularity stems from actual quality rather than appealing to the lowest common denominator.

R1665

R1665 2010-12-01 15:39:21

I'm afraid that Goku won't be making any appearances in the VG EXILES. I do admit that the thought of finding the most spectacularly anticlimactic way to kill some of these anime demigods does appeal to me...

R1665

R1665 2010-12-01 18:45:26

To be perfectly honest, my general opinion of Proxicide has soured considerably since I started making flash videos. It has nothing to do with his actual work and everything to do with what I have seen and read of him. I honestly believe that he and I would be at each others throats within five minutes if we were to ever meet.

However, that's a rant for another day.

R1665

R1665 2010-12-02 00:39:51

Nothing would please me more. Unfortunately, I am not completely in charge of that. I will make further updates as the art continues to roll in.

R1665

R1665 2010-12-02 06:32:51

Shao Khan being dead is consistent with the backstory of the dimension that my characters will be fighting in in Ep.3.

On Earth 7695-5077, Earthrealm won the first Mortal Kombat tournament held a thousand years ago. Nine hundred years and nine more victories later, Earthrealm claimed ultimate victory over Outworld. Rather than annex Outworld, it was decided that the best course of action would be to permanently remove it as a threat. Outworld was then largely reduced to a radioactive wasteland by nuclear strikes via Earthrealm-controlled portals opened in every major Outworld city.

So, yeah. Shao Khan is quite dead on 7695-5077.

R1665

R1665 2010-12-03 14:48:30

I actually like Dan as a character. He's a hell of a lot more interesting than Ryu or Akuma. As interesting as his character may be, though, he ultimately boils down to "crappy Ryu" in the same way that Akuma boils down to "evil Ryu".

If I had to rank the shotoclones, Dan would come in second under Ken.

R1665

R1665 2010-12-03 18:42:27

I don't look at any of these characters from a gaming standpoint. I look at them from a writing and animation standpoint. I couldn't care less how "powerful" or "skilled" a character is supposed to be.

When evaluating characters for the VG EXILES, I much prefer those characters that are more original and unique. It also helps if they can be altered a bit and still retain their uniqueness.

For example, what would an alternate-reality Ryu look like? If I make him less serious and more personable then he might as well be Ken. If I make him evil and powerful then he might as well be Akuma (or Evil Ryu, which made Akuma redundant anyway). If I make him a sucky fighter than he might as well be Dan. Conversely, I can take any of those other shotoclones and give them Ryu's qualities. I can functionally interchange every single one of them. Not a single one brings anything to the table which cannot be provided by any other.

I find Dan interesting for a shotoclone, but he is still a shotoclone nonetheless.

R1665

R1665 2010-12-04 00:01:06

Honestly, my scrutiny and subsequent hatred of shotoclones occurred well after I made Episode zero. At the time, I was planning a six-part series which would have required three full-length shotoclone fights. I did not fully abandon this series until I finished Episode 1. Episodes 0 and 1, at the time I made them, were meant to be practice for this six-part series. I was going to put the VG EXILES on the back burner, do the six-part series, and maybe return to finish out the whole Gambit/Talbain thing several years down the road if the six-part series didn't fully burn me out.

Obviously, I didn't take that path. My rejection of most of the shotoclones is a relatively new thing.

I originally put Violent Ken in EP.0 for several reasons, none of which was because I wanted to explore the character. I had his MUGEN character for ripping sprites. He was SNK style and "looked" like he could be in Mortal Kombat. He was also Proxicide's favorite character and I saw it as a nod (or jab) to him. I hadn't fully fleshed out the Exiles concept yet, and Violent Ken seemed the best candidate for a mindless berzerker who would be believable coming from Hell. I had SNK sprites for Ryu and Akuma, too, and it could have easily been one of them.

Looking back, Violent Ken was the best choice I could have made at the time. Neither Ryu nor Akuma have that blind, uncontrollable, savage bloodlust even at their worst. Even now, I don't want characters like Akuma or Evil Ryu who are considered evil because they MIGHT kill someone. I much prefer a form of evil that would be EAGER to kill and find it wholly enjoyable. Psychopaths are much more fun to write for. Just look at Gambit.

R1665

R1665 2010-12-04 04:34:19

I didn't update any of the extras in the Ep.1 menu. I just added a button so that they could be accessed from the main menu without having to hit the "secret" backspace key.

From now on, every extras menu will be easily accessible in this fashion. I only hid it that one time to keep from spoiling Gambit's involvement at the end of the video.

R1665

R1665 2010-12-04 20:21:48

I have less animosity toward the ninjas. In the early days, they all shared many of the same sprites out of necessity. There were simply too many memory limitations to allow each character to be individualized. Once Midway got the room to do so, they altered each of the formerly-cloned ninjas to give them individuality. Capcom cannot claim this. Even after 20 years of development and exponential increases in memory limitations, Capcom's shitty headswap shotoclones are still shitty headswap shotoclones.

As far as flash popularity is concerned, ninjas are at the top of the list. However, they still aren't featured enough to make me sick of them just yet. There was a period about a year or two ago in which every other flash on the portal was a Ryu vs. Ken battle.

If ninjas had THAT kind of overexposure, I'd be railing on them just as hard.

R1665