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R1665

Age 40, Male

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A late update

Posted by R1665 - December 5th, 2011


This is a weird update situation. CE-Rap and I have stuff planned that requires some coordination to these updates, but with his recent complications (you can read about it HERE), I guess the best course of action is to simply start giving people some actual information on the stuff I have going on specifically.

That being VGE4, of course.

I'm about 40-50% finished with the fight already depending on just how long I want to stretch it. It used to be that four minutes worth of fight was more than sufficient, but it now seems inadequate at times considering the total length of the planned production.

It's a balancing act. For its length, the fight is the meatiest part of the production from a file size perspective. I might be able to make a six-minute epic rumble, but would that leave enough space for the rest of the story to be told? Tom Fulp was gracious and awesome enough to grant me the maximum-allowable upload limit, but the fact is that future episodes will be regularly tapping upon that ceiling. VGE3 only just barely made my new 40 mb limit, and that was only after making several deep cuts to the quality. There's only so much fat one can cut before they're shearing off meat.

That's why I can't ever do two full-length fights per episode and why I have to carefully weigh the impact of extending the fights I already have. It would not have been such an issue a few years ago when the story presentation was much simpler, but now Rap's side of the production is a juggernaut and I have to take that into account when doing mine.

...and let me tell ya, the stuff that man has planned for both 3.5 and 4 will make 3 look bare-bones by comparison.

---------------------

Enough about that stuff. Let's get to the aforementioned VGE4 content.

The battles of the VG Exiles have been fought in a few interesting venues. My fighters have seen the wastelands of Outworld, the holographic projections of the Danger Room, the inside of a Street Fighter Shadowlaw complex, and even the streets of New York.

Up until now, they had simply been venues and landscapes. Just scenery. Those fights could have gone down almost exactly the same in other arenas and other worlds. Aside from the nice graphics and the occasional stage transition, the arenas played little part in how the battles progressed.

Well, as of VGE4, this all changes.

What if the arena was more than simple set decoration? What if it could grow and change while the action was taking place? What if the arena itself was active, alive even? Pretty cool, huh? Well, what if that very same living, dynamic arena WANTED YOU DEAD?! Where do you run when the WHOLE WORLD around you wants to kill you and CONSUME YOUR SOUL?!

Imagine a venue where the stakes are higher than ever before, where your opponent wants you dead, the world wants both of your souls, and death means eons of suffering and anguish followed only by complete annihilation in the eternal void. What could that possibly be like?

In VG Exiles Episode 4, that question will be answered.

R1665

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Comments

damn dude, that hard drive/car crash is a freakin' double wammy.
if you could, send C-rap my regards.
and your background info sounds really awesome. Im Stoked!
plus your half way done with the fight?
Geezus!
my hopes, Mr. Riggs, look at what you're doing to my hopes!

Your hopes? Sheeeee-iiiiit....

I've been working on VGE4 since between the times FAILtality and VGE3 were released and there's a lot more than just the fight going into this production. That's not even counting VGE3.5!

You've got no excuse for not beating me to the finish line on this one, man... GET ON IT!

R1665

Just felt like giving an encouraging word.

First to Ce-Rap who is obviously upset about his predicaments... life can be really upsetting sometimes. I was really looking forward for the next installment of the series, but I guess I'll have to wait a little longer. It was kinda of a relief when Ce-Rap told that no projects were lost. It's a little odd how I feel like cheering for you.
Anyway, about the top limit, don't you ever consider having your own website for the releases of the files, as you said, you're always struggling against space, even at the price of quality, which is something your series doesn't deserve. By all means.

40-50% is impressive. What is your method? Do you just love what you doing, or are you really well disciplined to work towards your own deadlines?

I frowned when I saw the duration you're aiming to the battle. I agree with you, the rumble is the beefiest by far. But I've seen fight coreography that last for that or much more longer and are not that enticing. It goes without saying variation is a key to keep a battle interesting. I hope you don't go for the japanese style of one opponent edging the other over and over again... I so hate that in their animations...

The arena idea seems brilliant, and if the video was kind of an inspiration towards its goal it sparks my curiosity even further! A battle where the characters have to manage the opponent, the environment and their own stamina and power indeed as the potential of a sprite epic animation.

I wish you both good luck.
Keep up the good work. (I'm sure keeping mine, so I can have yours as a reward, or a Christmas present, even if it is a late one :P)

Ashtaroth

"I was really looking forward for the next installment of the series, but I guess I'll have to wait a little longer."

All things considered, the wait for 3.5 or 4 is probably not gonna be hit too terribly hard. Right now, the production schedule is not as tightly-crammed and day-to-day like it was toward the end of VGE3.

"What is your method? Do you just love what you doing, or are you really well disciplined to work towards your own deadlines?"

Personally, I am very much carried by my love for the project. My discipline is crap and I certainly wouldn't be able to do this if I didn't love it. As far as any deadlines are concerned, they are just ways to add that extra motivation to make stuff happen. It should be more than obvious by now that deadlines are never set in stone.

"I frowned when I saw the duration you're aiming to the battle."

I just used the six-minute figure as an example of what I could conceivably do if there weren't so many other factors to consider. It's not an actual goal. At least, not for right now.

"I hope you don't go for the japanese style of one opponent edging the other over and over again... I so hate that in their animations..."

You mean like that whole "struggling for the last hit" thing? Yeah, that left my repertoire after VGE1. I don't like it either.

R1665

i think "edging" might be:
someone is about to get beat, but then powers up and randomly gets stronger.
i don't know just my two cents.
I'M GETTIN' ON IT!

Hell, I've never done that.

That kind of edging is some redundant bullshit. That used to piss me off about DBZ.

-Level 1 hero stomps Level 1 villain-
-Level 1 villain becomes Level 2 villain-
-Level 2 villain stomps Level 1 hero-
-Level 1 hero becomes Level 2 hero-
-Level 2 hero stomps Level 2 villain-

...and so on.

By the time they finally get to their maximum power levels, you have wasted twelve episodes watching redundant shit that never really mattered anyway.

That will never be the case in my fights. Full power from the get-go. Always. No bullshit here.

R1665

I did meant that whole last hit thing....In DBZ they do that a lot, they're shooting their fireballs, or energy balls and the other just keeps dodging and trying to hit them back. It's senseless.
(But I still think DBZ is a great series by the way). Altough "edging" could very well be interpreted like lvl 2 thing as well, as HeartlessKarma correctly referred. I don't like that very much, I don't mind on DBZ, because the series was the first to do such a thing. I do mind on newer series...it's obnoxious. I do like a good power-up. But what I really like is a "sync power-up". It's like that thing with the levels, but more like this:

-Lvl 1 villain stomps lvl 1 hero-
-surprised lvl 1 hero goes lvl 2 beating face of lvl 1 villain-
-villain fights back going lvl 2.-
-After a while they get back to the pokéballs (I hate pokémon!!!!).-
More like that.

I also like "Rage power-up". You had your take on the VGE1 with the wolf, even going red...oh!!! He.Was.Pissed!

R1665 I'm racing you! You're half done with the battle, I'm half done with the story I'm writing right now. Let's see who finishes first. Ha Ha. (That's how I set my own deadlines, which aren't carved in stone as well).

Keep up the good work!
HeartlessKarma cheers to you too!

Ashtaroth

Just some minor cautionary advice, because you really seem like you are stressing over this.

You are trying to set a really high standard for yourself by creating these sprite battles that tell a story, in addition to look cool.
Don't ever feel like you have to pad the length of a fight to make it better. The length is irrelevant, what matters is the internalization of the characters in the fight.
Take VG Exiles 2 for example: Over the course of the fight you had to demonstrate a couple of things; first, that Remy was not only as asshole, but a heartless killer, second, that Remy was so powerful that it was too dangerous to leave him alive, and third, that Sakura was open-minded and observant, and a lot stronger than people gave her credit for. It did all these things pretty well, I think.
I actually like the scene the best where Remy charges Ryu's severed head. You had this brief pause where the action climaxed, the BGM slowed, and the energy around Remy started in low and quickly exploded. Everything fell neatly together and built up to that one moment. It made the anticipation of what was going to happen with that head all the better.
Now consider Episode 3. What was going on between Bison and Stryker? Nothing, really. Stryker secretly wanted to die, true, but we the audience don't learn this until after the fight is over. The ultimate point was that Stryker beats Bison and saves both worlds. The fight could have lasted two minutes in one location and still had the same impact on the story. Trying to drag it out just because you can is overindulgent.
Remember, action is good. But pointless action is boring, especially when you are trying to tell an effective and original story.

Same thing goes for interactive arenas. Having interactive arenas is cool, but having dozens of things constantly flying around on the screen is not because it disconnects the viewer from whats going on. The more things that are going on, the harder it is to focus on what really matters, which is the characters.
Everything in moderation, my good man. ;)

I'm not stressing. It is what it is. At least now I know what my limitations are.

R1665

I would've rather seen Talbain get mad and turn into his red form instead of seeing him like that right from the start. Or at least seeing him do it before the fight even started, as like a battle mode. I kind of the like the changing power levels thing, but not when it goes on forever and there's like 4 god damn forms to it.

Also, bout time you made your backgrounds more interactive. I knew it would come sooner or later, but I'm glad to hear that they will finally play a major role in the fight. When they are more interactive like this it also leads to better transitions in my opinion.

I want to see cracks in the floor and walls every time it's impacted by the fighters

Cracks? The problem with cracks is being able to see them under all the blood spatter...

R1665

I've reestablished contact with Rap and he wanted me to extend his thanks for all the well-wishes here. He's not quite up and running yet, but he'll be back to 100% soon enough.

Let this be yet another lesson to everybody: SAVE YOUR STUFF! MAKE BACKUPS! MAKE SURE THOSE BACKUPS WORK!

I went through that HD crash several months ago and I know full well the importance of keeping your stuff properly backed up. Both Rap and I were (mostly) prepared for such events, so damage was relatively light. You don't want to be the poor bastard who doesn't have backups when the blue screen of death hits... Learn from us.

R1665

taking a guess from this dante's inferno video the two fighters are probably going to be inside the body/stomach of a large creature

Could be.. could be...

Some interpretations of Hell very much have it being akin to a living creature. I'd say that my favorite along those lines would have to be the underworld depicted in Nancy in Hell.

http://www.imagecomics.com/series /211/Nancy-In-Hell

Fanservice aside, that was one awesome fucking series.

R1665