[Mod] [DEAD] LF2 "Demake"

[STM1993]

This project is dead. In place of it, I'm working on a different LF2 Rebalance mod, which currently has no official thread in LFE.

Little Fighter 2 - "Demake" Project
(updated: 13th October 2016)
old: http://i.imgur.com/NJtD9Dc.png (6/10/16)
oldest: http://i.imgur.com/3pDt3hN.png

My Notes:
Backup LF2 Data Notes
Backup Demake Plans
Backup Demake Chars

Introduction
I initially wanted to tweak the original LF2 to fix some bugs and implement my own balance changes - similar to Bat Tamer's LF2 Fanpai project. However, I realized that I was going to need a huge full mod to do so, and I find that I'm not able to match or flexibly work with Marti's sprites nor do I expect others to willingly help with my project. Therefore, I decided to overhaul the graphics for a cartoony retro between LF1 & LF2 that would be easier for me to draw, and might as well throw in the LF2 fan theories for fun.

It will be a long journey, but I do plan to learn as much as I can about LF2 and recreate the game without sacrificing the various elements that made the original LF2 so much fun and without forcing players to relearn how to play the game. So far my experiences in online LF2 fights, various DCing experiments and interactions with other experienced members have helped me understand the game better.

Thus, Demake is a remake of LF2 that tries to keep as much of the original as possible, with the main goal of fixing bugs, making it easier to mod, redrawing all hitboxes for consistency and mostly tweaking particularly abusable/unfair tricks. I also hope to expand the minions' moveset to be on par with the heroes on top of custom characters & boss character nerfs so that there'd be a wider cast of balanced characters to pick from.

Despite its looks, this mod is distinct from YinYin's LF 1/2 - YinYin's is a faithful recreation of LF1 into the LF2 engine. However, I do admit I took some parts of the sprites like the heads from LF1/2 for reference, mostly because the ripped LF1 sprites link is broken and LF1/2's resources are the next best option, but I promise that the vast majority of the mod would be my own work and credits will be given appropriately. I also want to point out that Dragon5's goal for his Fanpai mod is to fully rebalance the heroes & bosses, which differs from Demake's goal as mentioned above.

I finally decided to post my own project thread because I doubt I can stuff everything in my signature forever, and I promise only to update when there are big achievements.

tl;dr: What started as a mere balance/bugfix mod became a long-term hobby/project.


Progress so far:
Create a new sprite template (correct size & more efficient method) - standard, female & giant.
Present Goal: Get the sprites done so I can work on the data.

Update Log (Click to View)

August 2016?: Was on hiatus. Slowly working on it again...
4 October 2015: Did some Dennis, but reworking sprite template because characters turn out too small/short, which is weird with hitboxes and stuff. Also planning out the moves for all characters. You can download a way outdated beta of Bandit, weapon0(bat) and weapon3(crate) here.
4 May 2015: Female justin "Judy" done. Mark also done in a single day. Either Davis or Dennis are up next since I got the jacket base from Woody.
1 May 2015: Some weapons to show. Davis sprite updated. Woody done. Working on female justin "Judy", possibly Mark next.
29 April 2015: Got sidetracked on custom stage and Louisrang. Sorcerer head enlarged. Completed Deep, Template & Femplate base sprites. Louis/LEX sprite foundation set up. Clarified with YinYin to check understanding of default LF2 characters.
14 April 2015: Completed Sorcerer base sprites including cape, and a cape template. Lazily gave him fireball/iceball to test burning/frozen frames. Updated all base sprites' specific falling/rowing frames 36, 42, 45.
13 April 2015: Completed Bandit base sprites.
Early April 2015: Created a female template. Drew up a list of characters to add as seen in the main picture above (slightly dated).
Around March 2015: Finished the sprite and data template. Completed weapon0(bat) and weapon3(crate).

Credits (will try to update this as I go along)
* "nicesong.midi" made by Do, taken from The Little Realm.
* Lu Bu's theme (MIDI) dl'd from KHInsider, original theme composed by Koei for Dynasty Warriors.
* YinYin's Virtual Data Changer (VDC). It is an absolute god-send for working with coordinates in data.
* Prince_Freeza for giving advice on sprites. Also for drawing the standing sprite of Marti Wong's Jason from Fight 1994, which I've asked for permission to use as a potential new character.
* The blonde plump girl in green shirt is inspired by this post.
* Mike Tyson & Muhammad Ali are drawn with inspiration from (NES) Punch-Out!! by Nintendo. I'll retype this in future.

[Bamboori]

noice!
sorcerers head/cap should be much bigger though

[Hellblazer]

Jan seems a bit too skinny.. And rudolf too slim
Also, there are no weapons that they carry?

[STM1993]

Posting to address replies.
Finished Sorcerer and cape template. I'll add eyes for Sorcerer when he gets injured later.

Next one will be LouisEX; I'm doing the easier characters first.

Sorcerer (Click to View)

Cape template (Click to View)

sorcerers head/cap should be much bigger though

Noted. I'll see if the head really needs to be bigger; see the above sprite sheet.

Jan seems a bit too skinny.. And rudolf too slim
Also, there are no weapons that they carry?

They all use a sprite template, and I have a rule where each individual "pixel" must be 2x2 instead of the usual 1x1. I can't really make either character wider without making them look weird, plus they look fine to me.

I'll add in their unique weapons later. I am considering implementing the old LF1 mechanic where Deep/Henry's sword/bow are actual weapons that you need to pick up, so there's that as well.

[Deep]

Sorceror looks awesome tho..!!
actually, all of the chars are mind-blowing... Keep it up!

[Bamboori]

it looks to me like sorcerers cape is basically just the head template. maybe add one more "pixel" row of height and width (or i can try it when im on pc later)

[Ramond]

Very nice, but I do need to criticize Sorcerer's head angle on some of the frames a bit, take a look at pics 36, 42, 43, 45 for instance (LF2 pic convention numbering) - they look awfully twisted to me. Pic 36 especially looks like his head's processed a 180° turn!

What more, I find Sorcerer in the rolling frames to be already a tiny bit too small - probably since the way you sprited it he's doing a forward roll instead of sideways like in LF2 (which is ok by itself, but the proportions will need to be adjusted then).

Otherwise keep it up, looking better than what I'd expected by simply the description

[STM1993]

@Bamboori - Like this?


Updated sprites: base templates & sorcerer - completely changed frames 36, 42, 45. Sorcerer frame 43 head tweaked and added injury eyes. Didn't change Bandit because it doesn't look too bad I hope - the most important thing is how it appears to the player the character actually plays out the animation; it would be weird if for one frame you can't see the face and the next you see it again instantly. That's why I took liberties with the head. Thanks Ramond!

I know rolling is a bit small, its intentional because I wanted the character's sprite to fit within the data hitbox I want. In fact I would have made it even smaller to fit within the size of the legs, but I think this is the smallest I can go.

Sorcerer_0 Update (Click to View)

Bandit (Click to View)

Male Template (Click to View)

Female Template (Click to View)

Feel free to use the templates to draw any of the characters or make your own. You'll be credited for the former, and for both cases I may include some guest characters.

[Lauli]

I'm curious now - would it be possible DCwise to have all movements make small jumps to always be in line with the 2x2-pixel "rule"?

[prince_freeza]

I'm curious now - would it be possible DCwise to have all movements make small jumps to always be in line with the 2x2-pixel "rule"?

not sure but i think that's what hes already doing, or at least that's how it felt when i tested bandit.

edit:

Pf: was bandit always that slow though?

Stm93: nah, his stats are lower than usual
i did it to compensate for the smaller size of the sprite