Nice, I wasn't sure who the mystery character was. I never thought it would be Skarlett, it looked more like Kia or a new character. I like the concept and the weapons, Reiko edit is cool too. The BG is nice and gives off the dark feel.

Hey the fake looks pretty good man i like your sprite edits,there was some debate on as who the girl was thanks 4 clearing that up.Alot thought it might have been kia.Good work my man!

Ah, that's better. I can appreciate the bg more, now that I can see it. It looks good. Is that a pond/lake or a sink hole? Kinda looks like a glowing hole, leading to an underground river or spirit realm.

Skarlett? -_-* I suppose even rumors need a costume update. I can see why people think she's Kia though, the red/black reeks of BotS.


I was put off by her boots, when you originally showed her to me, but they don't look half bad in this. I still feel she's Hindi or Thai or whatever, like the concepts for Kai. It's an interesting, and fresh design. I'm wondering if the chakram is her weapon style or just a projectile move? In any case, here's a tweak of my scimitar if you're still interested.




Ka-Tra

I know it's probably not that original but I'm sick of seeing palette-swaps of characters who (I see) as having a lot of potential. If there's a character people have known for years but has no history whatsoever, then you give her a history and make her your own. Like adopting an unwanted child or something =P.



The chakram are her actual weapons like the assassin chicks on PoP2. TBH i wanted her to be middle-eastern or something cos middle-eastern warrior chicks kick ass. The chakram make her look like a woman who has taken a childhood plaything and made it deadly. Risen from the streets, learned to fight her enemies through efficient means rather than brutal ones.

Yeah im really interested in those scimitar after that Sheeva idea you posed

I gotta say i liked the dark BG a lot, it looked like a legit fatality.
Also, def. my fav. from the contest! the bg is amazing, the water is was a very nice touch and loved the sprites

wtf makes Skarlet a prostitute anyway?

Dunno, maybe she's like an assassin that seduces their enemies into the bedroom and then kills them when they are off guard. She could be like Mileena but without the teeth.

I'm genuinely impressed with this fake. You're showing a lot of promise and soon could become THE top dog.

Nice job.

Oh, btw, if I get time in the next day or two, I will give you a detailed criticism of this fake.

I have to agree with MKRocket 100%. You have come along way, Fedegita. You should be proud of yourself. I like this fake a lot. The stage could be better here and there but the reflections are a nice touch. Instead of having Scarlet throw cheesey looking projectiles, I would've added a weapon instead; similar to what tetra_vega proposed. The idea of adding Kah's helmet onto Reiko is a nice touch. Great job man. I'm proud of you.

@ illusion & MKR:

The depressing thing is I ran out of inspiration for this a long long time ago. That skarlet sprite was a pure miracle; I doubt very much I'll ever be able to pull off anything like this again (hopefully seeing next MK game in the works will change that though).

Your comments are too kind. Not to sound like a dick but I know I've improved tremendously, even after I lost most of my drive and inspiration. The problem with people who don't improve is they have no respect for people who's artistic skills are better than their own. What better way to improve than to learn from your betters, right?

Just amazing, I don't see any problems....

5/5

Well, looks like my constructive criticism I plan to make on this will be as anal and detailed enough to help you continue improving.

Oh, by the way, sure, sometimes sprites just come together magically, but once you understand the nuances on how to consistently make sprites that come out and just wow people, that's when you will be over the top. I think you're capable of doing so.

Best fake in contest - fact.
This deserved to win.

Background is beautiful, Skarlet sprite is amazing and lifebars are really nice. Reiko still has a slightly fugly left arm (seems a bit shorter than his right), but the rest of his edit is great.

My only real complaint is the shadows. Would've looked much nicer with shadows like the game, as opposed to skewed shadows that cut off at the water, or no shadows at all.

They're not really noticeable though so 9.5/10.
Like I say - REALLY should have won it - well, for me anyway .

If it had not been for K1ll's completely from scratch, overdetailed works, this would have gotten my vote for damn sure. When I first saw this fake I was just like... "Whoa, who made this?"

Anyway, like I said in my first reply, I will give you highly constructive criticism of this fake... Or atleast I will see what I can muster.

At the original resolution (unzoomed), a lot of errors and laziness are hidden, however, after brining this picture into PSP and zooming in and examining some things, I am a little underwhelmed at what you actually did. Sure, sure, it's supposed to be viewed unzoomed, but I would like to see some nice little nuances when I look closer. That's just me, perhaps.

Take Skarlet's belt/sash thing. They look decent at the original size, but when I look closer, things just look so bland and even too bright in relation to the rest of the sprites. Also, Reiko's belt and leg decals (or whatever you want to call them) and shin guards just seem to be under detailed, too soft, and bright [again, in relation to the rest of the sprite]. Oh by the way, the fold in Reiko's ninja sash* is too dark. *-(... is that the actual term for the little piece of cloth that lies over their crotch? =X lol). It almost seems like it's meant to break up the sash into separate pieces.

Oh, I wanted to say, that the reds on Skarlet are a bit too unnatural. Reds like that are meant for like glows and hot objects. I would have went with a deeper/darker red for a more realistic tone. Also, more nitpicks, Reiko's forearm guards don't have the same number of spikes, one has 3, the other has 2. I think what happened was that you ran out of room on the closer-to-the-viewer-one because you didn't make the guard long enough. Remember perspective and proportions . Also, Reiko's hands don't look very good... but hey, I know how much of an asshole making hands look correct can be, in drawing and in sprites. In fact, this is kind of cheap, but some of my most recent fakes I have been using pictures of my actual hands and resizing and editing them to appear more spritish in nature.

Some things that I would have liked to see you do on top of what you did/instead would be to have increased the detail on Reiko (most outstandingly, his pants.. they look too poor in quality, even for a MK sprite) and I would have liked to see Skarlet's sash on the other side of her skirt/dress thing, just for a more striking appearance. Another thing would have been, I think someone else said this, more 2D MK-esque shadows instead of the type you used. However, shadows are more of a personal preference, so that's not a big deal.

As for the background and lifebars and whatnot.. they're solid, not much I can say. I really don't have my background making/critiquing ability anymore, lol. But I will say this, I would have liked to see more dynamic transition between ground/foilage to water.

Like I said before, this is a marvelous fake, and if you keep this pace up and get better with time, you will be a top dog in the future. You came close in the contest, but next time, it could be all yours.

I hope this helps.

Oh, if you want, and if I have the time I can show you some things on the sprites that I would have done.

That brightness was sorta intentional; in the spirit of the MKII female ninjas whose clothes were ridiculously bright. And in a background that dark I was afraid she wouldn't stand out enough (she's intended to be the focal point of this fake). But yeah I get what you mean. In a fake with a brighter background like K1LL's I prob would've gone to the other extreme and made her reds too dark.


Crap! Hoping that wouldn't be noticed. The third forearm guard made his forearm look way to skinny (as you'll see in the contest entry) and I thought inconsistent arm-guards were the lesser of two evils.


That's actually pretty clever lol ever thought of resizing your whole self into a sprite?

Pants are a bitch. And too hard to make from scratch the way people like Tetra do.

I'm not sure I understand what you're saying here. So you think the water should have many been even brighter?

If you have the time yeah that would be really cool.

It's funny you say that... =P Once I get my fake done I will explain on that further.



Pants aren't too bad once you understand the basic physics of the materials you're trying to emulate. What I do when I am not sure is look for actual high-res versions of the pant styles I want, resize them about the same size as my sprite and try to emulate what the pixels look like.



No, no. I mean making it appear like the water is going through the bushes you have in the water and stuff like that. I will try and explain what I mean when I get the time and do my cover-editing on your fake.



I will see what I can do.

Alright, well I had some time to kill so I did a little of what I was talking about with the sprites. If you can tell the differences and what I did, that's great, but if you need want full details, just IM me on MSN.

I will update this when/if I do the background thing.



Whatever editing I did was quick and just for demonstration purposes. [Note: I left some areas unedited to better show the differences, such as Reiko's legs. I edited/touched up the -> leg]

I hope this helps.

Yup that helps heaps thanks. The arm and leg are much better, but I think I prefer the sash/groin thing the way it was.