Ok. Hello there. This is just a little thing I made up while discussing the way fakes are with VenoMark and MKRocket. If you are here to just flame or whatever, just please leave, this is not needed in this thread. This is a discussion on fakes, not a vendetta.

First thing is first: Why make this thread?

Well, I and a couple others that know about this that have experience in the fake field know that the fakes these days are not doing as good as thought they should be. Not saying that just because they are noobs that they should be so-called "Great" as soon as they get into the game. No. I'm not saying that at all. I will answer this later on in this discussion. This thread is here to help out those who are just entering the game and for those to help out who have been here a little bit longer than just entering.

Second: The Reason why I say that Fakes are going down in quality.

You would think at first I would say something along the lines of "Well, they just don't know what to do because they suck." or something that could be more negative or positive but something along those lines. Well, I'm not. I'm not blaming those who make the fakes (to an extent...hehe), but I'm here to say that the real reason for people making bad fakes and the reason they continue to do so are because of (DUN DUN DUNNNnn.....as the_sprite_ninja put it...lol) the RATERS.

It seems that the raters of the community haven't been taught of what a good fake is. That's the reason for the decline. The raters would either make someone strive to be better by giving a lower score (that is the way it should be taken, not in a flamitory (...I just made my own word i think...lol...like that's anything new...lol) way), or the raters would give a high score to show that what the artist is actually doing is good. What I have seen over the past months that I have came back to after an absense is that raters are giving fakes that have no business getting a high score when its poorly done. This makes the artist things he/she is doing a good job when in actuality its not. That is one reason for the decline of quality fakes.

The other reason is the artist him/herself aren't striving to get better of what the Rater is giving them a score of. They are settling for what they already do to get that same score. This is what I have seen, not saying EVERY single person doesn't try harder...its just the majority of what I see. You guys need to do better on everything everytime you make a fake, improve everything that you do. Just do it piece by piece, I'm not saying to make a great fake EVERY single time because you have a ways away to get to that point, just try something that would be better each time.

Third: How to make a fake....

I will tell you this one time and one time only. You cannot get help from a fake pic artist to become a good fake pic artist in the like of asking how to do this and this and this. In that sense. There is no way you will get good. You have to know these things to make a fake that is considered good.

No Copy and Paste Jobs. You will not get good that way, no matter how creative you can be making it, you won't get good that way.

Editing: This is the biggest thing that makes fakes special. Customization. This is where the magic begins. This is where you express yourself. There are minor things in editing that will make you good. In editing, you MUST know how to shade stuff. Not shading to the degree of just having a shadow or something. But making ever piece of clothing, every muscle, every mark, every weapon have a 3D feel to it. If you need an art class, take it and learn shading.

That is one of the best ways to get good at shading, just knowing that there is a light source in your fake and that everything in your fake should apply that light at that angle and it should make all sense. That's where you should learn some type of physics (but even though its not really physics...its basically common sense) to see where there should be a darker level of that color and a lighter one. Not everyone's fake will be perfect with shading but its something that you need to know.

The other thing is detailing. After you have all of your shading done (or vice-versa with what I'm about to say) you should start detailing your fake/sprites. Note, that all these details should be shaded for extra realism. Like scales on Reptile, if you know you have him in your fake, he should have scales and that at some parts of the scales it would be light and the others should be dark depending on where his body is positions.

Another thing would have to be the position of the character. When making a sprite, you would really want an original position because seeing the same position of a sprite is already old (since its been a couple of years of seeing them already). Take parts of other sprites and make a new position and change that sprite part to match the sprite you're trying to make.

After all those things, the rest is up to you. There's really nothing else ANYBODY can help you with. You have to find yourself in making your fakes No one can help you. This is an art. Yes, I said it and I believe MKRocket said that in that closed thread...For some its just fun, others its an art. And as would anyone know, that in art you have to find your own style of making it. There's no guideline in making art, the things that I said are the thing I remember from art class just more basic since I can't recall to say anything else because its now instinct. I can give an example (I won't give the pics since I don't feel like it but you can still get the message.) I can speak for MKRocket when I say his style is more of a realistic type of spriting whereas my fakes are more stylish (cartoony as VenoMark says ) but still realistic. So don't think because your fake doesn't look like the others that you see that it isn't good. If you keep at it and keep workin on it, you will get it to a style that you like...people will realize it.

A major thing about making makes. Don't expect to be good after a day, a month, a couple of months...or whatever. Its not only time that makes you good, but your persistence of making it. Its only after years of experience I can really say that I can get better mentally, but its not exactly what you think. I know I can do better of what my previous fakes and even my latest one (which I don't even like that much anymore...) is because I keep at doing stuff related to it. I've been making sprites, but they have been MUCH MUCH MUCH easier sprites, but I've been editing them in a way that I've been making my mortal kombat ones. There is one plateau that no one will reach , and that is becoming perfect at making a fake. That is impossible. You can spend your life improving yourself (just like no one will be perfect being at a sport...). You can get good at making, no doubt, but there is no "Fake-GOD". On that note, I don't see myself nor anyone that I know who have been making sprites since the beginning as the best fake pic maker. No such thing, everyone has different styles and people have different likes and dislikes so for that I will be the first to publicly say that there is no one that is the best fake pic maker. Just note that to yourself. The only one you should try to beat in making a fake picture, is yourself. That is the hardest person to beat, beat your own mind. Beat beyond of what your mind can go. Beyond that point beyond that. Just keep going. Don't settle, that won't help. Just keep going.

END of Editing:

I've been making fakes since the beginning of the fakes and I've been through the "Copy and Paste ERA" where people would say shit was good even though it was just plain shit just slapped together. I've seen the greatest fakes ever seen with the most realistic sprites....but then have the most basic background. I've seen the greatest backgrounds, with the basic fakes. I've seen some with both, I've seen some without anything special but something you can use in a special program. I've seen it all. I've seen great fake pic makers leave, come, stay...hiatus, rogue, steal, die (). This has been apart of my life and it will continue to be apart of it. That is the reason why I wrote this. I don't want to see something that I help create in my life, just go down. I am here to help, but I am also here to critique. If I say something, take it for what it is. No need to argue, you're wasting time. You want to shut me up, make a better fake that really shows improvement from your last and I might shut up (well, I won't, I'll just keep pissing you off until you really do something spectacular.). Don't PM me on how to make something, I just gave you the information you need to be good. There are basic principles of art...to make something appealing but then its all up to you.

The only help I will give to anyone is if they ask me personally what I think of the fake. If I feel that everything is not good or a good majority is not good, I'll just say it. Not going into detail as much (those who I know personally I might...). Just don't bug me every other second, its annoying, you have to figure out what's wrong with your fake. Once somebody gives you on what they think is good, you use that but only in your style...everything should be your style. I hope you guys learn from this.

This is where you can ask questions on these topics or something about fakes if you have a question. State something or just say thank you if it helps you. I just want to give out my final post on helping the community of Fakes. I will no longer be making giving out pointers on my ratings, I will give my rating and be on my way.

The other fake pic artists that have been here for a while will comment on this when they have time. Some of them will agree with the most part of what I say and some may not...its all on a matter of opinion. But they will say something. I hope you guys take this post seriously and good luck on your future on fakes.