Discussion in 'Skins' started by Ryuza, Jan 16, 2012.
This thread is mainly gonna be for questions and answers about how the skins work, if you're unsure if you set something up correctly on a skin you've made feel free to post it and I'll let you know if there's anything wrong. Completed skins should be posted in the appropriate threads though. Below I have a list of frequently asked questions and their answers, I've placed one of the most common questions first, the rest are in spoiler tags to save space.
Q: Will you add a skin for a fan made character?
A: We don't plan to add any fan made characters, the character should be from some type of established series and be able to be recognized by more then just it's creator and a few other people. We want to make sure the characters can be recognized by everyone.
The skins are mainly just there to allow more games to be represented. They do not exist to put in fan-made or really obscure graphics. We do not want this game to end up like Mushroom Kingdom Fusion where it's just an ugly mishmash of pixels. We also have a responsibility to represent the intellectual property we're borrowing with good quality. So when we pick skins, we'll pick the ones that look good and represent recognizable games, especially games considered "classic" or that have a cult following.
Q: Is there anything that would make it so you guys just wouldn't put in a skin?
A: Anything that is inappropriate in some way will likely not be put in. We also don't plan on including any fan created characters as skins, but we might make exceptions in some cases. Also the graphics style should match. We tried a Metroid: Zero Mission skin and it didn't really work because the styles were so different.
Q: Does a skin have to be game related to have a chance of being used?
A: There's no real requirement for it to be game related, but it probably has a better chance of being added if it is in some way.
Q: What if we make a full on theme for the game? Is there a proper place to post those?
A: For now it's best to post them in their appropriate thread, if a lot of people do this we can create a new thread for full game skins though.
Q: The Mushroom Fire Flower and Star are already in the map skins, why is there an extra set for the Mario and Luigi sheets?
A: The extra set is just something we did in case we felt like switching it to use those later. When we get closer to the update I'll explain more.
Q: What are the two sprites towards the bottom right of Mario's template where he is on his back?
A: The sprites for Mario on his back are for jumping while invincible, they aren't used right now, but if they are used later they will rotate as they animate like they would in SMB3.
Q: Would we be able to give you a background image for each theme that would just loop itself?
A: Yes, each theme can have a different background, you can also give the same theme alternate backgrounds meaning for example, you could have stage 1-1 use a theme and have a day sky background and 1-3 could use the same theme but have a night sky background.
The backgrounds can be made any length (within reason) and can be made to scroll with the stage or repeat to the end of the stage. Backgrounds can also have multiple layers that each act independently of each other.
Q: Is there a color limit to the palette used in SMBC? Or are all RGB colors acceptable as long as they adhere to the 8-bit or 16-bit aesthetic?
A: There are no color restrictions whatsoever, we won't limit a skin to any color restrictions, but if we can make it fit the style of the game better by changing it to match 8-bit/16-bit restrictions we might as long as there are no objections.
If you choose to try and fit in the 8-bit restrictions but pick colors that wouldn't have been possible on an 8-bit console I can change the colors to better match for you.
Q: I don't know how to make transparent backgrounds is that alright?
A: If you can't use a transparent background on your skin please be sure to use a color that isn't used anywhere else on the skin as a background color (a bright purple works best) and I will make it transparent for you if needed.
From the examples it shouldn't be too hard to figure out, basically there's two sets of blocks, ground blocks, and step blocks. The two sets of blocks have 16 tiles each for basic use, then there's an additional 25 blocks each for intersections with other blocks, they aren't used often though, if you look at the template on the right the black lines represent the edges of the blocks and you can see how the intersections work.
So basically, ground and step blocks use 16 basic tiles and 25 tiles for intersections. After that there's a few other basic tiles, trees, 3 frames of animation for bushes, stems and platforms. On the example on the right everything is represented by the tile used in the original smb.
The themes are essentially mini skins for the stages, the game uses theme kind of like it would a skin. The things on the map skin don't change enough between stages for them to need to be included with the themes. So those objects always stay the same (with the exception of their colors) on any stage/theme.
On Link's sheet the top row of the first 3 columns are standing still sprites, the bomb and arrow to the left of the boomerangs are the ones used when actually uses the items, the bomb and arrow above the bow, and other bomb are ammo pick ups, and the bow and the bomb next to it are the actual power-up icons that appear out of blocks. Also, the Big Shield will be placed over the small one on Link's sprites, at the moment it is not in the game though.
Q: On the left side, everything between the portrait and where Treble usually is, what do each of those go to? Along with those, what are the four orange/gray circles below the standing still sprites?
A: The first group of 4 smaller squares is a puff of air type thing that appears above his head when hit, three of them appear, one left, one middle, one right and they all start with the top left frame and animate through to the bottom right frame. If you check in some of the later MegaMan games on the NES you can see how it looks. The second group of squares is the dust from when you dash/slide. The jagged lined sprite below that is for the flinch animation as well, he animates back and forth between that and his hurt sprite. You can make it the same as the hurt sprite if you don't want him to do it and it should work. The 2 frames below that are for enemy death animations. And the orange/gray circles are for the character's death animation.
Q: Are the TC, TJ and TM sprites ever going to be used for Bass, or should I just ignore those?
A: You can ignore them for now, we probably won't use them but I didn't remove them cause I didn't want to move anything below it up and cause more work for Jay. They'll likely get replaced if we decide to add more attacks later.
Q: What are the T and B down at the bottom right for the "you have these weapons" sprites?
A: I hadn't decided which would represent Treble Boost yet, I'll update the sheet when I know what I'm gonna use for it, but for now assume the T since its in the first space and whatever I use will be going there. Also, we usually refer to those as weapon icons, or just icons, so you guys can call them that if you want. That way there's a set name for them.
Q: Do you start off with the ability to use Treble Boost or is there a power-up that I'm overlooking that gives it to you?
At the time of writing this Treble Boost isn't in the game, but when we do add it it will be just like any other power-up and will be collected from a block.
Q: Which arms go with which weapons for MegaMan's sheet?
A: Here's a key showing which arms are used for each weapon.
Below is a list of skin included in update 2.0, please do not mention skins that weren't officially announced in the trailer until after the update to avoid spoiling it for people would like wait and be surprised.
The list is mainly to avoid people making skins that are already in the game.
Each of the 10 characters has a 8-bit, 16-bit and GB skin so I won't be listing those individually.
silentshadowxp, uglyrodent and roman6a like this.
I know it'll largely be a case by case basis, but is there anything (outside of outright profanity) that would make it so you guys just wouldn't put in a skin? Do they have to be video game themed to get in or can we make anything with a chance of having it used?
EDIT: Also, what if we make a full on theme for the game (all characters, levels, etc.)? Is there a proper place to post those or would we have to post each skin in its appropriate place?
roman6a and Sniperassassinx like this.
How do we swap out the original skin of, let's say, the castle, with the edited one?
I added the answer to the first post, pretty much only inappropriate stuff will be outright denied and being from a game gives the skin a better chance of being added, but its not a requirement.
For the other question, it's probably best to post them in their separate posts. If a lot of people start making full game skins though then we may add a new thread for them.
Not exactly sure what you mean, are you just wondering how to add a custom castle to the skin?
So let's say I make a different skin of the castle. How do I replace the skin, with the original one in the template? How do I put the new skin in the template, replacing the old skin?
You just download the template, erase the old castle and place the new one in the same box.
EDIT: I also saw a poison mushroom there. SMB:LL on plan?
They probably won't be in this update, there's a couple extra things not being used right now.
Should be pretty interesting to see what kinds of skins you guys can come up with, we have a lot more options now so stuff like the old MegaMan level skin could be pretty cool. In case anyone was wondering you can have as many different themes as you want. The theme is the level type, like castle, dungeon, overworld, etc.
So you guys could have lots of interesting themes, its best not to go over around 12 though. That's the max we've used for anything. The example on the wiki shows how they are spaced out from each other on the sheet, when you put them in one file its 4 themes per row.
roman6a and uglyrodent like this.
I've noticed there's no space for blue goombas such as those in undergrounds levels. Why is this?
If you read the wiki page, it says we can change the colors in the game, but it's too complicated to make that part public. So people will have to mention which alternate colors they'll want for stuff.
We use a special palette system to recolor things. If you make a skin you can include a couple versions of the enemies with the colors you want and we could do it ourselves.
Jay beat me to the punch.
If you read the wiki page, it says we can change the colors in the game, but it's too complicated to make that part public. So ponies will have to mention which alternate colors they'll want for stuff.
Ooooh, okay. I wasn't entirely sure that was the same system (I had assumed it only applied to powerups).
I have a question about the limits of the viability for a skin.
Here is a video of a skin I was working on for Sonic Boll (I can't find the sheet). I would very much appreciate it if you could tell me up front if this type of style and theme would be rejected for SMBC, before I begin finishing it.
also, any current news on local user-end skinning?
It looks pretty cool but I'm not sure, I don't think it'd hurt to keep working on it.
As for using skins right off your computer unfortunately it seems a bit unlikely. It would be a lot of extra work for Jay to set up and he wants to try finish the update soon since we've been working on it for so long.
aliceandsven and roman6a like this.
I only wish there was some way to test the skins so we know everything looks right and matches up before submitting.
Rey D and roman6a like this.
Maybe I'll rework my old program to work with the new layouts so you guys have a way to test them. It probably wouldn't be till after the update though.