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Posts categoriezed as Banter

Miscellanous posts, shop talk.

More like HasBLOW, AMIRITE!? LOLHEADSHOT

More like HasBLOW, AMIRITE!? LOLHEADSHOT published on 4 Comments on More like HasBLOW, AMIRITE!? LOLHEADSHOT

I got a box of air in the mail yesterday.

Well, not really, but close. I used some online coupon to order some of the forthcoming Movie Transformers figures and apparently most of the Western Hemisphere did at the same time, since I got a weird confirmation email earlier in the week stating “CONGRATULATIONS, YOUR ORDER HAS BEEN SHIPPED”

Below that, under “Items not Shipped” was a list of every single thing I had ordered, begging the question of how an order for products can ship, without the products being shipped themselves. Cut to yesterday, when I got a box in the mail just a bit small to be one, let alone a handful of Deluxes, and opened it to find:

  1. One packing list
  2. Some of that those plastic pillow things for padding
  3. The two “freebie” sigil magnets the stuff was supposed to come with.

The question won’t stop nagging me- Why not just an envelope? Two flat fridge magnets and a packing slip aren’t exactly fragile goods, not big enough by far to justify a carboard box and air-cushioning.

I think someone in that mailroom must be oddly diabolical, or worse still, the company itself hires exclusively psy-ops specialists who know how to create nagging hiccups, ingenious in their simplicity. TO HASBRO, YOU ARE THE TOYS.

Okay, I’m done stealing Shortpacked!’s material. I got a pretty substantial amount of Guardian spriting done at work today, enough to make a mock screenshot or two and come up with a probably over-ambitious menu screen design. Trying to settle on a finished resolution so the sprite look less HUGE as they do at 320×240, so probably something just shy of 640×480 is in order. I think I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve on how to both cut corners and make nicer backgrounds at the same time.

Notes on the Guardian Character Designs…

Notes on the Guardian Character Designs… published on 1 Comment on Notes on the Guardian Character Designs…

I probably sound like a broken record at this point, huh? After sketching and spriting a fair amount today, I feel like bringing up some of the aspects of the main character design of Guardian Spirits, Miriya. (I probably should have actually scanned these drawings or brought the new sprite sets from work to accompany this…)

Overall: I wanted to keep that look of a cutesy girl-in-armor, but slightly updated. First thing you’d probably notice comparing the main character of TGL and GS, she’s more ‘covered,’ partly since it looks more sleek, and partly to visually ease the transformation to her aerospace form. The bunny-ear antenna are probably her biggest signature item. That or the green gem on her chest. I tried to make her sort of level-headed, as far as characterization, though dialogue as a whole is probably gonna be minimal in-game, she’ll have at least a handful of self-aware, wry moments.
The Armor: As a long term mecha geek, I also sought to make the transformation somewhat more believable. The aforementioned dork in me bridges the last little gap in the shape-shifting with nanomachines. Essentially, the big parts (armor plates and flight engines) transform the usual way, and the nanobots kind of fill in the gaps. Her body is basically a bare-bones android one, the ‘flesh’ being made of the amorphous material.
The original Guardian’s face peeks out the bottom of the ship. Miriya’s butt shows. I think that qualifies as an homage. For the record, what goes on in this transformation:

  1. Biceps retract/fold so the forearm gauntlets can interlock with the shoulder guards. Hands also pull back and are covered with black ‘lids’ resembling intakes. The arm assembly disconnects at the shoulder and rotates down 90 degrees.
  2. Wings unfold from the jetpack, then the entire pack raises around and ends up covering the head. The side engines then turn down and lock into the ‘shoulder’ sockets so the wings are straight out to the sides.
  3. Legs twist 90 degrees, toes point straight down and the feet join together. The hip holster armor slides up along the belt and clicks together into the ‘cockpit’ looking part of the jet. The upper legs then retract into the boots/shins.

Sounds painful, doesn’t it? Her siblings carry similar armor styles, but assume more specialized modes.

Some abilities of fighter mode carry over to the exploration segments, most notably a boost/dash move using the main thruster and wings.

Weapons: Miriya’s primary weapon is a customizable pulse rifle stored on the right hip armor. It’s almost unnoticeable when connected. On the underside of
the barrel are a set of slots for enhancement chips, allowing the default cannon to be customized for any given situation. The left hip has a backup energy pistol, the handle of which can be straightened for use as a beam saber. In addition, once safety clearance is given, she can release a devastating ‘smart bomb’ energy pulse from her energy crystal.

As mentioned before, these weapons are holstered on the hips in human mode, placing them on top of the jet facing forward for use in fighter mode. The arm pods on the underside can also be used for certain special attacks.

There was also a last minute change to the Guardians’ roster (not that I made the original very public anyway.) As long as I’m laying love down on Compile, why not pay homage to one of the company’s more experienced ace female pilots for the ‘onee-sama’ of the team?

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