Are sprite comics dead?

[EviceTurboMan]

Don't defile Ristar's corpse.

He's still alive... HE'S STILL ALIVE.
-Runs off crying-

[Durvin]

I think there's a problem with sprite comics that kinda lurks under the surface, down at a level where most people don't notice it: scene staging. You use sprites like most games have, you're stuck staging everything side-view; and then with sprites you can only zoom in so much before it's unrecognizable. I have yet to see a sprite comic with a variety of faces--sure, there's "standard", "shamed", and "yelling", but if that's the range of expressions your characters are going to make...I'll delete the mean-hearted thing I was going to say and simply suggest that you reconsider. (And no, pasting a little hand-drawn smile over a low-res close-up doesn't count.)

All of this together makes sprite comics tend to be around the same graphic level as, I don't know, "The Lockhorns", or at best "Hagar the Horrible"...I mean, at least the guy that draws Garfield varies up the faces. Dilbert comes at you from all kinds of crazy angles. Spriters wanna be taken seriously? That, I think, is the aspect of their game most universally needing ramping up.

[Darmanarya]

I think there's a problem with sprite comics that kinda lurks under the surface, down at a level where most people don't notice it: scene staging. You use sprites like most games have, you're stuck staging everything side-view; and then with sprites you can only zoom in so much before it's unrecognizable. I have yet to see a sprite comic with a variety of faces--sure, there's "standard", "shamed", and "yelling", but if that's the range of expressions your characters are going to make...I'll delete the mean-hearted thing I was going to say and simply suggest that you reconsider. (And no, pasting a little hand-drawn smile over a low-res close-up doesn't count.)

All of this together makes sprite comics tend to be around the same graphic level as, I don't know, "The Lockhorns", or at best "Hagar the Horrible"...I mean, at least the guy that draws Garfield varies up the faces. Dilbert comes at you from all kinds of crazy angles. Spriters wanna be taken seriously? That, I think, is the aspect of their game most universally needing ramping up.

To me that is not a good enough excuse. If it is well written you do not need a perfect face to go with it. Is there a face in a novel? no. Yet you know what the facial expression is. to me writing quality has degraded into alot of things that are basically fanfics. poorly written fanfics that is. A truly well written one does not need fany=cy facial expressions, they need to be well worded and placed so suddenly the exact same face takes on a whole new meaning between each time it is used.

[Spear the Hedgehog]

I think there's a problem with sprite comics that kinda lurks under the surface, down at a level where most people don't notice it: scene staging. You use sprites like most games have, you're stuck staging everything side-view; and then with sprites you can only zoom in so much before it's unrecognizable. I have yet to see a sprite comic with a variety of faces--sure, there's "standard", "shamed", and "yelling", but if that's the range of expressions your characters are going to make...I'll delete the mean-hearted thing I was going to say and simply suggest that you reconsider. (And no, pasting a little hand-drawn smile over a low-res close-up doesn't count.)

All of this together makes sprite comics tend to be around the same graphic level as, I don't know, "The Lockhorns", or at best "Hagar the Horrible"...I mean, at least the guy that draws Garfield varies up the faces. Dilbert comes at you from all kinds of crazy angles. Spriters wanna be taken seriously? That, I think, is the aspect of their game most universally needing ramping up.

To me that is not a good enough excuse. If it is well written you do not need a perfect face to go with it. Is there a face in a novel? no. Yet you know what the facial expression is. to me writing quality has degraded into alot of things that are basically fanfics. poorly written fanfics that is. A truly well written one does not need fany=cy facial expressions, they need to be well worded and placed so suddenly the exact same face takes on a whole new meaning between each time it is used.

I agree, writing means everything.
When you base your sprites off of a character (most prevelent is Sonic..) you end up wanting to emulate or create a world that is like it, rather than your own.
Due to the evident Dragon Ball Z influences in Sonic, you can expect (and see) superbly over-powered hedgehogs (and any other animal under the sun) that constantly fight enemies that are fairly generic.
Few sprite comics I've read have ever had very imaginative scripts, my own comics aren't that good in general. I don't even have great talents as a spriter, and I'm more terrible at drawing. My writing has improved though, which makes me frustrated when I think of an idea, but don't have the means to make it...
I will say I DID enjoy Megaman vs. Sonic. vs. Mario, Normalcy is for Wimps, and The After Subtract.

[Tex]

I still to this day have no idea what kind of appeal the after subtract offers.

[SamsterBoy]

I agree, sprite comics aren't dead. Sadly, there's just no 'good' ones out there. When I mean 'good' I mean that sprite comic authors on smackjeeves just want a quick update to show that they're comic is still alive and to increase in their fan count. If the author wants fans, I believe that they should experiment more with what a sprite comic can have that no one expects. Sure, cool effects are good and dandy, but lack of facial expression really doesn't do justice on defending any type of comic. For my comic, I use cool effects and facial expressions. I lack on updates, because I tend to try new techniques, so the sprite comic doesn't feel dull. Not to mention, I see a lot of comic's have the same shaped panels over and over again! To add to experimenting with sprite comics I feel that there should be variety!

If you want some idea's on how to make sprite comic's less 2-dimensional, I suggest looking at Kirby Battle. I would also suggest looking at my comic, Salti of Dream Land (there's pride in your work, but then there's arrogance), there are lots of shadow effects (mine aren't the greatest) this also adds to a lesser 2-dimensional comic in a sense. Also, blurring does some justice to sprite comic's as well.

I'd say try making sprite comic's have the effects a movie would have or... the controversial effects in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Yes, I went there. That's my opinion on the whole "are sprite comics dead" topic, unless anyone would like to add or converse on what I said, then please feel free.

[EviceTurboMan]

I think there's a problem with sprite comics that kinda lurks under the surface, down at a level where most people don't notice it: scene staging. You use sprites like most games have, you're stuck staging everything side-view; and then with sprites you can only zoom in so much before it's unrecognizable. I have yet to see a sprite comic with a variety of faces--sure, there's "standard", "shamed", and "yelling", but if that's the range of expressions your characters are going to make...I'll delete the mean-hearted thing I was going to say and simply suggest that you reconsider. (And no, pasting a little hand-drawn smile over a low-res close-up doesn't count.)

All of this together makes sprite comics tend to be around the same graphic level as, I don't know, "The Lockhorns", or at best "Hagar the Horrible"...I mean, at least the guy that draws Garfield varies up the faces. Dilbert comes at you from all kinds of crazy angles. Spriters wanna be taken seriously? That, I think, is the aspect of their game most universally needing ramping up.

The prbolem you can get with Sprite comics is speech bubble placement; if it's 2D-Ish platformer like Sonic then speech bubble placement would be easier, but, if it's an RPG format like Pokemon Mystery Dungeon then it's harder.

Also, problems I've experienced is sometimes the resizing doesn't look pretty... PMD resizing looks fine, but... sometimes, the other game sprites I resize look horrid.

[RyoSoulreaper]

I still to this day have no idea what kind of appeal the after subtract offers.

The writing and humor......

I thought that was obvious.

Spoiler! :

Doesn't have to be your cup of tea but that was a given.

[EviceTurboMan]

The After Subtract and Simple Pixel are good, but in my opinion they can't match up to Pokemon X. Pokemon X is truly a legend.

[CandyLove]

I think there's a problem with sprite comics that kinda lurks under the surface, down at a level where most people don't notice it: scene staging. You use sprites like most games have, you're stuck staging everything side-view; and then with sprites you can only zoom in so much before it's unrecognizable. I have yet to see a sprite comic with a variety of faces--sure, there's "standard", "shamed", and "yelling", but if that's the range of expressions your characters are going to make...I'll delete the mean-hearted thing I was going to say and simply suggest that you reconsider. (And no, pasting a little hand-drawn smile over a low-res close-up doesn't count.)

All of this together makes sprite comics tend to be around the same graphic level as, I don't know, "The Lockhorns", or at best "Hagar the Horrible"...I mean, at least the guy that draws Garfield varies up the faces. Dilbert comes at you from all kinds of crazy angles. Spriters wanna be taken seriously? That, I think, is the aspect of their game most universally needing ramping up.

To me that is not a good enough excuse. If it is well written you do not need a perfect face to go with it. Is there a face in a novel? no. Yet you know what the facial expression is. to me writing quality has degraded into alot of things that are basically fanfics. poorly written fanfics that is. A truly well written one does not need fany=cy facial expressions, they need to be well worded and placed so suddenly the exact same face takes on a whole new meaning between each time it is used.

I'm basically new to creating comics and I use sprites to bring my characters to life. You see, I can't draw like others here but I love to write stories. As opposed to writing novels, you don't really have to describe every little detail pertaining to the settings when you use sprites and backgrounds. You just need to visualize what kind of background is suited for the story, search for it, and use it. For the characters, you don't have to describe what they look like, just describe what they feel, and how they behave.

I'm not getting enough fans though.. I'm not sure if it's the boring storyline or the sprites I use. Nevertheless, I try to make my comic more upbeat. It's not that sprite comics are dead, it's just that with more people able to draw digitally enhanced pictures, more comic creators try their hands on tablet drawing, coloring, etc. Even if I don't have such a huge following, I enjoy what I do and come up with, that's what matters to me.

[SpiralPen]

I'm basically new to creating comics and I use sprites to bring my characters to life. You see, I can't draw like others here but I love to write stories. As opposed to writing novels, you don't really have to describe every little detail pertaining to the settings when you use sprites and backgrounds. You just need to visualize what kind of background is suited for the story, search for it, and use it. For the characters, you don't have to describe what they look like, just describe what they feel, and how they behave.

I'm not getting enough fans though.. I'm not sure if it's the boring storyline or the sprites I use. Nevertheless, I try to make my comic more upbeat. It's not that sprite comics are dead, it's just that with more people able to draw digitally enhanced pictures, more comic creators try their hands on tablet drawing, coloring, etc. Even if I don't have such a huge following, I enjoy what I do and come up with, that's what matters to me.

It's true that being happy doing what you do is always most important, first and foremost! I'm glad you enjoy your medium and I hope you continue to do so, although I'd also like to point out that, while it may take a lot of time and effort, all skills you might be lacking can be learned.
Not that you NEED to learn to become an excellent novelist or artist to tell your stories, but selecting from premade sources can become limiting, and you should never sacrifice your imagination and ideas because of limited resources. Find a way to make it work! If you can do that without venturing into other territories, that's fine, but sometimes a change in direction is what's needed to fully express yourself.
Enjoy what you do and never limit yourself!

[CandyLove]

I'm basically new to creating comics and I use sprites to bring my characters to life. You see, I can't draw like others here but I love to write stories. As opposed to writing novels, you don't really have to describe every little detail pertaining to the settings when you use sprites and backgrounds. You just need to visualize what kind of background is suited for the story, search for it, and use it. For the characters, you don't have to describe what they look like, just describe what they feel, and how they behave.

I'm not getting enough fans though.. I'm not sure if it's the boring storyline or the sprites I use. Nevertheless, I try to make my comic more upbeat. It's not that sprite comics are dead, it's just that with more people able to draw digitally enhanced pictures, more comic creators try their hands on tablet drawing, coloring, etc. Even if I don't have such a huge following, I enjoy what I do and come up with, that's what matters to me.

It's true that being happy doing what you do is always most important, first and foremost! I'm glad you enjoy your medium and I hope you continue to do so, although I'd also like to point out that, while it may take a lot of time and effort, all skills you might be lacking can be learned.
Not that you NEED to learn to become an excellent novelist or artist to tell your stories, but selecting from premade sources can become limiting, and you should never sacrifice your imagination and ideas because of limited resources. Find a way to make it work! If you can do that without venturing into other territories, that's fine, but sometimes a change in direction is what's needed to fully express yourself.
Enjoy what you do and never limit yourself!

I never thought of it that way... Thanks! You gave me a new perspective on creating comics. Don't get me wrong, I tried my hands on drawing but somehow I always end up with weird-looking characters. I have yet to try my hands on digital drawing though if I have the right equipment to use. Maybe in the future I could get my hands to do brushstrokes with a magical pen.