Many people have commented about my sprite comic because I use photoshop drawn sprites that look different from what's usually seen in a sprite comic which made me realize that many people still believe that a sprite comic has to have a 'pixelated' look, which is completely false.

According to wikipedia:
"A sprite is a two-dimensional/three-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene."

Which means that a sprite is just a image that you can use over and over again in different backgrounds, made to save time in drawing the character every time. Most sprites are pixel art because they don't use as many colors nor different transparency layers to save space in the game for other sprites and data.

I just wanted to make it clear because I see that many people still don't know this.

http://www.drunkduck.com/Stealth

Wow, you have a friggin' beautiful sprite comic.

(There, I said it.)

Now tell me that you drew everything yourself and I will nominate you as the DD Sprite Overlord.

Wow, that is pretty impressive.

I think the reason most people think of crappy Mario and Sonic comics when they hear the words "sprite comic" is that there are so many of them. It's like they breed like rabbits, and have zero creativity. Yours looks similar and at the same time very different.

I second Mlai in that if you created everything yourself we should nominate you as our own little Sprite Overlord.

I did almost everything yes, but there are some exceptions, like for example the Luffy Wanted poster (pages 15-16) which I just edited. But that's not the point of this thread! xD

If you're THAT talented, why do a comic where the only things that change are the word balloons and the characters' mouths? Why put THAT much effort into something that will get little to no respect? Why not create something dynamic, or, heck, just original?

Sprite comics are boring as HELL! Even the best of them are boring as all get out. They're a bunch of flat characters in flat situations who only appeal to a very small niche of geeks. This takes time. Why not spend the time on something memorable? You appear to have more than enough talent.

Later,
Chip

@ cs3ink: It's because of the childhood experience. These young artists play some really good sprite games, such as Odin Sphere, and fall in love with the "artform." And they start replicating that in comics, and get proficient at it because it tells a story fast, and is still pretty (and nostalgic) to look at.

It's like a young artist drawing his comics on looseleaf papers and ballpoint pen. Then, even as his skills mature, he can't yet find the impetus to advance to bristol board and quills/brushes.

All of the above only applies to stuff like Stealth. If you're a Megaman/Sonic/Mario/FF sprite author, none of what I just said applies to you.

cs3ink
If you're THAT talented, why do a comic where the only things that change are the word balloons and the characters' mouths? Why put THAT much effort into something that will get little to no respect? Why not create something dynamic, or, heck, just original?

Sprite comics are boring as HELL! Even the best of them are boring as all get out. They're a bunch of flat characters in flat situations who only appeal to a very small niche of geeks. This takes time. Why not spend the time on something memorable? You appear to have more than enough talent.

Later,
Chip

Whoa, hold your horses there. Do you like every art style you've come across? I doubt it, you couldn't possibly like every different thing you've come across, and that is what this comic is, different.

Just because you find it boring doesn't mean it isn't a form of art (good gravy, I hate that word!). Art is so subjective. Anybody can look at a Picasso and say, "Eh, it looks like a man made out of cubes", but does that immediately disqualify it from attaining "art" status?

There are so many different styles out there that singling something out as "bad" is wrong and short-sighted. This of course only applies to things that have actual work put into them, unlike most sprite comics or stick-figure comics.

not as though cs3ink needs defending, but I think he was encouraging, prodding, pushing our young talented Xhi to move past the limitations of just a sprite comic. It's all well and good spriters enjoy the source material which inspires them to create their comics but what if someone as talented as Xhi didn't just produce a sprite comic but a comic which may appeal to larger audience? I am not trying to state that sprite comics are crap, its more that they are more enjoyed by only a niche of people who enjoy the games which inspire them.

I don't deny they're art. Never said they weren't. In fact, they're obviously art.

And there are VERY few art forms I don't *at least* appreciate. That doesn't change the fact that they're pretty much static images, targetted to a VERY tiny niche group. I can *sorta* understand why someone who can only cut & paste would go this route, but people like Xhi, who appear to actually be able to render, mystify me why they wouldn't create a more exciting take on their favorite characters.

Later,
Chip

I'm with Chip on this one.

To further the argument a bit more, Sprite comics seem like anti-comics to me. The use of stale and repetitive imagery in sprite comics is like being at a buffet and deciding to only eat the rolls. There's so much more you can do! It only takes a little more effort.

If you're doing comics--then DO COMICS! Pictures with words in something resembling a sequential order may technically be comics, but do you really wanna get by on a technicality?

And if you are getting by on a technicality I say...don't bother.

Also to note he is quite talented in the more common comic artistry

http://xhi.deviantart.com/art/Wall-Run-74873557

A comic that looked like this, I would certainly follow! Great coloring, depth, and solid structure!

Seems he doesn't have enough time to draw now though

I was drawing a manga before but couldn't continue it because of school so I decided to make a comic strip instead. Even if i have to draw the sprites myself it's almost nothing compared to the manga.

Well with a little clarification, I suppose I can agree with what Cs3ink said, but I think he put it very poorly. I think someone with talent as Xhi obviously has (thanks for pointing out his deviantART, Justnopoint) should really strive, but I also don't think being crucified for doing what he enjoys is right at all.

And I've got to say Brock, comics are so varied it almost seems wrong to decry one form of them over another. Disliking one form is fine, but saying it shouldn't count as a real comic is insulting to me. The majority of sprite comics I can totally agree with as being a waste of time and (very little) effort, but there are those that rise above the pack, and classifying everything into one big category is just wrong.

And in all fairness, though I have not read through his comic at all, it does not seem to be directly based on a game.

Whoa, you think *that's* crucifying, SG? An opinion is simply that, an opinion. Xhi can draw, no doubt, yet he wastes his time (IMO, of course) doing what looks like cut & paste artwork. Maybe he's doing it because he loves it so much he doesn't mind wasting his time creating something with such a small audience, but, with a little more time on his part, he could obviously create something that he could eventually package & make a few dimes with.

Art is meant for decrying, SG. Art invites (& needs to survive) discussion. A free exchange of ideas tends to have a fair balance of decrying. It drives me bloody crazy when people whine because someone else's opinion is extremely negative regarding a genre. If we all agreed, there'd really be no need for discussion, now would there? What puts art above derision? It isn't sacrosanct. Really, let's move past this puerile attitude.

Later,
Chip

Well maybe it was the tone you used in your original post, but to me you didn't come off as decrying, you came off as insulting.

I guess this hits home to me so deeply because of pulp fiction. Stay with me here for a moment. You see, pulp fiction has been decried, hated, and blemished by normal literature-loving society, and that has always pissed me off something fierce. These authors, doing what they love and only being condemned for it has always resonated with me. Even today, in these enlightened times, pulp fiction is looked down upon and ignored in real "literature" circles, and that still irks me. And this is also why I hate, hate, hate the word art.

Why does something count as art? Only because a concentrated group of people choose it to be. And that doesn't strike me as right. I rarely use the word art, and the only reason I used it below is that so many people seem to associate art with something impressive and grand. Art is crap. Art can be whatever anyone wants it to be, and so art really shouldn't count for anything. You say art isn't above derision, and I completely agree with you. I just feel that art is a hollow word meaning nothing.

And this is just my opinion.

So no, I'm not whining about anybody disliking a genre, or because you were negative towards Xhi, but I am trying to do my damnedest to stick up for the little guy in this instance, and I guess that happens to be the few worthy sprite authors out there.

There was a time not so long ago when any of us here at DD would have been laughed at for even bothering to put our comics up for free on a website for people to enjoy. People have always looked down at anything on the internet as a whole. And if you go even further back you'll find the same attitude directed towards the entire comic world. Even today, many people incorrectly assume comics are meant solely for children.

So to me, saying that Xhi is wasting his time is the same as saying that I, or even you, are wasting your time because the majority of the world thinks what we do is aimed at kids.

First of all, sorry for the late reply ;P I enjoyed reading the comments thought, this thread turned totally in a unexpected way xD

@ cs3ink: First of all, I didn't feel offended in any way, I understood it as TheMidge28 did, + I agree with you. But in my case it's a bit different, like JustNoPoint said, I don't have so much time, and will have even less in the next years when I enter university. Moreover, I got a lot of imagination and get easily tired if I keep the same idea for too long, thus it's hard for me to work on something ,in which I know exactly what is going to happen, for too long, fast sprite comics solves this problem because the story advances faster. Another reason , also related to my creativity, is that I'll rather spend my time on drawing all sort of different pictures with different themes and not be restricted by a storyline. I also have another reason, but I don't think it's the time to reveal it yet.

@ Steely Gaze: Thanks, yeah that's about all I can say :D. In my opinion, Art is just a creative, more or less, way to express ideas. Art has two main components, one is the quality (not really a good term to describe it... beauty maybe), what we see at first, the other one is the idea behind ("a picture says more than a thousand words"). Both vary in the eyes of the viewer, but usually the idea vary more - this can be seen in abstract art, some love it, some hate it and some don't understand/care. I believe art has a better/worse rating that is shared with every person, for example, a stick figure and a well drawn realistic person, but also have such wide extents where our brain and ideology affect what we like that we should be more careful when judging between good and bad.

@ JustNoPoint: Thanks for visiting my deviantART page ^^

@ Brock: Again as I said to Steely Gaze, I believe that art vary between every person, but one type isn't against the other.

Very true thread.

And, awesome comic.

huh. I actually didn't know that. the more you learn...

Someone
According to wikipedia:
"A sprite is a two-dimensional/three-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene."

i guess my comic is technically a sprite comic too.

Stealth isn't a sprite comic it's a pixel art comic. Every computer generated image is made up of pixels but there's a distinct difference between the two. Pixel art is where the artist creates scenery by working on a per pixel level. Sprite art is where you create small pixel characters and scenery using pixel techniques I.E. all of those old 2D video games. Sprite comics rip art from sprite work and employ copy and paste techniques. Pixel art comics draw 100% original material using pixel art methods.

i guess my comic is technically a sprite comic too.

How do you draw your comic? Do you create each character pixel by pixel using an art program or do you draw it using line art techniques? If you draw it by pen/pencil/tablet/mouse then it's line art. If you draw each character on a pixel by pixel level then it's pixel art.

angry_black_guy
Stealth isn't a sprite comic it's a pixel art comic. Every computer generated image is made up of pixels but there's a distinct difference between the two. Pixel art is where the artist creates scenery by working on a per pixel level. Sprite art is where you create small pixel characters and scenery using pixel techniques I.E. all of those old 2D video games. Sprite comics rip art from sprite work and employ copy and paste techniques. Pixel art comics draw 100% original material using pixel art methods.

i guess my comic is technically a sprite comic too.

How do you draw your comic? Do you create each character pixel by pixel using an art program or do you draw it using line art techniques? If you draw it by pen/pencil/tablet/mouse then it's line art. If you draw each character on a pixel by pixel level then it's pixel art.

Sprites don't have anything to do with pixel art (except that most sprites are made like that because they don't use as much memory as other art types), a sprite isn't a type of artwork (there is no such thing as Sprite art), it's just a picture that can be easily used for "copy paste" techniques. And btw, Stealth is a mix of pixel art and line art, but most of it is line art (only some borders are made by working pixel by pixel, mostly in the background)

Xhi
Sprites don't have anything to do with pixel art (except that most sprites are made like that because they don't use as much memory as other art types), a sprite isn't a type of artwork (there is no such thing as Sprite art), it's just a picture that can be easily used for "copy paste" techniques. And btw, Stealth is a mix of pixel art and line art, but most of it is line art (only some borders are made by working pixel by pixel, mostly in the background)

Then why the hell did you call your comic a sprite comic when it is most obviously a Pixel Art comic as I pointed out???

I only used the word "sprite art" to refer to sprite comics which use COPY AND PASTE TECHNIQUES. Copy and pasting is inherent in all sprite comics... otherwise they wouldn't be sprite comics they'd be pixel art or line art.

He uses Z-sprites, not pixel art, not pixelated sprites.
Z-sprites, which me and Xhi both eventually agreed on.

Put it this way, it's a form of art that he enjoys, wether or not someone enjoys should't bother him if he enjoys doing it.
I congratulate Xhi for bring Z-sprites to the duck and hope that he makes many more comics and maybe a tutorial so I can give it a shot. xD =P

Oh I also apologie for talking about Xhi as if he weren't here.

angry_black_guy
Then why the hell did you call your comic a sprite comic when it is most obviously a Pixel Art comic as I pointed out???

It's both a sprite comic and a pixel art (partly) comic, it's like saying a cake is both round and made by chocolate... i got hungry.

Drazi500
He uses Z-sprites, not pixel art, not pixelated sprites.
Z-sprites, which me and Xhi both eventually agreed on.

Put it this way, it's a form of art that he enjoys, wether or not someone enjoys should't bother him if he enjoys doing it.

Yeah, Z-sprites and not pixelated sprites but both are types of sprites. Sprites can be made by different types of art, like pixel art, line art, etc.

Drazi500
I congratulate Xhi for bring Z-sprites to the duck and hope that he makes many more comics and maybe a tutorial so I can give it a shot. xD =P

Oh well, if many people ask I'll have to make one =P

Drazi500
Oh I also apologie for talking about Xhi as if he weren't here.

xD np

I'm with angryblackguy on this one. If pressed I would call your comic a pixel art comic. To me sprite comics are comics that simply use and reuse sprites from other media. Once you start creating all of the character models yourself from scratch it becomes pixel art. I remember when I first came to DD a year or so ago there was a similar argument going on. An artist was complaining that no one respected sprite comics at all when he put so much artistic work into his. But his comic was pixel art, everything was made by him by scratch. It's a tough place to be in, because you're going to get lumped in with sprite comics even if you are so much more

What the heck is a z-sprite??

mlai
What the heck is a z-sprite??

From wiki: Z-Sprite is a term often used for 3D environments that contain only sprites. The Z-parameter provides a scaling effect that creates an illusion of depth. For example in adventure games such as King's Quest VI where the camera never moves, normal 2D sprites might suffice, but Z-sprites provide an extra touch.