A sprite comic by yours truley, Inspired by games like R-type and Raiden, this comic is based in space (LOL SEE A THEME YET?) and follows the adventures of a SF-77 "Masakari" fighter bomber pilot.

I have no idea how I'm going to convey a story like this...so it's sort of an experiment.

hooray for sprite vindication.
This comic is awesome, the only thing that caught my eye was the amount of rectangles, but you know what, that hardly matters. With all the other detail (and ebing that it's sprite) it really makes no difference.

but I like rectangles.

seems a little uninteresting, atleast at this point. And some of your ships appear too blocky. Don't know if that's how you wanted it, just saying.

nice ass comic, is there anything you cannot do? :P

hat
seems a little uninteresting, atleast at this point. And some of your ships appear too blocky. Don't know if that's how you wanted it, just saying.

yeah the brown ones are like that on prupose, it's sort of the point.

Your face pictures, they aren't sprites. Photoshop is doing your anti-aliasing for you. The ships are kinda bland too. Lots of and lots of blank colour and cheap gradients.

It has style though, and style counts for a lot.

Uhm, how does having something anti aliased make them not sprites? Seriously, just because they aren't painted on a per-pixel basis it dosen't detract from the fact they are pre-rendered bitmap images, which in all truth and fairness is what sprites are. making them on a per pixel basis would pretty much render them pixel art too, and that isn't what I want.

as for the ships, yeah lots of people brought that up, fortunatley I have an upcoming plot point that gives me an opertunity to rectify that without damaging continuity. So I will put in as much effort as possible into making them better.

Mimarin
Uhm, how does having something anti aliased make them not sprites? Seriously, just because they aren't painted on a per-pixel basis it dosen't detract from the fact they are pre-rendered bitmap images, which in all truth and fairness is what sprites are

Sure they are, if your writing a computer program.

But your not, your making a comic. The defenition of a sprite, based on the "blocky look" that appears in most sprite/pixel comics is an image created for maximum definition and detail using a minimum amount of resources. Thus a sprite is an image drawn using an economic amount of colours. Auto anti aliasing is NOT colour economic, which means it is not suitible for sprites. It's the equivilant of calling your comic a "Manga" just because you draw all the characters with big eyes.

making them on a per pixel basis would pretty much render them pixel art too, and that isn't what I want.

In the context of comics, Sprites and Pixel art are the same thing. The only real differance is an inferance as to if you drew them yourself or someone else did.

I call false advertising. This isn't a sprite comic.

Titch
absolute bollocks

that's like saying "this 3D model isn't 3D because its rendered through a filter that makes it look like a 2D drawing" The definition of a sprite is a technical one not an aesthetic one, my comic is inarguably a sprite comic, THERE IS NO QUESTION.

lets break it down so your apparently rather limited brain can understand it:

What is a sprite?

Sprites are a type of computer graphics (FACT)

They are pre-rendered bitmap images (FACT)

My sprites are rendered from vector art to a bitmap format, and are copied and pasted (and often edited) from there thus making them pre-rendered bitmap images (FACT)

so through logic and reasoning it is plain to see that my graphics are sprites, this is a undeniable fact. This is because they are bitmap images that are pre-rendered, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?

also wikipedia tells us:

The term "sprite" is often confused with low resolution 2D graphics drawn on a computer, also known as Pixel Art. However, in addition to pixel art, sprites can be created from prerendered CGI, dynamic 3D graphics, vector art, and even text. Likewise, pixel art is created for many purposes other than as a sprite, such as video game backgrounds, textures, icons, websites, display art, comics.

Thus in a technical sense at least I AM RIGHT.

Surely then a comic that is made using sprites, in any sense is in fact a sprite comic? or does everything have to conform exactly with your artistic preference? No it dosen't any comic using Sprites is a sprite comic.

So technically my comic is a sprite comic, end of story, if you wish to attach a set of aesthetic values to sprite comics then do so, but don't tell me what my comic is when you clearly have no idea what you are talking about.

lastly, some points you may have missed:

- Sprites are a type of computer graphic, having the technical qualites of sprites is what makes then sprites, not how they look.
- You have no basis for your argument.
- I am right.

I don't mean to rehiterate one point so much, but it's true and you simply don't seem able to accept that you are clearly and massivley wrong.

Sprites are a type of computer graphics (FACT)

They are pre-rendered bitmap images (FACT)

My sprites are rendered from vector art to a bitmap format, and are copied and pasted (and often edited) from there thus making them pre-rendered bitmap images (FACT)

Gosh, I gues that makes every comic made on computer a sprite comic then, huh?

Quit with the god danm "I know it all" attitude just because you read a few articles on Wikipedia about sprites in video games. Using that definition to "prove" your comic is a sprite comic is about a revelent as taking photographs of cans of sprite and claiming your comic is a "Sprite Comic".

I think you should read This artical [en.wikipedia.org] on spriting. And yes, in webcomics a genre IS based on it's astetic values. Thats kind of, you know, the point of a visual medium. It doesn't look like sprites, thus it isn't. Hell, you can call pixel art bloody Pointalism for all anyone cares, it technicaly accuret, you create it using tiny dots of colour. It doesn't however LOOK like Pointilism, so it isn't.

Quit pulling quotes from irrelivent articles about video games programing and just flame me a bit for being arrogant. It'll make you feel better.

Gosh, I gues that makes every comic made on computer a sprite comic then, huh?

Not really, they would only be sprites if they were integrated into a larger scene, if individual panels or characters were rendered seperatley and then composes into the final image then they could (on a technical level at least) be called sprites, and the comic could thusly be a sprite comic, if it so wished to define itself that way.

On wikipedia, I know it isn't a comprehensive source of information and it isn't always accurate, but that paragraph really did say it all. but I would like to point out this horribly worded paragraph:

A distinction is sometimes made between sprites and pixel-art. Technically, an image is only a sprite once it has been integrated into a larger image, as in a video game. However, the image as it exists independently from the larger context falls into the category of pixel-art. This is essentially the same as the difference between a single drawing and an animation; the larger is a composite of the smaller. There are also restrictions that a sprite ahas to follow due the limits of the graphical memory. Pixelart are often used as backgrounds in Videogames and thus have a bigger size and memory.

This quite clearly states, that while the sprites are pixel art (which isnt always the case, depending on how the sprite image is made) they are sprites once they are integrated into a larger image, hence my graphics are sprites when veiwed in the context of a webcomic.

thanks for helping.

I understand what you mean, but is utter bullshit.

you are effectivley saying a somethings looks determine how it was made.

Think about this:

Most of my comics are made with vector graphics, but I could easily render them to look like pixel art, that would in your veiw make them pixel art would it not? According to your previous argument it would.

And that simply isn't true, they are vector art plain and simple, how they look dosen't make any impact on what they are.

In exactly the same way, if a comic made with 3D models

the exact same thing applies to masakari, parts of it may not look like they were made on a per pixel basis (that dosen't define a sprite) but in truth and technicality a sprite when veiwed as part of the comic.

Like I said before, you are free to attribute aesthetic values to sprite comics, but I outright refuse to acknowledge "sprite comic" as anything but an entierly technical definition.

This quite clearly states, that while the sprites are pixel art (which isnt always the case, depending on how the sprite image is made) they are sprites once they are integrated into a larger image, hence my graphics are sprites when veiwed in the context of a webcomic.

You cheerfully skipped over the sections about "limited memory" referancing the the point I was previously making that it isn't a sprite if it isn't memory efficiant. Nobody would use your face pictures in a video game because they don't fall under that catagory because of the waste colours. Secondly, you skipped "sometimes" inferring that it's not a solid fact, it's just a distinction that some people make some of the time.

Most of my comics are made with vector graphics, but I could easily render them to look like pixel art, that would in your veiw make them pixel art would it not? According to your previous argument it would.

No, you can't; because you clearly don't understand what pixel art is. No automated rendering procedure is going to provide you with pixel art. They don't preserve the detail while economising on colours used. That has to be done by hand, thats how you end up with the pixel art "look".

Like I said before, you are free to attribute aesthetic values to sprite comics, but I outright refuse to acknowledge "sprite comic" as anything but an entierly technical definition.

Ok, but heres the thing. People don't care how you created the comic. They care about how it looks when they see it. That is going to define your comic. That's why people still called Kid Radd and AMD "sprite comics" no matter how much Sean Howards wails about it.

I'm not going to comment on all of your points, because I simply can't be arsed, what my point is is:

pixel art =/= Sprite graphics.

Your point is based on the the assumption that one is required to for the other to exist, Sprites DO NOT have to be made by hand, I can even give examples.

Also size efficiency dosen't matter when it comes to webcomics, not in the slightest, you have to work with the restrictions you are presented with, Given there are none It dosen't matter, but if it makes YOU happy I will make sure no single graphic element in masakari exceedes 50kb in size, ok?

Technically, a "sprite" is a grafic used or intended for use in a GAME, right?

If the computer grafics is created for a COMIC it's not really a "sprite" as such. It's pixel art.

At least that is the way i see it.

(Your comic is 275% better than most "real" sprite comics on DD by the way. )

A sprite can be intended for use in anything, mainly games however, but they don't strictly exist in that sense, a sprite is any pre-rendered bitmap image that makes up part of a larger scene, be it in a game, a comic, a program or something else that IS what a sprite is.

equinox

Titch
STUFF

LOL! Sprite comicking is serious business!

Sprites are a legitimate medium. I've always believed that and I always will. I'll do my best to mantain that no matter how many wanker 12 year olds are abusing them, or how many people are abusing them back to try and prove some kind of point.

Also size efficiency dosen't matter when it comes to webcomics, not in the slightest, you have to work with the restrictions you are presented with, Given there are none It dosen't matter, but if it makes YOU happy I will make sure no single graphic element in masakari exceedes 50kb in size, ok?

Much less than that. I could sit down and run the figures and give you an "optimum" size, but it would only be to prove a point that your hell bent on ignoring.

If a sprite in a webcomic is a pre-rendered bitmap intended to be part of a larger scene, then I believe Culture Shock is a sprite comic, as Hawk renders his character pencil sketches on the computer seperately to the background and then puts it all together afterwards. The fact he started with a pencil drawing doesn't stop his characters from being sprites, you said yourself that games designers use pencil sketches as a base for drawing sprites.

If a sprite in a webcomic is a pre-rendered bitmap intended to be part of a larger scene, then I believe Culture Shock is a sprite comic, as Hawk renders his character pencil sketches on the computer seperately to the background and then puts it all together afterwards. The fact he started with a pencil drawing doesn't stop his characters from being sprites, you said yourself that games designers use pencil sketches as a base for drawing sprites.

Yep technically speaking you are correct, however given that his characters are drawn individually for each scene instead of having a set of "stock" poses and actions probably renders then exempt from that rule.

but I suppose if hawk wanted he COULD reclassify culture shock as a sprite comic if he so desires. but given that his characters are ALSO hand drawn ad CG coloured they also exist in that medium too.

*must... fight... urge... to argue... string theory....*