Not Fernando

[ImmunityBow]

Okay, this is a bit... strange. I started off with a Fernando sprite, set in the Adonis position because that's what he reminded me of. Then I realized that his pectorals looked like breasts and that his position seemed more seductive than relaxed, and I couldn't do anything to change it, and so this came up.

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/9568/mermaidsv.png

I call her "Not Fernando," but "Mermaid" does just fine.

/asifweneededanymorewatertrainers

[Tyrannigon64]

asifweneededanymorewatertrainers

How many water trainers do we have? I honestly don't know, the only ones I know of are the ones on the website, and I only see one, the scuba diver. I would imagine that mermaids would not have Pokemon. Wouldn't they be some sort of human-Pokemon hybrid anyways? In our world they're human-fish hybrids, and seeing how they don't have actual fish, they would be combinations of humans and... I guess Vaporeons.

[ImmunityBow]

Or it could just be a mermaid wannabe. We have a Scuba Diver and two Surfers, along with the canon Tubers, Swimmers, Triathletes, and Sailors.

There are definitely mermaids in Pokeverse, considering that half of Vaporeon's dex entries mention it being mistaken for a mermaid. Of course not all the canon entries are that reliable (Ponyta's Ayer's Rock leap) but our Vaporeon entry mentions Mermaids.

[Reliability]

There were surfers as well, but I'm not sure where they went.

I think the fingers on the right hand are too long and the mouth should be angled since her face is angled. The fins should also be larger.

[ImmunityBow]

Would you mind having a go at angling the mouth? I wasn't having any success.

[Irot_Rebod]

Looks pretty good, IB. Only thing I can point out with my "great spriting knowledge" is that the mermaid tail looks a bit... flat? However, in my "infinite wisdom", I know not of a cure.

[ImmunityBow]

Thanks Irot! Oh, and as for the fingers, yeah, sure I can try to shorten them, the hugeness comes back from the Fernando days. I tried making them slimmer but forgot about length.

[Reliability]

I tried editing the mermaid, then got an idea.
http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/1703/dancerb.png
Kalypso gym dancer?
If you want to stick with the mermaid, you can steal the mouth and hand from this sprite.

[Cyndadile]

Either could work.

The mermaid would work as a trainer near a shipwreck (wasn't there one of those?).

[ImmunityBow]

I like the sprite, but I'm not sure whether the pose is correct for that kind of thing. You pulled off legs and dress really well though.

[NyteFyre]

No offense, IB, but the mermaid seems like she's looking at her pokeball, like actually facing it, but then there's the mouth, and it looks sooooooo awkward to me.

The Dancer's eye seems off on yours, Reli. That, or it's mouth is weird...But I like it better than the mermaid anyway.

[ImmunityBow]

Hah, no need to say "No offense." As soon as I read that I immediately started to take offense, though I'll try to take it in stride.

Have you tried looking closer? It doesn't look at all like she's looking at her Pokeball, mainly because that's what I was going for in the first place (casual disregard for the player) but decided to change it because it wasn't working. Look again, then tell me that she's looking at her Pokeball again. Are you skimming the topic? The mouth was addressed already too. It almost feels like I offended you so much with the sprite that you rushed down to the bottom of the page to post your comments. If that truly is the case, then you're going to have to post something a little more constructive. Don't just rail on what you don't like, but say possible changes instead. If you had read my previous post replying to Reli, then you might have seen that I was having troubles with the mouth and was asking for help with it. Responding with "then there's the mouth, and it looks sooooooo awkward to me" seems either just careless or just rude.

[Sev]

I think with a little work and recoloring it could be a Vaporeon cos player. Just make her lay down flat, recolor the tail, and add some details here and there. Maybe even recolor the hair...

[NyteFyre]

I'm sorry IB, but I did take a good look at it, and looked at each individual's response. I noticed your response to Reli, but said what i did anyway. I don't know why I did, but I did.
I'm not particularly good with spriting, or sprites in general, so, I can't really give any good, hardened, constructive criticism. All I can really say is that the 'eye' doesn't look so much like a human eye as more just a few pixels of black, or something. I zoomed in, and can see that you did put some white next to the purple eye, but maybe a second column of white would define it better? Also, the facial outline to the right of that eye gives the impression to me that there is more face, like it's head is turned. If the outline where more definitive, maybe it would help with that. ?The thumb seems to be jutting out at an odd angle on the non-pokeball hand.

I never thought you one for assuming things, then riding on people for what you assumed they did. That's kind of what it sounded like to me. Were you simply in a bad mood when you replied?

[Tyrannigon64]

I think with a little work and recoloring it could be a Vaporeon cos player. Just make her lay down flat, recolor the tail, and add some details here and there. Maybe even recolor the hair...

I think that the point of the cosplayers in this game is that they dress up as legendaries. And I don't think that would work, seeing as Vaporeon has four legs, not just the front legs.

[ImmunityBow]

NyteFyre, I didn't assume anything. If you chose to ignore the post above and continue to state your opinion with a total disregard for it, then my judgment will be wrong. Also, whenever I do anything around here, very often I get criticism, yes, but very, very seldom do I get any kind of idea of what I should be doing more of. It often just seems like whatever I do is just not good enough, since people tend to refuse to tell me what was good. I know there's always room for improvement, and I know I sound childish kind of wishing for some praise, but I do my very best to point out what went right nearly every time I comment on someone's work, along with whatever criticism, and forgive me if I hope for some of the same treatment on something of my own. I'm tempted to start pulling examples from each and every topic (except for Item Sprites, I guess) but I really don't think I need to.

Read over your post again. How can someone not take offense to that? How can someone not be in a bad mood when you choose very distinctly to underline "soooooooooo awkward." The whole tone of the post is very offensive, and just saying "no offense" is just the icing on the cake.

And I've looked over the sprite dozens of times and still don't see how the eye is off. I compared it to several canon sprites, which all use black and maybe a spot of dark colour with white along side it. I'm not blaming you here, but I just don't see it.

As for the other things, yes, I could make those changes, but I don't want to until a decision is made on dancer vs. mermaid.

[Sev]

I'm sorry IB, but I did take a good look at it, and looked at each individual's response. I noticed your response to Reli, but said what i did anyway. I don't know why I did, but I did.
I'm not particularly good with spriting, or sprites in general, so, I can't really give any good, hardened, constructive criticism. All I can really say is that the 'eye' doesn't look so much like a human eye as more just a few pixels of black, or something. I zoomed in, and can see that you did put some white next to the purple eye, but maybe a second column of white would define it better? Also, the facial outline to the right of that eye gives the impression to me that there is more face, like it's head is turned. If the outline where more definitive, maybe it would help with that. ?The thumb seems to be jutting out at an odd angle on the non-pokeball hand.

I never thought you one for assuming things, then riding on people for what you assumed they did. That's kind of what it sounded like to me. Were you simply in a bad mood when you replied? -NyteFyre


NyteFyre, I didn't assume anything. If you chose to ignore the post above and continue to state your opinion with a total disregard for it, then my judgment will be wrong. Also, whenever I do anything around here, very often I get criticism, yes, but very, very seldom do I get any kind of idea of what I should be doing more of. It often just seems like whatever I do is just not good enough, since people tend to refuse to tell me what was good. I know there's always room for improvement, and I know I sound childish kind of wishing for some praise, but I do my very best to point out what went right nearly every time I comment on someone's work, along with whatever criticism, and forgive me if I hope for some of the same treatment on something of my own. I'm tempted to start pulling examples from each and every topic (except for Item Sprites, I guess) but I really don't think I need to.

Read over your post again. How can someone not take offense to that? How can someone not be in a bad mood when you choose very distinctly to underline "soooooooooo awkward." The whole tone of the post is very offensive, and just saying "no offense" is just the icing on the cake.

And I've looked over the sprite dozens of times and still don't see how the eye is off. I compared it to several canon sprites, which all use black and maybe a spot of dark colour with white along side it. I'm not blaming you here, but I just don't see it.

As for the other things, yes, I could make those changes, but I don't want to until a decision is made on dancer vs. mermaid. -ImunityBow

How I see this is NyteFyre is looking at it different than you. NyteFyre you are looking it as if her face is looking straight at you with her hair covering one eye. Ib you intended for her to be looking at her poke ball. I know this is not in my place to say this but I think NyteFyre overreacted, and Ib only sort of did that. I have to agree witth Ib that it is hard to get praise around here, and that noone will give him cunstructive critisism because they are a afraid of him. Aslong as you keep it from flaming I'm pretty sure he's not going to be mad. I mean he is a pretty darn reasonable guy.

[zeroality]

Also, whenever I do anything around here, very often I get criticism, yes, but very, very seldom do I get any kind of idea of what I should be doing more of
I've noticed this too and it annoys me as well. It's part of the reason why we have so little material on the site in comparison to what's been worked on for Topaz throughout the years.

People make something and get tons of criticism on it but not very much constructive advice then they just never get back to it.

That's why I've started to just put things on site regardless of opinions, with the disclaimer "if you don't like it, then fix it yourself."

Edit: I realize I've been guilty of the same thing but I've stopped doing it.

[Cyndadile]

Just an observation (for the mermaid version); the hand that is not holding the pokeball seems to be covering the edge of the mermaid's head, and kind of makes it look like the hair is coming out of the side of her head (in my opinion, at least). Unless that is what you were going for, do you think it would work to move the arm so that, instead of propping up her head, it was kind of pushing her up off of the ground? Did that make any sense? It looks fine on the dancer, though. Probably because she has different hair.

Also, in both, the bend of the wrist (on the non-pokeball holding hand) seems to be too low, as if she had a broken arm.

I like Reli's version's eyes better, too. I hadn't noticed them before.

I think I'd like the mermaid better in the end.

[NyteFyre]

I'm just wondering what caused IB to sort of snap. I didn't mean to sound demeaning, or over critical, or offensive. I'm a pretty nice guy with very limited knowledge in this particular area. I try, but I was feeling off yesterday, kinda not like myself. It's weird...

Anyway, I didn't mean to start anything, I was just trying to post my opinion, which is generally what you guys look for. I don't remember you specifically asking for constructive criticism in this thread. You posted it, and people posted their opinions. If you were looking for such constructive criticism, why not simply ask so that people like Reli who have good experience in this field can actually help you?

[zeroality]

I see where you're coming from but generally, if people post something for critiquing then you should suggest how to fix the things you find fault with.

It's called constructive criticism, which is far better and much more helpful than simply pointing out faults.

[Reliability]

I don't remember you specifically asking for constructive criticism in this thread. You posted it, and people posted their opinions. If you were looking for such constructive criticism, why not simply ask so that people like Reli who have good experience in this field can actually help you?

When something is posted, they are always looking for constructive criticism. Criticism without constructiveness is not nearly as useful, and it dosen't really any experience.
I.e. Even "I think you should alter the colour to something brighter" is better than "the colour is too dark." Focusing on positive is better than negative.

But I wouldn't say that IB is misplacing his reaction. Your OP was coarse to say the least. It was mostly in the tone that you used: soooooooooo awkward is much more condescending than just saying awkward. Had you put it what might make the mouth less awkward, it may have softened the overall effect, but I would just watch how you word things. That's the best advice I can give to avoid this happening again.

[ImmunityBow]

As for the dancer, I agree the hand is much better, and the entire lower half too. Since she's got a different purpose the smile works fine on her like it wouldn't have on the mermaid. However, I would get rid of the Pokeball altogether and just place a hand there. Her dress kind of reminds me of an Indian dancer's, and you know how they kind of lie down in that pose and wave their hand a bit, that's what I'm envisioning here. I don't get the pose otherwise if it includes the Pokeball.

[Reliability]

She's tired from dancing and is resting her feet. =3

I'll try and do it later tonight. I see where you're coming from, and it might work better.

[ImmunityBow]

Just realized something. The two sprites look almost entirely different, sharing two arms and the hands will all change once the correct changes have been implemented.

So, assuming the editing gets finished, why not use both of them? They're even facing different directions.

[Tyrannigon64]

I agree, but I have one question. Is she a real mermaid?

[Blade Flight]

Yes, I think she is a "real" mermaid.

[Reliability]

I'm down to use both. And yes, she is real.