|
Arch: What inspired you to first become a spriter?
DSC: … It was probably about May 2003, that was when I got established on the sonic
forums. I’d just signed up to The Sonic Foundation Message Boards, shortly after my 17th birthday - This was when the
site was still updated, mind - before Kedzie got a life. One of the first people I remember from that place was AkumaTH, and
any comic maker worth their salt knows that his sprite comic ownz. But I guess I didn’t start spriting until I wanted
to make some of my character - Nick the Dragon.
Where did the idea (the appearance, the species,
the back-story) for your main fan character, Nick the Dragon come about?
Nick generated from some time-honoured ‘boring math class’
doodles, in Biro at the back of Maths book, like all great ideas do. Back then he was just a beefed-up lizard-looking thing,
spikes everywhere, trying to look cool. But Nick ‘proper’ didn’t exist until my arrival on the tSFMB. Stupid
as I was back then, I asked to be included in a group pic of all the different fan characters of the boards, then realised
that I had no character to speak of, just this little doodle. Nick then appeared.
By then he was a dragon, simply because of the simple fact that dragons are badass! :D What wasn’t badass though,
was the lack of any decent back-story - in my early fan fictions (Oh yes! They were typical fan boy-fare these were!) Nick
was discovered in the wall of a cave, and was Amy’s squeeze… which looking back on it makes me fucking cringe.
Only recently have I got a solid back-story up for him with him being one of Robotnik’s machinists on the run, similar
in aspects to Tekno the Canary.
What do you feel has been your most successful spritesheet/spriting project?
Hmm, tough one, ya bastard! I’m saying… the series of Fleetway characters I did. Sure, the DSC Army was big
and fun to do, but I also had a lot of fun re-creating characters form that awesome comic (and finding odd parts to put on
them). For example, the Trooper sprites contain Penguinator parts, just for that ‘badass to a budget’ feel. :D
I should really get round to finishing my Chaos and Ancient Knux sprites… the guy’s been waiting for near to
a year for them XD
Why did you choose to create a 'DSC Army' - a selection of custom badniks?
To take over the world. Duh.
Nah, not yet anyway. They all seem to come from myself seeing a group of badniks together
and thing "what if I do…". Then I went to SFGHQ and found that there were fucking tons of them, which also steered me
away from doing anything too similar to others, preventing any potential Ashura-like outbursts of "OMG J00 StoELED!!eleven!1"
That said, if a guy named ‘DuckBoy’ can make decent wacky custom badniks, then I should be able to. 23 legions
and a few others on this side kinda proves that I can :P
Is there anyone in the spriting world you'd hold in high regard?
AkumaTH, because his comic is the DragonBall of sprite comics, IMO. Damien of The
Mystical Forest Zone as his custom sprite works are un-fucking-believable (Perfect Chaos! Biolizard!! SatAM sprites!!!)
But I also appreciate those sprite comic makers that can tell a good story, or at the very least hold my interest. Props
got to ’Power Rings’, GCD, PDFTA, The Mobian, SiL, InSONICa, TWOM and Sonic_BOOM for those.
How did you get the idea for your latest comic, Triple R, and where do you see the project going?
To be brutally fucking honest… it was an excuse to use some of my custom badniks. Me ego tripping and doing something
for me. When I realised that I’d have no comic to do that with, I conceded and turned it into a ‘Robot Wars’/bog-standard
sprite comic. The brainwave was letting boomers off of STCO and STCOSSCACC enter their creations into it - it would have never
been this popular if it had just been my badniks and my story. The fact that it has reached #55 fucking astounds me, as my
previous (crap) attempts at a sprite comic never got past #9.
As much as everybody would love it to be an annual tournament… I’m currently toying with the idea of splitting
the comic when this tournament reaches it’s conclusion, having the story continue in Triple R, but having the tourney
be in a separate comic, but obviously playing off of each over. As for the story… I have some good shit planned for
it that will hopefully excite a lot of people, or keep ‘em interested.
Quick question - Genesis
or Advance sprites?
Genesis. As I am quoted as saying "I am a child of the old-skool."
Why didn't you continue the
old DSC Sonic the Comic, among other uncompleted projects?
Who the fuck said that DSC StC wasn’t continuing? ;)
As for my other uncompleted works, some are sprited (The
‘new level‘ tileset), some were drawn (The Tartan Army comic featuring Scotch and Byrd the Foxes, and Resh the
Shark (more of my characters)), all discontinued as I lost interest in them, which is a problem anyone can have. I prefer
the freedom of just drawing and spriting of my own free will. I’ll draw whatever takes my fancy (my own characters or
sonic related stuff), or what people ask for (Sonic hentai. Mostly from Madhair XD).
A lot of things
seem to get you riled up. Is there anything you'd like to get off your chest at the moment?
Yes, the fact that I seemingly now have this reputation as a fight starter
and firestarter. Real life has been playing merry fucking havoc with my life recently, so it’s natural that some of
it got carried over to the forums or wherever. So if I’ve ranted at you in the last couple of months then I apologise
(except for one or two certain individuals: I meant every last fucking word, you incompetent fools).
Criticism time: Other than your own, what do you feel are the best and worst sprite comics of the places you visit
regularly?
The Best? TMFZ is a badass sprite site, sprite sheets of your dreams are there for
you every day, and where the godly InSONICa is. And cruising around the STCOSSCACC forums, I will drop by the Mobian and PDFTA
forums if there’s new comics up.
That said, ‘Rise of The Eggman’ and ‘A Journey to Nothing’ are everything I hate in sprite comics.
Shittily made, shittily presented and shit dialogue (Journey’s makes me itch in disgust and embarrassment).
Spriting or writing - which do you prefer?
Spriting, although writing Nick’s bio was a joy to behold.
Similarly, which element of
Triple R do you prefer to write for - the battles or the subplots involving Robotnik and Nick?
As RetroGamer would attest to, I can have real problems coming up with a decent fight scene. I’ve been getting by
until now :P I like the little back stories I’ve weaved into Triple R, as a) they give it substance, b) if you don’t
like one story then there may be another you’d like, and c)They will all be interconnecting and set up some of their
involved with big storylines for #100 and beyond. No lie, I have big stories lined up for the Freedom fighters, Tails, Tekno,
Nick and Nack the Weasel. ;)
Which has been the best background you've created?
… People want me to say something like the Freedom Fighter’s HQ, or Lush Canyon… but personally, the
Rammstein stage I did is my absolute BEST. Seeing them live in February, and seeing that awesome stage come to life was something
that I had to try and re-create.
Where did your other characters come about from?
Ooh… Nicola was actually created by SonicFanatic, and is now intergrated into Nick’s life as his ‘significant
other’. Scotch and Byrd the Foxes were drawn with a punk-couple feeling to them, Byrd morphing into something sexier,
while Scotch has pretty much disappeared :P Resh the Shark was another character for a comic I did, but overall a minor character.
And Muse the Hedgehog is my obligatory hedgehog fan-character - every sonic fan has one :D
Tell us something that we may not know about you.
I draw hentai. *shock* Which some may hate (probably not Madhair), but it is freely viewable on the net on Fur Affinity.
Dude, if I didn’t draw it I would have a set of frigid characters, which is something they weren’t intended to
be :P, Getting jiggy with it is a part of life, no?
Finally, is there any advice you'd like to
give to any upcoming spriters or writers who'd like to learn from an expert?
Yes, go find that expert.
But from what I know, I’ll give some tips. Try to be original. No recolours. Have a decent history and story for
your characters, as people will like the added depth to a character. Don’t make shitty sprite comics: look at what other
people are doing and try to adapt, not copy. Porn is good for you. Madhair’s wonder wang is also good for you, but only
in small doses.
|
