Submission Guideline Thread

[Pinkie Pie]

Alrighty! So want to submit something to the game? That's swell!

Here's what we're looking for:
* Sprites of enemies.
* Sprites for 4 as of yet to be decided Robot Masters.
* Sprites for Mid-Bosses.
* Tilesets
* Music
* And possibly in the future, stage builders. This may take a bit of organisation from everyone invovled, but let me know if you feel like trying this.
* Ideas!
* Beta Testers.

Anything helps!

Here's what I'm specifically doing:
* Game coding.
* 4 of 8 Robot Master stages, and the 4 Robot Masters within.
(1 has been submitted by Blackhook, and I'm bringing him into line with the others.)
* Wily Stages and their End Bosses.
* Dr Wily himself.
* Placeholder Music.
* As much as humanly possible.

So submissions then?

Spriting Guidelines
* This is a 8bit styled game, and therefore 8bit style limitations are enforced.
We will not be accepting 16bit submissions.
* Edits are fine. Original sprites are preferable. If you're doing edits, make them look good.

* I do not want edits for Robot Masters. They can LOOK like a classic Megaman boss (that's sort of the idea), but try not to use parts of them. No frankenedits for RM's either.

* Enemies can be based off pre-existing Megaman, Castlevania, or Ghosts and Goblins enemies. Or Mythology. If you do the latter, try to state the reference.

* You can post concept-sprites first if you wish, and animate them later if it gets in the game. I can also animate them for you, but if someone else does a similiar enemy that is finished, I might take theirs over yours.

* Do NOT edit Megaman himself into an enemy/ RM. These types of edits look horrible. The same goes for Protoman, Bass, Roll, etc.


What makes a sprite "8bit?"

8bit Megaman Guidelines
* Try to use only colours from this sheet:

That is the colour scheme for the game, and I'm trying to stick with it.
It will help the overall 8bit effect.

* As a general rule, any given NES sprite uses a max of 4 colours per 8x8 or 16x16 block. One of these colours is reserved for transparency, so you have 3 colours per sprite to use.

* Megaman games got round this limitation by using layers for sprites. For example, Megaman himself had two: His blue body, and his face.
The more layers - the slower the game ran. You do not have to submit your sprites in layers unless there is a specific reason, (enemy parts can be destroyed for instance).

* Therefore, submissions CAN use more than 3 colours, but they must be used sparringly. For a specific example of an 8bit style sprite using too many colours, see Splashwoman. She wouldn't have been possible on the NES.
Most generic enemies should use 3, some can use 6. Fewer the better.

* Megaman sprites use black outlines as a general rule. There will be some exceptions to make sprites stand out more. In addition - most also use the colour white (248, 248, 248), and you are usually left with 1 colour for shading/body.

* Use the Colour 005,005,005 for black. Do NOT use 000,000,000. This is transparency.

Tilesets:
* Pick one of the stages. Or make generic tiles that can be assigned to the stages.
* You have 4 colours per tile. Same general princible as above.
* All blocks must be either 8x8 or 16x16. OR a Multilple of 8.
* Feel free to submit pieces of pixel art for setpieces.
* Post tilesets with at least 1 pixel between tiles. This will make it easier for me.
* Colour rotation is possible for certain details. Just make sure to post the rotation colours.


Music
We currently have Joseph Collins, who has agreed to do as much of the music as he is able. (He was the one who did the better pieces in Christmas Carol.) How-ever, i'm sure he'll appreciate anyone else some bits here and there.
The music is going to be remixed from the Castlevania series, primarly. Ask me to see the music list. I have specific pieces in mind.