event-general

[silver merlin]

i said you didnt have to post it to spritework

[cloud pulsar]

i just said spritework tho

[vale jolt]

i love your mr mime fuusions

[crisp whale]

I did the math, and so long as I didn't miscount, there should be 568 fusions that also a candidate for this contest

[turbid jackal]

what do special effects mean in this context

[civic mauve]

Just posted my first WIP to spritework, could someone let me know if it fits the brief in regards to special effects? I could also link it here, but I wanted to make sure that was allowed first ^^;

[vestal silo]

#is-my-sprite-ready

Oh ypu are asking actually in regards to the contest

So used to random questions in here

[civic mauve]

So there's this gym leader I can't find

(joking)

[vestal silo]

Hahaha

[lofty marlin]

i want to join the contest this time around, but also havent done it before-do we just make it, then upload them in a folder or something on the drive?

[ocean crown]

you make a folder in the drive with your discord name on it then you can put your submissions in it

im kinda surprised nobody has submitted anything yet as far as i can see

[cloud pulsar]

no folder!

that was for LC

[ocean crown]

ah bet

[cloud pulsar]

you just add your discord thingie to the sprite

[ocean crown]

11.11 by "username"

[cloud pulsar]

ye

with the numbers aswell

[ocean crown]

ah okay

[graceful plank]

very happy with this contest idea, we were planning on doing it after self fusion chart is completed. now gotta pull up that site and see what hasn't been done yet

[craggy isle]

i just submitted mine 🫣

[ocean crown]

who would i ask about the parameters of the "no special effects rule?"

[wide knoll]

the person who posted it

probably

[lofty marlin]

okay, thank you guys for the info!!

[orchid mortar]

Using custom bases from other people is allowed?

[uncut shadow]

Yeah

[scarlet shoal]

Someone didn't put "by _____" in their submission

[uncut shadow]

Who?

[scarlet shoal]

Cheesecake

[stiff kettle]

._.

[quartz locust]

@scarlet shoal Do this in #is-my-sprite-ready please, not here. 🙂

[scarlet shoal]

K

[odd garnet]

BUT I'VE ALREADY FUSED ROSERADE WITH ALL OF IT'S FAMILY

Lol

Welp
Now what?

Hahaha

[graceful plank]

gotta do...a non roserade!

[odd garnet]

Welp
Head fusion it is

[summer nebula]

Are joke fusions allowed? It doesn't say in the rules they aren't, and one of the two entries i'm planning is very close to being one

[near horizon]

Why is it showing an evolution of ralts?

[uncut shadow]

Why is Gardevoir/kirlia there?

[odd garnet]

Oh

It is

Huh

Lol?

[uncut shadow]

Post it on sprite errors

[odd garnet]

Maybe it's a mobile thing

[timid shore]

i think this is a first instance of non-custom spritework-error

wait nvm it's your mobile not updating the second sprite lol

[tawdry oak]

I'm not doing it but there is Pichu/Pikachu and Raichu/Pichu

[crisp cargo]

wait why aren't split evos allowed

politoed is clearly poliwrath's cousin

[stiff valley]

we want direct family

[teal grove]

If the beautifly line was in the game for example, you wouldnt be able to fuse silcoon and cascoon for this

[long crag]

direct family fusions are typically less common I imagine

[crisp whale]

A contest where you can only fuse pokemon in the same egg group could be neat for the future. Similar idea to this but a bit more open

Then again, this contest was probably made to get us to sprite the sprites nobody wants to sprite

[summer nebula]

probably to prevent the contest ending up with half of the people doing eeveelution fusions

[long crag]

all eeveelution fusions are completed I believe

but yeah fusing two final evos is probably much easier

[crisp cargo]

as if people wouldn't just do eevee/eeveelution most of the time anyway

[summer nebula]

tbf the contest also allows making fusions that already exist

[plucky arch]

because then youre able to fuse 2 fully evolved mons, which ruins part of the contest

[wind topaz]

Sure, but doing that is lame

[civic mauve]

@plucky arch would it be alright to tag you in a spritework thread to ask if a sprite is valid for the contest? Still confused about what qualifies as a special effect and the responses I’ve gotten from spritework questions have been contradictory ^^;

[plucky arch]

yea

[thin dove]

augh, i want to join this contest but i might not have time...

[dawn ivy]

I love how i went HECK YE I GOT AN IDEA and im done and put it in and notice I wasnt the only one with the idea

[plucky arch]

ive got 1 idea i need to do but im still lookin for another

[thin dove]

awww

[minor hazel]

https://tenor.com/view/shroomish-angry-evil-flip-gif-24574397

actual footage of what i did

[plucky arch]

while looking thru pokemon cards for a custom base for my idea i keep finding cool ones that either A: dont fit or B: break the SFX rule

(of which i am going to use all of them)

[craggy isle]

look at break cards

[uncut shadow]

can i make something someone already made? like if i want to make a sprite but someone already used it for the contest am i allowed to make one as well?

[viscid hill]

i mean yeah

[plucky arch]

challenge for the contest: make a Tangela/Tangrowth (or the inverse) without making it look lazy

[surreal yarrow]

is there any sensible way to make a family-fusion chart so everyone knows what's been done or not 🤔

or would that be too huge

or too weird

[plucky arch]

you can do fusions thatve already been done

so i dont see a point

[cloud pulsar]

the reactions lol

[summer nebula]

actually tempting idea 🤔

[plucky arch]

i mean you didnt just recolor one which is definitely a positive

[wind topaz]

Where?

[cloud pulsar]

#event-announcements

[cloud pulsar]

cant wait for blaq to show up and tell people to not link their sprite here

[plucky arch]

making a custom base and it looks really good, but i know im gonna have to ruin it for the fusion

[hazy chasm]

can we add these sprites to the gallery probably a dumb question

[civic mauve]

Oh yeah that happened to me ^^;

[civic mauve]

RIP my

[cloud pulsar]

classic blaq

[severe epoch]

lol I'll delete then

[cloud pulsar]

yes!
~~its a dumb question ~~

[hazy chasm]

its the dumbest of them of all my comment

[tall moss]

i recycled one of my oldass sprites to make a quick entry

old sprite

new one

[odd garnet]

Aaaand Contest is over

LOL

[tall moss]

there are far cooler sprites than this in the drive lmaooo

[grand tusk]

Xeno called it, contest over folks

it was a good run, felt shorter this time around

when next contest?

[versed ridge]

I cant think of anything for this contest so im gonna sit this one out

[odd garnet]

Point Proven
Contest is over

XD

[civic mauve]

Nooo I haven’t submitted mine yet xD

[slow gyro]

I haven’t submitted the two I already made cause idk if I can do anything better

Btw, a geodude count as special effects?

I just think it’s super funny, that poor geodude doesn’t know that’s going to die soon

[teal grove]

Oh god that sprite's gonna look weird in-game

[opal wadi]

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/infinitefusion/sprites/main/CustomBattlers/265.226.png

[misty acorn]

the geodudes fate

[teal grove]

Why do rhyperior fusions involve destroying geodudes

Is this some pokedex entry lore i missed

[slow gyro]

That’s just what Rhyperiors do

[slow gyro]

So it does or not?

[signal reef]

I went a bit hard on Misdreavus/Mismagius hat, will it be considered Special Effect ?
As it is part of both pokemon base design

[teal grove]

Ping a CM

[signal reef]

yeah i realised that xD

i was too focused on it

[silver merlin]

working on my entry

im gonna try to sprite lotta mushrooms why not

[misty acorn]

funky guy

such a great base too

[silk bolt]

are we allowed to use mega's features ?

mf got the hat shroom

so sad that we're limitted to only 2 entries

[silver merlin]

its rather great actually LOL

[silk bolt]

for contest managers maybe but i have few ideas now

[silver merlin]

be happy we didnt make it 1 entry max

[quartz locust]

I've done this so many times. 😂

[silk bolt]

typicall huge spriter behaviour

[quartz locust]

The best was when I redid my Sinnoh triple fusion and separately made two different fusions from it. 😂

[silk bolt]

no more effort, only big number in the #sprite-gallery

A for effort x)

[quartz locust]

I'm still proud of myself for thow these turned out. 😂

[silk bolt]

last one is neat

i like the snowy tree

[stable dirge]

Question! Is it still a valid entry if there's already a sprite for it? Such as Luxray/Shinx?

[silver merlin]

yes

that was only a rule for kiwis comp

[stable dirge]

Cool cool ty

[uncut shadow]

making a custom sprite is so much difficult then i thought

[misty acorn]

thats why I only make generated sprites

[uncut shadow]

yeah but custom sprites are more unique imo

[stable dirge]

AI Art only

[uncut shadow]

oh..... thats very smart

ai art is smart

[misty acorn]

show me something more unique than this

[opal wadi]

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Aegide/autogen-fusion-sprites/master/Battlers/169/169.89.png

This fusion doesn't appear to have a custom sprite! You can search for it in the #sprite-gallery to make sure.

[teal grove]

HE'S DABBING

[stable dirge]

the way Crobat's unreasonably large ...foot? is eclipsing the entire face omg

[thick harness]

It's gonna be a sad day when someone makes a custom sprite for that autogen

[silk bolt]

that quastion sared me my xatu natu already existed before 😓

[signal reef]

Hopefully we could vote for the autogen in main-sprite-voting

[normal nebula]

I forget, are we supposed to not post entries to spritwork/gallery until the contest is over, or does it not matter

[teal grove]

It doesn’t matter

Kiwi's LC3 rules really scarred everyone

[normal nebula]

i dont know what that means but I'll assume the worst

[quartz locust]

You can do whatever you want. 🙂

Rule 7's back for this one, by the way. 😉

[dense crow]

Wait so “family” is like
Just normal self fusion

Do I need to have like, multiple mons on the screen like an actual family

[teal grove]

No

It's not a self fusion

Self fusions arent allowed

[dense crow]

Wait sorry

I mean same line

You get the idea

Do I just make a normal fusion or do I have to like, make them an actual family

Bruh I’m sounding like a dumbass rn

[signal reef]

Do whatever you want as long as there are no SFX !

[dense crow]

Ah

[signal reef]

Current entries have a Krookodile / Ursaring / Beldum / Victreebel family kind of fusions
Other are normal fusions

[worn trout]

Hello , first contest for me and my English is not very good , I just put my sprite context here or in sprite gallery?

[tall moss]

put rhem in the drive linked in #event-announcements

[worn trout]

Thanks you

[vale jolt]

Hero waiting for his several polls

[cloud pulsar]

that already happen

[slow gyro]

Lmao

[quartz locust]

That's more in line with the Mergemay idea of family. 🙂

[slow gyro]

Hey @plucky arch does this geodude count as special effects?

[civic mauve]

I have submitted The Egg

[silk bolt]

Hi fellow mods, why can't we use textures

I wanna complain about how i waste 1 minutes doing red psychic thing for nothing

[teal grove]

Sounds like a special effect and not a texture

[silk bolt]

That was the question sorry

I meant special effect

[teal grove]

Because special effects are a very cheap way to make a sprite look flashy, especially in a contest like this where the designs arent necessarily appealing

The challenge in this contest is thus to make a good enough design, with great shading and texturing. Adding unnecessary effects takes away that challenge

[slow gyro]

Disagree

[teal grove]

You practically put special effects on all your sprites, of course you disagree

[slow gyro]

Well adding special effects it’s also challenging

And usually having both special effects and great textures makes the sprite crowded

So you usually have to choose one or the other

But for example, adding a secondary light source to an sprite is a special effect, but makes you have to change the lightning of the sprite

I usually add special effects cause I found them fun to sprite

Like for example, mega Steelix as head is also fun to sprite

[crude cedar]

There Will be a lot of alts After this contest 👀

[teal grove]

Breaking news: spriting takes skill, whitenames baffled

[ocean crown]

It’s the same idea with disabling animations

Animations still take more effort than not having animations but they make the sprite more flashy

[crude cedar]

I mean if you take the two identical sprites and add a special effect to one of the two. I am sure that It will win a poll. They Need to stay in teo different contests, i think that's the point behind this choice 🥹

[teal grove]

Jaters makes a good point bringing up animations

Since people started using them as free win buttons

[stiff valley]

smh the egg particles are a special effect

[civic mauve]

I cleared it w/ TeeOhEss already, they're considered a part of the body (someone gave the explanation that it would work as a 3D sprite)

[stiff valley]

uh, ok

[teal grove]

See here's a thingamajig

Does differently colored fire count as special effects?

[stiff valley]

example ?

[teal grove]

Look in the drive

[stiff valley]

i wouldn't consider that a special effect

[misty acorn]

Tempted to make this my pfp

[vale jolt]

Probably because no normal pokemon sprites have special effects

And it wouldnt make much sense if a fusion with a pokemon that isnt special to have it

Like drifblim/drifloon, if drifblim doenst have effects why would this fusion? In theory its less special

[vestal silo]

does this count as special effect? my 4 year old thinks it's perfect

[misty acorn]

Rainbows are real so they clearly can't be considered "effects"

[vestal silo]

[vale jolt]

Its not a special effect if you add a pot of gold

[vale jolt]

See

[teal grove]

irish nidoking

[long crag]

not an effect if it’s actually a very long pride flag

[teal grove]

the nidoking at the end of the rainbow

[stiff valley]

bruh

[slow gyro]

#1115728932466073711
What do ya all think of my new masterpiece?

[teal grove]

hm, looks too much like a self fusion

[uncut shadow]

im so glad you guys help me change this awful sprite for the better! (left one is the old one, right one is the current)

[misty acorn]

ooh, another funky guy has appeared

[stiff valley]

@storm grotto the evolution of your BEST sprite !

[vale jolt]

Thats alotta dithering

[uncut shadow]

It's not too much, right?

[vale jolt]

I was looking at the old one (cause i didnt relaise)

[uncut shadow]

oh....

[vale jolt]

A lil dithering never hurt noone

[hazy chasm]

@slow gyro we did basically the same thing for the contest lol

[misty acorn]

dithering looks fucking sick anyway, dont let any green discord handle convince you otherwise

[slow gyro]

Im not sure which sprites I’ll use for the contest lol

I’ve made like 5

[hazy chasm]

oh

[hazy chasm]

i feel thats overkill

[slow gyro]

It’s just that i haven’t made anything that convinces me

[hazy chasm]

makes sense

[crude cedar]

I have a feeling

Overshading Is the new vfx 🥴 We can't stop this loop

[slow gyro]

So I should reduce the shading of this?

[uncut shadow]

Can i add my contest entry to my mergemay chart?

[stiff valley]

why couldn't you

[vale jolt]

(The toad)

[crude cedar]

Yes.

[vale jolt]

Too much dithering aswell

Pillowshading hello

[summer nebula]

Appreciate all the help I've gotten with this guy from people in #1050404143807873157, it helps a ton

I'm probably gonna hold off submitting until later, might as well make use of the remaining days for small touch-ups here and there

[misty acorn]

damn shelgon and salamence is a great idea

[summer nebula]

I'm probably going to do the other variant (Shelgon/Salamence) once the contest submissions are closed

[hazy chasm]

im banging my head against a table i cant get something right it frustrates me

[plucky arch]

Number 4!! Number 4!!

[hazy chasm]

??

[civic mauve]

I think it's the 4th Trapinch/Flygon?

[hazy chasm]

oh

[civic mauve]

They're all really good! It's really cool how different they ended up looking even though they all came from the same concept!

[plucky arch]

i kinda wanna do a Trapinch/Flygon for the memes

[tall moss]

do mons that dont have sprites yet

[scarlet shoal]

That's what I've been doing

[hazy chasm]

same

[wind matrix]

I refuse to participate in the contest because I hate self fusions
also I'm busy

[scarlet shoal]

Self fusions aren't allowed

[wind matrix]

But they'll evolve into self fusions. So it's basically the same thing in terms of game mechanics

[civic mauve]

If you combine a pokemon w/ a split evolution then it could still evolve into the other one (ie if you do poliwhirl/poliwrath it could become a politoad/poliwrath)

[dull mortar]

quietly hiding one of my favorite possible entries behind my back because its a pre-existing sprite, whistling nonsuspiciously

[tepid reef]

Really? I've seen two so far (including mine so)

And yeah, only 2 show up when actually looking that up

Unless there's some on the google drive already

[dull mortar]

there are 3 on the drive

mvp trapinch line

[slow gyro]

Im still wondering if this geodude counts as special effects

[wind matrix]

fair

[hazy chasm]

is his sweat considered special effects

[plucky arch]

id say yes

[stiff valley]

Tf is he doing here anyway

[stiff valley]

Imo no, that's still part of the fusion

[glacial topaz]

okay so how do you post something for this contest.

you put it in #sprite-gallery? anything else?

[civic mauve]

There’s a google drive in #event-announcements

[glacial topaz]

ah gotcha

[glacial topaz]

but also in gallery?

[civic mauve]

I think it’s optional but I don’t see why you wouldn’t post there as well

[glacial topaz]

wait also how do you upload in drive

[civic mauve]

It might depend on your browser, but there should be a button somewhere that says upload file. You might also be able to drag and drop the file directly

The file needs to be named [num1] + “.” + [num2] + “by “ + [username]

[glacial topaz]

ty! 👍

[plucky arch]

entry 2 done 😎

[dull mortar]

B) hell yeah

[spring geyser]

How do I put my sprite in the Google Drive?

[stable dirge]

I too would like to know how to do this.

NVM I already did it.

[stable dirge]

@spring geyser if you still need answers

[spring geyser]

Thanks

[quartz locust]

Guys, don't react when people post their sprites. 7️⃣

Not posting the sprites or their threads here in the first place would avoid that issue entirely.

[near horizon]

But giving feedback is alright?

[quartz locust]

Yes, because it's not in the contest-specific channel and is necessary. Saying stuff like "this is going to win the contest" or things like that isn't great, though. 😅

[tepid reef]

The original message has been deleted. 🐱

[silver merlin]

you dont have to though

[teal grove]

I do suppose every family needs floorwax

[silver merlin]

pr sure thats milo LOL

ive removed it

[plucky arch]

milo?

[teal grove]

Indonesian (?) edgy teenager who was banned for being gender-critical and homophobic, not once, but twice after his very obvious alt also got sussed out

[timid shore]

Filipino

that's what the image in the text is too.

[plucky arch]

hows he got access to the Drive??

[dull mortar]

aaaah

uhhh

friend? lurker alt if he has the self control?

[teal grove]

Probably the latter, the drive isnt protected after all

[quartz locust]

Let's not delve into Rule 8 too much. 😅

[dull mortar]

puts the drama back in pandoras box

[civic mauve]

Would it be possible to pin rule 7 here since it’s specific to contests? I completely forgot it was a thing until you mentioned it ^^; Thought stuff was just getting deleted since it was off-topic

[tardy fossil]

solemnsol i love you for making Remoraid/Octillery

[hazy chasm]

deos this fire count as special effects

[scarlet shoal]

No it's apart of the fusion

[hazy chasm]

yes

[wooden hull]

I suppose I should ask before rolling past the deadline, but are the fire wings from Charizard GMax okay to use, or is that crossing the line?

[slow gyro]

Do you think this is special effects?

[hazy chasm]

no

[misty acorn]

yes

[brave pilot]

Whoever did the gengar haunter did special effects

[scarlet shoal]

It's apart of the fusion

[slow gyro]

It’s funny to work on a grey line

[summer nebula]

i guarantee there WILL be an argument as to whether whoever won used special effects or not

[brave pilot]

The gengar one is not a question

[uncut shadow]

I think you're right

Yeah gengar and haunter doesn't have gasly's particles it is SFX

[teal grove]

Yes

Also @plucky arch

[stiff valley]

eeeeh

I think yes

Charging an attack counts as a special effect imo

@marsh marten bro that's not even a fusion it's just one on top of the other, cmon

@torn dawn The focus band is not a part of the fusion, special effect

[ivory olive]

Ok but it's so cute

[stiff valley]

ok but it counts as a special effect anyway since it has a non fused Pokémon in the sprite anyway

[ivory olive]

but it's so cute

[stiff valley]

(similar to that geodude on that one rhyperior/rhydon)

[teal grove]

@slow gyro

[stiff valley]

they already were told about it i believe

[teal grove]

Seems like most people here cant lay off on the special effects

Sfx is one helluva drug

[misty acorn]

Sfx make sprites fun, forbidding it is a major cringe move

[limber venture]

@torn turret your gengar/haunter is definitely using special effects since neither mon have that gas effect

[ivory olive]

agreed

[teal grove]

On the contrary, not being able to make a good sprite without them is a skill issue

[summer nebula]

I laid off them because I can't make SFX to begin with

[stiff valley]

@worn trout That little wynaut is not part of the fusion, special effect

Same for you @fossil nymph

[worn trout]

I'm gonna fix that

[ivory olive]

Maelmc, do me a favor and stop having bad opinions regarding special effects

[stiff valley]

Having another pokemon is not part of the fusion

[ivory olive]

But they're cute

[stiff valley]

But I don't care

[fossil nymph]

Oh I didn’t know that counted as sfx i’ll fix it in a bit I’m kinda busy at the moment

[stiff valley]

They can be uploaded for main in #sprite-gallery if you want

[ivory olive]

That's because you have bad opinions

[stiff valley]

but for the contest they're not allowed

[summer nebula]

What if having multiple pokemon is part of the fusion

[stiff valley]

Yeah dw the rule is a bit blurry

[stiff valley]

if it's stuff like exeggcute then sure

but so far none of them work

[summer nebula]

...it isn't but i haven't had anyone else call it special effects yet so idk

[torn turret]

I deleted it

[stiff valley]

you can just remove the gas stuff yknow

don't need to remove the whole sprite

and you can keep the gas for #sprite-gallery purpose

[torn turret]

ah alr then

[raw hill]

would my beldum/metagross be ok then? it functions as a single unit (hivemind) like exeggcute, so the individual beldums are part of one body. Hopefully this is alright?

[fossil nymph]

Why are sfx not allowed though, it’s a weird rule

[stiff valley]

I don't know

[thick harness]

I mean, to me SFX was more stuff like elemental effects etc, like those that appear in the spriting guidelines - other pokemon/elements that have been added in feel like a different category of sprite enhancement so to speak

[limber venture]

It's just a rule of this contest

[stiff valley]

We're talking about it lol

[limber venture]

Keeps things fresh

[stiff valley]

we use sfx as a very general term here

anything than enhance the sprite that's not part of any of the 2 pokemon being part of the fusion, is a special effect basically

[summer nebula]

Would my Ralts/Gardevoir count as SFX? I haven't put it in the drive yet as it isn't 100% done yet, but I wanna check

[tepid reef]

True: The design itself > All the unnecessary noise

[stiff valley]

That's why the gengar/haunter is not fine but the haunter/gastly is, because gastly actuall has gas

[stiff valley]

send it

[wooden root]

Welp, there go my chances of submitting my Porygon/Porygon2 lol

[misty acorn]

If I did an Exeggcute/Exeggutor and it had 7 heads instead of exeggcutes usual 6, would the 7th one be considered an sfx?

[stiff valley]

eeeeeeeeeh

ngl that's very cute

but for the purpose of the contest... idk

[ivory olive]

Why do you have just the worst opinions

[thick harness]

Yeah I'm also wondering about mine as well, I've already submitted it but it might have SFX if we're using these new definitions

[fossil nymph]

I might just make a new fusion. My sprite doesn’t look good without sfx.

[torn turret]

already reuploaded it without the gas

[stiff valley]

It's not a matter of opinion

[ivory olive]

Yes it is

Bad opinion haver

[stiff valley]

[stiff valley]

oh yeah saw it, cool

[worn trout]

https://tenor.com/view/perfect-popcorn-michael-jackson-gif-26271837

[thick harness]

I think maybe making a more defined outline of what constitutes an SFX may be useful, just for future participants who may not see these messages and also be confused

[marsh marten]

It's how mama alligators work, It's cute.

[summer nebula]

I presumed special effects meant things like particles, elemental stuff, and additional objects that aren't part of the "body" or original designs

[limber venture]

rule) just dont add extra shit outside of the fusion lol

[stiff valley]

I think for the sake of making the rules easier to understand I'd say no

but i'm waiting for other managers to answer

[wooden root]

Guess I’m making a new sprite tonight then ٩( ᐛ )و

[ivory olive]

You have a stinky opinion Maelmc, let people have fun

[limber venture]

We heard it the first four times

[ivory olive]

yeah yall did, but seems he didn't

[stiff valley]

Can you stop

[ivory olive]

Oki

[summer nebula]

i thought the "no effects" rule was just in response to people complaining about the Deoxys contest having tons of sprites that were 90% particle effects

[limber venture]

It doesn't say no particles though it says no special effects

[summer nebula]

my bad, (edited)

[wooden root]

(Idk what’s going on, I’m new here and I’m just here to have fun 🥲)

[limber venture]

It's more a response to the general contest meta of special effects and stuff

Not the deoxys comp in particular

[summer nebula]

i just remember an argument kicking off after that one, probably since I only joined the server towards the end of that contest

[worn trout]

Now he is sad

Without the lil dude

[stiff valley]

look he's happy

[worn trout]

Rip small dude

[worn trout]

he took pills to be happy

[stiff valley]

he can still be in the main sprite

just not in the contest one

@raw hill about your beldum metagross. The beldum that's floating above isn't part of the fusion so it counts as a special effect

[raw hill]

gotcha! I'll remove that bit. Guess I'll have to make him bald

[thick harness]

Okay my sprite probably counts as having SFX under these rules; but I don't know how to adapt it to make it work Do you mind if I just ping you over to my thread to check/help me correct it?

[stiff valley]

@craggy isle That rainbow clearly is a special effect

[stiff valley]

what sprite ? it's not in the drive right ? i can't find anything

[stiff valley]

It's still a special effect since it has 2 pokemon in the sprite

[thick harness]

It's my Golett/Golurk; it's under my discord name not my server name if you're looking for that

[stiff valley]

oh

man drive cropted it just enough so I don't see the little dude under the feet

[thick harness]

Yeah; but because of the pose I don't know how to replace it without anything I replace it with also being an "SFX"

[stiff valley]

but yeah, special effect indeed

[misty acorn]

Our strategy failed

[summer nebula]

What about my Ralts/Gardevoir, does that count as a special effect?

[stiff valley]

I'd like to say "put a rock" but that's an effect too lol

[thick harness]

Yeah that was my thought

[stiff valley]

just put nothing ig, not like it's catastrophic to have nothing here

we've already gotten fusions in weird poses before

[silver merlin]

(aka go out of your comfort zone and try to make a fusion not using sfx feel impressive and idk contest stuff

[stiff valley]

I think yes, i'm sorry very cool fusion tho

[limber venture]

Katten actually just hates special effects

[slow gyro]

So is this using special effects?

[silver merlin]

i hate special people

[stiff valley]

yes hero

[summer nebula]

[stiff valley]

i already told so

[limber venture]

?

[tepid reef]

Just make it do a cool pose, simple

[silver merlin]

im going to go sleep

[stiff valley]

just make the cannon's inside black like magmortar and you're good

[tepid reef]

Responded to the wrong message, lol

[slow gyro]

Guess I’ll have to use this one

[stiff valley]

yes

[slow gyro]

Why are they getting sent in jpg???

[summer nebula]

i now have just a couple days to rush out a new 2nd submission

[slow gyro]

Halve an hour ago i was able to send them in png

[slow gyro]

I mean, I’ve made like 5

[summer nebula]

i am very, very slow

[slow gyro]

Im pretty sure you can do something cool, have fait on yourself

[stiff valley]

@severe epoch those bellsprout heads count as a special effect. Imo just remove their eyes and you're good

[glacial topaz]

is the grass on this special effects?

cause I didn't think there was any way it would, I was just trying to symbolize the new growth since turtwig is all about growth

[stiff valley]

i don't think so buuut... @limber venture opinion ?

[glacial topaz]

and little flowers seemed perfect as a small detail

[limber venture]

nah

[glacial topaz]

but since they're not technically from either sprite

okay cool

and nothing here is, right?

it's all made out of magnemite and magneton bits

[severe epoch]

well good to know now after all this sfx talk, I'll fix it up real quick

[stiff valley]

it terms of special effects I think it's good

but imo the fusion is unclear lol

but that's not that relevant for the contest

[severe epoch]

and thanks for letting me know!

[thick harness]

I've removed the golett, the pose now looks very awkward but at least it should be eligible

[pulsar kite]

he takin a steppy

[glacial topaz]

the idea was a magneton kinda reshaped into a magnemite - I put it through several timestil I got to the current point and people seemed to enjoy it

[stiff valley]

@civic mauve I'm sorry but the egg particle do count as an sfx (don't worry the sprite will still look great without them)

I think I'm done with double checking sfx now

[tepid reef]

Passed the SFX check

[stiff valley]

You didn't pass the originality check tho

[thick harness]

...for now

[glacial topaz]

people seemed to be fairly happy with it, overall, so I wasn't still working on it

[civic mauve]

What about the ones that are on top of the wings and the ones that are dangling off but still connected?

[slow gyro]

Next contest should be special effects contest cause this is just outrageous

[limber venture]

I think no matter what you do a magnemite magneton and the inverse is gonna be unclear

[stiff valley]

connected is ok

[tepid reef]

Mean! Just because there's quite a bit of those, doesn't mean mine isn't original :d

[stiff valley]

yeah dw all good

[limber venture]

They are literally the same pokemon but three of them so fusing them in the family is pretty hard

[stiff valley]

which one do you mean by "on top of the wing"

[slow gyro]

||This is the worse contest ever||

[glacial topaz]

that's why I had an idea I thought was fun and immedaitely ran with it

[stiff valley]

yeah i didn't really see it but it works

[limber venture]

People out here getting exposed for their special effects crutch

[slow gyro]

You should allow self fusions, specially effects and infinite entries

[tepid reef]

It's kind of unfortunate we have to work (mostly) with pokes in the early generations, because those don't change that much with evolution usually

Compared to the newer ones

[stiff valley]

Just fuse trapinch/flygon ! oh wait

[tepid reef]

Ey, my boy's great, stop hatin'

[slow gyro]

[stiff valley]

if it's attached to the wings it's ok

[tepid reef]

I think it still would look better without those

[pulsar kite]

im looking at the graph for good ideas and this is so sad all of dratini line already has family fusions done

[limber venture]

You can still do them

[stiff valley]

maybe maybe not, i'm just saying what's allowed lol

[tepid reef]

When you're removing the rest anyways

[pulsar kite]

yeah but i'd rather do new ones :D just to help the project on its way

[limber venture]

Helping the project is cringe. Make only alts to feed your ego

[pulsar kite]

[misty acorn]

I'm gonna be honest, I don't think rules are particularly good when enforcing them can get so "nitpicky". They should be clear and intuitive for everyone or they shouldnt be a rule

[summer nebula]

i got hit the worst
like mine isn't even "just remove some particles/features", mine is "start again chucklenuts "

[civic mauve]

How is it now?

[stiff valley]

ngl they still feel like they're flying around
@limber venture wdy think

[limber venture]

I would say the shards at all were special effects for the purpose of the contest

It's either have or not have

[tepid reef]

Speaking of originality

[stiff valley]

we just want people to do classic fusions but they don't want

[tepid reef]

Time to do a Pupitar/Tyranitar for the double points

[vestal silo]

i was told yesterday that this was ok as long as there was a pot of gold

[pulsar kite]

i wanna do classic fusions so bad

[limber venture]

Yeah this is fine as long as the pot of gold is integrated into the body

[vestal silo]

clearly it's attached to the butt

[misty acorn]

Maybe because classic fusions are usually pretty boring unless your name is mope7 and you can make everything look goodlike with poses and shading alone

[stiff valley]

wdym it's boring

we got a lot of cool stuff for this contest already

[summer nebula]

classic fusions don't win contests, bro

[civic mauve]

I think that'd work better if there were no restrictions on which pokemon you could use. This contest has a somewhat limited number of combinations that haven't been done yet (which is why there are so many repeats)

[stiff valley]

classic fusion will win this one

that's the whole point lol

[ashen sapphire]

do the small shelf mushrooms on the left side count as sfx or are they okay because paras has smaller mushrooms growing on it

[summer nebula]

gotta get the kaiju reference particle meta going, you feel

[limber venture]

They do in a contest where you can't make anything but

[pulsar kite]

im personally a huge fan of well made classic fusions

[civic mauve]

It'd work better if this was spelled out explicitely in the rules. Like, the goal of this contest is to be simple or create a classic style fusion

[stiff valley]

ngl "no special effect" should be clear enough but apparently not

[misty acorn]

"usually"
for course there are great entries

What I'm saying is that a lot of time when making any fusion, people get ideas for incorporating some creative element that deviates from what would be a "classic fusion" to some extend or another. And limiting it to "no special effects at all" just chains down that creativity

I mean its fine for one contest. Being restricted itself can also lead to a lot of creativity afterall, but in general this is not a great idea for a rule for future contests

[glacial topaz]

why shoudl that be clear enough? special effects means things like flames or lightning usually

[stiff valley]

i think it's fine ye

[ashen sapphire]

I thought it was clear enough until I saw the clarification that anything that wasn't originally part of either half is a special effect

[glacial topaz]

idk why anyone would think "an extra ralts" would count as special effects

[civic mauve]

My take on it was the goal was to be creative with limited resources, which is why my two sprites involved using things that were already part of the sprite in unorthodox ways

[severe epoch]

my guess is maybe multiple heads, due to my own

[glacial topaz]

y'all gave a very nonspecific rule that seems somewhat inconsistently applied, and now you're clarifying that, already halfway through the contest, when several people have started and finished sprites that break those rules as part of their inherent concepts, and you seem confused that users didn't understand the initial prompt and that they're a little put out by losing all their progress

I didn't even break it! both of my sprites do reuse basic ideas from the previous ones, and don't break the clarified rules, I even took care to add a max of 1-2 extra colors for both, cause I think working with a limited palette is an interesting test of my skills, but this is still a huge kick in the teeth for some people, and that seems unfair as hell

I'm not mad on my behalf, I'm confused and a little frustrated on all of theirs tho

[civic mauve]

Since Togepi has the shell, I thought shattering it would be okay, even if the unconnected shards had to go. But now it seems like the concept itself doesn't work at all, even though I specifically spent days asking if it would be allowed

[thick harness]

A classic fusion contest is a great idea! It encourages people to sprite creatively within the boundaries of a traditional fusion and allows them a chance to shine; when often they're overshadowed with flashier fusions. I just think it maybe wasn't communicated the best that was the intention of this contest. now it's been communicated i'm completely fine with it, but other people may take longer to process this change and be upset if they have to make any major changes to their sprites that they previously were told were fine.

[summer nebula]

Closest comparison I can think of is if there was a rule against "no excessive shading", and then halfway through it turned out any shading that wasn't exact Gen V style shading is "excessive"
Just would've been nice to have it be more specific

[tepid reef]

I mean, yeah I do agree with some of the cases

[stiff valley]

Yknow what

[glacial topaz]

Pixelperfect's Togepi was close to the literal first sprite created in this contest, at the very beginning, it's creative and very fun, and now they're finding out only several days later that they have to close-to-scrap it

it just really sucks for them

idk

[tepid reef]

Like the Bellsprout/Victribell was fine, honestly

[stiff valley]

That rule was a huge failure we'll finish this context like that, with the updated rule, and next time we'll specify more

[tepid reef]

Same with the Togepi

[glacial topaz]

I think specification has no-downsides.

[summer nebula]

True, like the original Haunter sprite definitely qualified as special effects

[glacial topaz]

thank you for understanding and reacting to the community's response

[ashen sapphire]

like "breathing rainbow fire" obviously seems like a special effect but "eyes on the bellsprout heads branching off the main pitcher" doesn't seem like a special effect

if you were to ask me

[stiff valley]

yeah the special effect definition wasn't clear at all

[glacial topaz]

I would like to also potentially suggest a small extension specifically for people who's original sprites were complex rule-breaking cases (Pixelperfect, Anslee, maybe a few others) and that therefore lost several possible days of work on situations that didn't seem like they'd break the rule

[thick harness]

Yeah thanks for being understanding; I'm not trying to start any drama because I know you deal with so much already

[misty acorn]

Magmortar charging up its flame tube thing also doesnt really feel like a special effect to me personally, since thats just what it literally does. It's not like thats some special effect element introduced to the fusion. More of a difference in the base kinda from my view

[glacial topaz]

to equal out the playing field a little

[stiff valley]

Y'all should yell at katten not me, I have nothing to do with that rule, I'm just taking the L for the team ||/j don't yell at anyone||

[limber venture]

Don't ping katten

[torn dawn]

I Hope this is a joke because Shedinja has literally a halo

[glacial topaz]

I honestly think that that's the one closest to breaking it, that does feel like a special effect, and even at the time we were discussing it seemed like it could go either way, and doesn't make or break the sprite particularly on its own

[stiff valley]

that's not a joke the focus band has nothing to do here

[summer nebula]

Yeah, that one was mild enough to not really count imo - now, if there were flames/heat eminating from the arm outside of the sprite, it'd count imo

[misty acorn]

Okay that focus sash is acually a big strech tho ngl xD

[molten vector]

I have a question, for this contest you cant use custom bases at all?

[stiff valley]

custom base you can

[glacial topaz]

bases I think are considered fine

[misty acorn]

yea

[glacial topaz]

though Blaquaza does not like his bases used for contests apparently

so I'd avoid his

[stiff valley]

what

[glacial topaz]

bumping this suggestion tho @limber venture @stiff valley

[wooden hull]

I rolled with the flames on the back because Charizard has an official sprite with flame wings. Figured that’s considered “part of the body” as was established a few days ago. I don’t suppose they have to remain rainbow colored if that’s crossing the line.

[stiff valley]

yeah yeah i saw it dw

[ashen sapphire]

custom bases being allowed in contests is the entire reason I haven't made any for public use uwu

[glacial topaz]

alright cool just making sure

[civic mauve]

I'm still not entirely sure what it means tbh. Should I stop working on my Banette/Shuppet since it also remixes existing parts of the base sprite because it doesn't look like a classic sprite? Would Togepi work if it was peeled?

[stiff valley]

i don't know what your banette shuppet looks like

(in any case you can finish it for the game anyway)

[summer nebula]

I mean, good news is I was already working on a new fusion that'd be acceptable.
bad news:
-it's a reference
-it'd probably count as a joke sprite
-it's unclear which is the head and body
-it's using a beta design for one of the mons

[stiff valley]

• doesn't matter
• doesn't matter
• doesn't matter
• doesn't matter
  for the purpose of contest of course

[civic mauve]

It's a WIP, and I plan on submitting it eventually, but if it doesn't work for the contest and neither does Togepi I'm not going to work on it till after the contest ends

[stiff valley]

i don't really see what that thing is, but other than that I think it's fine ?

[civic mauve]

It's cloth, I can recolor it so it's the same shade as everything else

[summer nebula]

time to basically do the equivalent of when Ireland sent a turkey puppet into Eurovision knowing it would 100% get 0 points

[misty acorn]

You can very much post your custom bases but specify that you dont allow them to be used for contests

[torn dawn]

Well I guess this contest is not my cup of tea then

[ashen sapphire]

oh cool in that case Perhaps

[vestal silo]

a cup of tea would be considered sfx

[stiff valley]

that's literally just a focus band issue, that would've been considered an sfx no matter what

like cmon you're stretching that one quite a bit

[stiff valley]

yeah I think if you recolor it to have the same texture as the rest it should be fine

[torn dawn]

It’s an old sensei, what would be more fitting for a halo replacement

[stiff valley]

@limber venture what do you thnk about this one

[torn dawn]

Also Tee Said it’s fine

[glacial topaz]

I tried to ask blaquaza to do this earlier, he said it was too much work but that he still didn't want his bases used for contests, so

[torn dawn]

Anyways I think I just won’t submit, no problem

[limber venture]

iunno maaaaaan I'm about to go to bed lmao

[stiff valley]

don't let me down in this situation

[civic mauve]

Tee said the Togepi/Togekiss was fine too tbf ^^;

[stiff valley]

yeah ik about that

[vestal silo]

https://tenor.com/view/run-away-jurassic-world-dominion-scared-swarm-jurassic-park-gif-24977740

[glacial topaz]

yeah, this is part of the issue I referred to with inconsistently enforced

[limber venture]

tee didn't ask anyone else before saying what was fine or not

[glacial topaz]

the person who posted the contest okayed several sprites that turned out to be not okay

[vestal silo]

^MAELMC running from spriters

[stiff valley]

rules were so blurry we didn't all agree on them

[torn dawn]

I will just delete it from the drive tho

[stiff valley]

please don't yell at tee

or anyone for that matter

[civic mauve]

Which is exactly why just saying no SFX allowed wasn't clear enough ^^

[molten vector]

would adding the tentacle vines commonly shown in the anime count as a special effect? Chikorita/Meganium is the fusion in question

[civic mauve]

I'm not intending to yell (sorry if it comes across that way), I'm confused more than anything else ^^;

[stiff valley]

it's still part of the body so it's ok

[molten vector]

sweet, it's not included on any of the sprites but I knew it was part of the biology so wanted to check

[misty acorn]

Well this is just a lesson for our managers that the rules need to be really really clear and specific, because people are really really good at finding loopholes and stuff that walks the line

[civic mauve]

For the record I'm not trying to subvert the rules, I'm just dense af ^^;

[summer nebula]

I just didn't think my design counted as special effects

[raw hill]

yeah to be fair I think most people caught up in this weren't looking for loopholes, but just didn't understand what constituted a special effect

my fusion is held together by magnetism which is why I didn't even consider that the top floating bit would be an issue. I'm ok with changing it, but I would have never guessed is all

[hazy chasm]

so now that the rules have changed it cant be sweaty?

[stiff valley]

it can, it's still part of its expression

[hazy chasm]

am i allowed to take a sprite out of the drive that ive changed my mind on using

[stiff valley]

yes

you can submit and delete your sprites from the drive as much as you want, as long as you don't end up with more than 2

y'all got a 2 days extension

[civic mauve]

So, just for clarification (because again, I'm bad at understanding this kind of stuff): the fire on a Charmander's tail is okay because it's part of the original sprite, but the fire in Magmorter's cannon isn't because it isn't shown on the sprite

But Chikorita's vines are okay because they're a physical object even though they aren't part of the initial sprite. But Togepi's shell isn't because... it's technically something Togepi is wearing? Or is it the level of complexity? Like, if the vines where making a heart shape would that cross the line?

And is the issue with Victreebel the fact that it has too many eyes? Because the eyes themselves look like the ones on Bellsprout's sprite. But they're not considered part of an expression like Turtwig's sweat drop?

And again, I'm not mad about any of this, I'm just confused and want to know what's allowed before I start working on anything new since I don't want to spend any more time on things I can't use for the contest ^^;

And let me know if I misunderstood the reasoning for any of this ^^;

[stiff valley]

For the Magmortar, yes. The idea (or at least how I see it) is that if it has fire is his arm it's charging an attack, which produces an effect, while if it was just standing there it wouldn't be charging anything and thus have no effect
Chikorita vines are ok because Chikorita actually has vines
Togepi's shell is ok, what's not is the particles produced by smashing the shell
Bellsprouts aren't ok on the victreebel because Bellsprout is 1 Pokémon and so is Victreebel, so the fusion results in 1 Pokémon (and so 1 head)

[glacial topaz]

for future reference, when generating discord universal timestamps, if you change "relative" to "long date with short time" you get <t:1686677100:f> instead of <t:1686677100:R> as an output, making it relatively easier to read at a glance

[plucky arch]

Charmander's Tail Flame is good, but if you were to say, have his hands on fire too, thatd be too much

[summer nebula]

now i'm torn between actually trying to make a clever 2nd fusion, or entering the joke sprite

[wooden hull]

GMax fire wings okay or no?

[stiff valley]

I'd say not

why did we put that rule

[wind matrix]

I do not envy contest managers rn

[stiff valley]

I just want to hide in a corner lmao

[summer nebula]

get the pitchforks

[slow gyro]

Im asking you the same

[dull mortar]

misfortune of new rules is explaining them

[wind matrix]

Go through each sprite and tell the person if it breaks the rule or not

[stiff valley]

I already did

[molten vector]

That moment when you have 4 WIPs and need to decide on two 🥲 can I ask on your opinions on which ones to go with or would that be against the rules?

[stiff valley]

That's what brought up the whole argument lol

[slow gyro]

I have like 6 lol

[stiff valley]

that's against the rules

[slow gyro]

But I have enough time to make more

[molten vector]

kay thanks! oof that's rough

[stiff valley]

rule 7 ye

[wind matrix]

shoulda set the time extention only for the people who need to rework their sprites :p

[stiff valley]

eeeh

[dull mortar]

then you have to keep track of them

[stiff valley]

it's just easier like that

[slow gyro]

||You should just remove the special effects rule||

[wind matrix]

[stiff valley]

we don't need to make things more complicated than they already are

[stiff valley]

That's too late for that, I already told everyone to fix their sprites

[slow gyro]

[thick harness]

No. Removing the rule now would be weak. They should add more rules

[summer nebula]

||don't even get rid of it, just tweak it so it's what people thought it actually meant||

[dull mortar]

yeah more rules like only five colors

[pulsar kite]

only three colors

[summer nebula]

Gen V shading style only

[dull mortar]

only two....

[stiff valley]

NEW RULE !
Only fuse Pokémon Pokémon that don't have evolution and aren't evolution
Suddenly 0 entry, no more contest

[vale jolt]

Relatable

[cloud pulsar]

lmao

[slow gyro]

That would make husk super mad and I’m all in for that

[dull mortar]

🪦 rip contest

[stiff valley]

that's a joke btw, in case anyone took it seriously

[slow gyro]

||Im still waiting for a prehistoric contest||

[stiff valley]

you already got mergemay

[summer nebula]

i am now trapped in the internal debate of "try and think of and make an actual interesting new sprite" and "reference/joke sprite time"

[slow gyro]

That was not enough

I want dinosaur sprites

||You should do a Jurassic contest for my birthday, next month||

[stiff valley]

We already got a prehistoric contest

[wooden root]

I can’t draw lizards for the life of me, so I approve of dinosaur sprites

[slow gyro]

Another one

[stiff valley]

should've been here at the right time

[slow gyro]

Why do you hate me maelmc?

[stiff valley]

Maybe because you took too many polls by yourself on the lc contest

[slow gyro]

That’s still no reason

You were my brother Maelmc

You were supposed to destroy the boring contest! Not join them!

https://tenor.com/view/star-wars-you-were-my-brother-anakin-i-loved-you-gif-8536800

[civic mauve]

Could Togepi still work if I got rid of all the particles? Would I also have to get rid of the cracks in the shell? Or is it fully a lost cause?

[late sequoia]

Got my little happy man submitted so I'm happy.

[stiff valley]

I thought this was fine, Rezza still thinks the ones on the wings are too much, so you can remove them too (the one you circled earlier) and keep the rest

[stiff valley]

That's not a boring contest, that's a failure of a contest. It's not quite the same

[civic mauve]

For the Banette/Shuppet do I need to get rid of the second pair of eyes on the Torso since that makes it have more than one set?

[stiff valley]

yes please

and again sorry

[civic mauve]

Could I keep them if they weren't real? Like if they were just a part of the cloth's design or I make them look like they've been painted on?

[stiff valley]

if they end up not looking like eyes it could be fine

[late sequoia]

Cause it hasn't been said, Mael you've been doing a great job fielding all these questions so thank you. And frankly good on the community for keeping things civil and not toxic.

[dull mortar]

yee

[stiff valley]

🥺

[summer nebula]

speak for yourself, i'm making a joke sprite fuelled out of nothing but spite (and a lack of non-joke ideas)

[civic mauve]

Yep, y’all have been handling this really well!

[dull mortar]

makes duuunsparce for the competition

[summer nebula]

i'm making a tangela/tangrowth fusion, that's all i'll say for now

[dull mortar]

pasgetti

[civic mauve]

I'd have been sad if I had to nix Togepiss entirely, but I intentionally designed it so that I could remove different parts of the shell as necessary ^^

[graceful plank]

TOGEPISS??

[civic mauve]

Togepi/Togekiss. It's that or just Togekiss. Which is why I've been calling it the Egg but I wasn't sure if anyone would know what I was talking about if I said that ^^;

[graceful plank]

apparently it's just called togekiss

[wind matrix]

Togepiss 🤣

[dull mortar]

togepiss........

[slow gyro]

Yea @stiff valley even if you hate me, ik you’ve been doing an excellent job as a contest manager and I’m proud of you buddy

[civic mauve]

Is this good now?

[stiff valley]

yup

[cedar quest]

((I think the shard one should be the main in the gallery, but have this one be an alt specifically for the contest 😄))

[civic mauve]

Yeah, I already posted it to the gallery when I first submitted it ^^

[summer nebula]

If we feel like revising our submitted sprites, can we do that? I'm starting to think the one I've submitted is nowhere near ready

[stiff valley]

yes

[summer nebula]

phew

[stiff valley]

.

[hazy chasm]

..

[wind matrix]

...

[cedar quest]

....

[vale jolt]

.....

[plucky arch]

......

[dull mortar]

.......

[stiff valley]

please stop

[cedar quest]

........maybe

[thick jolt]

is .. a short elipses or just a double period

[hazy chasm]

i started this abd i dont plan on stoping

[stiff valley]

guys on another note i have good news

i'm working on the next round for LC

hopefully you'll get polls before the end of the week

[hazy chasm]

srry im new but whats LC

[stiff valley]

If you're new, nothing than can interest you

#special-contest

[hazy chasm]

[hazy chasm]

oh

[tall moss]

you are my favourite IF user this week

[stiff valley]

Lmaoo

Ngl you should thank Gordo

He did a lot of prep for us

[cloud pulsar]

you need to do work to be kiwis fav IF user

[glacial topaz]

then surely-

[plucky arch]

spreadsheets are the way to kiwi's heart

[dull mortar]

https://tenor.com/view/baby-fight-gravity-falls-argue-gif-5679496

[stiff valley]

that's easy to achieve

[wind matrix]

I need to work arder to be the staff of the month

[civic mauve]

Oh, does this still work? Simplified and cleaned things up quite a bit ^^

Also who's the best person to ping for this contest and is it alright to tag them in the spritework channel itself or is it better to post it here?

[glacial topaz]

Seems like rezza + mael are making decisions together

[cloud pulsar]

i think asking here is better

[cold nacelle]

hello contest participators

[hazy chasm]

hi

[little cypress]

I wasn't first but I think I was top 10? I JUST joined this server so hopefully that's not terrible 😂

[odd garnet]

Thanks for extending the due date
Unfortunately I arrive back home from my vacation in the same day as the due date
LOL

[teal grove]

Still have one teeny little question just to make sure: if you color the fire on a mon differently, and also give it rim lighting because of said fire, does that count as a special effect?

I suppose yes, right?

Nvm it was discussed earlier

[slow gyro]

Don’t tell me you want to do another fusion I also did

[teal grove]

I dont know what you did, if you’re talking about magmar/magmortar then no

Besides, the additional days dont give me enough time for a proper second entry anyway

So i'll still be banking on my one initial entry

[crude cedar]

Unoopular opinion: kaiju and overshading are no different from using visual effects

[upper sonnet]

Hi, probably a dumb question, but i have not see anything about the winner of the LC Contest. Who has win something except Hero ?

[signal reef]

I don't know why Overshading isn't regarded when it doesn't even follow #spriting-guidelines

[crude cedar]

We don't have a winner... We don't even have polls 🫠

[crude cedar]

I think it's not in there t'ho 🫠

[teal grove]

Define overshading

[crude cedar]

I took a random Sprite from gallery

@teal grove

Which one?

It's not so huge he has big leaves yes

The overshading Is a thing yes

Also we should not talk about It since it's against

?tag rule4

[urban knot]

Make sure to follow the #rules!

4. Read the channel descriptions. Stay on topic and don't spam channels, be it with messages, gifs, or reactions.

[crude cedar]

?tag rule7

[urban knot]

Make sure to follow the #rules!

7. Contest voting. This should be a courtesy as opposed to a rule, but it will still be enforced. Do not talk about individual sprites currently being voted on in contests, as this potentially sways and influences voting outcomes. This also means before voting begins, so no discussion on sprites until they are out of the voting or until voting is done. Posting the sprites in #spriting-discussion to receive feedback is an exception to that, however, so feel free to discuss work in progress sprites there before they are submitted to the contest.

[crude cedar]

Wrong rule Sorry lol

[signal reef]

Yeah you are right, removed my messages 👍

[crude cedar]

I know it's not on voting but we are alredy in the contest

Anyway we can remove gifs, visual effects, overshading and kaiju effect too but in the end we would Just swapping pièces of of sprites and fixing outlines

It's an hard topic this one

[teal grove]

Now explain

[crude cedar]

What should I explain lol?

[teal grove]

Explain why it’s overshaded

[crude cedar]

I posted the images

Oh God, ok let me write a nice analysis

I think that an "overshaded" Pokémon sprite refers to a sprite that has an excessive amount of shading or highlights compared to the standard or original sprite design.
In Pokémon sprites, shading is used to add depth and dimension to the pixel art, creating the illusion of lighting and form. Typically, Pokémon sprites have a limited color palette and relatively simple shading to maintain a consistent style across the game.
However, in some cases, individuals may create custom Pokémon sprites with exaggerated or excessive shading. This could involve adding additional highlights, shadows, or textures to the sprite, resulting in a more detailed or dramatic appearance.
Overshaded sprites can be a personal artistic choice or a result of experimentation and exploration. They may aim to enhance the visual impact or create a unique interpretation of a Pokémon's design.

@teal grove

And If you want the Kaiju effect definition too:

The term "kaiju effect" in Pokémon sprites refers to a technique where the sprite artist intentionally makes the sprite larger than the actual size of the Pokémon's body. This can usually implies enlarging certain elements of the sprite, such as the head, limbs, or other distinctive features in order to allow the addition of more details and visual effects, making the sprite appear more dynamic and impressive.
By increasing the size of specific parts, sprite artists can incorporate additional details, textures, or intricate designs that would be difficult to achieve within the constraints of a smaller sprite. This technique aims to make the sprite more visually striking and eye-catching, adding a sense of grandeur and spectacle.

[teal grove]

Id agree with you if you werent wrong

The creator of exeggutor/krookodile only added one color that wasnt present in the original sprite and that was an extra shade of green.

Im not kidding, the yellow on base exeggutor has the same 5 shades. They just arent utilized correctly in it. The fusion sprite actually makes proper use of them.

You can also argue some base sprites are undershaded, so it’s better to add additional colors. An example of this is rhyperior's sprite.

[crude cedar]

Since I am doing al lthe definitions:

[near horizon]

[crude cedar]

Visual effects in Pokémon sprites are artistic techniques used to enhance the appearance of the sprite by adding dynamic elements such as fire, particles, auras, or other eye-catching elements. These effects aim to make the sprite visually appealing and attention-grabbing.
Here are a few common visual effects used in Pokémon sprites:

1. Elemental Effects: These effects can include flowing water or splashes to denote a watery nature, icy crystals or frosty patterns to indicate an icy presence, or wisps of smoke or mist to create an ethereal or mysterious aura around the Pokémon. These elements add depth and visual interest to the sprite, making it more captivating and immersive.

2. Particles: Sprites can incorporate small particles, such as sparks, dust, or glowing orbs, to create a sense of movement, magic, or energy surrounding the Pokémon. It's worth noting that if the particles exist on the base Pokémon, it's fine to incorporate them, but adding entirely new particles or excessive amounts should be avoided to maintain balance.

3. Auras: Auras are radiant, glowing effects that surround a Pokémon, often representing a specific attribute or power. Auras can be used to indicate a Pokémon's type, special abilities, or heightened state.

4. Glows and Highlights: Sprites can feature bright glows or highlights on certain areas, such as eyes, markings, or special features, to draw attention to those elements and create a more captivating visual impact.

5. Extra Features: In addition to the aforementioned visual effects, Pokémon sprites can incorporate extra features to further enhance their appearance. These extra features include elements that are not inherently part of either of the two fused Pokémon, such as items, additional fused or unfused Pokémon, or unique accessories.

Even if visual effects allow to create visually stunning sprites maintaining balance is crucial when using visual effects in Pokémon sprites to ensure a visually pleasing and coherent design.

[crude cedar]

I am not saying that adding colors is the problem tho

is the use we make of the colors we added

[teal grove]

Then what are you saying? That using the colors given by the base sprite is a mistake?

If you’re saying what i think you’re saying then we'd need to go over each sprite and find the "shade density" to argue whether or not they’re overshaded

[crude cedar]

Typically, Pokémon sprites have a ... relatively simple shading to maintain a consistent style across the game ... individuals may ... add additional highlights, shadows, or textures to the sprite, resulting in a more detailed or dramatic appearance.

[quartz locust]

Rim shading is an effect, as far as I'm concerned. "Do BW sprites do it?" is the baseline. 🙂

[crude cedar]

The absence of a measurable metric does not imply the absence of a problem. Some problems may be subjective or qualitative in nature, making them difficult to measure directly but still significant and impactful.

[quartz locust]

BW sprites don't use rim shading. 😅

[quartz locust]

@tall moss This could be nice to include in #spriting-guidelines. 😄

[muted scarab]

i can't speak from a technical standpoint since i don't know the ins and outs of spriting yet, but a rule of thumb i think could be helpful:

if you saw this in a pokemon game, would it look out of place? not in terms of design, but in the way it's visually presented.

[crude cedar]

Just a reminder that this is an actual game we are making sprites for, the fusions should be consistent. Maintaining consistency is vital when creating Pokémon sprites for a game. It is important to ensure that the fusions adhere to the established rules and aesthetics of the Pokémon universe. Consistency in design elements, proportions, colors, and overall visual coherence is essential for a seamless and immersive gaming experience.

[near horizon]

Why does it looks like philosophical question x)

[teal grove]

We're way past consistency now

[crude cedar]

LoL so true

[teal grove]

Arguably the best sprites in the game differ the most from the norm

Mammuth, Mope and Scrapi's sprites all prove that

[crude cedar]

I agree but that's not the point

[quartz locust]

We're not, Frogman himself wants people to calm down a little bit. 😅

We can't change past sprites (well we can, we just don't have to until it's necessary), but what we can do is encourage people to show restraint when making new sprites. 🙂

[muted scarab]

yee, there's wonderful sprites that go against the rules, but that doesn't mean we should stop trying to work by the guidelines given

[teal grove]

What are contest for besides making sprites for the game? They’re a test of skill for the spriters. If you limit everything to one specific style, then you're still gonna see that the one that lies the most on the border wins. Either that, or a gardevoir sprite because people are down bad.

[quartz locust]

I mean, when we didn't limit it, sprites of a different (and overly-detailed, honestly) style won. 😛

You yourself complained a lot about the kaiju meta, so it seems weird to be complaining about similar measures being put in place for visual effects. 😅

[crude cedar]

I just want to say that ban on visual effects in this contest is temporary and not a permanent rule or technical errorright? So, while it has been suggested that future contests may include restrictions on flashy effects such as overshadings and Kaiju effects, these restrictions would only apply to those specific events and would not undermine the importance of artistic freedom. It is unnecessary to be upset, as the aim is to achieve a balance and ensure a fair competition while upholding artistic expression!

[limber venture]

Husk just doesn't want his overshaded sprite to be disqualified

[quartz locust]

So effectively, "disqualify other people's sprites if they don't meet the style", but also "my sprites that might not meet the style should be fine, even if they don't meet the style"? 😮

[quartz locust]

It all depends on how people vote, honestly. Previous restrictions were put in place when patterns emerged, to try and give other spriters a fair shot rather than encouraging specific levels of detail beyond what the DS sprites would typically do. 😅

[near horizon]

And i think that limiting sfx can be nice sometimes, 'cause for exemple, i think that i may be using a bit too much of sfx sometimes

And we can always have a sfx contest one day for exemple

[muted scarab]

just talking purely as a pokemon player: i think a lil sfx can be nice :) but yeah, it's very possible to go overboard and lean too heavily into sfx

[near horizon]

Like for example, i'm thinking of one sprite that is great but it has way too much sfx imo (hydreigon raikou)

[quartz locust]

I think we've all went overboard with effects before. 😂

[teal grove]

Im not a hypocrite. I was against the kaiju meta because people were bringing it out of proportion. I was against the animation meta because people were starting to use it as a cheap way to get votes. I was against the special effects meta because people started adding them for the sake of adding them.

I have yet to see anyone use shading so horrendous yet effective at gaining votes. The only three sprites that qualify for that weren’t even contest sprites: a sandslash and blastoise fusion, venusaur/ninetales and a marowak/rapidash. The first and third had thousands of colors, the latter mostly because anti-aliasing problems. The venusaur/ninetales got fixed. The sandslash and blastoise clearly had too much of a gradient.

Those are the only examples out of the 50k sprites that i know of.

[quartz locust]

Who's to say rim shading isn't an attempt to gain votes, though? It's not necessary to the BW style at all and creates a more convulted-looking image that generally appeals to people not specifically concerned with maintaining accuracy to BW sprites. 😅

[limber venture]

I don't think that's the type of overshading we're talking about?

[quartz locust]

Also yes, your examples don't relate to what you're asking about at all. 😮

[limber venture]

Venusaur Ninetales with a jillion colours and a purposefully overshaded (aka mope style sprite) are two rather different things

[quartz locust]

Because we're talking more like Suicune / Lugia than anything else. 😅

[near horizon]

Btw, what's rimshading xD ?

[quartz locust]

And the Suicune / Lugia sprite is amazing, meaning it probably would win a contest. 😂

Suicune / Lugia's not the best example, I'm trying to find one. 😅

[signal reef]

It's when you add a rimlight, which create highlight on the borders of a shape

[limber venture]

Lighting on the edges like this

[near horizon]

Oh ok

[signal reef]

Isn't most of Haxorus overshaded ? Or just wrongly shaded ?

[limber venture]

BW style sprites most definitely don't make any use of external light sources, or at least, not in the way a lot of people making sprites for this game do

At the very most, you have things like charmander's tail, where that bit at the end is lit up

Otherwise, charmander would look like this :p

[quartz locust]

Haxorus hunches over so it makes its own shadow. It's probably now how I'd shade it if I were making the sprite, but it's not a huge anomaly stylistically. 😮

[quartz locust]

Save this, we could add it to #spriting-guidelines. 😄

[near horizon]

Ok ok, because when you were talking about overshading, i was more thinking of this one : #sprite-gallery message

[limber venture]

For that reason, I'd definitely call rim lighting, or these external highlights, whatever you wanna call them, a special effect

[signal reef]

What about Skarmory/Haxorus, is it like Overshaded or just "metal texturing" ?

[limber venture]

For sure overshaded, yes it's metal texturing but pokemon sprites don't go nearly that intense with metal shading

[quartz locust]

It has rim shading on it, the purple parts are unnecessary. 😅

[limber venture]

That's not to say it doesn't look good, it's just not in line with the BW style

[quartz locust]

Scizor / Golurk is my go-to for how to do metallic shading nicely whilst still being close enough to the BW style. 🙂

Basically, they keep the metallic sheen, but that's about it. 😄

[limber venture]

And "out of the BW style" is totally fine a lot of the time, cause we aren't dictators who are gonna tell you your sprite is 1 pixel overshaded and to get rid of it. But it's an important thing to remember when it comes to contests

[muted scarab]

i feel this is a good point to make. i think some people mix up "it doesn't match the style" with "this looks bad".

some skills have incredibly impressive technical skill and execution, but aren't within the lines of the pokemon style

[quartz locust]

I am.

[limber venture]

It shifts the balance of power way out of the hands of things that look like they could fit straight in a pokemon game, which, by itself, is an incredible skill

Making a truly gen 5 styled sprite, that you could fully believe was ripped from the game, is not easy

[long crag]

the most impressive and beautiful sprites I see absolutely do not fit the pokemon style

[quartz locust]

You're almost proving mine and Rezza's point. 😮

[long crag]

yeah, I agree with it

[quartz locust]

I also disagree. They're impressive, but it's way more impressive to me to make an amazing sprite that fits in stylistically. 😅

[muted scarab]

true, learning an art style itself is a big skill as well. reminds me of how art frauds, while messed up, are impressive when they can copy an artists style down to the stroke.

[quartz locust]

That's why my favourite fusions tend to be unevolved Pokémon. Making something small, but with detail, in the BW style is hard. 😛

It's also more fun than making something really big, in my opinion. 🙂

[thick harness]

yeah, having these more classic gen-5 style contests is a good idea; in some ways it feels more challenging than the regular SFX ones

[limber venture]

Tl;dr, overshading/sfx/kaiju is a cheap tactic to make weak sprites stronger

[thick harness]

though I do hope we keep a mix of the two styles of contests; it's also really fun to have ones where people just go all out

[limber venture]

It's like uhhhh

What did that elite four bitch say

Karen

She was like "truly strong trainers can win with any pokemon"

That applies to sprites too

[muted scarab]

~~replace 'trainers' with 'spriters' ~~

[teal grove]

You can also argue that people who can’t do anything but gen 5 style lack skill, but im already dangerously close to a rule 10 warning for disagreeing with staff

[limber venture]

You would be wrong

It's a lot easier to add sparkles than it is to make something that looks like it really came from the gen 5 games

[civic mauve]

So, just to be clear, is the goal of this contest to avoid using “special effects” or is it to make a “classic” style fusion? Because these are two very different things from my point of view

I think this all sounds fine for the most part, so long as the contest parameters are clearly defined going forward ^^

[limber venture]

It's no special effects. We're just having a conversation about contests and contest metas in general

[wind matrix]

Man, contest general's a mess this morning 🍿

[raw hill]

I'd be really happy to see more future contests with tighter style restrictions. With my first entry to this current contest, I found myself using the kaiju effect without even really knowing what that was cuz I knew strong perspective = popular. In contrast, my second entry adhered more to the gen 5 style and I felt disappointed with it because I felt it wouldn't even be capable of placing let alone winning because it looked too much like it was from bw. Which is kinda sad cuz that's supposed to be the recommended style for the game lol.

[limber venture]

Now that is the most based opinion posted in this channel

[lofty marlin]

This is my first content and, yeah, I can understand that. I wanted to do it just for fun, because especially looking at past entries, I doubt I'd be able to really place since I really enjoy actual sprite mashing instead of scratch fusing.

(Not to say i dont like the past winners/sprite work of course!)

[crude cedar]

I am happy to have been the spark that started the discussion

[lofty marlin]

🤣

i will say, tho, this contest is a fun theme and im excited to do it!

[muted scarab]

i'm looking forward to see everyone's submissions; i hope everyone knows that their sprites will be seen and loved by people

[thick harness]

Anyway I'll just say that I'm in favour of having these "Classic styled contests" Be the norm going forward, but it would be nice having special contests every now and then that have these restrictions lifted so people can go all out on flashier sprites

[crude cedar]

Agree in toto

[cedar quest]

holy backlog batman

I got some reading to do

[summer nebula]

Heavy agree on this, it probably also discourages new spriters from entering, as it means that even if they followed the guidelines to a T, they'd almost certainly finish quite low just because they're going up against kaiju-posed, overshaded (and in the case of other contests, effect-loaded) sprites

[limber venture]

I'm not sure if contests are really meant to be for new spriters though

The point is to have fun or win

If you wanna have fun then where your sprite places shouldn't matter

[summer nebula]

Well, "new" compared to the people with years of experience and 500+ sprites made

[limber venture]

You shouldn't really be expecting to win if you just started spriting yesterday

[graceful plank]

winning is a pipe dream, just make stuff within the restrictions and enjoy it

[limber venture]

Exactly

I think there could possibly be a contest with tighter style restrictions, but I don't think it's a good idea to do it as any more than a one off

Point of contests is to make people go all out, after all

[limber venture]

She didn't say that

[stiff valley]

Sshhhh she did

[dull mortar]

I'm going to use numel in competetive and she cannot stop me

what are you gonna do bunch of pixels, slap the game out of my hands? with your no hands?

[glacial topaz]

I use starly in competitive frequently

…because I run a tier called DNU where starly is a top tier cause it’s only the weakest Pokémon

But I do nonetheless!

[muted scarab]

i did a run with my starter as a sunkern, played the whole game without fusing it + always having it in my party. sometimes all you need is the pokemon you love.

[dull mortar]

aww

I should play the game

[quartz locust]

Take some words out of that last sentence and you're quoting The Beatles. 😛

[muted scarab]

sunkern would body the beatles

[dull mortar]

yeah

[modern rose]

Ringo Starly

[silver merlin]

i HATE gen v style

for the record

[muted scarab]

what's your fave gen style katten?

i like all the different styles for various reasons, but i love how goofy gens 1 & 2 looked, and hod odd gen 3 looked

[silver merlin]

gen 2 and hgss

[muted scarab]

what are your thoughts on the beta hoppip line

[silver merlin]

oh my god i love them

[cloud pulsar]

weird cats

[muted scarab]

if i get the energy i'm gonna try to make coloured versions of the sprites (+ try to make them gen 5 compliant for potential self fusion alts)

fun fact: their beta names contained puns on cats

[teal grove]

Based katten

[muted scarab]

ralsei icon hivemind

[silver merlin]

its why i sprite for smogon

[teal grove]

No that’s because you’re a masochist

[silver merlin]

so true

[muted scarab]

AWWW

https://tcrf.net/Proto:Pokémon_Gold_and_Silver/Spaceworld_1997_Demo/Pokémon honestly it's worth looking through all the beta sprites, there's a lot of fellas that didn't make the cut

like meowth pre-evo

ditto pre-evo...

[cloud pulsar]

ditto pre evo looks dumb

[crude cedar]

is that a nove or a mouth?

nose

[muted scarab]

what the fuck... he's just a lil baby, you're gonna make him cry

it could be either or either a pacifier? the sprites are too hard to see very well

the OG mr mime jr.

[crude cedar]

that's actually better lol

my fav