Hey everybody. I haven't given up on my Black Hole: The Game project, I just thought I'd take a break to work on some other graphics.

PS. If you really want additional stuff on the game I am willing to post it on demand. All I've got is a 100 word written synopsis at the moment, but if you shout and scream I will be more than happy to show it.


LATEST ART!

Looks rather nice so far. I think the tail could do with being bushier and more fitting the rest of the style. Atm it seems to be a tad flat and rushed... Not quite sure what it is though, perhaps a feather? Even so, i think making it larger and softer looking would help the overall structure and feel of it.

Synopsis:

The commemorative statue that serves as a resting place for an ancient lion Goddess is disturbed in order to make way for a new church. The divine beast, known as Juno, fought during the pinnacle of the Roman Coliseum’s life. She was responsible for the slaying of thousands of Christians. Now revived, the enraged goddess renews her taste for Christian blood.

 

Control Juno as she parades through the Vatican (that’s in Italy) and mercilessly slays her Christian foes. Mingle with other Roman God’s such as Neptune, Diana, Pluto, Mars, Bacchus and Jupiter. Come face to face with the Pope, pro-Christian Emperor Constantine, Jesus Christ and even the god-at-the-top, God!

A bit of additional and unnecessary back story to the main character…

Fact: Juno is the Queen of the Roman Gods. She is the Goddess of fertility and femininity. The animal most commonly associated with her is the peacock.

However: One day, whilst attending to the fertilization of women and being a peacock, Juno was attacked and eaten by a young male lion, who, upset by his recent lack of employment prospects, didn’t seem to mind that he’d just swallowed a god. In a celestial fashion the two were transformed into a single, angry being.

Not quite peacock, not quite lion; not quite male, not quite female; and not quite god, not quite mortal, the beast became consumed with more angst than your average teenager. The Roman Emperor Vespasiano, noticed the lion’s frenzied behaviour and proposed that the beast be, ‘glorious entertainment and would make a terrific addition to my current lineup of Coliseum amusement.’

 

Juno ‘the lion beast’ was thrown onto stage in front of 50,000 spectators. S/he was an instant hit, however something was missing. Bored of the lion’s party tricks and androgynous sex appeal, the Emperor decided to combine his other favourite past time, killing Christians, with his new found beastly attraction.

 

This violent excuse for a diversion from everyday life appeased the blood thirsty Coliseum audience and Juno’s name was written into Roman folklore. The rest is, as they say, history.

 

More of the story revealed as the game progresses!

Here's some responses to the new comments:

@Sab: Thanks for your edit. I've included some of your suggestions in the update. The legs are now somewhere in between yours and mine. I'm avoiding putting eyes in random places simply because I would find it hard to animate the body like that. Also, now that you've read the story, you can see how important it is that Juno incorporates mainly Lion traits. I don't want the the peacock bits to distract from the beasts manacing look.

@Morgan: Thanks for the edit aswell. I followed some of your advice by bringing the chin and front paws in slightly. With a sprite this big there are so many little things that can go wrong. I'm unsure whether I have the patience to animate at this size, but thanks for the support. I'm going to try and get some different drawings up soon of the character in different 'key poses,' eg. crouching, attacking, jumping, then I'll add frames in between to make the animation smooth.

 

@Demon: Your edit seems to just confuse the perspective even more. I'd like to keep the feet aligned to make the platform game work. Thanks anyway!

If you don't like reading, fear not! Here's an update that incorporates ideas from everyone so far:

I'm sort of just experimenting with the mane colours at the moment. Let me know what you think. And is 14 colours (inc transparency) too many for a sprite?

http://manchestermensclub.com/mpc/docs/images/lion_lying_down.gif - http://manchestermensclub.com/mpc/docs/images/lion_lying_down.gif

Mm, looking now, it seems you're missing a joint in the hind leg. There should be the knee about halfway through that giant haunch part. THAT is what's pissing me off, I think.

The concept is delightfully weird. :)

I haven't forgotten about this project people!

Well, mainly for practice. If anyone ever wanted to make a game of it, I'd certainly consider it. In fact, scrap what I said about 'practice'- its just a w**kery excuse to not do my best work, and I apologise.

I hear what you're saying, and I have tried to do things in my own way. The style, size and ofcourse colours are significantly different. I'd also like to animate some sort of vicious chomping attack, one thing the Lion King character never had. Not to mention the whole 'half peacock' thing.

 

I know I should go back and rework a lot of the running animation. I promise I will. I promise.

EDIT: But damn! That Lion King running sprite is so smooth and has so many frames! Well, 14 seems like a lot to me. I only used 4!

 

EDIT 2: New running animation just completed! It now features 7 whole frames of juicy goodness! Enjoy:

@Souly: I made a quick edit to line up his feet in the running animation with that of the rest of the animations. Hopefully it looks a little more consistent.

Thanks PO! I'll put it on the list right under the licking himself animation.

So many helpful replies! Lets get straight into some responses.

@Niss: Thanks a lot man! The Black Hole game that I mentioned in my first post is a game I'm trying to develop based on my comic book series. You can check out some graphics and http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2273 - sh*t here !

@MaloART: That’s very observant of you, thanks. I never intended to show Juno's face directly front on in the sprite form because I thought it would look a little extreme. What you see is a slightly front on face. The avatar illustration allowed a bit more room for facial features. If I were to edit anything, I think it would be to tuck the ear in on the avatar image. However, I have always enjoyed inconsistencies and variations between portraits and sprites.