[Project Rekka] Making a Fighting Game Character

[Wechseln]

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(Rekka - Alternative Colors)​

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I have been making an effort at learning Pixel art these last couple of days and got really interested into giving animation a shot thanks to the accessibility of the medium. I decided to go all out from the get go, I was introduced to fighting games as a genre at an early age and have been a fan ever since so It's the topic I probably have the most knowledge of, as such, I decided to use it as an starting point.

I didn't want to animate an already existing character so I quickly sketched an original character to work on.

(Rekka - Concept Art)

Meet Rekka, A blank slate with no set lore or personality.
As it's obvious at a first glance, Rekka's design was heavily inspired by the Shotokan Archetype as I wanted something simple to start things with.
I want to figure out this character on the go as a creative project but I also want to hear the RGT Community ideas and feedback to incorporate into the process and character design.​

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(Rekka - Stance Drafts)

These drafts show my progress from newest to oldest, Rekka's loose and scrawny design suggested a more aggressive fighting style so I decided on a Muay Thai inspired stance with a carefree feel to it.

(Rekka - Animation Draft)

My first attempt at conveying Rekka's stance and feel.​

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(Rekka - Stance)

This is Rekka's final design and first ever sprite, I was heavily inspired by Capcom's Work for the Capcom vs. SNK series for the genetal style. I realized late into the process that Rekka's hands could suggest a more grappling or counter oriented fighting style rather than a than a fast paced striker but as I wanted to figure things out as they came, I feel like i could make her an hybrid character.

(Rekka - Idle)

My first attempt at a full fledged animation and the moment I knew I could actually make this project work. I tried really hard to make her pants as fluid as possible, I still have a lot to learn but I'm proud of how it turned out, even if I plan to return to this one eventually.

I am currently thinking about working on Rekka's moveset but I'm not sure wheter to go for a SNK, Capcom or something unique for her (Button number, running vs walking, dodging vs parrying, etc.)

I have a plan but I'd love to hear your suggestions, ideas, theories and feedback for the character to fill the gaps!
I'll be posting my progress through time, thank you for reading!​

 

[Dany28]

Nice work.

 

[qw90700]

What program you use for pixel art? I kinda started such stuff and I have fighting game in mind, so I found a program called Pixelorama very useful enough.

Since I kinda have the same "goal" I was thinking of using this "fighter game maker" to decide cool moveset to be inspired from by selecting among lots of moves for fighters:

Kakuge-Yaro: Fighting Game Creator (English Patched) PSX ISO – RGT Repository

Kakuge-Yaro: Fighting Game Creator (English Patched) PSX ISO Game ID: SLPS-02595. Languages: English Patched. For Sony PlayStation.

retrogametalk.com

However my reason is not really because of lots of moves to select despite it helps a lot, but I love how much cool moves it has way more than lots of fighting games I played and it's amazing to create a character with tons of cool moves in one. I hope it will be helpful!!!

 

[X y b e r - S k u ll]

These look great. If that really was your first try at animating sprites, and it looks passable on your first shot, then I can only imagine how much better they'll look down the line.

In terms of her design, you already pointed out her hands being more prominent could indicate to being more of a grappler type character (Or a hybrid rush-down grappler like Alex in 3rd Strike), so I'd suggest maybe incorporating elements of Judo and similar martial arts to her move set perhaps.

 

[Jayonnaise6105 Jayonnaise6105]

I love these alts btw:

Might be basic, but I get a vibe of a big meat eater. Probably the effect Goku has had on my view of fighter characters from all my years of watching Dragon Ball

 

[Wechseln]

What program you use for pixel art? I kinda started such stuff and I have fighting game in mind, so I found a program called Pixelorama very useful enough.

Since I kinda have the same "goal" I was thinking of using this "fighter game maker" to decide cool moveset to be inspired from by selecting among lots of moves for fighters:

Kakuge-Yaro: Fighting Game Creator (English Patched) PSX ISO – RGT Repository

Kakuge-Yaro: Fighting Game Creator (English Patched) PSX ISO Game ID: SLPS-02595. Languages: English Patched. For Sony PlayStation.

retrogametalk.com

However my reason is not really because of lots of moves to select despite it helps a lot, but I love how much cool moves it has way more than lots of fighting games I played and it's amazing to create a character with tons of cool moves in one. I hope it will be helpful!!!

I don't know Pixelorama, I recommend Aseprite (Free if you compile it) or Libresprite (Free) as they seem really popular.

I personally use Krita (Free) in a 128x128 canvas with a pixel brush because I'm institutionalized and have a hard time adapting to other programs.

Also, that game looks super cool and helpful, I'll try it out later! Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 10:49 PM

These look great. If that really was your first try at animating sprites, and it looks passable on your first shot, then I can only imagine how much better they'll look down the line.

In terms of her design, you already pointed out her hands being more prominent could indicate to being more of a grappler type character (Or a hybrid rush-down grappler like Alex in 3rd Strike), so I'd suggest maybe incorporating elements of Judo and similar martial arts to her move set perhaps.

We are on the same brain wavelenght brother, I really appreciate it!

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 10:52 PM

I love these alts btw:
View attachment 115692
Might be basic, but I get a vibe of a big meat eater. Probably the effect Goku has had on my view of fighter characters from all my years of watching Dragon Ball

I like that take! I'll try to incorporate it into a taunt or something that heals her a bit.

I went with the Blue and Red Oni concept and they looked really cool on her, I'm glad to hear that!

 

[qw90700]

I love these alts btw:
View attachment 115692
Might be basic, but I get a vibe of a big meat eater. Probably the effect Goku has had on my view of fighter characters from all my years of watching Dragon Ball

Now you mentioned it, it made me think of a fighter game idea that the dear OP may get fun inspiration from:

It's kinda generic for RPGs to have elemental power/weakness to defeat, so what about implementing this logic to such a fighting video game? How it may work can be in a way that players chooses a random element before they start the match and can only use that element power for a round. It's kinda like "rock, paper, scissors" logic. But I thought of a twist there: The player may use elemental transformation for extra damage and abilities, but this transformation will stuck until the round ends. It means, when your opponent goes for "ice elemental transformation" that make them look like the pic of the character you loved (so the character will look blue in this example) then if you picked fire elemental powerup you can activate it to have an edge against your opponent or you don't have to activate it if you believe your element is weak against the element your opponent choose. Then in each round players gotta choose a random element without being able to know what their opponent choose. It's kinda gamble and ok for online gaming, kinda like e-sport thing but bad for local multiplayer games lol.

 

[Wechseln]

That seems pretty interesting, I think I have seen something similar in Super Smash Brawl through that wasn't an install like mechanic. I think it would be cool but seems pretty hard to balance around

Now you mentioned it, it made me think of a fighter game idea that the dear OP may get fun inspiration from:

It's kinda generic for RPGs to have elemental power/weakness to defeat, so what about implementing this logic to such a fighting video game? How it may work can be in a way that players chooses a random element before they start the match and can only use that element power for a round. It's kinda like "rock, paper, scissors" logic. But I thought of a twist there: The player may use elemental transformation for extra damage and abilities, but this transformation will stuck until the round ends. It means, when your opponent goes for "ice elemental transformation" that make them look like the pic of the character you loved (so the character will look blue in this example) then if you picked fire elemental powerup you can activate it to have an edge against your opponent or you don't have to activate it if you believe your element is weak against the element your opponent choose. Then in each round players gotta choose a random element without being able to know what their opponent choose. It's kinda gamble and ok for online gaming, kinda like e-sport thing but bad for local multiplayer games lol.

Post automatically merged: Today at 12:07 AM

This is actually amazing I didn't notice they actually translated it too! I have been mainly using SNK and Capcom Sprites alongside Tekken and MMA recordings but this one seems like a nice addition.

I'm currently working on Rekka's Buttons. I think I'm going for 4 Button like SNK but I will try to animate 6 anyway.

 

[RETRO-VETRO RETRO-VETRO]

Very good!

 

[LaserMoose]

At first glance, Rekka did indeed remind me of resident grappler Goro Daimon from KOF because of their hands.

Do you have a set reason for Rekka's mala beads around the neck? Akuma stole his beads from his master after killing him, so I was wondering if you had a similar reason in mind. It could also just be a fashion statement, of course.

I don't have any ideas for a move kit, but will add some feedback and mention that Rekka's right foot could potentially be improved by showing their visible heel, similar to Ryu's idle 3S sprite here.

Alternatively, maybe you just need more movement in the center area of the foot? I think more visible motion in that region would make the sprite look more fluid.

As for praise - great alt colors! The brown belt/string is very well-animated, too!

 

[Wechseln]

At first glance, Rekka did indeed remind me of resident grappler Goro Daimon from KOF because of their hands.
View attachment 115719
Do you have a set reason for Rekka's mala beads around the neck? Akuma stole his beads from his master after killing him, so I was wondering if you had a similar reason in mind. It could also just be a fashion statement, of course.

I don't have any ideas for a move kit, but will add some feedback and mention that Rekka's right foot could potentially be improved by showing their visible heel, similar to Ryu's idle 3S sprite here.

View attachment 115734
Alternatively, maybe you just need more movement in the center area of the foot? I think more visible motion in that region would make the sprite look more fluid.

As for praise - great alt colors! The brown belt/string is very well-animated, too!

To be honest, I kinda just winged the design, japamalas are really cool so I wanted to incorporate them and further set Rekka as a Shoto through the Akuma association. Of course, I don't like having stuff that don't serve a purpose in a design, so Rekka should have a reason for having them, through I guess roughly setting them as an asian/middle eastern by association kinda is. I'm building the character with y'all.

About the foot, I think you are onto something, I'll check it out once I got the button drafts done, thanks for pointing it out!

 

[Sonicrain]

As an ex FGC guy and dev, I like this a lot. Keep going.