BARRACKS TALES: The EGB flash(es), EGB collab discussion thread

Welcome to the EGB Collab discussion thread!

Ok, so I know there's been plenty of talk about quasi-official EGB flashes in the past, however with all the active members who are taking part, this one has probably the best chance of any before it of seeing completion.

Credit to Corky for spearheading the project somewhat at this moment in time, puddin for the story, Slnt for the backgrounds, as well as all the other Barracks members who are offering to chip in with bits and pieces for this flash.

As it stands, here are the participants who have offered their support to the project (keep in mind this is subject to change, the users who have offered to undertake the below roles may pull out if they have a genuine reason they cannot fulfill their duties, of course prior notice is desired):

Current collab participants as of 6/6/09

Corky52 - Current Project Leader
puddinN64 - Writing/Story
Ismael92 - Flash API setup
SlntCobra1 - Backgrounds
aldlv - Miscellaneous
KrevZabijak - Original Music
byteslinger - Sprite Creation
Insanimation - Miscellaneous (Possible collab assembler?)

Apologies if I missed anyone.

I made this thread so that we could discuss the flash in great length over the next few months, as well as being a place to have all pertinent info centralised, rather than being spread across pages of the EGB and getting lost amongst other discussions.

With that said, I'd like to wish the best of luck to all involved, no matter how great or small your role, your efforts for the good of the Barracks will not be soon forgotten.

Take it away guys

Well I would like to add a suggestion....If we are not doing so already, how about we voice act our parts and maybe you could make a separate section in the flash where users can view the actors bio's and those can be voice acted too.

E.G. I will do my voice and bio, Puddin' his voice and bio, Slash his and so on.

Also I will put my Bio of my character in here. Please tell me if anything is missing.

Lizzardis - That Lizzardis fellow. Not much to say really. Well, apart from the fact that he always likes to be involved, he is more or less a regular person. As well being a new'ish recruit to the barracks he has still yet got things to learn. He wants to be a part of those who stamp out spam and he wants to be one of those who makes Newgrounds....A place of happiness.

Not much. Tell me what you think of my ideas.....I hop they are useful!

Insanimation isn't able to be the collab assembler, because Corky said it will be made in AS3 and (as far as I know) Insanimation has Flash 8. So he can make things and send them to Corky, but he can't recieve files from him.

It's a good idea, but I can't voice act for two basic reasons:
- I would suck at voice acting in English.
- I don't even have a semi-decent microphone.

Man THIS IS GONNA BE SO COOL!

Here's my bio:

SlntCobra1 -- He's somewhat eccentric yet has tendencies to lose his cool. Overall he's a pretty generous and understanding guy. One of the recent guys to join the ranks of the EGB. Until he can find where it is exactly he fits in within a certain group, he's more on the quiet side. But when you really get to know him, he's quite fun to be around. He's currently majoring in Criminal Justice, but while doing so, he likes to spend his spare time(when not at work) in the EGB and a few other places in NG.

How's that for a bio?

You would suck at English? Why what country are you from? If you want, someone else can do your part and just put it in a deeper tone or whatever.

Damn, busted! Nevermind, I should still be able to do something.

It would be kinda fun if we all animated our own characters, if we had flash. If not, wee could either get someone else to do it, or use some of the sprites..Might just add a bit of variety to it, y'know?

Well, I might be able to do some voice acting for my character, possible music mixing, and the backgrounds of course.

Alright, well Byteslinger mentioned stuff about zooms and stuff like that.

The only things I can do is fade and pan.

I'm thinking instead of using already existing sprites perhaps Byteslinger can create an original sprite for everyone?

I can do the main flash stuff and then Insanimation and Byteslinger can put the more technical stuff in it such as the zooms mentioned, subtitles, etc.. Since both of you seem to know a little bit more about flash than I do.

So we will basically send me all of the sprites, backgrounds, etc.. I'll do the heavy load of animating and putting the flash together, and then I'll pass it on to everyone everyone else to do their part.

We'll show the animation to Krev and allow her to come up with some original music for the submission.

We'll take our time on submissions. I think they can turn out well if we all chip in.

Wow, I feel like a father in a delivery room. Everyone's running around doing stuff thanks to my actions, but I can't seem to find out what I need to do.

Anyways...I'm absolutely thrilled at how all of this is working out. I cannot tell you guys how appreciative I am for the effort and interest you have taken in my story and putting it into flash form. It's an honor and a privledge. When Corky said you guys would like the story, I was skeptical, but you guys have smashed all of my doubts. So, basically, thanks guys. I am totally grateful.

With that being said, was this first installment enough to sustain a decent flash? I'm not very experienced with the flash making process, so I'm not sure what the runtime will be on the final version when it's in animation. Also, was there enough content in it? I'm completely open to adding more stuff, if it's necessary, wether it's an ellaboration on a certain scene or element, or dialogue. I can also write in more characters, as well. Just tell me and I'll see what I can do. If you guys give me a reasonable deadline, I can write the 2nd installment, too.

So, just keep me in the loop fellas. I know you guys are working very hard, and that your jobs are more important than mine. I'm here to help in any way I can.

This is going to be great. What I had mentioned before is that when you plan on animating a flash, the good ones are set up like a movie or a play. Not only do you need to know the characters and storyline, but there's the mater of cinematics as well. Think about the great animations (like Waterlollies). The background and scenery never sat still for too long - there was always a shift in perspective and point of view - like a camera.

Now, maybe we won't go that crazy - but something like zooming in on faces, or changing the perspective as other members speak - or just something simple like what background animation will be going on- is all part of the design process. It all starts with a series of sketches - and then becomes animation over time.

As for original sprites versus canned - after reading through these posts, I am inclined to start with the "metal-slug" type sprites, make them bigger, and then tweak them based on general rank, gender and personal preference. Maybe add the weapons to each sprite based on the user's level (battle axe, nun-chucks, etc.). I have already started leeching off of some of the metal slug sprite pages to get some ideas, and I think that may be a good place to start. It would be a good basis to work with, at least to start.

And, as for subtitles and such - again, as we sketch out the flash, we will know the dialogue and sound effects we're looking for scene by scene. Adding a sub-title layer isn't that hard, even after the fact - just make sure that when we're animating we leave a space at the bottom of the screen for subtitles to be displayed that won't overlay scenery or action.

The hard part will be the first one - we'll be building libraries of images, sound, sprites and animation from scratch. But once the first one is done, the rest will be a little easier. Let's just take it easy and do this for sake of doing it - no pressure, no problems - and it will turn out just fine.

Just to get me into the frame of mind, I am going to work on creating a "metal-slug-esque" sprite for myself (based on the Fio character) - and create a simple demo flash just to share the ideas I have. Yes, I may even post it on NG (OMG!) and see how long it takes to get clobbered. Sometimes I'm just a glutton for punishment.

So what do you think of all this? I'm definitely open to suggestions. But please remember - I may have a lot of neat ideas, but I am not in charge here. This is definitely Corky's production - and his vision

Oh, I'll get my bio together soon. As for voice acting - hmmm... I have absolutely NO experience with that, and I always think that when I hear my own voice it sounds nothing like me. Maybe I'll just have to go with Speakonia! (just kidding!)

I know I got the backgrounds, but I could also do some music. I've submitted 5 tracks to the audio portal. And if I could get a general mood for the whole flash, I might be able to download something and mix it.

Or if y'all refer, we could do non-AP music.

I think this would appreciate heavy metal and hard rock as opposed to classic rock/southern rock/and the like.

Good artist ideas:

AC/DC
Iron Maiden
Blue Oyster Cult
Quiet Riot
Black Sabbath
Ozzy Osbourne
Dio
Black Sabbath(with Dio as the front man)
Skid Row
Tool
Metallica
Dragonforce

Trust me if we want heavy metal then we don't have to go any farther than current member, sonofkirk's music. That and this stuff is just as good too.

I don't like using copyrighted stuff.

http://sonofkirk.newgrounds.com/audio/
http://bad-man-incorporated.newgrounds.com/audio/
http://cwn.newgrounds.com/audio/

Eh, Sonofkirk and Bad-Man's audio aren't all bad, but CWN's ugh. I could so do without the guttural growling, incoherent screaming, and unintelligible words. That is not music at all. Or we could use my End Game -- Mix somewhere in the flash.

The comment you just left about the music.. I officially dislike you now.

Bad-Man and sonofkirk's songs are epic front page songs and CWN has a great heavy metal voice.

I can't listen to anything else. Just makes me sick. It better be heavy and loud or I won't listen to it. Credits always need heavy metal music.

For the music during a flash of course you don't want all heavy metal. The stuff you call rock is baby stuff lol.

Thanks for adding the image uploading button Slash.