The Spriter's Alliance
Updated Wednesday & Saturday
Announcement
I regret to inform you that, as of today, July 1st, The Spriter's Alliance will no longer be posting regular updates here on the site's homepage. There is, quite simply, too much going on both in real life and with the site's future to handle at one time, and because of this, we at the Alliance are at a standstill. Please be aware, the Alliance will not disband - there is absolutely no chance of that happening at this time. However, the three of us (myself, Road Rocket, and Mickey) are reconsidering the angle this site is going to take, and may very well end up expanding it into a much broader site in general. This process - both the human and digital elements - WILL take time. The finances alone have been discussed here in the updates for quite some time, and at this point they may be finalized anytime between now and autumn. Supposedly, September is a good estimate. Until we settle which path we intend to take in order to better serve the spriting and otherwise artistic community and finalize this financial business that has us all at a standstill, we will refrain from making unnecessary update notices. Once both these conditions are met and news is confirmed of the site's new revolution, however, you can expect that I will personally keep you all thoroughly updated of the site's progress as we advance into something much bigger than we had ever dreamed possible upon our first launch.
Even with all this going on, however, we will not be discontinuing the biweekly updates. I will try my hardest to maintain the current schedule of a new Sonic: The Emerald, Apocalypse [BANNED], Sonic's Box, Another Sonic Series, and Aburrimiento comic every Wednesday when an update is available, as well as one of Randy's flash animations added every Saturday. If any of those catch your interest, please do bookmark them, because I intend to do everything in my power to uphold the schedule I've so frequently fallen behind on in the past. Please note that, while potential contributors are always more than free to contact me via email/MSN or through the Join the Alliance form, we will not be adding any new contributors to the biweekly update or the site in general until the new Alliance is up and functional. Please, bear with us, as it pains us to put ourselves out of commission for such a long period as well. Should anything new or unexpected come up, I will still make the occasional post on this page. If you've any questions or comments (or hell, if you just want to cut loose) please feel free to contact me using the above information.
Sprite on...
Xelrog T. Apocalypse
Update
6/24/09
Another casual update of a new Emerald, Box, ASS, and Aburrimiento. The first of Randy's Sonic parodies, Slow Down!, went up Saturday - second one's coming this weekend. Enjoy the updates, because unfortunately that's about all we have going until this financial business is all sorted out. And while we're at it, a random shoutout to Shawn and Betsy - thanks for the patronage, guys.
Until next week,
- Xelrog T. Apocalypse
Update
6/18/09
Yeah, it's the middle of the day... so I'm about a day and a half late at this point. But, I have an excuse. Tried to log in Tuesday night to update the site, but the Webs server had gone down for some emergency maintenance. It stayed down (or at least, editing abilities did) until 6am this morning, so it was a necessary delay.
ANYWAY... usual update of a new Emerald, Box, and ASS... plus a new Aburrimiento this week. Mike's gotten back to working on the series and will, hopefully, start updating on a weekly basis. He's got a few comics' worth of a head start, so... here's hoping, anyway. Got back in touch with my translator and she gives me her word that she's working to get it out of the way as soon as possible. Again, there's no telling how long that will actually end up being. ;/ Randy's Mario parodies were finished off with Super Mario World last Saturday, and we'll be moving on to some of his other videos this Saturday... next up... I think it's a Zelda parody. I haven't gone through the next set yet, anyway.
Until next week,
- Apocalypse
Update
6/11/09
Yes, yes, late... so very, very late. The fact that I can't tell one day from the next without my watch doesn't help.
I finally got Mario's Accident up, as stated last week, and a new Emerald, Box, and ASS for this update. Still no response from that translator, still no 37. Searching for someone else who speaks Latin now. Since it's not a huge loss of quality either way and nobody really seems to read these posts, here's something of a sneak peak without the translated text included. Enjoy it, the full version will go up once the site's coded and we transfer hosts.
Speaking of which, I've noticed a pretty epic spike in Sonic: The Emerald's popularity lately, so while I have the opportunity here on the mainpage, I'd like to apologize for the mass of broken links and missing images, thanks in large part to our current dependence on ImageShack. All of this is waiting on the site's transfer - once that's finished, all files will be uploaded directly to our server, the site template as a whole will be a huge leap better, we'll have a system of forums directly on the site (meaning no more ProBoards), and - with any luck - the entire system will take a more Newgrounds-y approach in that you, the users, will be able to upload your own content rather than depending on me, the webmaster, to upload it in the biweekly update schedule. For now, sorry to say, the only thing we really have going is the new content added in each update... so please bear with us, we're trying our hardest to keep the ball rolling to better serve you, the spriting community.
Until next week...
- Xelrog T. Apocalypse
Update
6/3/09
... I'M NOT LATE. SEE, IT'S ONLY LIKE 4am. AND I'M STILL AWAKE, THEREFORE I'M NOT LATE.
Standard update, as if that's news... a new Emerald, Box, and ASS. I'm sending that translator one more message and if that doesn't work I'm going to go hunting for another one so I can, HOPEFULLY, have the long-awaited ASS #37 up by next week, July at the latest. Four of Randy's Mario Parodies are up, two to go before we move on to other series... Mario's Accident coming this Saturday. Started a little more mapping on Apocalypse, no idea if I'll actually get it moving again - the majority of the problem right now is still in finding a battle system, part of which is dependent on Road Rocket finding one of his old candidates.
The site design and coding has been put on hold to some extent, sorry to say, due to financial issues. We're not waiting for the money, mind you, Johnny Law just wants to give us a hard time trying to use it... not to mention, with the always-diligent Road Rocket as our sponsor, he gets the final word on what becomes of the site. I will mention on his behalf that he's going through a great deal of activity at the moment - physically, legally, and digitally - in order to get the ball rolling with both his fate and the Alliance's, and because of this, I'm forever in his debt. Here's hoping things settle down a bit soon so that all of us can bring the site up to its potential for the future.
On a completely unrelated side note, I'm going to buy the shit out of this print. MIGNOGNA POWER, BITCHES.
Until next week,
- Xelrog T. Apocalypse
P.S. Oh yes, I forgot to mention. The FAQ section mentioned last week is up on the Navbar. Click it for some cheap lulz.
Update
5/27/09
Another half-assed update... but hey, at least I'm on time. New Emerald, Box, and ASS. Bad Plumbing on its way this Saturday. Nyeh.
See you next week.
- Xelrog T. Apocalypse
Update
5/21/09
Yes, yes... another update, another day late. Things are just so damn monotonous around here lately that I lose track of the week. Another new Emerald, Box, and ASS. I really need to start harping on that translator in order to get 37 around... it's really not worth all this waiting, but I don't want to post an unfinished comic only to get the final element the next day, either. Super Duper Mario 2 went up last weekend and we'll have the third of Randy's six general Mario parodies as well as his first ever flash film, Mario Gets Lucky, going up this Saturday. Speaking of Saturday updates, we may have a new Flash contributor on his way, so the weekend update might get a little more active soon.
By the way, check out my Newgrounds page if you want more stupid commentary to waste your life on... or hey, even drop me a comment, it would be nice to know there are people still reading this. In other news, I'm not making any promises, but the site may or may not be undergoing a metamorphosis sooner or later. I won't go into the details, but I've been looking to hire a coder and web designer - paid - to revamp, redesign, and almost completely recreate the Alliance as a whole, under a new host. We're looking into having a user-based content system, like Newgrounds or Smack Jeeves, wherein spriters of all kinds will be free to share their work... should this end up going smoothly, the site URL will not change, though. Transferring the domain should be no problem. Again, no promises, but hopefully we'll have a little something new to look forward to. Incidentally, I may or may not add an FAQ section to the Navbar this week... here's hoping for both.
Until next week,
- Xelrog T. Apocalypse
Update
5/13/09
Huzzah - I'm actually on time. As if anyone cares anymore. One new Emerald, Box, and ASS again... I apologize for the still-lack-of-37, I'll harp on the translator some more and see if that helps... otherwise, mild progress on the template and not a whole lot to show. All in all a pretty uneventful update. Sorry 'bout that. :(
Until next week,
- Apocalypse
Update
5/6/09
Sorry... a bit late again. Clockwise, anyhow. A new Emerald, Box, and ASS for you... and sadly, that's about it. Yoshi's Island 1, 2, and 3 are now up, we'll finish off the final set of Randy's Mario parodies this Saturday, so keep an eye out.
Mike's got a design for the template and he's sorting it all together at the moment, so hopefully we'll see some progress there. Otherwise... see you next week.
- Xelrog T. Apocalypse
Update
4/29/09
Alright, so I'm a little late... 6am. But whatever, AS LONG AS NOBODY'S READING THIS I'M STILL ON TIME.
Casual update of one new Emerald, one new Box, and one new ASS. Since I'm still waiting on that translation for #37, I added one I made recently because the reference makes more sense now than it will 3 months from now. In other news, I've added a new Mike J. forum skin and gotten a number of character profiles done on the wiki - we're up to 10 now and there are more to come. I'll get some other types of pages up once I'm through with D.E.L.E.T.E., but until then, feel free to try some edits of your own - the Emerald characters need love.
Mike's finally gotten around to starting work on the template, however, no news on a completion date... leaving this week's update, again, rather lacking. And so, I'll leave you with this.
Until next week,
- Apocalypse
Update
4/22/09
Hello again. As usual, nothing's changed, and it probably won't change until at least May, so another short update this week. One new Emerald and Box for you... there's a new ASS too, but I had to upload #38 instead of the next comic, #37, for now. I was supposed to be getting some translation done for the latter, but I'm still waiting on it, so worst case scenario, I might just have to go to 39 next week. :(
(Granted the title of this week's ASS comic, I think you can tell just how long ago these were made and how much more we've got coming your way.)
Lots of new work on the wiki, so if you haven't taken a look yet, feel free to check it out. The forums are also in dire need of some activity if you want to swing by. And to Googlers: Be patient! Send Mike some hatemail if you want to see some sprites up, because they're coming as soon as the template does, and god knows we need it. On a totally out-of-the-blue note, new spriters are always a welcome change as well, so if you're interested in becoming a contributor don't hesitate to join us. ^^
Until next week... sprite on.
- Xelrog T. Apocalypse
Update
4/15/09
Sorry again. The update dragged on and eventually I decided that I would just leave it at a double update the next week, so here we are. Two new Emeralds, two new Boxes and two new ASSes for you, along with last Saturday's conclusion of the Mack Daddy Mario series with Mack Daddy Luigi. Yoshi's Island's going up this weekend.
I've been tirelessly working on Apocalypse once again, which is in large part the reason behind last week's little hiatus. Otherwise there's not a whole lot to talk about at the moment - we've got half a month left for Mike to get the new template underway. After that point, we'll have to find another participant to take care of it or, if all else fails, look to hire someone for it. We are devoted to getting the 'new' Alliance underway as soon as possible, and your support is always appreciated. Incidentally, if any of you would care to volunteer, you're always free to email me using the Contact Us section.
Lastly, we've got some good news concerning our good friend Road Rocket. A close friend of his has been a part of a band for some time now, and they recently obtained a record contract, hiring RR here on as their roadie. As promising as their reception thus far has been, they've been contracted for between one and two million dollars, 50k of which is headed his way, and being as generous a webmaster as he is, he tells me he's been eager to share the wealth. Because of this generosity, we all have him to thank for any number of new site features and revisions coming in the near future, and I'm very much in his debt when it comes to how much he's contributed to the welfare of the Alliance. I can only hope he continues supporting us throughout the years, as I strive to be sure that his generosity does not go unnoticed.
Here's hoping next week is a bit more productive, but until then... sprite on.
- Xelrog T. Apocalypse
Update
4/1/08
Well... it's official. Things have actually gotten worse. To those few readers I still have - and more importantly the ones intent on doing so - do NOT, under ANY circumstances, download the latest version of Windows Live Messenger. (9.0) Because of this download's deletion of all my previous Messenger contacts and preferences and blatant lack of any sane method of uninstallation, I am now out one society, so cheers to me. I'm looking to have it fixed as soon as possible, however this is limited by Microsoft's undeterred determination to thwart my every effort by any means necessary, leaving my level of contact with other Alliance members to be considered limited at best. Because of this, it may be slightly more difficult to contact me via MSN for the time being, and you'd best leave it to emails.
This week's update. I've uploaded one (admittedly late -.-) VGDC video from Saturday, Mack Daddy Mario 2, as well as one new Emerald, Box, and ASS... a surprisingly enjoyable lineup for such a remarkably foul week. In other news, we've hit a bit of a snag with what seems to be another, more recent Alliance out there... I'll report more on it next week assuming we don't sort things out by that time. In the meantime, enjoy the update, and keep checking back for the big switch.
- Xelrog T. Apocalypse
Update
3/27/09
I'm late. I'm so freakin' late. Who the hell do I think I am? I've been worried sick about me. I'm on thin ice, asshole. Shut up and listen when I'm talking to me. Seriously though, I'll have my act together by tomorrow's update. I'd better unless I want to fire my sorry ass.
Same old Wedn- er... Friday update. New Emerald, new Box, and new ASS. While I'm busy chewing myself out, though, I'm hoping that template doesn't take too much longer - for the time being I'm at another impass, waiting for the design from Mike, since he didn't seem to like the one I came up with. After that, we'll have to wait for him to get the coding done... so all in all it's all in his hands now. It'll be up to me to reupload everything hosted on the Alliance and integrate all of it into the new system, though... which will be a pain in the ass, but very much worth it in the end. On a slightly more depressing note, I seem to be in a creative slump - at least outside the comic world. Production of the Apocalypse game has come to a halt due to lack of direction and overall resources, but it will pick up as soon as I figure out where exactly to go from here - namely the type of battle system to use. There's been no word of RR's relatively-secretive Emerald project, but it can be assumed that it's progressing slowly, but surely, along with his various other projects.
Updates will continue as normal, but expect little activity until the template is sorted out and the gears start moving again - until that point there won't be much change from week to week. You might have noticed a little change in the Contact Us section, as well... it's now been remodeled to only include Staff contact forms. That means that anyone who can't be reached via the forums or wiki will have to be addressed through a member of staff - namely me. This is because we've been getting numerous valid Contributor requests over the past few months, and we simply can't keep them all updated all the time on every area of the site. For this reason, only the four current staff members - myself, Road Rockey, Mickey and Mike - will be listed under the Contact Us section, along with their current positions. Any present and future contributors can be contacted via their Wiki profile and their forum profile - assuming they're willing to share this information.
Keep spriting - your support is always welcome!
- Xelrog T. Apocalypse
Update
3/12/09
Whoooooooops. Again. I guess I forgot something yesterday, didn't I? I'd put up a double update or something as an apology, but I'm not sure Road Rocket would be too thrilled about it. =(
So, one new Emerald, ASS, and Box for you. Enjoy them, because there's a lot more to come. I also uploaded Randy's infamous Mario vs. Sonic flash, with the bonus ending going up this Saturday. Still no word from him, but I've finally managed to scrounge up a second email of his, so I may be able to track him down yet. Here's hoping.
I'm still working on getting the sprites set up (still working on freaking Paper Mario) so no word yet on when that will be up and ready. I should tell you, though, that we're in a bit of a transitional stage at the moment - once the template goes up this will be a whole different site. We'll have a comic browsing system that will let you move between images without the use of Imageshack - not to mention we'll stop using Imageshack entirely. All TSA content will be uploaded directly to the Alliance's host server, allowing us to directly implement materials here on the site without fear of their eventual deletion. Because of this, I'm putting off most of the Sprites section until this new template is sorted out so that we can rewrite the pages both with the new template in place and with Alliance-hosted image links rather than Imageshack. I finally took my shot and failed at the template earlier this week, so now Mike has gotten underway with his own design. I'll let you know if there's any progress over the next few weeks.
In summation...
- Randy: Working on it.
- Sprites: Working on it.
- Template: Working on it.
- Update: Completed.
Until next week,
- Apocalypse
Update
3/4/09
I apologize for the short update, not a whole lot has changed since last week's. We've got a new Emerald, ASS, and Box for you - but no new sprite sheet this week. After last week's little excursion, I've decided that I will in fact be uploading sprites one game, theme, or author at a time. However, I will also be limiting the update to Saturday, so instead of two sheets a week, you've now got anywhere between 1 and 50 sheets a week. Because of this, I'm going over our current sprite collection and uploading/reuploading sheets one game at a time - that is, any sheets we have currently hosted will now have their entire game available. However, as always, this will be a gradual process, (Son of a bitch, Paper Mario has a lot of sprites...) so it will be another week or two until weekly sprite updates kick in. Until then, please enjoy the ever-growing archives available.
Incidentally, if any of you are interested in working with MIDI's, (simple musical sequences used in older 8-bit to 64-bit games) I stumbled across a useful little program the other day and have been fiddling with a few compositions of my own. The name is Anvil Studios, and you should find their homepage if you do a quick search. It's free, so have a look if you've any musical interest.
... and thus concludes our painfully short update. Until next week,
- Apocalypse
EDIT 3/9/09: ... whoops. It seems I added VGDC's game page back on the first of the month but forgot to link it. The Games section has been linking VGDC to an unfinished page for the past week, so that's been fixed, and the Super Mario World Scene Creator is now available in the Games section. Enjoy.
Update
-READ THIS IF YOU JUST CAME ACROSS THIS SITE -
(Or at least the first paragraph)
After a month or so of incoming traffic, it's come to my attention that the vast majority (or rather, all) of our new patrons seem to have come here looking for sprites and then end up bouncing back without taking a look at the rest of the site. There's nothing wrong with that, I just want to put it up front that the Sprites section is still underway; it's slow, but there's a two sheets per week commitment, and we will have a moderate collection up in time. Keep in mind that we haven't had any sprite contributors yet - it's all been one person uploading these sheets one by one. In the meantime, we still have a nice collection of comics and videos readily available, with a game or two in the works and another coming this Saturday. If nothing else, I may end up having to upload an entire game's worth of sprites at once as I find the time to do so. It's up to you if you'd prefer this, but it would take away from the biweekly update, and there's no gaurantee on how quickly I would be able to get ahold of them. That being said, on to the actual update.
2/25/09
Now that that's out of the way, here's a little news for you returning visitors. I've noticed a bit of an influx of visitors on update days - Wednesday and Saturday - and granted that I don't often get to the update until late at night or, worse, the next day, I felt like I might be disappointing more than a few people. Because of this, I'm moving the updates to Tuesday and Friday night. This won't effect the update schedule - the only difference is that the update should be up and ready all day Wednesday/Saturday, rather than having to check back the day after and hope for the best. Hence, it's actually Tuesday at the moment, and with any luck I'll be able to keep with this system in the future and provide a more solid update schedule. Best of luck.
This week's update. You might have noticed I tossed in a CD/32x sheet on Saturday, as well as the final installment (sort of... ) of Randy's Rise of the Mushroom Kingdom series... though I suppose that applies to last week. We're finished with [BANNED] and Relived for the time being, so we're back to updating ASS and Sonic's Box. For some reason, it seems I was behind by one comic in my updating Box, so you've got two new Box comics and one new ASS this week. Enjoy them, because thankfully, they'll both be improving these next few updates. And have some DBZ while you're at it. I suppose I should also mention that I've been thinking it a bit unsettling that the site's main series - Sonic: The Emerald - be so far behind its current stage... and at the rate ASS and Box are set to update, we wouldn't normally see another Emerald comic for nearly a year. And so, starting this week, I will also be updating Emerald on a weekly basis, in addition to ASS and Box. So, enjoy it.
Unfortunately, I've been rather busy improving the Wiki and Forums lately, and I haven't been able to devote any time to the new template thus far. We've finally got a working NavBox (in terms of one series, at least) on the Wiki and Mickey tells me she may be working on some new forum graphics. I've been spending a lot of time on some game documentation as well, so time is rather constricted... even now. I am, however, getting back to work on one of my games - one that I've been hoping to release the demo for quite some time now - as soon as I can get a working battle system in order with Road Rocket. In the meantime, please be patient, and I'll try to keep everything running smoothly to the best of my ability.
Until next week,
- Apocalypse
(P.S. - As for this Saturday, you can expect our first VGDC Flash game as well as a new Dreamcast sheet. Enjoy!)
Update
2/18/09
Hello hello. We've got a moderately-sized update this week, so get comfortable - first off is the usual update of one new Apocalypse comic ([BANNED]) and one new Rocket comics (Relived), as well as another sprite sheet. We're up to Sega, now, so obviously I decided to upload a Sonic sheet... unfortunately, the only one I have was rather difficult to sort, so I took the high road and added Super Sonic. Take a look if you're interested.
In site news, we've been putting a lot of focus on the forums and Wiki lately. I mentioned some new forum skins last week, a total of three by this point, and I've also made a couple of minor changes (features edited, ranking system updated...) to the overall site and posted a good few new topics in an attempt to drum up some activity. For all the details, have a look at the announcement on the forums. As for the wiki, I've finally gotten a working Categories system in order, added a working Logo, and gotten the Audio Player feature enabled through the Wikia staff. After much effort I've gotten three full character profiles up (and counting) as well as some standard articles in the making. Keep checking back and, better yet, making your own edits for new content.
... And now a short interlude. I was looking over our site stats the other day (traffic, references, actions, etc.) and came across a few patrons who found our site searching for 'spriters' on Google. I did a search of my own and found us at #2 after The Spriter's Resource... which, given the vast supply of other sites on the page, made me feel rather accomplished. After a short revisit to the Resource (it's been months since I've paid them a hit) it occured to me just how mediocre this site looks next to their template... and thus was the deciding factor in my decision that we will in fact create our own site design. I'll be collaborating with Mike over the next few weeks in order to get a working template finished, and with any luck, we'll be able to see it up and running by April.
For those of you who aren't aware of the sacrifices required to get a custom template, I feel obliged to fill you in. In the Alliance's current state, we edit the site and update content using Freewebs' page editing system. A point-and-click interface involving Rich Text and HTML paragraphs that make up a page with a set, uneditable template already in place throughout the site. In order to use a custom template, we'll have to take advantage of the feature that allows us to convert the entire site - the template, pages, links, images, everything - into raw HTML. Each page on the site exists as a text file (*.txt) in our Uploaded Files section. The plus side is that, not only can we create our own template, but we can (feasibly, but not likely) alter the contents of any page and even create different templates for individual pages. The downside, however, is that there's no way to go back to the original editor, and displaying pages from text documents takes up bandwidth. Aside from that, Mike and I are mediocre at best when it comes to HTML... but hopefully we'll work things out well enough to make sure the site looks and runs smoothly.
On an unrelated note, I'm also obliged to mention that we finally recieved our first donation this week, from a rather generous contributor. I'd also like to say that, from here on, we'll be offering a couple of 'special items' to our donators. Eventually, a special unreleased game series will be available to donators based on the total of their donations (that is, everything they've donated summarized), but for now, these will be based on single-donation increments. A donation of $1 or more will grant you a mention in the weekly update (unless otherwise requested, such as in this week's donator's case) - while I can't hand out authority, $10 will get a special Donator membergroup on the forums and the Wiki, granting some abilities above those of a regular member. $20 or more will grant the title of Honorary Contributor throughout the site, and as soon as this is applicable, $50 (and every 10 past that) will grant you a free Editor's Copy of an Alliance game of your choice.
Many thanks for the patronage thus far, and keep checking back for more updates. Until next week...
- Apocalypse
Update
2/11/09
Sorry about Saturday, folks. The update kept getting away from me and I didn't end up doing it until Monday. But you've got a Nintendo DS sheet and another installment in the Rise of the Mushroom Kingdom series, so hopefully the damage isn't too bad. As for this update, there are two more Relived and [BANNED] comics left (I know I said I'd make more, but it seems I haven't been as inspired as I had thought.) so I'm topping those two off this week and next week before I get back to ASS/Box on the 25th. Trust me, those two will be updating for a very, very long while. I also threw in another sprite sheet... Virtual Boy this time. As if anyone was waiting for it.
I can't remember if I mentioned it last week or not, so I'll say it (or repeat it) now: We've got a new Wiki section up and running, this time using Wikia. I figured we'd get more hits there than we would on a less-popular Wiki host. I've been, more or less, adding content to the Wiki at a steady pace thus far, but the entire point of the Wiki section is as an information database for the fans and by the fans. We need to know how you interpret our work - if your ideas are completely off from what we're aiming for, then we're not doing our jobs, so please, by all means, feel free to add, edit, or create content on the Wiki. It helps the site a lot more than you might think.
Lastly, I've been making a few new forum skins. Check them out if you feel like it.
Until next week,
- Apocalypse
A Longass Update
1/28/09
Hello again. Busy week this week... as you may have noticed by the new site design. Whether this is permanent or an intermediate is up to you... I've recieved both negative and positive comments on it, and I will admit it looks a bit choppy, given that it was edited from a Freewebs template. So please, send any comments to me so I can decide whether to leave it or get a new one. I went through hell getting this one up and running and I'm not overjoyed with the results, but at least it's something.
I tried to restrain myself given that I said that I would not be making posts on Saturday updates, but now I'm free to tell you that Freewebs now has Flash support. As such, we're finally able to start uploading content from Randy Solem, a relatively new contributor I mentioned in a couple of last year's posts. I uploaded the first chapter of his Rise of the Mushroom Kingdom series Saturday and you'll get the others in the next three updates. We're still awaiting contact from Randy once more.
As for the update at hand, you've got a new Box and a new [BANNED] in the works. I'm up to five [BANNED] comics as it currently stands and you can expect a few more, so odds are you'll have the two of those updating for a while until ASS comes back into play. (Heheh... ASS play...)
Also, I'd like to take a brief moment to discuss our donations. As a bit of an example on what we're dealing with, I'll tell you... um... what we're dealing with. It takes $100 a year in order to get the domain name, as well as premium membership and extended support features here at our service provider. The last two years have been paid with $200 out of my own pocket. If we managed the funds, we could increase that to $200 a year getting us a Professional package with unlimited webspace and loads of bandwidth for Randy's Flash projects. On top of that, it will be a straight $300 before I'm able to start our Google ads going to increase traffic and another $30 a month or so in order to keep the ads running. If you want some impressive new projects, many of the tools RR and I must use to bring you the best in Alliance gaming can be costly. A bundle of them is around $60, and then one of the game programs in itself is another $20. If you REALLY want some bang for your buck, Flash 8+ is at least $300, often more, and a copy for each of us is a rather hefty price. Add that to the fact that we're often required to hire scripters and voice actors for our games (at an admittedly low rate) and the funds are boosted yet again. And of course there's always the forums that we can improve by removing ads and adding snazzy new interface features.
All in all, the point is that there's a lot out there that we have to further improve the site as a whole. Most importantly right now is that $300 we need to start advertising. I'm saving everything I can out of my own pocket in order to help this cause, but I'm afraid I'm in a bit of money trouble at the moment (don't worry, it's nothing long-term, and this year was already paid for a couple months ago) and we need all the donations we can get. Every penny counts. ... seriously, click the link and donate a penny. We'll appreciate it. Also, I should tell you that we've had a minor nothing-to-do-with-anything, original game series under wraps for a little while now, and we'll be working on it as an exclusive reward to donators. It's not available just yet but it should be coming sometime this year.
Anyway, I think that's everything, and if not, well, I can always come back and edit the post without your being any the wiser. So nyeh.
Until next week,
- Apocalypse
EDIT: Whoops. I guess I forgot about that sheet I was supposed to update, hmm? Have some Paper Mario. I also added a little something to the Games section. They're nothing spectacular, but hopefully they'll tide you over until we get some downloadable games up and running.
Update
1/21/09
Alright, update. Remember when I said RR was going on a Box splurge last week? Apparently, I spoke too soon. At this point I'll have to bust some serious ASS to catch up. (KA-PISH!)
On a more serious note, I realized just how long I've been putting off the sprites section due to the horribly disorganized state of my own collection. And so, as I reorganize it and collect as many other sprites as I can, I will be adding to the biweekly updates one sheet apiece. That means you'll have two new sprite sheets every week, something I can hopefully manage to keep up on. It also gives me a bit heavier workload in order to even things out with Road Rocket and Mickey who are... *ahem*... hard at work improving the Wiki and Forums.
Speaking of sprites, if you click the Join the Alliance link on the NavBar, you'll notice (even if only because I'm telling you to) that I added a new set of guidelines for sprite submissions. You don't have to be a contributor to upload sprites, just send them to me and I'll be happy to get them on the site in the next update. However, we will NOT under any circumstances host sheets where the creator has required some sort of contact consent or permission in order to use the sprites, with the exception of author characters since those are a form of self-representation. The reasons for this can be found on the Join the Alliance page. Also, all our sheets will be hosted with a white background in PNG format. For a more detailed explanation, again, check the Join the Alliance page, but simply put, this is our way of providing the fastest, most efficient, and easiest-to-use sprites on the net. Given such a task, uniformity is everything... especially with the background color, as most spriters can tell you.
Hopefully this'll serve as a bit of proof that I'm not the lazy asshole I make myself out to be. (And oh, do I make myself out to be.) For now, enjoy a new Box and a new Relived, as well as the addition of the (surprise) Ultimate SMB Sheet under the NES Sprites.
Until next week,
- Apocalypse
Update
1/14/09
Hello again. Forgive the currently blank template, I was cut off in the middle of helping Mike with the new one. If nothing else it'll serve as a painful reminder for me to get off my ass and continue doing so. So, bear with us for now.
In the meantime, we've got a slight change of pace. Since RR's gone on a recent Box splurge, I'll be updating Box and Relived for a little bit to let Box catch up with ASS again. So, a new Box and Relived for you. Enjoy.
There's not much to say otherwise. I made a couple new ASSes that you still won't see for a while (41 and 42) and I'm thinking of making a couple new [BANNED[ comics soon. So until then, we'll continue trying our best to keep moving towards progress, and we're always striving to better serve the sprite community.
- Xelrog T. Apocalypse
Update
1/7/09 (Wednesday)
*sigh*
Really. Why do I bother with two updates?
ANYWAY, sorry ONCE AGAIN for the lack of update Saturday, I was rather busy with some computer work this weekend, but I added the AOZTG R that nobody cared about everybody was waiting for, so it's all well and good. Given that this is probably the third week in the row this has happened (it's so frequent that I don't bother counting anymore) I've decided that I will continue uploading non-Apocalypse-Rocket features on Saturdays, but I will NOT be putting a post here on the homepage. The site just hasn't been eventful enough for two posts a week as of late. So, enjoy (or not) your comics... and not much else.
Until next week,
Apocalypse
EDIT: Whoops, forgot again, didn't I? Since you got the extra ASS last week (mmmm... ASS) you've got the Saturday update of AOZTG R and a new Relived in the mix. So, enjoy.
Update
Thu 1/1/09
So yeah. This was supposed to be the last update of 2008. On December 31st. Last day of the year. No pressure there. But, I have an excuse for being late.
We have a new series this week, my second creation. Or at least, we would have. But I'm afraid it's been Banned. I had wanted it to be a 2009 comic, but I guess I can't do that now. But hey, that's not to say you can't read it if you're the cynical in-your-face anticlimactic type. I also updated Sonic Relived (why the hell didn't anyone remind me? ><) after leaving it to rot at 3 episodes. For some reason I've been updating Emerald these past few weeks and I'll never be able to forgive myself for it. Oh, right. I forgot about the 2-comic limit and uploaded an ASS by mistake, so you get half of next week's update early. Enjoy it.
Not that anyone cares or anything, but now that it's finally 2009 (and don't expect a New Year's plug out of me because you won't get one), I've made this new homepage and got rid of that filthy old 2008 journal. But you can still get to it from the bottom of the page... though I don't know why in the world you'd want to do that.
In any case, enjoy all the new jazz that comes with the new year, and here's hoping we can get some improvement going before long.
Until next week,
- Apocalypse
