The new sprites and logo were added to the GFX Generators, which I used to make the pic at the top of this post!
It was a busy year for me and I didn’t get to make as many new things as I wanted, and that’s why I split the ToyHaul and Wrap-Up into separate updates and, as you can see below, separate videos. Just as before, it’s a recap video that also has a lot of brand-new shots. You’ll see Street Fighter Alpha 3 Vs. screen displays with all the new portraits I made this year and a slightly animated group shot of some superheroes that surprised me because I forgot I did some of this stuff in early 2023. Hope you enjoy it!
Some long overdue and better sprites of Rodney and Dornail from the Raven’s Dojo comic by one of the hardest working artists and friends I know, Raven Perez. The comic is Not Safe For Work, but I hope you have the day off to jump into it and soak in the madness! BTW: Yes, this comic is also the setting for the Terrorcube game from last year. This comic has been going since 1998, this is the 25th Anniversary!
Thank you for stopping by, for leaving comments (EddieMountaingoat, SKB, and Bad Badtz Maru Jimmy), checking out the YouTube Channel (over 550 subscribers now!) and I hope this site continues to make you feel good about video games and pixel art. See you in 2024!
Custom Sprites
– Karnov: original Karnov in King of Fighters Neo Geo style
– Bad Dudes: Iron (boss 2)
Both sprites were added to the main image generator, which also got a few more bug fixes throughout the month, like fixing the alternate palettes for user-selected fonts. All that coding work I had to months ago was rushed, so I apologize for the lingering issues that show up here and there.
We wrap things up in Decemember with new toy-related pixel art, including an update to the toy aisle background in the image generators!
One last bit of business before the DangerTerrorHorrorThon is done haunting the site for this year. If you’re a regular visitor, you probably knew that the only thing left was a new video, but I hope you still get some surprises out of this one. You already got a clue about one earlier in the HorrorThon. Happy Halloween!
The Dire and Bette channel recently had a live roundtable about the Ghosts ‘N Goblins series hosted by Dire and featuring Sotenga, ArcnarenthJim, and Dain
Marvel’s Avengers comic book celebrated its 60th anniversary at some time this month and I’ve got some new pixel art to honor the series and a group that is one of the secret main reasons why I got hooked on comic books (thanks to the Grantray-Lawrence Marvel cartoons that were still in syndication)) before I was even in school.
Custom Sprites – Marvel:
– Captain America: scratch-made sprites of a calmly standing Cap and the Avengers #16 cover pose.
– Thor: Mjolnir raise pose in a slightly different drawing style from the earlier sprites.
– Scarlet Witch: new poses in a style similar to my 2022 SW sprite
– Vision: Captain America and the Avengers fight stance and classic Vision in the John Buscema folded arms pose
– Black Knight: 1 pose, classic outfit and jacket outfit (like Data East’s “Avengers in Galactic Storm”)
– Kang the Conqueror: 1 pose
– Baron Zemo: 1 pose, 2 variations
– Mandarin: 1 sprite
As usual, all new custom sprites and mini-logos are in the image generators, where you can make your own graphics like the one at the top of this post. I also uploaded what should be a fix to an issue with the sprite palette feature, something that slipped through the huge site code fix session to get the entire site (and some of my other sites) ready for the PHP 8 upgrade.
Here’s a video showing the heroes’ new sprites, including some early animation work, and a preview of the 2024 Avengers Sprite Showcase video:
So, what’s new? Nearly the entire website. I’ve spent bits of the last four months having to get this site (and illmosis.net and Beans vs. Cornbread) ready for a server upgrade. That’s a nice way of saying “fixing up my old crappy code with new less-crappy code,” along with replacing depreciated programming that’d either carpet the site with warnings or make the entire website doo-doo on itself. The Image Generators were the toughest to fix, they’re more complex than the rest of this site, Illmosis, and BvsC put together, multiplied by five with cheese on top. To be honest, I spent a lot of time making sure this website keeps working and make sure it looks almost exactly the same. So what’s really new? Almost nothing. I’ll still have to keep an eye out for errors, so please let me know if you find any.
Custom Sprites: separated gallery pages for ESWAT, Kiki Kai Kai (Pocky and Rocky), and Taito’s Ninja Warriors. Also added today:
– Gain Ground (new gallery): redrawn sprite of Betty
– Pengo (new gallery): Pengo (and friends), Sno-Bees
– Marvel Comics: a new scratch-made Hawkeye sprite in his Avengers #189 cover pose, (drawn by John Byrne) to replace the old Capcom sprite edit
ToyBoss/Toybox: You can now see the new header for this section that would’ve been part of last week’s update, but wasn’t seen until now because part of its code was tied into the all-around site coding update.
(edit 2023 September 5th): All of these were added to the GFX Image Generators where you can make images like the one at the top of this post and this one…
… which mentions that I’ve added new colors to the ‘ScrollBoss bunnysuit ladies’ extra palettes, including some all-new skin colors, and even added a new ‘lipstick’ extra palette to let you choose that. Getting the image generators to work was probably the hardest task in redoing this site’s code, and I rewrote a lot of the extra palette code from scratch, so adding a bunch of new colors to the bunnysuit ladies seemed like a fun way to celebrate (and push the limits of the feature). Characters with that feature now have a special section near the top of the character list, too. Now that I know it works on the rewritten site, I’ll be adding the feature to more characters in future updates.
I know what some of you are thinking. “One of those sprites seems a bit out of place.” Well, just consider it a preview for something else I’ve been working on this year.
Elsewhere, Arcade Quartermaster’s new shrines of the month are in: Gang Wars (Alpha Denshi/ADK) and Caveman Ninja (Data East). Weird timing, because Shadi planned this out way in advance, at the same time I was working on this year’s Revenge of 1989 update with sprites of Jackie and Mike from Gang Wars.
I’ve mostly been chipping away at getting this site ready for the server upgrade, but I couldn’t let August 9th go by without a little Revenge of 1989 recognition to honor a year that brought a lot of the games (and other things) that led to the creation of this site. That’s a literal statement, because the first version of this site were Sega Smash Pack shots of Golden Axe, Revenge of Shinobi, and Altered Beast for the Sega Genesis, all games that hit the U.S. in 1989. So here’s the newness:
Custom Sprites:
– Final Fight: Andore (Final Fight wait pose)
– Gang Wars: new gallery, starting with the heroes Mike and Jackie.
– Shinobi: all-new Kasumi (the Revenge of Shinobi)
– TMNT: NES 1989 game stance (with and without weapons) for Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo.
All new custom sprites were also added to the the main GFX Generators, where you can assemble your own fake screenshots and group pics.
The Revenge of 1989: A new timeline page was added, various adjustments were made to the articles, including the confirmation (thanks to an interview with Time Extension magazine) that Konami’s Crime Fighters was indeed their template for later games like Ninja Turtles and the Simpsons.
As I mentioned at the start of this post, I’m working on an all-around behind-the-scenes update of this site, using a hard drive copy of it that simulates the server update. I’ve got a lot of the site working and even the image generators are over 70% working before I stopped to do this update. This is some heavy work, and it’s costing me extra site host fees to run on the older server, so I won’t be doing much other than that until it’s done, trying to finish it (and fixes to my other sites) before the site hosting charge hits my wallet again in September. I started a separate post about that in this link to keep track of where I am in the upgrade project.
Despite that, there will be an update to the ToyBoss section this month because I’ve got that main page working with new code that works on its own and I’ve got some roster pics to update (especially since I got that new camera).
It’s the birthday of this website, but the presents are for you! No, you can’t exchange them at the store if they don’t fit. First, thank you for visiting the site, whether you’ve been stopping by since the Tripod and Angelfire years or if this is your first time. It’s fun to make these things, but it’s even more fun when people other people enjoy it. But you know what? Instead of doing the usual thing with shots from the generator, I’ve got a short video with most of the sprites in it.
Custom Sprites:
– Captain Commando: all-new sprites of Captain Commando (1991 design), Carol, Brenda, Wooky, Eddy, Dick.
– Final Fight: Eliza (a.k.a. Elissa) and Mary from Final Fight 2
– Mega Man: original Mega Man robot master lineup is completed with new sprites of Cut Man, Guts Man, and Ice Man.
– Street Fighter: Kimberly
– DC Comics: Green Lantern Hal Jordan
– Marvel Comics: Shadowcat/Kitty Pryde
– Music: Wu-Tang Killer Bees
Mini-logos:
– Capcom: Street Fighter 6 cutscene style logos for Kimberly, Dee Jay, Juri, and Damnd
– Atlus: Atlus
– Marvel Comics: Shadowcat
– Music: Wu-Tang Clan
Custom Sprite Packs: (edit: 2023 July 22) Kitty Pryde and Shadowcat added to the X-Men CotA name graphics pack.
The high amount of new Capcom items is making up for the fact that I planned to do a bigger Capcom anniversary update a while back, but I had to concentrate on commission work. As usual, the new custom sprites and mini-logos are available to use in the GFX image generators
ToyBoss: A few new pics have been added, including that brand new side-scroller legend you see off to the side. Last year’s anniversary update featured a pic of my then-new Tyris Flare figure from Storm Collectibles and this update just happens to parallel that event with my new Gilius Thunderhead figure. I lucked out and caught one of the last sets on sale from Entertainment Earth, the online store where I got some of the luckiest finds of my rebuilt collection. Storm Collectibles is now exclusive to BigBadToyStore and you can find their Golden Axe line (and other Golden Axe items) here. Entertainment Earth still has one “Not Mint” Gilius left for $96.53 and free shipping, but it probably won’t be in stock for long. I also managed to get another figure I’ve wanted for years but aftermarket prices usually kept me away, until I found an incomplete one for a decent price: Sodom! It may have been a Street Fighter figure from SOTA, but we all know Sodom comes from the Final Fight series. I’ll probably have to customize a crest for his helmet and get a spare pair of swords so he can reach his full boss potential.
There’ll be more updates to the ToyBoss section soon because I need to update a few roster pics and my current customized figure project is about halfway done. I also got a new digital camera (on sale, of course) that won’t immediately murder its battery after being on for more than 8 minutes, so I’ll be having fun with that, too.
I mentioned a while back that I’ll have to rewrite a lot of code on the site to get it ready for the updated Dreamhost servers, and that’s going to be my main focus for a while. My hard drive has copies of the old and new code versions of the site running in two different XAMPP installs, which complicates adding new things to the online (and old) version of this site. So while site updates will be limited as I work on the new version of the site, I’m going add more things to the ScrollBoss YouTube channel on the side. Some areas may temporarily disappear when the site upgrade starts in August, so be sure to check out, enjoy, and right-click save what you want before then.
Custom Sprites: A Metall (a.k.a. Met, Metool) was finally made and added to the Mega Man gallery, because I had to do SOMETHING for Mega Man in May. I had plans to make more, but things got really hectic this month (see below for details).
GFX Generators: the next update to those “extra palette” functions that were being tested by two characters has been upgraded. They allow the “ScrollBoss – bunnysuit ladies” palette options to be expanded even more, and the optional tights colors blend with the skin colors and the “Monster (Illmosis)” Zombie now has a shadow option that darkens specific parts of whichever color options you choose.
Note: There is a bug that I just caught with these extra palettes, though: using the “Character swap selection” option will mess things up. I’ll work on that when I get the chance. Still, please let me know if you run into any other bugs with this.
This site won’t be very active for a while because I’m doing some paid pixel work and that has to come first. It’s for a fan project and I’ll be proud to have some pixels in it. I’m 2 for 18 on it so far, so it’ll be a while before I’m done.
Also, due to some very heavy behind-the-scenes work, this site will temporarily shut down at some point in late June. My current plan is to have a single page be a “mini-ScrollBoss” redirect page when the shutdown starts, then have the working sections return bit-by-bit as they’re redone. I already have the Custom Sprites section rewrite is about 96% ready now, with an error or two that need to get knocked out. If you’re even thinking of downloading something off this site, do it now before late June 2023, because I don’t know exactly when everything will be back.
We’re still in that month of foolery, April, so this update adds more pizzazz to the site’s image generators!
Custom Sprites: River City Ransom/Kunio-kun 8-bit: Kyoko and Misako (Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka uniforms), Spider-Man custom Street Fighter Alpha/Zero 3 portraits: Terry Bogard (the portrait I teased in late March’s update) and a scratch-made Ryu Hayabusa (replacing the old edit). Illmosis – ScrollBoss: Two sprites added to what I’m calling the “archetype” series for now. First is a brand-new “Bunny Costume” Lady and the second is an Undead Zombie. Zombie (o’, Zombie) was originally made in 2020 for some merch, but I made a few adjustments and added him to the site and the generator. These two are also helping to test out a new feature I’ve just added to the…
GFX Generator: A new River City Ransom/Kunio-kun ‘scenes’ screenstyle has been added to the Fake Screenshot and River City Ransom generator pages. So, yeah, finally some beat ’em up in-game shots (but no combat… yet). I’m starting it with 16 background/set-up shots from around the map and two “crossover” backgrounds that I’ll let you find for yourself. I also added standing sprites of the lower enemies from River City Ransom, along with Misako, Kyoko, Misuzu, Kumiko & Miyuki from River City Super Sports Challenge for the PC.
Today’s update adds a new feature that I’m currently calling “Extra Palettes” that are sub-palettes beneath the main palettes that only change a part of the palette. So in these special characters, you pick the main palette and then use pull down text menus below those palettes to change hair, skin color, outfit part colors, and so-on. It’s almost like I’ve added a palette editor to the generator.
Two Illmosis section characters in the main generator have these palettes so far: the new Bunnylady and the Undead Zombie (found in the “Monsters (Illmosis)” character). In fact, the Bunnyladies were almost in the March update, but I ran into the problem I had with the River City Ransom/Kunio-kun Variable Color character (more info about this in the full post). The Fake Screenshot (8-bit) section’s River City Ransom Variable Color and the RCR/Nekketsu drone enemies have this ability, too. If this works, I’ll be adding more options to these characters along with adding these functions some other sprite sets where it’d make sense. I feel like there’s a specific 8-bit platforming character who could benefit from extra color options.
BTW: I’m going to be part of this Saturday’s Retro Roundtable on the Dire and Bette YouTube channel! I’m not sure if I can say what the theme is yet, but it’s a game subject that I like A LOT.
