What I'm looking for: Screenpack

Budget in USD: Since I am not looking for something complex, and a bit reminiscent of old classics, I have it preemptively set to 500 USD as a minimum, to a max cap of around 1000 USD (provided that there's good reason to go to that length); I'm open to negotiating/discussing.

Approximate timeframe: I'm willing to give as much time as you think you might need, but if it's possible, perhaps within 2.5-3.5 months.

Request details: Since my project is meant to be completely reminiscent of the old 90s CAPCOM fighters, I would like the work to reflect that, in it's design. Some example images below:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

With that said, what I specifically want are the following:

• Logo, that follows along w/ this very alpha pixel design I had recently worked on: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] DONE (thank you PhantomD!).
  

• Font for main menu, specifically: ARCADE, VS MODE, TRAINING, OPTIONS (+ required font for all text within the Options), QUIT
  

• Select Screen, that can fit up to 48 slots, and have two parts to showcase custom character art I will make.
  

• VS. Screen
  

• Winner Screen
  

• Additionally, they need to adhere to 1280x720, which is the localcoord CAPCOM vs Square will work on.
  

The version of M.U.G.E.N. I run is 1.1.B, and I want the screenpack to be made with that in mind. I run Windows 10 to the latest 20H2 version, and for the most part, can run Blender 3D and some other heavy games pretty well. Additionally, later down the line I will port the game to IKEMEN Go once it's stable enough, but you are free to entirely ignore that point and focus on MUGEN 1.1 compatibility.

Please post your rates and portfolio in the thread here, and if possible, let's keep all communication relegated to this thread.

I'm willing to offer you any creative control, however, as long as you can make it feel like the Dreamcast/NAOMI era and adhere to the specifications of the list above, that would be great. Additionally, it needs to adhere to a 1v1 format, so please keep that in mind.

Once I wrap up hiring some VAs, I will reach out to anyone who messages me. I'll make sure to let you know I got the email.

Hey buddy,

• As far as color schemes, I think something along the lines of the first [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], and the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], more specifically the images that appear behind the "FINAL FANTASY" text.
  

• Just the logo itself as a static image.
  

• 16/32-bit .PNG works perfectly.
  

• In a sense, yes, however, you have complete creative license in adding any elements you think works, and reposition elements however you think is most appealing; only thing I'd ask is that there should be some sort of galactic activity happening in the back, i.e. meteor colliding w/ planet, etc. Whether you'd like to do it in the style of the Final Fantasy logo art, or something along the lines of a retro CAPCOM logo is up to you, and I am good with either-or.
  

• All good to have it recreated in a semi-HD/Semi retro style texture like the sample you showed me.
  

• Nope. Nothing really comes to mind, those two gems in the "PARALLEL DESTINIES" portion were some kind of idea I had on a whim, but in hindsight, they don't really work, and the crystal element was already added to the in-game timer for the life bars, so no need to repeat.
  

Thanks in advance, man.

Yes sir, that sums it up beautifully, Me and my wallet are ready whenever you are.

Hi Hatter

I create screenpacks and Mugen Stages and This is something I would definitely be able to assist you with.

I am currently completing a Screenpack project for NK3s here in this same commission discussion thread (you can have a look if you like - I created everything you see excluding the Logo which was designed by Phantom D).

I am on the final stages of completing his project so I will be available for other work shortly after it is finished.
I am just finishing the final steps of a select screen, and I will be possibly adding a victory Winquote screen.
Once those last two things have been completed, and if nobody else has taken you up on the offer I would be more than happy to look at this job for you.
As par as portfolio, you can check out my current project thread images/videos via a site search on "Astral Heat" or some of my stage work for which i designed all the graphics myself ( no rips used).
If you have already found somebody however I totally understand.
Your project looks very impressive.

@Ex-Sirius: Thanks man, I actually saw the work done on Astral Heat, and would be glad to work with you. I'm currently in the process of working with a VA for the Announcer (who I will speak about in the main project thread), so once that's done and paid for, would love to work with you for sure.


And yes, I should let you guys know that the logo was done by the ever-immaculate PhantomD. The 3rd concept posted below is the one I will be going forward with, because of it's perfect mixture of CAPCOM logo work w/ Yoshitaka Amano-style art.

@PhantomD
Those came out really great!
The problem is I don't know which one I prefer more - they are all good for different reasons.
The best thing is a diverse color scheme which means it opens up the screenpack possibilities for style

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] That sounds great - I respect the level of detail you are applying to your project.
I hope that you can find some great voice actors.
Me personally, I can already for some reason hear orchestral FInal Fantasy Themes playing and almost a soul calibur style set of announcer voices, to give it that massive rpg colossal once in 4 years title type feel. What ever style of voice actors you use Im sure it will be great. Are you using male or female voices?

Ex-Sirius wrote:@PhantomD
Those came out really great!
The problem is I don't know which one I prefer more - they are all good for different reasons.
The best thing is a diverse color scheme which means it opens up the screenpack possibilities for style

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] That sounds great - I respect the level of detail you are applying to your project.
I hope that you can find some great voice actors.
Me personally, I can already for some reason hear orchestral FInal Fantasy Themes playing and almost a soul calibur style set of announcer voices, to give it that massive rpg colossal once in 4 years title type feel. What ever style of voice actors you use Im sure it will be great. Are you using male or female voices?

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Hey man, check out this quoted post from my project thread to see who the VA for the project is. ;)

hatter wrote:Okay! So this week was pretty darn hectic, getting probably the GOAT logo, courtesy of PhantomD:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

WITH THAT SAID, I wrapped up the hiring of a VA for the Announcer. Sorting through applications was hectic because my casting call got retweeted by Justin Wong (YES THAT GUY) and another FGC figurehead big in the MK and Injustice community, and speaking of him, I'm pleased to let you know that I will be working with PNDKetchup to bring you the ultimate Announcer for this project:

p[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

His test lines really teleported me back to the 90s and I absolutely adored them, and selecting him was the no-brainer. It took a while to get the lines since he had a hectic week in the United Kingdom, but man; IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT.

More to come yo.

This sounds exciting, I look forward to see what you guys collaboration will cook up

Phant0mD wrote:If that does end up happening, HMU bro because I created the logo files and I have the raw PSDs you can do the thang with the same as what we did with AHEX. It will be a toss between theeese
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Absolutely beautiful designs my friend, as always the colors and style looks very genuine and professional ;) what else is in store for the screenpack will be exciting to watch

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Hey bro. Finally managed to get most of my business out of the way. If you're ready to work on this, I'm ready to pay. Just let me know your pricing/quotes, and I'll hit you up with the payment.

Just gonna also re-quote my previously posted budget/time frame:

Budget in USD: Since I am not looking for something complex, and a bit reminiscent of old classics, I have it preemptively set to 500 USD as a minimum, to a max cap of around 1000 USD (provided that there's good reason to go to that length); I'm open to negotiating/discussing.

Approximate timeframe: I'm willing to give as much time as you think you might need, but if it's possible, perhaps within 2.5-3.5 months.

Thanks again for your interest!

hatter wrote:@"Ex-Sirius" Hey bro. Finally managed to get most of my business out of the way. If you're ready to work on this, I'm ready to pay. Just let me know your pricing/quotes, and I'll hit you up with the payment.

Just gonna also re-quote my previously posted budget/time frame:

Budget in USD: Since I am not looking for something complex, and a bit reminiscent of old classics, I have it preemptively set to 500 USD as a minimum, to a max cap of around 1000 USD (provided that there's good reason to go to that length); I'm open to negotiating/discussing.

Approximate timeframe: I'm willing to give as much time as you think you might need, but if it's possible, perhaps within 2.5-3.5 months.

Thanks again for your interest!

Hi Hatter.
That's excellent news to hear.
If that is the case, then I will lock my schedule in for this project exclusively from here on-wards.
Regarding budget etc, i think your project should be well achievable within your target and I will ensure to plan things to keep it all as low as possible, but we can worry about this after the initial planning stage is complete.

If you are familiar with any of the previous projects i have worked on, you will know i like to do a very thorough and detailed project summary back-&-fourth with the client in the initial planning stage to plan all the requirements/non-requirements for the Screenpack to ensure all bases are covered to create a finished item as close to what the client requires as possible.

Furthermore, My method of approaching/completing these projects is the "per design" approach which means rather than supply an entire finished product weeks/months down the line, I plan/create ans supply each screenpack design one by one as they are finished so you will receive completed working playable mugen content as soon as it is available, ie menu screen, select screen, options screen menu interfaces and. so on.

So over the next few days, i will post several questions regarding the various screenpack designs required and build a project summary/time-line for us to both follow for progress tracking purposes and such.

So with that said, I will start compiling my notes and prepare the first wave of questions for you.

Ex-Sirius wrote:

hatter wrote:@"Ex-Sirius" Hey bro. Finally managed to get most of my business out of the way. If you're ready to work on this, I'm ready to pay. Just let me know your pricing/quotes, and I'll hit you up with the payment.

Just gonna also re-quote my previously posted budget/time frame:

Budget in USD: Since I am not looking for something complex, and a bit reminiscent of old classics, I have it preemptively set to 500 USD as a minimum, to a max cap of around 1000 USD (provided that there's good reason to go to that length); I'm open to negotiating/discussing.

Approximate timeframe: I'm willing to give as much time as you think you might need, but if it's possible, perhaps within 2.5-3.5 months.

Thanks again for your interest!

Hi Hatter.
That's excellent news to hear.
If that is the case, then I will lock my schedule in for this project exclusively from here on-wards.
Regarding budget etc, i think your project should be well achievable within your target and I will ensure to plan things to keep it all as low as possible, but we can worry about this after the initial planning stage is complete.

If you are familiar with any of the previous projects i have worked on, you will know i like to do a very thorough and detailed project summary back-&-fourth with the client in the initial planning stage to plan all the requirements/non-requirements for the Screenpack to ensure all bases are covered to create a finished item as close to what the client requires as possible.

Furthermore, My method of approaching/completing these projects is the "per design" approach which means rather than supply an entire finished product weeks/months down the line, I plan/create ans supply each screenpack design one by one as they are finished so you will receive completed working playable mugen content as soon as it is available, ie menu screen, select screen, options screen menu interfaces and. so on.

So over the next few days, i will post several questions regarding the various screenpack designs required and build a project summary/time-line for us to both follow for progress tracking purposes and such.

So with that said, I will start compiling my notes and prepare the first wave of questions for you.

Sounds good, I look forward to it. I will make sure to give you as much detail as possible to make it a seamless process for you.

Excellent. Well let us begin the first wave of questions.

As discussed, I have a few initial questions to help us begin planning the project.
The idea here, is to build ourselves a plan of attack, and a timeline of work/the order in which things are completed and supplied, and most importantly make sure we have covered and discussed everything/anything required to make this the best possible screenpack.

As you may be aware, the default Mugen screenpack consists of approx 19 potential screens/designs.
Some of these however are not used by all screenpacks and some projects purposely include/omit some of them depending on the project requirements. You can find more info in these and a list of them here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
but we can discuss them here now anyway.

So to start off:

System DEF related Questions:

Question001
Just to re-confirm, which of the following systems/designs are/are not required for this screenpack:
(yellow are the ones you previously confirmed you require on your 1st post so you can ignore those unless there have been any requirement changes:

1. Possible Pre-Game designs:
- pre-intro Logo.def/sff system (e/g press start system)
- Intro.def/.sff system

NOTE: I see that PhantomD has already created your logo for this - depending on how you wnat to action this, it is possible for me to implement this design into the project if i have access to the orignial working files for the logo (PD and myself have worked on projects like this in the past sharing design textures and logos so I am sure if you require menu related things using the logo I can work with him on this part unless you already have things planned for this with him directly/yourself)

2.System.def Designs
DO you require any of the following:
- Options Menu Screen system?
- Main Menu screen/font system
- character Select screen/portrait system
- Vs screen/portrait system
- Vs Victory Winquote system


3. Game Mode specific
- Continue Screen system?
- Game Over screen system (arcade/story mode etc)
- Victory screen (story/arcade mode)
- Ending Credits (arcade/story mode)

4.Fight.def Related
DO you require any of the following:
- Single Mode lifebar system?
- Simul/Tagmode lifebar system?
- Team mode lifebar system?
- Round 1 2 3 Fight/KO/You Win animations/announcer system?


Mugen.exe/customization related:
Do you require any of the following:

- Mugenhook implementation (animated select screen character portrait support etc)?
- Custom Portrait PSD template support?
(for Lifebars, select screen mini ports, select screen large ports, Vs screen large ports, winquote screen etc)
- AD004 integration?
 (if you require your screenpack to bu built using the add004 engine with tag/camera/add004 full feature & char patching support etc)

If you can confirm which of the additional above mentioned elements you do/donot require, I can update my notes and we can move on to the next wave of questions focusing on each of the required elements in fine detail.
planning questions

Ex-Sirius wrote:

Hey buddy,

For the pre-intro logo, I can definitrly send you the .PSD for you to implement as needed. For an intro, I was thinking perhaps at a later time as I still want to decide on how I want to approach it; was thinking some cross between the animated intro of TvC and 90s Capcom Vs intros. So temporarily, let's put that item on hold.


Options menu, Continue/Game Over/Victory screen and Ending credits are needed. For the ending credits, I was thinking of doing something similar to MvC2 so we can also put ending credits on hold for now.

Nothing is needed for Fight.def as I have recently completed the life bar and related round text and combo system, and the project will not accommodate tag as it is purely 1v1.

For Mugen.exe customization, only Custom portrait PSD is needed, but we can exclude for life bars as I have that also worked out. I wouls like to at least create the select art for use as a benchmark (I made a previous one but it doesn't rrally so the job), so let's also put that on hold temporarily.

Hi Hatter
Thanks for rhat.
That helps narrow down our point of focus for now and helps me plan the approach better for the required elements.
With that said, this means we dont need to worry about fight.def/select screen/ending credits/intro sequence at this point in time so we can focus on the planning/fine details of the following:

*Animated logo def/sff system
*Main Menu/font system
*Options menu/System
*game over screen system
*victory screen(arcade/story mode)
*Continue screen

Regarding these 6 systems,
So we can start planning the aesthetics and develop things as close to your desired look/style as possible, as you mentioned already you are going for the Naomi/Dreamcast classic aesthetic with MVC2 influences that already gives me a rough idea of what we are going for.
To dive deeper and get more specific, normally i ask clients to provide atleast 3 visual examples (be it from existing commercial games, static art/other) of the most similar existing look/style for each screenpack element that they would like replicated/used as light reference in terms of layout, colorscheme and style.
You already showed me some references for the main menu from MVC2 console version which is great, but if you could provide as much other visual/color/style reference images as ppssible pertaining to what you want/like, that will be appreciated and we can continue our planning ftom there.
Again apologies for the long winded questions, but i like to take this first part very seriously to ensure the client is getting exactly what he wants as close as possible , and also ensure a unique highest quality finished product.

Sidenote: they dont have to be specifically gighting game reference images either.
Any art/game e.g rpgs etc are fine.
Whatever you like and are going for i can design to suit

Ex-Sirius wrote:Hi Hatter
Thanks for rhat.
That helps narrow down our point of focus for now and helps me plan the approach better for the required elements.
With that said, this means we dont need to worry about fight.def/select screen/ending credits/intro sequence at this point in time so we can focus on the planning/fine details of the following:

*Animated logo def/sff system
*Main Menu/font system
*Options menu/System
*game over screen system
*victory screen(arcade/story mode)
*Continue screen

Regarding these 6 systems,
So we can start planning the aesthetics and develop things as close to your desired look/style as possible, as you mentioned already you are going for the Naomi/Dreamcast classic aesthetic with MVC2 influences that already gives me a rough idea of what we are going for.
To dive deeper and get more specific, normally i ask clients to provide atleast 3 visual examples (be it from existing commercial games, static art/other) of the most similar existing look/style for each screenpack element that they would like replicated/used as light reference in terms of layout, colorscheme and style.
You already showed me some references for the main menu from MVC2 console version which is great, but if you could provide as much other visual/color/style reference images as ppssible pertaining to what you want/like, that will be appreciated and we can continue our planning ftom there.
Again apologies for the long winded questions, but i like to take this first part very seriously to ensure the client is getting exactly what he wants as close as possible , and also ensure a unique highest quality finished product.

Sidenote: they dont have to be specifically gighting game reference images either.
Any art/game e.g rpgs etc are fine.
Whatever you like and are going for i can design to suit

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Hey man, that's no problem at all. Appreciate you going the extra mile for me. Also really quickly, I probably made a mistake w/ my last post, but I actually want to put the animated intro on hold/to the side, and focus on the select screen. Sorry if I caused any confusion.

---

With that said, I'll start off w/ a few visual/aesthetic influences for colors/look:

For colors, I would like for the screenpack items to adhere to a "warm" color aesthetic; a lot of yellow, red, orange, reddish-purple, anything going towards the yellow and red hue, in line w/ a lot of Square Enix/Square art, like below:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

---

Another important part of the aesthetic I'm aiming for is the galactic look, an infinite galaxy, or celestial bodies clashing (for that whole "VS" effect), like below:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

---

Preferably, it should feel like something out of a Square Enix/Square game, and for that, refer to the final image in the section listed for the colors (the one for the game "Vagrant Story"), and these images:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I hope this expands on how I want the end aesthetic to be; sort of "medieval galactic", which sounds extremely weird, when I think about it in hindsight.

Really appreciate you taking the time to probe it out. Feel free to ask me anything if you still need more clarification.

Hi Hatter

Thanks for confirming your requirements on more detail regarding intro/logo system design etc.
That makes perfect sense and I have updated my project notes to exclude that design.

Also thank you for providing the design examples as discussed.
This tells me exactly what you are going for and should be no problem.
I am very familiar with Square-enix/squaresoft game HUD designs and interfaces and I think your description of "medievil/galactic" is a perfect summary of thewir style and is not an unusual description at all.
We will definitely be able to implement the desired look/color scheme mentioned as you require.

Now in order to move on to the next stage of planning/discussion, I just have a few more questions and an updated project summary that I would like you to look at/check to see if my notes are correct so far:

Project summary of required Screenpack designs

1.Pre-Game designs:
intro.def/sff - NOT REQUIRED/on hold.
Logo/Press Start sff/def- NOT REQUIRED/on hold.


2.System.def Designs
- character Select screen/portrait system - REQUIRED
- Main Menu screen/font system - REQUIRED
- Options Menu Screen system - REQUIRED
- Vs screen/portrait system - REQUIRED
- Vs Victory Winquote system - REQUIRED

3. Game Mode specific
- Continue Screen system - REQUIRED
- Game Over screen system (arcade/story mode etc) - REQUIRED
- Victory screen (story/arcade mode) - REQUIRED
- Ending Credits (arcade/story mode) - NOT REQUIRED/ on hold

4.Fight.def Related
NO REQUIREMENTS

5.Mugen.exe/customization related:
NO REQUIREMENTS

Regarding the above, could you first please confirm the following:

1. The above items marked as required/not required are all correct as per your requirements
2. I have not omitted/left anything out regarding your required SP designs
3. Please confirm the order of priority that you would like each element  to be completed/supplied

Once you have done this, we can move on to the next stage of discussion and finalize some finer details I would like to clarify for the required designs, in particular
regarding the select screen/main menu screen and you custom portrait requirements.
Thank you again for your patience.

Ex-Sirius wrote:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Yessir, I confirm you haven't omitted anything required and the order itself is correct.

Excellent.
Well now that we have confirmed the required designs/order,
I would like to clarify the last remaining finer details for each of the required designs to complete our project roadmap:
The Key Information required/Questions requiring confirmation/answers I have marked in bold green text for easier response

Select screen

- Slot configuration
You mentioned you require 48 slots and showed an example of the MVC1 select screen layout which uses a center column style layout. We can definitely replicate this style.
So just to reconfirm, which of the following best describes your preferred preference for the layout?:




A) 3 center columns with 16 rows? (3 characters per row)
B) 4 center columns with 12 vertical rows? (4 characters per row)
C) Other/custom/wild card?


(Examples of A & B layout)

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]                                 [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

- select screen Portrait system requirements
As you will be aware, Mugen by default uses the 9000,0/9000,1 portrait sprites included in characters which 99% of the time use the following universal sizes of 120x140 for the select screen big portrait, and 25x25 for the small select screen slot icon portrait (examples below)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

You mentioned that you will be creating your own custom artwork and custom portraits, which I assume will utilize bigger, improved sizes that make better use of the available screen real estate and add impact to the select screen etc.
I have done both types of screenpack works in the past, which use PSD templates to support HD portrait slots with custom sizes, and large HD custom portraits with other features such as stat bars and custom sizes for diverse select screen layouts, so either option is no issue and templates can be created for easy recreation using any artwork if needed.

This however means, that in order for me to create the design template and frames etc and spacing for portraits etc to suit your requirements, I will need you to confirm the following first:

A) You would like me to design the select screen based on the default universal screenpack portrait sizes/values for generic characters and you will address it at a later date/are only using default low res sizes

B) You would like to utilize the HD capabilities of the select screen 1290x720 layout better and use custom HD artwork for the big and small portraits, and will supply me with pre-existing artwork to your desired layout and I will design/size everything to suit.

C) You would like to leave it to me to create you the PSD portrait templates to suit the select screen design/aesthetic and utilize HD sizes for both the big and small portraits and you will add your own artwork for each character based on my template to suit at a later date

D) Other (please specify)



VS screen
Basically the exact same questions as above except apply this to the VS screen portraits.
( I believe by default, these either utilize a 9000,2 portrait for custom artwork, and by default they use the same portrait as the select screen big portrait (9000,1)

Winquote screen
Basically the exact same questions as above except apply this to the VS screen portraits.
( I believe by default, these either utilize a 9000,5 portrait for custom artwork, and by default they use the same portrait as the select screen big portrait (9000,1)

Main Menu Screen
Could you please reconfirm the following details:


- Main Menu available modes
A) Do you only require ARCADE, VS MODE, TRAINING, OPTIONS (+ required font for all text within the Options), QUIT

   and would like all the other modes omitted? (e.g survival, co-op, team vs etc)




B) Do you want all available mugen modes added and the related graphics/fonts/layout?

- Main Menu Inteface preference



A) Do you want the select screen to use a layout more based on the MVC2 style (best suited for screenpacks which use all modes in my opinion as less modes will mean less icons on the main menu screen making for alot of unused real estate but still doable)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

B) You would like the select screen to use a layout more based on the Kingdom Hearts PS2 Style with the scrollable modes as stylized text
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

C) Neither/Other/Wildcard (please specify)

And I think that covers all of my last remaining questions.
If you can confirm these final minute details, I believe we can proceed to the final quoting process and finalization of the project.
Thank you again for your patience. This may seem excessive but well worth it for the finished product.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Hey, sorry for the really late response. I was sick last week.

To answer your questions in the order given:

• Select screen layout best suited for this is option B:  4 center columns with 12 vertical rows? (4 characters per row)
  

• Select screen portrait requirements: option C: You would like to leave it to me to create you the PSD portrait templates to suit the select screen design/aesthetic and utilize HD sizes for both the big and small portraits and you will add your own artwork for each character based on my template to suit at a later date; I will figure out how the artwork needs to be handled later on.
  

• Only require: ARCADE, VS MODE, TRAINING, OPTIONS (and all required font for all text within options) and QUIT. Omit all other modes, as they will not be needed.
  

• I think based on the 3rd option, the KH2 layout works best, as it requires less work, and allows me to be a bit creative with the artwork.
  

Thank you.