July 19th, 2023

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.


Elsewhere:

Kimimi just posted an article all about my favorite game genre: the beat ’em up! She’s got a few of my faves in there and she also sticks up for a maligned title that deserves another look in its original form.

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June 30th, 2023

The commission work I mentioned in the May update, spriting key frames of 18 animated background characters for a fan project that I’ll reveal once I’m told it’s okay to do that, was finished on Sunday. Another artist will be adding frames, smoothing things out, etc. Can’t wait to see how they look in the game!

Now to today’s newness I made A LOT of G.I.JOE-related pixelart last year because it was the 40th Anniversary of G.I.JOE: A Real American Hero, possibly my favorite toyline ever. Two of the characters I didn’t have a chance to sprite then are getting sprites on the last day of Yo Joe June: fan-favorite Shipwreck (with Polly) and an all-new Zandar to replace the old Capcom-based sprite edit.


Both are in G.I.JOE Custom Sprites gallery and the Image Generator.


So now I’m back to trying to get this website ready for the site host upgrade, using a copy of the site on my hard drive to test in the new conditions. The good news: I already have 8 of the 9 areas of the Graphics Section ready for the upgrade with one weird bug I can work around. The bad news: the one section that doesn’t work yet is the Image Generators. In less than a week I’ve got the menus’ main functions working and some very simple screenstyles rendering, but it’s far from stable. So I have some big decisions to make about the generators’ future.

This site’s 23rd birthday is on July 19th, 2023. So the first decision I’m making is to pay extra to delay the site upgrade until August just so the site can be up and running through the site’s birthday month and make new things to show on the anniversary. So let’s party during the anniversary and I’ll see how things look in August. Just be sure to enjoy that update before August because there’s a good chance that at least part of the site will be down for a while, though it’s likely the non-generator parts of the Graphics Section can be still be accessed.


Jada Toys’ Ultra Street Fighter II Ryu and Fei Long figures are in stores now, and I got my pre-order from BigBadToyStore last week.

Ryu and Fei Long


Ryu and Wolverine in 1:12 scale form

Ryu and Wolverine in 1:12 scale form


These figures are great and I can’t wait to see how the rest of the Street Fighters (Chun-Li will be out later this year) and the upcoming Mega Man like turn out.

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May 23rd, 2023

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.

Comments Off on May 2023: Mets, Palettes and news work news

April 21st, 2023

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.

edit: here’s the roundtable stream!

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March 31st, 2023

Street Fighter Alpha/Zero 3 portraits: Andore/Hugo (Final Fight/SF), Captain Commando, Harley Quinn (DC Comics), Spider-Man (Marvel), Black Widow (Marvel Comics)

Four of these were requests that I already wanted to make, but for various reasons (I had a Hugo/Andore sketched years ago, but didn’t like it) didn’t get done until now. Harley Quinn is just one I just had an itch to make.

Seeing my custom portraits in fake screenshots is one thing, but did you ever wonder how they’d look in the game? Using a new rendering technique, I made a short video using some of the older portraits I made from scratch:

What’s that rendering technique? I’ll tell you at the end of this post.

GFX Generator: The engine itself got some minor fixes, including a fix to some reflection effects. Also
– a “ScrollTech pattern background (added by request) added to the main generator

– The new portraits were added to the GFX Generators, mainly the SFA3 generator

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March 13th, 2023

I meant to post about this before it happened so you could’ve seen (and heard) it live, but at least there’s a replay to watch. Dire (of the OPCFG and West Mansion) invited me to be a part of a Retro Roundtable stream this weekend and this will probably be the first time you’ll hear my voice:

BTW: I mentioned having something in the works early on in the video, and that’s mainly because I worked on this late last week:


It’ll be a looong time before you see that Sprite Showcase happen, but I had to say something there. I’ve got other video plans that will hit first, but I’m keeping those kinda secret for now. Oddly enough, being in the roundtable stream gave me a good chance to test my mic, which I’ll need for my first long-overdue tutorial video about making custom mini-logos like the ones seen in Capcom’s Marvel Super Heroes and Marvel vs. Capcom (and another Capcom game that I’ll mention in the video, but you can figure it out yourself if you browse this site’s sprite galleries).

Stay tuned, I’ll have a small update later this March with a few new sprites added to official game sprite galleries, additions to the image generators, and possibly some new ToyBoss section pics.

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February 24th, 2023

The break… hasn’t been going well. Couldn’t let Black History Month go by without highlighting some Black characters somehow, so this time I did it with a video. Video game characters, comic book characters and even some toy/cartoon characters are part of the sprite display and you can check it out on the YouTube Channel or here:

Thanks to WizzyWhipitWonderful for allowing me to use that great BGM track!

I really want to do a more in-depth with this theme later, but this feels like a good start.

That all-new and improved Vixen sprite will be in a future update to replace the older version of that pose, so stay tuned for that!

edit 2023-02-28
Vixen sprites (including a 70s version, which is what she wore in the panel inspiring the crouching pose) added to the DC Gallery and Image Generators

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January 31st, 2023

Happy New Year and Happy Year of the Rabbit! I’ve spent most January 2023 working on a line art commission that you’ll see some time this year (it was teased by the author last year, but I can’t show it yet), so this update is a bit lighter than the usual First Update of the Year, but at least it has variety.

Custom Sprites:
Street Fighter: new Cammy SSF2 win pose, updated her other win pose sprite to match better with the others.
Marvel Comics: the Enchantress
DC Comics: the Rabbit enemy from Taito’s Superman arcade game
Illmosis Network – ScrollBoss: Vonetta “Vernacula” Paige gets a new sprite, a slightly modified outfit, a satchel and a last name in an all-new sprite!

All of these sprites are tied to things I plan to work on throughout the year, including a rabbit theme to celebrate the year.

Vernacula-X Glossary: Vonetta, mascot of the Info Center area of the site, threatened suggested I also work a bit on that part of the site, so I updated amazon (updated the main pic), Beat ‘Em Up (added info, main pic borrows the main menu “Brawlstreet” banner for now), Versus Mode (added more info and main pic) and minor updates to other entries.

Image Generators: All new custom sprites were added, and the following screen styles were updated…
– Vs 3v3 scene 384×224: 12 more Vs. graphics from different games were added.


My newest game-related action figure is the Marvel Legends Capcom-style War Machine (not that they mention Capcom, but we know the deal). The Iron Man sculpt it’s based on was already proven solid twice in the standard red and gold release and the special flat red and yellow PROTON CANNON edition from last year. The spark effects, also used in that Proton Cannon IM, are still great, but you’ll probably have to heat up the rubbery plastic of the biggest spark to bend it back into shape. What makes this version really sing is the use of metallic paints and plastics to mimic the sprite’s look. I’m not a fan of factory-done painted-on cel shading for action figures, 97 times out of 100 it just works against the sculpt work and only looks good if you have light coming from a specific direction (if it ever looks right). But this figure looks really close to the sprite when it’s hit with enough light, mimicking the car paint finish found in the sprites.


Ever wonder what would happen if Captain N: the Game Master had its own Netflix monkey paw-grasped revival? Friend of the site Channel 905 a take on that (and a few other things) in this video!

The lavishly animated 2.5 pixel art platformer Slave Zero X has a demo on Steam now!


Okay… I’m going to try and take a break again. A real one this time. Besides getting rest, I’ve got some new programs to learn, and maybe I’ll even take enough time to play a game again. I’ll be back at some point between late February and early March, but there may be some small updates before that.

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December 26th, 2022

It’s time to wrap-up this year of updates in the usual way: content based on toys from the eighties and some unfinished business!

Custom Sprites:
G.I.JOE: Wild Bill, B.A.T.s
Thundercats: Mumm-Ra
Toys and Cartoons:B.P. Vess (C.O.P.S., all-new sprites), Miles Mayhem (M.A.S.K.)
Double Dragon: the alley cat from arcade version of Mission 1, NES design Billy and Jimmy Lee
DC Comics: Stargirl (yes, I’m going to miss that show)

Mini-Logos: Venom (from Kenner’s M.A.S.K.) added to Toys and Stargirl added to DC Comics

All new custom sprites and mini-logos have been added to the image generators. The main “Fighter-size” generator now an 80s action figure toy aisle in the Group, Vs. and MvC ending screenstyles. It’s still a work in progress, because I spent more time searching for image and scale reference than I did working on it so far. This version’s toys are mainly centered around 1985, the last year the first wave of Transformers were still being made. I’ll continue to update this in the future, and possibly add more versions and years (like a late-eighties version with a big TMNT section) if enough people want to see that. BTW: some of the most helpful reference pics were from this post on 20th Century Toy Collector, because I was able to see how some boxes from different lines of the era scaled next to each other.

ToyBoss: My custom New X-Men/classic Cyclops Marvel Legends figure is done enough to show, so I finally… FINALLY… have a full Konami X-Men playable character roster in 1:12 scale. I’d have had this roster (and others) finished earlier if I didn’t have to practically restart my Marvel Legends collection in 2020. I also added an updated shot of the Red Skull’s crew in Data East’s Captain America and the Avengers to show I’ve got the Controller in there.

Speaking of toys, a lot of my 2023 figure hype is aimed at Jada Toys’ Street Fighter and Mega Man action figure lines. Three figure in each wave and all at a price point that won’t K.O. your wallet, and they’ll fit in with 6-inch/1:12 scale figures, so they’ll be part of my Marvel vs. Capcom set-ups. All the little details, like the Hadoken having hands molded in like the old sprites and one of the two optional heads being based on the Super Street Fighter II Vs. portraits (still some of the best art of those characters), I’m definitely hype for these. Check out this Fwooshcast episode that drops info on these and the other figure lines Jada is working on right now:

Storm Collectables is still putting out Street Fighters, though their figures seem to be in a slightly larger scale than Marvel Legends and closer to Mattel’s Masterverse and McFarlane Toys. It’s great to have options with these and I hope both companies get into more classic video game lines.


It’s time for me to thank everyone who has visited the site this year, and I’m giving a really big thank you to those who commented here, by e-mail (yes, some people do!), and on social media. There are times when my day job has worn me out and I don’t have a lot of energy to do anything when I get home, but things like your feedback, seeing pics you made in the image generators, being surprised when the pixel minilogos pop up in fan projects, and things like that refill my energy again. Take care and see you in 2023!

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December 25th, 2022

Christmas and Holiday pic with Haggar Claus, Santa Gilius, KramPoison, Santa Bison, and Miss Santa (Wonder Woman)

Christmas and Holiday pic with Haggar Claus, Santa Gilius, KramPoison, Santa Bison, and Miss Santa (Wonder Woman)

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