2015-12-03 - Sprite Update (Round Two)

[sene]

For anyone wondering just how Mistletoe and Silvers look now:

 

http://dragcave.net/lineage/52Kew

http://dragcave.net/lineage/yQ6MZ

 

(These are 2/3 of my lines)

I was ahead of the trend with these guys. (Started planning the checker the day TJs Mistletoe's grew up)

Thanks for posting the lineages. I would probably be satisfied with the left one if I haven't seen the right one before...

Edited December 5, 2015 by sene

[kerrikins]

Of course it figures that the one day I didn't check to see if the sprite update had been posted, it was!

 

Loving the new splits!!! As for the silvers - I'm honestly so sad to be losing the old silver hatchies, but I did like LL's sprite the best out of the ones that were posted in the thread, so there's that, at least. It will take some time to get used to, though!

 

Edit: I will say this in case LL browses the thread - I do hope that you might take into account people's opinions on the hatchies? Seems like there's a lot of feedback on them. They don't look quite right, imo... The adults hold true to the spirit of the original but the hatchies don't seem to the same. They honestly look more like they're going to tip forward onto their little noses! I think they need to be balanced more on their hind paws and also bulked up a little - I know they're Easterns but even dragon hatchies can be chubby, right?

Edited December 5, 2015 by kerrikins

[Obscure_Trash]

For anyone wondering just how Mistletoe and Silvers look now:

 

http://dragcave.net/lineage/52Kew

http://dragcave.net/lineage/yQ6MZ

 

(These are 2/3 of my lines)

I was ahead of the trend with these guys. (Started planning the checker the day TJs Mistletoe's grew up)

Holy stunningly gorgeous, batman. Thanks for sharing!

 

I'm just going to breed everything with silvers from now on. >_>

[HawktalonOfRiverClan]

Ohmygosh YESSSSSSS. The new sprites are so freaking gorgeous! My PB Silver lineage is going to look better than ever. Thanks so much, TJ and spriters!

[Twilight Dream]

I've spent so long looking at my lineages now, and I still can't stand them. The Silvers just look so darned odd compared to the other dragons. As a standalone piece of art they would be gorgeous if not for a few tiny imperfections, but with the other dragons on DC...well ' I'll have to start collecting the PB, Shadow Walker and Lunar Herald lineages, they're the only pretty ones left.

Edited December 5, 2015 by Twilight Dream

[Thuban]

I've spent so long looking at my lineages now, and I still can't stand them. The Silvers just look so darned odd compared to the other dragons. As a standalone piece of art they would be gorgeous if not for a few tiny imperfections, but with the other dragons on DC...well ' I'll have to start collecting the PB, Shadow Walker and Lunar Herald lineages, they're the only pretty ones left.

I think i will disagree here (respectfully).

 

I've been testing lines all day. They (the males. I've never been a fan of females) look really, really good with guardians, frostbites, royal blues, and waterhorses so far. All are breeds I dont care much for, but really like enough that im considering lineage projects (a first in a long time, since everything i've been doing is /balloon). My sunset lines, im not as attached to now. Same with the space chickens. But I think its a good trade off, at least for me. I needed something new to latch onto

[Tehya Faye]

I found 16 checker pairings for Silver females alone. Most liked of that bunch are Sunsong x Silver, but I'll probably do at least 10 of them eventually.

[Twilight Dream]

I think i will disagree here (respectfully).

 

I've been testing lines all day. They (the males. I've never been a fan of females) look really, really good with guardians, frostbites, royal blues, and waterhorses so far. All are breeds I dont care much for, but really like enough that im considering lineage projects (a first in a long time, since everything i've been doing is /balloon). My sunset lines, im not as attached to now. Same with the space chickens. But I think its a good trade off, at least for me. I needed something new to latch onto

Good luck with those lineages! Same here in the sense that none of those dragons are ones I'm keen on, therefore I shan't even consider lineages with them - all I'd be doing then is breeding lines where I like neither dragon involved I still personally think they are utterly out of place compared to any dragon that isn't as bright as them, and I also think they are way too soft in comparison to other sprites...but it's all down to personal opinion, isn't it?

 

As I say, as standalone pieces, the spriter has done an absolutely fantastic job! I simply happen to be someone who's rather fond of the old versions :')

[Shajana]

I love the new splits, I think that I might collect more of those now.

 

For the silvers: I do like the new adults, but not the egg or hatchies. The hatchies where so cute before the change, but now they just look wrong in my eyes.

[blackdragon71]

Thank you so much for keeping the original coloring of the silver sprites! I have a brute x female silver checker project going, and I was truly worried about the sprite change. No more. Not sure how I feel about the male silver, but the female is rather pretty. And I was never a fan of the splits, but wow! I am now, and I might have to rethink my position on keeping two-heads as a result.

[Asketil]

Small question, but does anyone else notice a small somewhwat sharp corner on the ladies forehead? I realized it is not as smooth as the males and it is bugging me oso; She is lovely, still miss her cute tucked back legs, so sleek and elegant now though. The males expression is adorable .w.

 

[helix9]

Look at the number of sprite updates relative to the number of releases. We have on the order of 150 breeds, and there have been on the order of five big sprite replacements (probably a few more, but it doesn't change the numbers that much). That means the naive estimate is that 3% of breeds get replaced.

 

That said, that's assuming an even distribution of replacements, which is patently false. In fact, most (almost all) of the replaced sprites are from way back in 2008—the original sprites from the big replacement project that happened. Those sprites were created to a much more limited set of criteria (strict color limit, smaller size expectations) that they simply can't compete with sprites created even a few years later.

 

Which means that any "newer" breed—or really, any of them released in the past four or five years, which can hardly be considered "new"—is extremely unlikely to be changed, just by raw statistics. And they're not just empty numbers; there's simply no real reason to consider drastic updates to the newer sprites.

 

I figured it was inappropriate to respond to this post in the thread that it's actually from, since I don't plan on replying to the suggestion it's for. But this did get me thinking, and being the spreadsheet junkie that I am, I had to see the stats play out. Maybe others might be interested in my number crunching? The google doc link is here (click on the graphs to see the numbers that don't fit!).

 

I think my favorite finding is that dragon releases are surprisingly uniform, with 2009 edging out as the year with the most. And which year has the most dragons with sprite updates? 2009. (By percentages though, it's 2007). But the most common update to a sprite is adding dimorphism, and there was this little event in March 2010 where lots of dimorphism was added in. It happened to also spur a lot of sprite tweaking too, and they often go hand in hand.

 

The other really interesting thing is that roughly half of all dragons released before March 2010 have had some sort of change implemented after their release. And after that? Well, only one dragon that was released in the past three years has had an update, and I have a hard time seeing the change. Updates are clearly happening to older dragons, and to quote a meme, "more likely than you think." I see it as a clear response to the rising quality of the dragons over the years, and the only reason that the statistic for 2006's updates don't match the ones for 07-09 might just be nostalgia.

 

tl;dr: TJ's pretty good at his math.

[Obscure_Trash]

Small question, but does anyone else notice a small somewhwat sharp corner on the ladies forehead? I realized it is not as smooth as the males and it is bugging me oso; She is lovely, still miss her cute tucked back legs, so sleek and elegant now though. The males expression is adorable .w.

 

It just looks like a brow bone to me.

[Mistress of Whispers]

Loving the new two-heads!!

[Felischia]

I love the design of the Splits, not a fan of the changes on the Silvers though. They were a favourite of mine. Not any longer unfortunately.

[Raphy]

The splits look amazing!!!!

 

As for the silvers, I was personally dreading the update, being a lover of how the silvers were before. The female silver is still lovely although she seems to 'smile' less than before. They definately make the silver x speckle throat checker look more awesome than before! http://dragcave.net/lineage/GMv2C. The shading is amazing on both though so my compliments to the spriter/s.

 

The male is going to take getting used to I guess. He looks almost too shiny now in a few lineages such as Terrae or stripe but he's growing on me slowly. Some lineages I won't be doing anymore but on the other hand it opens doors to lineages I hadn't considered.

[banban007]

I like the new splits! Good job on these~

 

I'm not sure about the silvers though.

Adults might look ok, but the hatchlings look like seahorses now... and the new egg look slightly 2D-ish.

I somehow prefer the old hatchlings (the pose and the chubbiness).

[stagazer_7]

People that like the new Silvers (yours truly included) should be bouncing up and down reading the posts of the ones that do not: less competition yay!

I seriously doubt they'll be any less competition, as these eggs still remain very valuable - so I wouldn't count on people passing them in the Cave just because they don't care for the sprite, it just makes decisions whether to trade them easier.

 

I like how Mistletoes and new Silvers look together, it's a nice combination.

 

I also took some time to really look at the new Silver sprites with a cool head and I noticed that I like them better on a white background because they stand out on it a bit more while they kind of blend into the standard DC one, especially the male sprite - this doesn't seem to be the case with the hatchies who have very clearly defined outlines and it translates to lineage view too - example (although that might also be because the new male Silver sprite is pretty small in lineage viewer compared to the hatchie's so his outline become less noticeable). The anatomy of the sprites is improved and they look sleeker and more serpentine and graceful. I also like the new female's head and like that she kept the smile. The scale color is glossy and soft and while I was expecting a more metallic shine to them, I'm not really bothered by it. Their manes look a bit to blurry compared to the originals and lack detail though. Basically, my critique is that the sprite lacks a clear outline that would help them stand out on the scroll more and that their fur is a bit too blurry and also kind of fades into the background, giving the whole sprite the 'washed out' look I've heard mentioned quite a few times in this thread. I hope I didn't come out as rude and that I managed to convey how I feel about the new sprite, I thank everyone involved for your efforts!

[walkinslow]

The Splits look good, but the Silvers are way too saccharine for my taste. I miss the distinguished charisma of the old Silver sprites.

[JavaTigress]

The Splits look good, but the Silvers are way too saccharine for my taste. I miss the distinguished charisma of the old Silver sprites.

I am not quite sure what you even mean by saccharine?

 

Or why you would characterize them as such?

[Twilight-Stasis]

The silvers, the silver omgersh the shading on the silvers the details the details I need one right now

[Sir Barton]

I am not quite sure what you even mean by saccharine?

 

Or why you would characterize them as such?

I can actually see that. I think it's the softness and the fluff. Brings to mind things like cotton candy and such. Also, I've seen many descriptions of "sweet" being applied to the male. He's lost his dragon fierceness.

Edited December 5, 2015 by Sir Barton

[JavaTigress]

I can actually see that. I think it's the softness and the fluff. Brings to mind things like cotton candy and such. Also, I've seen many descriptions of "sweet" being applied to the male.

I think I SORT of get what you are saying... but to be honest, I always sort of pictured Silvers as a'sweet' and gentle breed. Maybe others saw them differently but...I guess they always struck as not particularly fierce dragons.Keep in mind though... appearances can be deceiving, too... just BECAUSE they are soft and furry looking doesn't mean they aren't ABLE to be strong, if they needed to be.

Edited December 5, 2015 by Silverswift

[andromedagalaxia]

D'aww I'll miss that cartoony look of the two-heads! But the updates look great -- thanks for the hard work.

[Magellan]

The Splits are amazing! Stunning work on the muscles! =)

 

Silver female is ok, but the male is simply not. Horns look filmsy now, head bent back as if he'd duck (gives off a shy impression in contradiction to the former, quite sublime pose). The slightly thicker neck and the less fluffy and more sharp mane of the old sprite fit him better. He looks so feeble now...