Hey! This is a long one!
Things are moving slightly ahead of schedule! I'm still shooting for the 25th. But depending on the length I decide on (probably going to go with ~two minutes), the demo itself could come out earlier.
As for the entire movie, the plot is outlined,and man does it look good. It picks up at the exact frame #1 leaves off, and doesn't slow down until about a third of the way in. Even then it's only briefly. I had a lot of fun putting it together, so hopefully it translates into something fun to watch.
A few posts back I mentioned #1 having a 70 : 30 story/battle ratio. That estimate is roughly flipped in this one. The action scenes in this chapter are shaping up well. As mentioned in an earlier post, I enjoyed both the slow, deliberate style of #1's opening as well as the fast paced showdown towards the end. But every fight in #2 shall prove superior to #1, perhaps I can chalk it up as me improving as I go along.
As I animate, I'm throwing ideas around. I have room in one of my battle scenes towards the end for one of the following : Eregion (the intro boss in x4) Asura (from mmz1), or some other menacing opponent. If you see one, know that I considered others quite carefully before settling on the choice.
Asura already has a role, so whether he appears then we'll see. Eregion is a tough cookie, but I'm willing to dedicate a days work to implement him (or her?) in a cool manner if the fit is there. I enjoy working with characters like Eregion and Asura as they have a lot of creative flexibility. One person would definitely utilize it differently then the next one.
I plan on putting in some good work today. I have a fairly reasonable goal of finishing 20% of the demo today. For those curious the demo comprises ~15% of the entire movie. Mathletes might deduce i work at a rate of 3% a day, but thats definitely not going to be the case. On a given day I could complete anywhere as high as 9 or 10% and as low as 1%. It depends what I'm working on.
My main goal for the demo is to showcase some of the improved action. I'm sure people who saw #1 know to expect the plot to continue to build up ( and build up it does), but not too many plot details will be able to be gleaned from the demo. I will share that #2 will add at least two new main protagonists, and a few more antagonists. Mega Man will also fight a lot more like.... Well, Mega Man.
I hope the fanbase continues to grow with the release of the demo(shoot, increasing beforehand isn't bad either, if you know someone who might be interested, tell them to follow me!). I want as many people to see and enjoy this installment as possible. Of course, I'll be relying on you guys for feedback to fine tune #2.
I'm not sure how I feel releasing another demo on Newgrounds, but I'm warming up to the idea, especially if #2 turns out half as decent as I envision it.
Thank you for choosing to follow me!
2B