Newgrounds.com — Everything, By Everyone.

So yeah... First of all, I'M NOT DEAD! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!

Anyways, if people have been wondering when the next Clash of the Sprites is coming out... I have some good news and bad news...

Let's get the hard one over with...
I'm going to be discontinuing Clash of the Sprites IN IT'S CURRENT INCARNATION this will not mean the end of Clash of the Sprites and by no means does it mean that I will stop making video games. However, I am somewhat dissatisfied with Clash of the Sprite's current direction (or lack thereof). The series could become so much more than a simple cross-over rip-off of Sonic RPG and Super Mario Bros. Z.

------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------

Which brings me to my next topic... (If you only came for an update about Clash of the Sprites, Scroll Down)
As many people in the community already know, Alvin-Earthworm has publicly announced that he will be discontinuing Super Mario Bros. Z. This probably disappointed the numerous fans he had acquired over the years, and I personally found that his reasons for quitting were... somewhat weak.
Then I thought about it for a while, "how could such a talented animator lose the motivation to finish the series that he started?". I realized then that, regardless of his reasons for doing so and the disappointment of his many fans, Alvin had every right to euthanize SMBZ. He had clearly lost his "creative spark" and was no longer motivated to continue animating the series. Perhaps reality gave a big slap to the face, making him realize that he had more important things to do with his life. Perhaps he simply lost interest in the series as a whole and ended it out of laziness. We'll never truly know why Alvin chose to do the things he did. What I do know, however, is that if Alvin forced himself to finish the series to please the fans, he probably would have done a half-assed job due to his lack of motivation.
For nostalgia's sake, I went back and re-watched the entire SMBZ series. Watching the whole series again, I could also see Alvin's loss of creativity approaching the more recent episodes. You could tell that he was throwing in plot elements and characters for the sake of trying to switch things up. Admittedly, the concept of these characters were great, with my personal favorite being Basilisk. However, this ultimately distorted the direction that SMBZ was originally heading and made it look like the plot wasn't really heading anywhere. As tragic as it may be, it was better for Alvin to put down SMBZ in its prime instead of pushing the series to the point of being exhausted and unimaginative.
We shouldn't look at Alvin's withdrawal as an injustice but rather as an inspiration for other sprite animators to aim for the top by finding their own "creative spark".

------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------

Which brings me back to the future of Clash of the Sprites...
Let's face it people, the art of Sprite Animating is slowly dying. Video Games have moved on from 2D sprites and have started using 3D models. This means that we're stuck with the sprites that we have now...
The original idea I had for Clash of the Sprites was for it to be a cross-over to end all cross-overs. However, I've grown up a lot since 2009 and now I have realized that it would be nearly impossible to cross-over all of the universes that I planned to merge in the first place. The plot would crumble under its own weight and it would become no more of an amateurish fan-fiction.
I want to create a sprite game that's more than that and I do have a plan for doing so.

------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------

Sadly, this also means many things for the future of Clash of the Sprites

First of all I will no longer be uploading games in an episodic manner. This means that you will probably be waiting another year until I release my new and improved Clash of the Sprites game.

Secondly, I will no longer be using flash to create the game, I will be using RPG Maker VX Ace. This means two things. Firstly, I won't be uploading the games to newgrounds (I will, however, post on my user page when it is finished) Secondly, people who want to play my game will need to download the RPG maker VX Ace RTP and the game itself.

Thirdly, the plot will no longer focus on Mario and Sonic. I will be introducing a new protagonist and plethora of new characters. The game will take place in the "real world" and focus on people's interactions with the "world of fiction". That's all I will say for now...

I hope whatever fans I have are looking forward to my new series. Sorry if you sent me a message before and I didn't reply. I have been busy with university and my own life as of late.

Alvin-Earthworm's declaration of withdrawal