Here's the intro I made for the next Four Swords episode. I drew it as a little experiment. I'm a bit mixed about it and I'm fully aware that I need to polish up my drawing skills, so go easy on it. I did, however, get an offer from a fan to help polish up this intro, so you'll possibly see an updated version of this in the future.

The series itself will still be done in sprites, (with some additional artwork in some parts). I might require some additional help with a few custom sprites based on certain characters that I need for the episode. if you're interested,please let me know and I'll credit you for them.

As for Voice acting, I do have 5 spots open at the moment(4 male, 1 female). Send me a demo reel at hadouken_dude1984@yahoo.com if you want
to audition.

Update 03/17: The auditions are over and the actors have been selected for the project. Thanks to everyone else who participated.

I might as well inform people once again about Four swords Misadventures with another FAQ

Have you started working on FSM 8 yet?
I'm working on a longer script at the moment, hopefully for 3 or 4 episodes, though things can change.Once I feel that the script is ready, I'll start animating it.

How long does it usually take to make one episode?
It depends on the script and the availability of the cast working on the episode. This includes artists, co-animators and voice actors. It can vary anywhere between 6 to 17 months apparently.

Where do you get your sprites and backgrounds?
The Spriters Resource
The Shyguy Kingdom
VGMaps.com
Sprite Database

Why are the Links in your series different compared to the Manga?
Because this it's not based on the Manga. It's my loose interpretation of the FS story and its characters. I only consider the games as canon (part of the official storyline), not the mangas.

Can I voice act in your series?
I'm open to having more VAs in the series, though I require a few things.
1)You need to be 16 or older (Please don't fake your age).
2)You need a good mic and and know about audio recording programs.
3)You need to show me your VA experience. Send me a demo reel by email or in the audio portal.

When is the next one coming out?
Have I EVER answered that question before? I made that perfectly clear in the Blizzeta Screamer Medal in FSM 7.

Why is the next episode taking so long?
I'm busy with university assignments most of the time,among other things of course. In other words. I HAVE A LIFE!

Will there be more medals in the next episode?
The NG medals were a fun little addition to FSM 7. However, I haven't decided on adding more bonus material for the medals yet simply because I feel that I might run out of gags quicker that way. If I decide to use them, I'll let you guys know.

Will there be more anime references in the next one?
I might have to tone down the random anime references a bit due to complaints from users saying that ep.7 had "too many references". I'm currently working on more original gags mainly based in the Zelda Universe.

Can I help in any other way?
If you're good at making custom sprites of other Zelda characters, show me what you got. I'm also accepting Music from the audio portal this time around due to Tom Fulp strongly urging authors to do so. You can also help me out with a Paypal donation, if possible, at this this e-mail. Seriously, it would help me out a lot.

First off I should point out that I'm also a fan of the RE franchise and loved the original series ever since I started playing them in 2000. When I stared hearing word about RE being turned into a live action film 10 years back I was looking forward to it at the time.

Originally, according to what I read over the years, George Romero, The famous horror film director that inspired the RE frachise, was actually asked to write a script for the live action version of the game after making a "Japan only" commercial for RE2. Romero was skeptical about it at first, but later changed his mind and wrote a faithful film adaptation of RE1. Surprisingly that got rejected by CAPCOM since they wanted to take a different approach to their story and not reenact the first game.

This is probably why CAPCOM chose Paul W.S. Anderson instead. This may have been a bad move from CAPCOM at the time, but it actually turned out to be profitable having Anderson and Milla Jovovich on board in the end. It's no surprise that the main actress of the films(who plays Alice, an original character) is married to the director.

I might as well nit-Pick each one of the films. If you agree on it or not, that's fine.

Resident Evil
Good:Borrows minor elements from RE1 and RE2(The Licker the Mansion with an underground lab, zombie dogs, Raccoon City, escaping the lab by train, among others).

Bad:Wooden acting, Michelle Rodriguez playing the "Tomboyish army brat" character (and still does to this day...), Very little character development from the supporting cast (because Alice steals the show) .

RE: Apocalypse
Good: Borrows elements from RE: Code Veronica and RE3 (T-virus outbreak, Nemesis, Jill Valentine, Carlos Olivera, Alice emulating Claire's scene from RE:CV) and a funny GTA reference.

Bad: Most of the cast is still bland with a few exceptions here and there.No Leon Kennedy because He was"killed of", according to a newspaper report in the film. Takes place in Raccoon City During a "heat wave", though you can tell that the actors were freezing their asses off while filming the graveyard scene in Ontario.

RE:Extinction
Good: Referencing the Mansion from RE1 and 2 again (Claire Redfield, Wesker,Tyrant and the infected crows make appearances), most of the story somewhat deviates from the previous films and offers a different setting.Seeing More of Alice (Literally, since she was cloned several times by Umbrella

Bad: some of the good supporting characters from Apocalypse were killed off. Same Bland acting. Tyrant was killed off in a very disappointing way(No Rocket Launcher?) and Claire looked looks like a Sarah Connor ripoff.

RE:Afterlife
Good: Referencing RE4 and 5 (mutant dogs, Superhuman Wesker, Chris Redfield, Claire Redfield looks hotter, The Executioner and the Plaga infected civilians appear, the Iluminados Pendant is used )

Bad:Though acting is a little better, it's still obviously bland. 3D Slow motion effects are too gimmicky and tedious. A few plot holes. Jill Valentine appears during the Credits.

So, are they worth watching? Well I don't know about you guys, but I see the franchise as a guilty pleasure. I mean, yeah it may be bad at some parts, but overall I see it as dumb fun if you lower your expectations a bit. I guess that explains why the film franchise is the most successful film adaptation of a Video game series.

To be fair, at least Paul W.S. Anderson is trying his best at it, unlike other directors with their VG and anime adaptations these days. :/

Ha Ha, Gotcha! December 28 is "Dia De Los Inocentes" in my country (our version of April Fools day).
No, I haven't gotten sued and hopefully things stay that way for me.

Well speaking of which, now that Tom told us not to use copyrighted music in flashes, I would like to know what songs in the audio porta would you reccomend for a flash project. I'm not fond of the audio portal at times, but I might as well play by the rules from now on since the webmaster prefers to take the "better to be safe than sorry" approch and I understand that.

I'm also thinking of developing more original content in the future. I've been thinking of making a fighting game with original characters, though I need to develop my AS skills and that itself is quite a challenge to me, especially when I'm still getting used to Flash CS4. I prefer to stick with AS 2.0 since I still don't understand AS 3.0 in that version.

As for continuing FSM, I'm working on it.Thanks to everyone for the suggestions ;)

Well, that's all for now. Happy New Year!
Let's hope 2011 will be awesome! :)

Ok, to clarify on the people who still think that FSM 7 was the final episode of the series, it's not.
IT WAS THE CONCLUSION OF A 3 PART EPISODE!

Now with that aside, I've been developing the next script for quite a while and, well, I'm hitting another roadblock again. Writer's block sucks. : ( Let's be clear here, it's never easy to keep a story fresh when you feel like you're exhausting an old formula. I do have some ideas that I'm thinking of using for the next few episodes (again, I don't know how many I'll make) and I thought I give others a chance to share their ideas that I might use for my series.

There were some occasional suggestions I've gotten over the years:
Some have suggested adding a "5th Link" to the mix (a Yellow Link). I'm not interested in that idea. the series is called FOUR SWORDS for a reason you know. Why add another Link?

Others have suggested in Bringing in Ganon to the story. Though it might happen, I just think it's too soon for that just yet. The character is usually known popping up at the end of the story most of the time and I feel that if I do add him to the story, it'll indicate that the series will end sooner.

But with that aside, what potential gags/ideas do you have for this series? Keep in mind that I might or might not use your idea, but still, it's worth asking around every once in a while. I'm just looking for input here.

Well, first off I should mention that I've been a big fan of Linkin Park since their debut in 2000. I grew up listening to Hybrid Theory and Meteora. Once Minutes to Midnight came along, I was skeptical about it at first but decided to listen to the whole album and I found the album passable, despite some uninspiring tracks that remind me of U2 in a strange way.

Now what do I think of A Thousand Suns? Well, to get an idea of what it's about, It's a concept album that talks about a post war event. Interestingly It serves as the continuation of Minutes to Midnight, which is itsel a countdown to destruction. So in other words both are connected as a "before & after" concept about nuclear warfare and political activism.

Now, a few changes that I found noticeable in this album are:
1)The guitars are missing in some tracks and have been replaced with Keyboards and electronic effects. I guess they're trying to get rid of their distorted guitar sounds from their previous songs and trying something new.

2)Out of the overall 15 tracks, 6 of them are instrumentals/sound bytes/speeches. It wouldn't have hurt to add more MUSIC and less atmosphere you know.

3)There's less screaming from Chester, that is if you don't count the "screaming harmonics" in the background in some tracks. Blackout, The Catalyst and The Messenger are the only exceptions though. Chester himself stated that he's getting tired of screaming,which is why this contains more ballads, Similar to MTM. I don't mind it, but at times I do miss their old sound.

4)There is more rapping from Mike Shinoda ( in 3 tracks), though he prefers to sing more nowadays.

Now with all these nitpicky comments aside, is it a good album? In my opinion it's not a bad album, but definitely not their best either. That all depends on your taste in music. If you're open to listening to a new sound then you're welcome to check it out. If you still prefer their old sound, that's your call. I have learned over the years that when your favorite band decides to evolve, you have to accept change and you have to grow up along with them. In other words, despite these changes, I'm still a fan of their work and I still look forward to listening to their future albums.

Sure, you can try to convince LP to go back to their HT roots, but to quote their song "When They Come For Me" : "I'm not the same person telling you to 'forfeit the game'."

Here are some clips from the Street Fighter Project that I'm working on. Currently it's about halfway done and I will possibly add a couple more gags to the mix. I'm really liking how the project is turning out so far. Wish me luck with the rest of it!

BTW, Rina-chan was Nice enough To make a cameo as Guile's wife Jane. Thanks Rina-chan :)

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/* */

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/* */
Cast:
Shock-dingo: Ryu, Guile
Taromaster4: Ken
Rina-chan: Jane (Guile's wife)

I'm currently developing A Street Fighter parody mainly based on Street fighter II (and it's constant updates) and at this moment I'm now looking for voice actors for most of the playable characters that appeared in SF II, as well as some minor cameos from the other installments. The script has been written and they mostly consist of random sketches between the characters. Think of this concept as MK Mishaps meets Brawl Taunts. Yes, an odd combination, but that's the best I can describe it.

Currently I need voices for these characters:

Ryu (played by Shock-Dingo)
Ken (played by TaroMaster4)
Guile (played by Shock-Dingo)
Dahlsim (played by HoodedCobraGeen)

Chun Li (Played by Shiraikigu)
Cammy Played by Vampires-love)
Zangief (played by Shock-Dingo)
Dee Jay (played by HoodedCobraGeen)

E. Honda (no need, at the moment)
Blanka (no need, at the moment)
Fei Long (Played by Rabid-Animals)
T.Hawk (Played by Rabid-Animals)

Balrog (Played by VACKenny, formerly known as Kenkaku )
Vega (Played by Tichondrius12)
Sagat (Played by Rabid-Animals)
Bison (played by Shock-Dingo)

If anyone's interested, send me a demo reel at hadouken_dude1984@yahoo.com and I'll pick the best ones suitable for the project. I'm only searching for users who are 16 or older who know something about audio programs( like audacity for example). Best of luck to all those participating.

Now choose your character and FIGHT!

The reason I'm asking this question is because I occasionally get this offer from time to time. The only official ones that I participated in were Sprite TV 2 & 3, but ever since I finished Sprite TV 3, I decided to distance myself from collabs mainly because of an incident that occurred the day after that flash was uploaded where I personally felt humiliated over a post I made about supporting sprite movies. I ended up feeding the trolls unintentionally and got a nasty backlash from the haters. From that point on I only participated in collabs, but in a limited way through voice acting (mainly in Osuka's flashes).

Now, back to the general topic of collabs. They can be good, they can be bad, they can be controversial, or they could simply be a waste of people's time. Collabs are good in one way because of the interaction between authors and animators in order to make something fun and worth watching and maybe even make something really epic out of a team effort. On the other hand, there will be the occasional collab where it starts off with high expectations and ends up failing miserably, sometimes on purpose if this was started by a troll.

Now lets talk about the authors in a collab. we have the users who are known and praised for their own work, the novice authors who like to lend a hand and the users who are sort of "leeches" who just want to take advantage of someone else's talent just to win an award and because they don't either have the time nor motivation to develop a solo project (or just suck at it), thus working only on collabs.

I'm not saying that everyone acts this way. There truly are people who are interested in working with other talented authors, but for another purpose. In my case, I got a particular offer to join a collab so that I could guide and help out the new animators who are interested in flash and the collab leader even went as far as saying "it would be awesome to work with one of the best!" Though I found this encouraging, I had to turn it down because my semester at the Uni got heavy this year.

As for me participating in a future collab, well, we'll see what happens. I'm choosing my side-projects carefully from now on and I don't want the same thing to happen to me all over again.

Overall, when it comes to collabs, participate at your own risk because you never know what could happen. Just sayin...

Wow, I never expected to get this far. I rarely win a monthly award or weekly or even review crew pick.
It may be 3rd place, but hell, I'm not complaining. Thanks NG and thanks again to all those who collaborated in this episode! Hope to make more soon.