For those that are interested I'm working on a character sprite generator for RPG Maker XP. It's an ongoing project which will be continuously updated. Here's teh link:
www.backwater-productions.net/RMXP_CSG/
(be "warned" it has "nude" sprites, so if that sort of thing is too much for you then don't click)

Currently has around 100 or so parts, male and female teen ( 18 ) forms, HSL controllers for altering the colors of parts (some parts have more than one color that can be altered), animated preview and multiple character emotion options.

It's still a bit beta, I'm working on adding in the ability to upload and use your own parts and I'll be adding a simple sprite graphic editor that will be similar to MS Paint but will have some more advanced options like layering, advanced resizing and some filter effects. I'm also working on setting up a schedule so that I'll be adding in at least one new part each week.

I've got a lot of future plans for it too, like eventually I want to add in a face set generator and a battle character generator along with it. Eventually there will be forms for babies, kids, teens (already got those), adults, elderly and then I'll put in some monster forms too. It's very much a continually evolving piece of software, which is why it's online based, it allows me to continually update it at any time.

Anywho, feel free to use it as ya like. I'm also open to specific requests for parts and new ideas for it. You don't really need to give me "credit" or anything if you make characters with it, I'm not really interested in that sort of thing.

That's really cool! I can't wait to see what this looks like in a while with tons of options

I concurr. That's a great-looking tool you have there. Keep up updated, and welcome to the site.

Hmm...needs a battleback generator too. I need one

I don't own RPG Maker XP, but I checked this out. Nice. Way to help out your fellow makers!!

Nice little tool you got there . I might even use it in the future.

Okey dokey, I'm back! Had to take a couple weeks from sprite stuff to work on AMV stoof (goin to Sakura-Con in April). So basically I was makin this for teh AMV contest: http://www.backwater-productions.net/_vide..._Sumiregawa.avi

That's done (or at least as done as I'm makin it for now) so back to sprite st00f!

First up, I added in the donation system, yay! By making donations you can basically control how much new content is added, what content is added and how quickly it's added (instructions are on teh site, just click the donate button next to the save button).

The other semi-big change coming up is that I'm likely going to throw in a Google ad banner, mostly cause teh sprite generator is really gouging at my server resources and if the load continues to increase I'm gonna need another server:

This week's update I did a little early, partially to make up for teh last two weeks when I was workin on AMV st00f. Here's this Friday's parts (two days early):


Over the course of the next few days, provided I don't get a bunch of donation requests I'm going to concentrate on fixing some minor bug stuff...basically sorting out all the teen girl head and emotion parts so they work like the male ones. And a few of the male clothing forms need fixed too cause if you use them with some of the emotion forms they look really weird. After that I need to cross over the teen girl extras to the guys stuff (sans a couple obvious forms like the nun outfit).

After I get all that straightened out I really want to concentrate on adding in the two adult forms and the kid form, they won't have very many parts starting out, but I'd just like to get them on there at least.

Well, that's basically it for right now (I think), I need to get some sleep cause I'm REALLY tired so if I missed anything or you spot a bug or something let me know and I'll see about gettin it worked out. In the mean time...I shall slumber... -_-

Any particular reason you don't feel like making this a downloadable program. That would solve all your server stress needs. Just seems like something like this would benefit more from being a normal application as opposed to a web app, so you could always encourage people to download the flash program (and have it download all the spites with it). Might be even better to try to integrate it with RMXP.

I assume it's a web application right now because the RM2K one is also a web application, plus this way RMXPers from other sites can use it freely.

There's plans for that (along with tons, and tons, and tons of other stuff). The only downside to a stand alone client side Flash app is that you would need to take the bother to download new sprite parts every week or so. I could reprogram it completely in C++, but right now I'd rather not and it'd take time away from creating new parts. The other downside is that a client side Flash web application would still need access to the net in order to save (unless you just wanted to use yer print screen button).

The big thing right now is time, I'm the only person working on it and I can only wait until around the end of this month before I go and get a new job, at which point my time will be even more limited. So a lot of the time I have to decide, well do I make some new parts or do I work on a new function? Donations basically allow me to spend less time working a regular job and more time working on the sprite generator. My monthly bills are only like $300 a month right now so even a little donation means I can take a lot more time to work on it. And if I'm able to generate $300 a month, well that basically means I'll devote an entire month straight to working on the sprite generator.

I have thought about looking for help in creating parts and such, but the problem with that is how closely intertwined everything is. Nearly every part is in some way dependant upon how other parts look, their form, size, etc so I have to keep all that in mind every time I make a new part. For example with teen male clothes the very top pixels where it meets the neck ALWAYS have to be a dark color otherwise they don't match up right with any of the emotion forms where the head is looking downwards.

Outwardly it might look like a part is simply one graphic, but in many cases it's actually upwards of FIVE graphics:
http://www.backwater-productions.net/RM ... g_10x1.png
http://www.backwater-productions.net/RM ... g_10x2.png
http://www.backwater-productions.net/RM ... g_10x3.png
http://www.backwater-productions.net/RM ... g_10x4.png
http://www.backwater-productions.net/RM ... g_10x5.png

So needless to say, its construction is VERY complex and really it needs to all be done by one person so that they can keep every little nuance and form in mind to make sure everything matches right.

As far as making it directly compatible with RMXP...mmm...not sure exactly how that could be done...or if it could even be done at all. RMXP uses Ruby scripting I believe, in which case many features simply wouldn't work (like the ability to alter the colors of the sprite parts). And again, it's a time factor, I would have to invest at ~least~ a month to learn the syntax and it'd take at ~least~ another month to rebuild it all in another language/form.

My primary goal in making it a web application was that you wouldn't ever have to download new parts for it since they would be automatically added in by me. It's very much an evolving program and one that's always being improved upon. The downside is that it requires more server side resources, however the use of ad banners should alleviate that burden as I'll be able to get a better server. I'm not going to be using nasty malware type banners either, they'll be teh Google ad-sense variety, so no porn stuff and the banners will actually directly relate to the content of the page (so it'll actually show stuff that you WANT to take a look at, not just scam garbage).