4-- Mugen Creations

[RobotMonkeyHead]

MUGEN CONTENT

 

•  HOW TO SHARE MUGEN STUFF RIGHT

Spoiler

••  HOW TO MAKE A POST WHEN SHARING

Spoiler

The first thing you'll need to know is what to include in a post when sharing some Mugen content. There are 3 essential things that should be included in every release post no matter what or where, and 3 things you may or may not want to include depending on the nature of the content. Take a look around at existing release threads to get a feel for how other people include these.

The essential 3 things are:
1 - The name of the thing you're sharing. At a minimum this should go in the post title, but in the post is fine too.
2 - The download link.
3 - Preview Images. At least 1, but 2 or 3 is a pretty much standard.

If it isn't you're creation, you're absolutely going to want to add:
4 - Credit to the creator. Meaning mention their name (the topic title is a good place).

The following things are nice to add if you can:
5 - A quick description of the content.
6 - A moves list, especially if it's a character you made.

••  WHERE TO SHARE IT

Spoiler

There are a few forums and sub-forums around the site where you can share Mugen creations, whether or not they're yours. All of them are in the Mugen District section of the front page. For organizational reasons it's important that you try to share it in the proper place, so here's the list and what type of creations can be shared in each forum there:


[ RELEASES ]

For sharing things you created yourself, not edits you made to existing content. If you created a character, stage or screen pack it goes here.

 

[ RELEASES ]

┗ [ EDITS & ADD-ONS ]
For sharing edits you made of existing content or add-ons that can be used to upgrade existing content. If you edited a character, stage or screenpack it goes here. If you created a palette, a patch, life bars, or hit sparks, it also goes here.

 

[ RELEASES ]

┗ [ OFFSITE ]

For sharing releases you found on other Mugen sites. If you found a character, stage, screen pack, life bars, hit sparks, palette or patch somewhere else on the web, get the preview images and the download link and share it here. 

 

[ RELEASES ]

┗ [ RESOURCES ]

This is for sharing things sprite sheets, sprite sets, sound effects and background music. If it's a resource that can be used to create Mugen content, then it goes here, whether you created it or found it somewhere else. This sub-forum is broken down into sections titled [ CHARACTER SPRITES ], [ STAGE SPRITES ], [ SYSTEM SPRITES ], [ SOUND EFFECTS ] and [ BACKGROUND MUSIC]. Make sure you post the resource in the appropriate sub-forum.  Note that [ RESOURCES ] is a link to the [ RESOURCE WING ] sub-forum in [ THE WAREHOUSE ], and so is [ SPRITES & SOUNDS ] in the [ CREATION LAB ] forum, so any resources you post will be immediately accessible to creators to use.

 

[ RELEASES ]

┗ [ FULL GAMES ]

This is for sharing full games you made. It counts as a full game if you carefully selected the characters, the screen pack, stages, life bars, and hit sparks and did at least some editing to all the characters or a significant amount of work to make it a unique creation somehow. If you just assembled characters, stages, and a screen pack without editing or adding anything unique it goes in [ COMPILATIONS ].

 

[ RELEASES ]

┗ [ FULL GAMES ]

    ┗ [ COMPILATIONS ]

This is for sharing compilations you made. What distinguishes a compilation from a full game is this: It's a full game if you carefully selected the characters, the screen pack, stages, life bars, and hit sparks and did at least some editing to all the characters or a significant amount of work to make it a unique creation somehow. If you just assembled characters, stages, and a screen pack without editing or adding anything unique it goes here.

 

[ RELEASES ]

┗ [ FULL GAMES ]

    ┗ [ IKEMEN ]
This is where you can release any full Ikemen games you either made or found. Where most Mugen content will work with Ikemen, there are occasional minor compatibility issues, so anything released here should be tested in the Ikemen engine. Note this is a link to the [ RELEASES ] sub-forum of the [ IKEMEN DOJO ].

 

 

[ IKEMEN DOJO ]

┗ [ RELEASES ]

Any Ikemen compatible creations can be released here. Where most Mugen content will work with Ikemen, there are occasional minor compatibility issues, so anything released here should be tested in the Ikemen engine.

 

 

• WHERE TO DOWNLOAD CHARACTERS, STAGES ETC

Spoiler

 

••  COLLECTIONS

Spoiler

The first place to check for downloadable Mugen content is the [ COLLECTIONS ] forum. In the main forum there you'll find assorted collections of characters organized by game or other groupings. Definitely the first stop on anyone's character shopping list. 

There are also sub-forums there for [ STAGES ] and [ MOTIFS ] collections, which contain groupings of stages, and screen packs / life bars / hit sparks respectively. And lastly there's a sub-forum dedicated to [ HOUSE CHOICE CREATORS ] where some of the best creators from around the site each have their own sub-forum. It's like our Hall of Fame. Everything in there is quality.   

••  RELEASES

Spoiler

Next place to check is the [ RELEASES ] forum. Here in the main forum you'll find characters, stages, and screen packs release topics posted by the creators themselves. Not only is this where you'll find the latest stuff to come out, but you can let the creators know what you think about their work. While you're here, please do leave them some feedback, suggestions or appreciation in a comment.

There's a sub-forum in Releases called [ OFFSITE ] where you can find recent releases from other Mugen sites, but the topics are not hosted by the character's creators. There's also a sub-forum called [ EDITS & ADD-ONS ] where you can find edits of existing content and upgrades for your characters like palettes and AI patches.

If you're feeling ambitious there's also a sub-forum here called [ FULL GAMES ], where you can download entire playable games with no assembly required. Full games have had some work put into each of the characters and the motif to make them a coherent project that's playable from start to finish.

If you're looking for something just a little more raw, you can check out the sub-forum inside Full Games called [ COMPILATIONS ]. These, like full games, are playable right from download. But they are not balanced, edited, refined or made to be a complete product in any way. They are just a bunch of characters ands stages assembled in a screen pack and uploaded. Good if you like a bit more of a chaotic vibe.  

••  THE WAREHOUSE

Spoiler

Lots of hoarding goes on in the Mugen world and [ THE WAREHOUSE ] is the site's hoard. There are 4 main wings, the [ CHARACTER WING ], the [ STAGE WING ], and the [ MOTIF WING ], and then finally [ THE DOCKS ].  The wings are sorted content broken up into sub-forums, or "rooms". The Docks are content that's awaiting sorting by staff.

The Character Wing's rooms are the [ MAIN ROOM ], the [ ORIGINALS ROOM ], the [ EDITS ROOM ] and the [ ANIME & TOON ROOM ]. There's also the [ PALETTES & PATCHES ROOM ] which, similar to the [ EDITS & ADD-ONS ] sub-forum in Releases, is a place where you can find upgrades for your characters like palettes and AI patches.

The Stage Wing has 4 rooms; a [ ZOOMING 1.1 ROOM ], an [ HD RES ROOM ], a [ HIGH RES ROOM ] and a [ LOW RES ROOM ] these are pretty self explanatory, except for HD Res, which indicates full RGB colored stages. Stages go into the best room that can be used to describe them, so a low res zooming stage would be in the zooming room.
 

The Motif Wing only has 2 rooms, currently. The first is the [ LIFEBARS & HITSPARKS ROOM ], where you can find lifebars and hitsparks to add to your screen pack. Second is the [ STORYBOARD ROOM ] which contains things game intros, logos, and game endings to help enhance your screen pack further.

 

 

••  IKEMEN DOJO

Spoiler

If you're looking to download something Ikemen related, this is the place. Check out the Ikemen Dojo's [ RELEASES ] sub-forum. Most Mugen content is compatible with Ikemen, but there are some occasional compatibility issues, so this is the place to find things that have been designed for, or at least tested in Ikemen and are sure to work.

 

••  LOCATING THINGS MANUALLY

Spoiler

If you don't feel like searching through anything, sometimes the easiest way, ironically, is to just use the search field in the top nav bar. Just type in the name of the thing you're looking for and hit enter. Or, if you want to get specific, click on the actual magnifying glass icon itself, and it'll take you to a page where you can really detail your search.

One other method for manually locating content, is to just look for a topic with a tag on it. Click the tag and you'll be given a list of all content that shares that tag.

Lastly, if you know the creator of the thing you're looking for you can click on their profile. Some creators have a section titled My Creations where they keep links to all of their own creations. Or you can click "See their activity" just below their cover photo, and then "Topics" in the left column to see all the topics they've created. You might find a release topic there.

 

 

• LEARNING TO CREATE THINGS IN MUGEN

Spoiler

••  HOW DIFFICULT IS THIS?

Spoiler

First and foremost, if you've never done it before, creating Mugen stuff can be challenging. It depends on your previous coding experience. If you generally know what you're doing when it comes to coding, Mugen is a walk in the park. If you've never done anything coding related, making Mugen stuff is going to be difficult so buckle up.

••  DOWNLOAD FIGHTER FACTORY

Spoiler

The bread and butter of Mugen creation is a program called Fighter Factory. Contrary to its name you can make more than just characters, you can make anything Mugen related. In the site's top nav bar, hover over Mugen Software, and then Tools Warehouse. Fighter Factory will be the first item on the drop down that appears. Download the latest version.

••  GET FAMILIAR WITH THE DOCS

Spoiler

Open up your Mugen directory, and find the subdirectory named "docs". In there you'll find all the essential documentation you need for creating Mugen content. This will be a continual reference point going forward, so open up each file in here and just take a quick look at its contents. You don't need to read everything in here, just get a basic idea.

••  FIND A GOOD TUTORIAL

Spoiler

This is where your path will branch depending on what you want to create, be it a character, stage, screen pack, edit etc. At this point you should know what that is, and if you don't you should figure it out. Making small edits to existing content of whatever type you choose, is the recommended first step. Once you get the hang of that, you can move into full fledged creation. Either way, finding a good tutorial is a great place to get started on either process, so check out the [ TUTORIAL LIBRARY ] and look around for something that fits your interests.

 

••  START A W.I.P. TOPIC FOR YOUR PROJECT

Spoiler

Once you're ready for lift off, meaning you've downloaded Fighter Factory, you know what kind of content you want to make, you know basically what the docs contain, and you have a tutorial in hand to get you started... it's time to create your first WIP topic. WIP stands for "work in progress".

Your WIP topic will let the community know what you're working on, and people will be able to track your progress and answer questions or offer suggestions as you work. This is key not only for your own growth, but for building hype for your eventual release. Make sure to include plenty of screenshots and descriptive detail on your WIP topic, because the more people know the more they can help you. Also try to update it often, because people tend to stay engaged more with you that way.

If you get really stuck, and you can't find the answer in a tutorial, and no one on your WIP topic is able to help you, you can try asking a question in the [ MUGEN CODING ] sub-forum of P2P Help.

 

••  RELEASING YOUR CREATION INTO THE WILD

Spoiler

Once you've finally finished your project, it's time to share it with the world. Or at least the site. There's an entire section of this post dedicated to how to do that properly, so I won't reiterate it here. Instead, close this spoiler, and the spoiler it's contained in and look for the topic titled "How to share Mugen stuff right".

 

 

 

• HOW TO MAKE MONEY FOR SPRITING OR CODING

Spoiler

We have a place for that, and it's the [ COMMISSIONS HUB ] sub-forum in the Mugen Lounge. Make a new topic there detailing your skills and interests, or look for an existing topic by someone looking to hire a coder / spriter / whatever skill you're offering.

Where the nuances of that get a little tricky regarding credit, copyright, payment etc, we leave most of that up to you as the person offering your skills for payment. The only time we might intervene is if we see you're doing something blatantly illegal that could be damaging to the site or the community. 

• JUST WANT TO SHARE SOME MUGEN VIDEOS?

Spoiler

Easy, we got a place for that called [ VIDEO SHARING ]. It's a sub-forum in the Mugen Lounge, and you can share all the Mugen videos you want there. If you're going to be sharing a lot, you can start your own topic, and continually add to it. Gaining a following is a little easier that way.

 

• SHARING LINKS TO OTHER MUGEN SITES

Spoiler

Sharing and finding other Mugen related websites can be done in the [ OFFSITE COMMUNITIES ] sub-forum of Communities. You'll notice a page top feature there called the Departure Gates. If you want to recommend another forum to be included in it, there's a topic for that called Recommend a Site for the Departure Gates,