Electro : How did you get into Mugen & how long have you been a contributor?
SeanAltly : First of all I want to mention that I am completely aware that we are all partaking in a hobby, something we do for fun, and I know I'm not a celebrity or anything. We're just doing this for fun and because people are interested, and I don't want anybody to get the idea that I think I'm better than anyone. With that out of the way, I started messing around with Mugen in late 2007, I think it was. I pretty much immediately started creating (badly), so I've been a contributor for pretty much my entire time in the Mugen Community.
Electro :Your contribution of Rorschach is very popular & a personal favorite of my Mugen roster. Care to talk about why you wanted to make him & when the project started.
SeanAltly : It's funny you'd say he's so popular, since here recently during Mugen Guild's character of the month, he was completely forgotten between Squall and Solid Snake. I made him because I'm a big fan of Watchmen, and especially of Rorschach. He's a very flawed and interesting character, and it bothers me that even though he's often recognized as the most popular character from Watchmen, he's never been in anything else really due to his (spoiler this if you want) death. I decided I wanted to see him in something else and made him for Mugen. That's pretty much all there is to it. That's also pretty much the whole process that goes into deciding who I make next (when it's not an original character). It has to be someone I care about, or else it seems like work.
Electro : Did you like the Watchmen movie?
SeanAltly : I loved the Watchmen movie. I saw it three times in the theater, which is a big deal since the film is almost three hours long. As blasphemous as it may seem, I liked the ending better than the graphic novel version. I do understand why some people didn't like the film. I had no trouble following it since I had read the graphic novel so many times, but I'm also aware that previous knowledge of the source material shouldn't be required for viewing. It's the responsibility of the film and the film makers to make sure the film makes sense on its own, which was a problem at times.
Electro : You have a lot of characters on your site. Most of them seem to be original characters from a story that you started in school. What’s the story of these characters?
SeanAltly : Speaking of the site, we've not had access to our FTP in a while, so to anyone reading this, ignore the following downloads on the site: Solid Snake, Rorschach, and Bloodtide. All three have had vastly superior versions released that we could not post on the site. The original characters are just part of my SHADEs of Manhattan universe. The shortest version of the synopsis is that a corrupt pharmaceutical corporation called Maddicorp, led by Moses Maddigan, conducts a genetic experiment using volunteer as well as captive subject that results in the formation of super powers. The experiment is ruined when one of the subjects escapes, slaughters the scientists, and frees the other subjects. The subjects are on the run from Maddicorp and a special group called The Collection Agency. That's pretty much it in a nutshell. I came up with the idea in the 9th grade, and intended for it to be a comic book series, but it ended up as a Mugen game because of my love for 2-D fighting games.
Electro : What are some new WIP’s that you are working on or projects that you would like to do in the future?
SeanAltly : Well, SHADEs 2 is almost done, I'm currently putting together the characters' endings while waiting for the AI to be finished by Kamekaze. The big thing I'm moving on to now is a fantasy game of mine called Capcom vs. The World. The idea is to pit Capcom's characters (I'm a big fan of Capcom and its characters and games) against a random amalgamation of characters from other sources, hence "The World." They include Jin Kazama (Tekken), CM Punk (a real-life professional wrestler), Terry Bogard (Fatal Fury), Solid Snake (Metal Gear Solid), Rorschach (Watchmen), and Squall (Final Fantasy VIII), just to name a few. As far as what I do in the future, that's being determined by the Polls I set up, where people can vote for who they want to be included in the game.
Electro : We all have projects that are fun to do or ones that give us a headache to complete. Which projects that you’ve worked on where the most fun & which ones have you struggled to complete or have cancelled?
SeanAltly : Like I said before, I try to make sure that all the characters I make are characters I care about or want to see made, so I enjoy it more often than not. I did get a bit frustrated with certain mechanics while making Exile, like getting him to turn properly while in his second stance. It ended up being such a simple fix, too.
Electro : There are many methods & software that people use to create content. What software & devices do you like to use to make your content? Feel free to add in any tips to creating that might help others.
SeanAltly : Believe it or not, I just use MS Paint. I've tried GIMP and Graphics Gale, and they're technically superior programs, but I'm just too comfortable with MS Paint at this point.
Electro : Which video games do you like to play or ones that you draw inspiration from to create content?
SeanAltly : Well, people tend to think I'm a big gamer, but I really don't play much outside of fighting games and established franchises. I don't have a lot of money to try out new games and I'm terrible at FPS games (which seems to be half of the games coming out these days). So I basically stick with Street Fighter, Tekken (and any other fighting games, really), Resident Evil, Megaman, Final Fantasy (though I strongly dislike XIII), the Metal Gear franchise, and the WWE Smackdown games. I just can't seem to get into much these days. I also play a ton of Sonic games, but not the new ones, for obvious reasons.
Electro : There are hundreds of creations out there but what characters, stages, screen packs etc.. are your personal favorites?
SeanAltly : I follow the creations of Kamekaze, Cybaster, Rajaa, BC, Basara, MC2, SafirKreuz85 (though he's only made one character, he's also made some beautiful stages), and the sprite work of CVSNB (who made the sprites for Jin that I'm using in Capcom vs The World) and Diepod. If I didn't mention someone here, it's not a slight or because I don't like their creations, I just listed the ones I follow the closest.
Electro : Are you affiliated with any Mugen groups or projects?
SeanAltly : Just SHADEs of Manhattan and Capcom vs The World. I'm listed as a part-time contributor to both the Street Fighter Alpha 4 project and the Capcom Fighting All-Stars project, but I regret that I haven't actually been able to contribute anything to them yet. I included Retsu as an option in the Capcom vs The World polls so that I could get motivated, since I had told BC I would try to make him so he could be included in SFA4, but he's not winning right now. I still plan on making him eventually, but I'm not sure when I'll get the chance to.
Electro : Is there anything that you would like to see added to the Mugen engine?
SeanAltly : Just what everyone else wants, built-in tag team functionality and maybe some other things, nothing terribly specific.
Electro : Thanks a lot for taking the time to be interviewed & enhancing the Mugen community with your projects.
SeanAltly : No problem, any time.
To see SeanAltly's latest creation CM Punk visit MFG forums : CM Punk by SeanAltly
