What follows is a list of things to consider when creating a
mascot. Some of this is already covered in the help file that comes with Otaku Mascot (look under "How to Create a
Mascot"). Remember, a mascot is limited to 500 kilobytes in size. Many of the tips that follow are designed to keep the
mascot file size as small as possible.
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The Otaku Mascot program can support .BMP,
.PCX, and .LBM file formats. For
.BMP and .PCX, the Otaku Mascot program can not
only support the usual 16 and 256 color images but it can handle 24-bit color (true color) images. This
doesn't mean you really need to use 24-bit color images. So far, all the mascots that I have seen can
easily be rendered in 256 colors. Reducing the number of colors reduces the overall size of the mascot
file and the mascot will load more quickly as well.
Save your artwork in the fewest number of colors as possible, typically 256 colors.
Even if you create a rendered image, you can still reduce it to 256 colors without significantly affecting
the quality of the image.
The Otaku Mascot program saves all of the artwork in the mascot using the number of colors
in the frame with the highest color depth. Therefore, you should make sure all of the artwork you include in
your mascot has the same color depth.
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A typical mascot is about 80 pixels wide and about 150 pixels high. The Otaku Mascot program can support
images as large as 320 pixels wide by 200 pixels high, which allows for motion.
The Otaku Mascot program sets the size of the mascot to the size of the largest frame.
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A typical mascot sits on the top of a window, with about 3/4 of the mascot above the edge of the
window and about 1/4 of the image hanging in front of the window. This means that a typical mascot will
stick up above the window some 60 pixels or so. For many windows on a computer with a desktop resolution
of 800 x 600, the mascot will generally be visible most of the time. If the mascot is much taller, though,
the mascot will be cut off and not always visible.
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Make sure your mascots are large enough to be seen. A mascot should be at least 60 or 70 pixels high
overall. Otherwise, it might be too small to see. One way to compensate for a small image is to put some
movement in the animation. For example, make the character run back and forth in a small area or perform a
particularly spectacular trick. If the mascot is too small, it can't be seen and appreciated.
Mascots smaller than about 48 x 48 pixels are generally rejected when submitting them to
Otaku World unless they have a lot of movement. Make sure your mascot can be seen on a desktop with a
resolution of 1024 x 768.
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Original artwork is better than ripping art from someplace else. If I am undecided about accepting a
mascot, I give more weight to original artwork than ripped artwork. In other words, if the mascot is what
I consider marginal (almost too small or too simple) but it has really good original art, I might post it
anyhow. However, if the same mascot has art that was scanned or ripped from another source, I will probably
reject it.
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If you use a sound, is must be a Windows .WAV file. The file should be
encoded as 8-bit, 22KHz to keep the size down (8-bit, 22KHz is a reasonable compromise between size
and quality of sound). Using a 16-bit, 44KHz sound is overkill and totally unnecessary. For example, a
sound encoded at 16-bit, 44KHz is going to be four times larger than the same sound encoded at 8-bit,
22KHz, but it certainly won't sound four times better. Go with the smaller sound to help keep the mascot
file size down.
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The click animation is specified with a first frame and a last frame.
While the click animation is showing, another click on the mascot does nothing. The reason for this is to
primarily allow a sound to play all the way through without being interrupted. Time your sound
accordingly to last no longer than the click animation, otherwise it might be interrupted with another
click.
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If you record your own sound, make sure you have an appropriate volume level when done. If the sound is
too quiet, no one can hear it. If it is too loud, it will be exceptionally annoying. What makes an
appropriate volume level is dependent on how quiet or noisy your computer is. If the sound is
distorted, the recording volume is too high.
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Good mascots have three or more actions. The heart of an Otaku Mascot is the animation which is made up
of one or more distinct actions. In addition, a good mascot makes good use of random delays and random
number of repeats (random delays and repeats are covered in the
How to Create a Mascot tutorial).
A mascot must have at least two distinct actions to qualify for posting on Otaku World.
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A click animation should always be included in a mascot and it should be an animation that is not
normally seen. It is a special reward for clicking on the mascot. The click animation can be as simple as
a twinkle in the eye to a more complex image with a word balloon and speech. Click animations are discussed
in the
How to Create a Mascot tutorial.
A mascot must have at least one click animation to qualify for posting on Otaku World.
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Avoid "clockwork animation" for a non-mechanical mascot. For example,
given a mascot with three images: the first image shows for 2 seconds followed by the second and third
images that show for a half second each then loops to the first image. Over and over, regular as clockwork.
There is no life in this approach. Otaku Mascot supports a random length delay: you specify minimum and
maximum delay values that are different. For example, a minimum of 3000 and a maximum of 8000 will generate a
delay between 3 and 8 seconds long. So in the above example, setting the delay on the first image to be
a random value between 3 and 8 seconds suddenly adds life to the mascot.
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Otaku Mascot supports random loop counts as well. This means an action can repeat a random number of
times. For example, you can have a character blink 1 or 2 times. Combined with a frame that has a random
delay, you can create a lifelike character that sits there for a while, blinking once or twice every so
often, just as a real person would.
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The Otaku Mascot editor can give you an indication of the number of
actions in your mascot but you have to work with the editor to make this feature useful. You do not need to
specify a jump to the next frame, just set the jump to "next". You will see the background color of the frame
control take on the same color as the previous frame. The editor uses the jump value to determine when a new
action probably starts (it isn't very exact but it is close enough to help you get an overall map of your
mascot).
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Setting the block loop min/max counts to 0 and 0 causes the jump to always be taken. I have seen a
couple of mascots where a person had two actions in the mascot but the first jump was set to always occur
and therefore the second action was never seen. If you put a jump in, make sure you mean it to be a jump
always or a jump that occurs a limited number of times.
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The Otaku Mascot program and the program I use to help me post the mascot to the web site both look at
the first line of the Creator Info for the creator's name. When you enter your
creator information, put your name, all by itself, on the first line, press Enter, and then specify your
contact information, if any.
As of version 1.2 of the Otaku Mascot program, there is a separate field just for the creator's name to
make this real easy. You can test this by exiting the editor and holding the cursor over the mascot for a
few seconds. A ToolTip appears showing the name of the mascot and who created it. What you see after the
word "by" in the tool tip is the name of the artist and that is what appears on the web site as well.
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When you submit a mascot to be posted on Otaku World, please, please, please be sure to send me the
published mascot! I have received more than a few Works in Progress files which do me absolutely no good.
When you think your mascot is ready to be sent in, go to the editor and click the
Publish button in the lower left corner. You are asked under what name to save
the mascot (the save dialog box gives you a default name which you can keep or change) and where to save
the file. Once the mascot is published, that file is what you submit. It is the file that ends in
.mascot.
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Avoid duplicate mascot names. When you name your mascot, take a quick look at the
Mascot Library and make sure someone
else hasn't already taken that name.
When I have to rename a mascot that has a duplicate name, I typically include the creator's
name in the title and filename.
