Satoshi Matrix Bead Sprites

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Hey all, due to reasons I'm not going to detail, my prior beadsprite thread was deleted, so this one will take it's place. DP limits posts to only 10 images, so please forgive these initial rapid fire initial posts. They all go together, but I don't want to create issues where the thread is bumped as I try to restore it. I'll just do it all at once with each reply only seconds behind the last.

So yes, welcome to my beadsprite thread!

Since I was a kid, I've loved craftwork. Making things out of wood, homemade christmas ornaments, that sort of thing. For about a year now, I've taken up a sort of unusual hobby. How could I combine my love of craftwork with my other favourite hobby - ratro gaming? The answer: fuse beads.

Fuse beads, a simple craft meant for children to create simple shapes, is based on a grid format, just as pixels are in sprites. Doing some guesswork originally, then finally getting serious with actual spritesheets, I've since made many sprites.

As most of you guys already know, I'm a huge Rockman fan, almost bordering an obsession. I'd like to show you guys what I've made! I literally have hundreds of beadsprites. I'm posting here on this board because these are all classic gaming related and probably gets more traffic.

Unlike most spriters, I've gone to great lengths to make sure that my sprites adhere to the NES color pallet as closely as possible in general (meaning they are never miscolored) but I also adhere to their original full-color designs, and recolor the sprites to match what they would look in in artwork as opposed to the limited amount of colors the NES could produce for them. You'll see what I mean as I post my works.

So anyway, without further ado, here's my sprite works! I take pride in what I do, so I hope you'll enjoy looking at these as much as I do.



http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2321/5694776472_d0fc0bf45b_b.jpg

This is a series of various sprites. You've got a series of Tetris blocks, Bub from Bobble Bobble, Shantae from one of the GBC's best games of the same name, a custom made Zero Suit 8-bit Samus, Luigi, a ? Block and a Koopa troopa from SMB1, DigDug, The Wizard from my favorite childhood C64 game, and finally a bead sprite Famicom.


http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5061/5694202933_3c42bbe7dc_b.jpg

Various sprites. The bottom right sprite is suppose to be Super Joe in Megaman sprite style, but it actually ends up looking more like Tomonobu Itagaki. 8)


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3468/3232724071_29bc3e7f06.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3468/3232724071_29bc3e7f06_b.jpg)

Bosses from Megaman 1. From left to right and top to bottom: Dr. Light, Rush, Protoman, Megaman, Roll, Cutman, Gutsman, Iceman, Bombman, Fireman, Elecman. Oilman and Timeman are missing as I don't have any sprites for them. Can someone here help?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3483/3232724349_9b64371abf.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3483/3232724349_9b64371abf_b.jpg)

Bosses from Megaman 2. From left to right and top to bottom: Metalman, Airman, Bubbleman, Quickman, Crashman, Flashman, Heatman, Woodman. Flashman, Crashman, and Bubbleman have been color enhanced beyond the capabilities of the NES color pallet. I based their proper colors on official character artwork.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3476/3233574666_7a555c6204.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3476/3233574666_7a555c6204_b.jpg)

Bosses from Megaman 3. From left to right and top to bottom: Needleman, Magnetman, Geminiman, Hardman, Topman, Snakeman, Sparkman, Shadowman. Snakeman has been color enhanced slightly by adding the red snake eyes he should have.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3301/3232724975_8a7805da02.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3301/3232724975_8a7805da02_b.jpg)

Bosses from Megaman 4. From left to right and top to bottom: Brightman, Toadman, Drillman, Pharaohman, Ringman, Dustman, Diveman, Skullman.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3320/3232725427_0ed78d0ab1.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3320/3232725427_0ed78d0ab1_b.jpg)

Bosses from Megaman 5. From left to right and top to bottom: Gravityman, Waveman, Stoneman, Gyroman, Starman, Chargeman, Napalmman, Crystalman.
Note that all these sprites have all been color enhanced beyond the capabilities of the NES color pallet. I based their proper colors on official character artwork.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3500/3233575924_b2b55b4ce3.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3500/3233575924_b2b55b4ce3_b.jpg)

Bosses from Megaman 6. From left to right and top to bottom: Blizzardman, Centaurman, Flameman, Knightman, Plantman, Windman, Tomahawkman, Yamatoman.
Again, note that these sprites have all been color enhanced beyond the capabilities of the NES color pallet. I based their proper colors on official character artwork.


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3468/3233576278_57a54fb82e.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3468/3233576278_57a54fb82e_b.jpg)

Bosses from Megaman 7 FC. From left to right and top to bottom: Freezeman, Junkman, Burstman, Cloudman, Springman, Slashman, Shademan, Turboman.
Note that these sprites have all been color enhanced beyond the capabilities of the NES color pallet. I based their proper colors on third 16-bit sprites as well as official character artwork.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3080/3233576572_93137e9284.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3080/3233576572_93137e9284_b.jpg)

Bosses from Megaman 8 FC. From left to right and top to bottom: Tanguman, Astroman, Swordman, Clownman, Searchman, Frostman, Gernademan, Aquaman.
Note that these sprites have all been color enhanced beyond the capabilities of the NES color pallet. I based their proper colors on official character artwork.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3112/3232727045_05cc2cc9cb.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3112/3232727045_05cc2cc9cb_b.jpg)

Bosses from Megaman 9. From left to right and top to bottom: Concreteman, Tornadoman, Splashwoman, Plugman, Jewelman, Magmaman, Hornetman, Galaxyman.
Note that these sprites have all been color enhanced beyond the capabilities of the NES color pallet. I based their proper colors on official character artwork.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5143/5694775632_973befa742_b.jpg

"I'm too sexy for 16-bit! I made this Splashwoman sprite before Megaman 9 even came out! I just based it on screenshots!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3348/3233313964_c4a5ff8f94.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3348/3233313964_c4a5ff8f94_b.jpg)

Sigma from Megaman Xtreme 1, color corrected to match his 16-bit sprite From MMX1.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5310/5694202457_58c70f0c40_b.jpg

More various sprites. This Link was actually from a stitch pattern for a pillow. Samus is from the Japanese FDS version of Metroid's save management system, Super Joe for Bionic Commando, and Sonic from Sonic the Hedgehog for the Gamegear. Sonic is too yellow for his own good, but it was done on a whim.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3446/3233276336_55280f2ec8.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3446/3233276336_caf79cacc8_o.jpg)

My first true 16-bit sprite, Terra Branford, the main character and heroine of the SNES classic, Final Fantasy VI.

A tribute to the awesome community devoted to the Famicom

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3536/3296677220_1a18aa8172.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3536/3296677220_1a18aa8172_b.jpg)

More various sprites

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3654/3297764125_0d782ac962.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3654/3297764125_0d782ac962_b.jpg)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3603/3297763107_182a682f64.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3603/3297763107_182a682f64_b.jpg)

More Rockman. Here's X from Xtreme recolored, Kalinka from MM4, Ran from the infamous Bob & George webcomic, a Met, Classic Rockman and two custom hacks I did: Rockman.EXE and Zero as he appears in the Zero series.

here's another sprite I made. A cookie for anyone who knows what this is. [shouldn't be too hard]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3120/3366677543_ed4e7d13af.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3120/3366677543_ed4e7d13af_b.jpg)


Metroid with transparent innards. To my knowledge, nobody else has done a Metroid like this.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3520/3462746023_796f6aa1f3_z.jpg?zz=1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30701966@N04/3462746023/)

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Super Pig, the mascot of Hacker International, an unlicensed developer of hentai FDS games. There's an article on it on Famicom World and I made this as a tribute to that. Don't bother trying to track down the games; they're awful. This sprite is quite massive.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3638/3315986046_080530b869_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30701966@N04/3315986046/)
GB Zelda Sprites
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3574/3473111697_19af5b58c9_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30701966@N04/3473111697/)

Giant Megaman from Megaman 6's Get Weapon screen.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3134/3239423657_7491466b9e_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30701966@N04/3239423657/)

Rockman Logo
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3323/3240262070_d81b8ba940_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30701966@N04/3240262070/)

Various small sprites from the megaman classic series. from right to left, top to bottom: Eddie, Large Weapons Energy, Large Health Energy, Extra Life, Large Screw, Beat, and Large P Chip.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3551/3483441209_e3c7fe7f40_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30701966@N04/3483441209/)


Mario! Mario! Mario! Mario! Mario! *and then Mario's head is somehow the size of all of North America*

Following in my series of awesome huge sprites comes Super Mario. Sprite is from the image gallery of the Gameboy Color's super Mario Bros. Deluxe. I slightly edited and recolored the sprite, tweaking its inherent awesomeness, because I can.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3598/3454259420_4d72d51a1b_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30701966@N04/3454259420/)

Oh no! Bowser's about to burn up one of my Super Mario Bros. 3 cartridges! SMB3 sprites color enhanced to look ridiculously good.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3652/3612685462_572b57fcc7_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30701966@N04/3612685462/)


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3588/3303305232_2fe05c8f50_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30701966@N04/3303305232/)

Change of Heart

Another colossal sprite. Shown here is the Change of Heart magic card from the popular TCG Yu-Gi-Oh. Although I'm not a big fan of the anime (aside from the hilarious abridged series) the cardgame itself is pretty fun, and regardless, I've always liked this image. This is rather large and looks great hanging on a wall. It measures 12.5" x 14"



http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3635/3391560100_34b505e85a_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30701966@N04/3391560100/)

Custom Hatsune Miku!

She's a massive 15" tall.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3474/3240169525_51270518a5_b.jpg

Portraits of the first nine robots built by Dr. Light. From top to bottom, left to right: Protoman, Megaman, Roll, Cutman, Gutsman, Bombman, Iceman, Fireman, Elecman. Although Megaman 1 characters, these portraits actually come from the ending of Megaman 3.

Stay tuned for more!


Megaman 2 robot master portraits!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3353/3240170447_89f815c767_b.jpg

Again, these have been color enhanced beyond the NES pallet and this is personally one of my favorite sets. Megaman 2 is simply a timeless classic.


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3364/3240171567_b001a0a26b_b.jpg

Portraits of the robots from Megaman 3. From top to bottom, left to right: Sparkman, Snakeman, Needleman, Hardman, Megaman, Topman, Geminiman, Magnetman, Shadowman.

I made this set over three years ago, and overironed Geminiman. If I were to redo this set, Geminiman would turn out a lot better given what I've learned.


Megaman 4 Robot Master Portraits! IN SOVIET RUSSIA, ROBOT MASTERS YOU!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3499/3256963750_bb5215c84e_b.jpg

From top to bottom, left to right: Ringman, Diveman, Skullman, Pharaohman, Brightman, Toadman, Drillman, Dustman.

Note that these sprites are color enhanced to reflect their original artwork, not the NES color pallet.


And yup, you guessed it - Megaman 5 Robot Master Portraits!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3373/3287342806_53b24ba4c6_b.jpg

Portraits of the robots from Megaman 5. From top to bottom, left to right: Stoneman, Gravityman, Crystalman, Chargeman, Protoman, Napalmman, Waveman, Starman, and Gyroman.

Note that these sprites are color enhanced to reflect their original artwork, not the NES color pallet.

Megaman 6 time!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3559/3321405833_20bbbcc636_b.jpg

Portraits of the robots from the last of the NES Megaman games, Megaman 6. From top to bottom, left to right: Blizzardman, Windman, Flameman, Plantman, Megaman, Tomahawkman, Yamatoman, Knightman, and Centaurman.

Note that these sprites are color enhanced to reflect their original artwork, not the NES color pallet.


Here's Megaman 7 Robot Master Portraits!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3563/3351602147_e63005bbfd_b.jpg

These are all custom sprites I made in the style of the older NES portraits. From top to bottom, left to right: Springman, Freezeman, Slashman, Cloudman, Junkman, Turboman, Burstman, and Shademan.

Note that although these are custom sprites, these sprites are color enhanced to reflect their original artwork and SNES colors, not the NES color pallet.


Moving on...Megaman 8! I remember being SUPER excited to play this on my Saturn in 1997. It's still by far one of my favorite Saturn titles, so yeah, this set has a special place for me.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3545/3386514650_3af6f68b23_b.jpg

Megaman 8.These are all custom sprites I made in the style of the older NES portraits. From top to bottom, left to right: Astroman, Tenguman, Frostman, Clownman, Swordman, Searchman, Aquaman, and Gernademan.

Note that although these are custom sprites, these sprites are color enhanced to reflect their original artwork and PS1 colors, not the NES color pallet. These sprites too the longest to produce each of any of my works so far.

Megaman 9!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3356/3453485255_60ce81fb61_b.jpg

Portraits of the robots from the Wii/360/PS3 downloadable insta-classic, Megaman 9. From top to bottom, left to right: Concreteman, Jewelman, Hornetman, Tornadoman, Megaman, Plugman, Galaxyman Magmaman, and the lovely(?) Splashwoman.

Note that these sprites are color enhanced to reflect their original artwork and not the NES color pallet used in MM9.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4109/5415471552_2f3bd82a40_b.jpg

Portraits of the robots from the Wii/360/PS3 downloadable insta-classic, Megaman 10. From top to bottom, left to right: Blademan, Solarman, Sheepman, Chillman, Megaman, Commandoman, Nitroman, Strikeman, and Pumpman.

Note that these sprites are color enhanced to reflect their original artwork and not the NES color pallet used in MM10.

and here's them compared with their on-screen counterparts:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5212/5415470316_cec97653d4_b.jpg

With these, I’ve completed all the portraits from the Rockman classic main series! Woo!


Here's a little something I've made for my niece. Nothing too special, yet nostalgic for me and she seems to like it.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5150/5554924125_c49e42a2f2_z.jpg


I just finished under commission.

Kain and Dark Cecil battle sprites from Final Fantasy II (IV).

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5270/5556731797_b5939fec0a.jpg


And with that, I'm caught up. New stuff coming in a few days! Thanks for looking!

[Purkeynator]

Damn fine work!

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Here's a Super Mario Bros. Coinbox that you can use to hold actual coins! Or in my case, SD cards and card readers and such.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3345/3653287182_c5a3c6001e_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3313/3653291262_3ffda3475c_b.jpg

[skaar]

I also enjoy ratro gaming :D

I think your old thread was nuked because you were trying to sell from it. That can annoy the mods.

[wingzrow]

That missingno sprite is nice. Wish I had one.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Some drink coasters featuring some of my favorite sprites. On the bottom of each I've glued a layer of cardboard to absorb any small amounts of condensation that might seep through. These are a big hit at parties.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5306/5552220554_393990637c_z.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5181/5551636701_0b747531fd_z.jpg

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Okay guys, here's a little update. Thoguht it was time for some classic Street Fighter II love.

Chun Li preforming her famous supersonic kick. YATTA!

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5187/5588155442_85173ebc17_b.jpg

[Purkeynator]

Oh wow, drink coasters. Now that's a neat idea. What if you did a bunch of game disc coasters? Like a Sega CD one, Dreamcast one, Saturn one, PSX, PS2, even a mini one of a Gamecube disc!

[Satoshi_Matrix]

cool idea. I'll see what I can do in the future.

Anyway, time for more Final Fantasy classic love.

A friend of a friend asked me to make her the girls from FF6, and here are the results.

Terra and Celes from Final Fantasy VI.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5052/5588152568_3c809f7294_b.jpg



and while I was at it, another forum member asked for some final fantasy love as well. Hope she'll enjoy em.

Dancer Faris from Final Fantasy V, and playable Golbez from Final Fantasy IV Advance.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5101/5591164582_8d0f31a073_b.jpg

still more to come. stay tuned!

[XYXZYZ]

here's another sprite I made. A cookie for anyone who knows what this is. [shouldn't be too hard]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3120/3366677543_ed4e7d13af.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3120/3366677543_ed4e7d13af_b.jpg)


Uhh... the RAM/ROM check when you first switch on a Galaga machine?

[Satoshi_Matrix]

haha no not quite!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MissingNo.

[SpaceHarrier]

Love those 3-D ones ("?" Block and E-Tank).

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Here's another update fellas.

Goemon and Ebisumaru from Konami's underrated Ganbare Geomon series. Such a great series with great import titles that are mostly platformers!

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5070/5594557400_1ae42d230a_b.jpg

[Satoshi_Matrix]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3638/3470144514_923b31e3e9_b.jpg

Death, from Castlevania 3.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Megaman riding on his trusty sidekick jet-dog Rush.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5150/5587559979_7a26a808e7_b.jpg

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Here's another custom I made for a guy on NA.

Classic Mario, but double scaled! This thing is pretty huge. NES Mario cart for reference.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5228/5591168316_fed8a2d25e_b.jpg

[SpaceHarrier]

The sheer epicness of content here (as well as Mega Man on Rush bead sprite) inspired me to start making these.. Already have 5 sprites hangin' on the wall above my videogame collection. Ironing the ones that take multiple plates are a pain! Lookin' forward to seeing what you make next.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Here's another custom order I've been given recently and thought I'd share with you guys. The servbot head apparently is a emoticon used on a german forum.

Servbot head emoticon
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5064/5658265315_b7d95fe46d_z.jpg

Tango, from MMV on GB and later Megaman 10. Color enhanced.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5103/5658836014_f1aaecf762_z.jpg

Pissed off Megaman custom
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5308/5658840740_f303cf465c_z.jpg

and finally,

Metal Gear?! From SD Snatcher. I think this one turned out great.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5027/5658839130_39b31aec68_z.jpg


more to come.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

here's some more pictures I took just for lulz:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5306/5658269873_e4140ee0f2_z.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5070/5658846730_9f6648008d_z.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5067/5658845292_e403fa9e14_z.jpg

[kupomogli]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3654/3297764125_0d782ac962_b.jpg

Winzgrow already answered Missingno, but do I get a cookie for mentioning Floatland from SaGa 3/Final Fantasy Legend 3?

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5181/5551636701_0b747531fd_z.jpg

...and Haggleman. Haggleman and Haggleman 2 were my favorite games on Retro Game Challenge.

[XYXZYZ]

I may have to try my hand at this. What kind of beads do you get? Where do you get them? How many do you buy? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

The most important question to ask yourself is if you have plenty of patience. It takes quite some time to even make the small sprites.

These are called perlerbeads, and are usually sold in craft stores as kid's crafts, often found in the section for crafts for little girls. Their intended to make patterns of little cat heads, fish hearts, etc. It was my cousin's daughter that first introduced me to them. One look at them and I thought "hey these are pretty much like pixels, so I bet one could make physical sprites out to these!" and that was the ticket.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

here's another custom sprite idea I got when I was recently working on a big blog post of mine for my personal top 25 GameBoy and GameBoy Color games (http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/top-25-gameboygameboy-color-games/) (clicky clicky!)

Remember my Megaman V Gameboy recolors? I sure do. Those were so much fun to do I wanted to try my hand at grayscale recolors again, and this was my result:

Custom color correct Wario from Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5061/5663500104_9a8a639c89_z.jpg

more to come! cheers.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

For a while now, I've working on another massive project. Not as big as some I've made, but nevertheless a really massive sprite that's several feet tall.

After much effort, here's

Giant Protoman from Megaman 10! This totally exhausted by supply of red beads. Protoman's a massive 7, 787 beads! Hope you guys like it!

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5134/5511640768_e51fc2ab21_b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5229/5621087644_c6c3826a59_z.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5024/5621091088_7824138523_z.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5070/5620505963_1cbbdd5fdd_z.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5302/5621089216_ce329fcc8c_z.jpg


Cheers!

[Cryomancer]

Reminds me of one we did:
http://kevlargibs.net/cryomancer/img/beads/P1010020.JPG

[Satoshi_Matrix]

heh, that's a real nice one, though I think you used a bit too dark shades of her skin. Roll looks African! (not that there's anything wrong with that!)

Anyway, here's my latest sprite!

The Valis heroine, Yuko Asao from the PCE CD remake of Mugen Senshi Valis, easily one of the best games on the platform.

I'm quite pleased how well this turned out. Ever the tinkerer, although a full color 16-bit sprite, even this sprite is color enhanced. I knew it would be quite fragile, so I reinforced her sword with transparent beads. I think it makes it look better, too!

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5148/5699176894_4e42d6bd22_b.jpg

[Cryomancer]

Yeah there wasn't quite enough skin shades back when we did that (outside of maybe importing some other brand ones from europe). I think the picture might make it look darker than it really is though. Personally I think the gun sucks more, had to use orange for the other red color.

[Einzelherz]

I think what I like best about these is that if you use a 1:1 ratio you can essentially make all the characters proportionate sizes to each other. I remember making these bead things when I was a little kid (when it was new) but I wasn't clever enough to try video game sprites.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

here's another very large project I've done.

The Change of Heart

Shown here is the Change of Heart magic card from the popular TCG Yu-Gi-Oh. Although I'm not a big fan of the anime (aside from the hilarious abridged series b y that multitalented British bloke) the cardgame itself is pretty fun, and regardless, I've always liked this image.

Kind of a stand-in for women in general - one minute they're pure, beautiful sweet and kind, the next they're evil psycho-bitches! Change of Heart is serious business.

image contains over 6000 beads.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3588/3303305232_2fe05c8f50_b.jpg

[fergojisan]

I was doing these awhile ago (when there were fewer colors and no sprite maps on the internets) when they sold Perler beads by color in separate bags, then the separate color bags went away and I read a lot of horror stories of people buying the large jugs and having to hand separate the beads. Now I see that the bags are back, and I wonder if it's because of people making video game sprites. My wife convinced me to start doing these, and I made a whole bunch and brought them to a collector's meeting and made over 100 bucks. I was encouraged to start selling them but was deathly afraid of being sued for copyright infringement (sadly, I tend to follow rules). I went to Too Many Games this weekend and there were at least 3 people selling these, along with a few actual paint artists doing the same idea. Oh well.

I tend to stick to the 8 bit stuff, the 16 bit has too many pixels (like that's a bad thing), but it loses definition at the Perler bead size, unless you make it huge. I like Satoshi's Change of Heart card though, the colors are beautiful and it's a really nice ironing job. Do you have a custom large pegboard or do you just link the square ones together? Do you do one board at a time or all at once? I wonder if there is any controversy among bead sprite artists between the open beads and closed beads methods. :)

It is a tedious hobby but the end results are really cool. Same thing with cross stitch, I did that for awhile too (my avatar is a Sinistar that I did years ago).

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Dracula, from Castlevania 3.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3563/3463561008_5860b7a8ce_z.jpg

[Track2]

This is cool

How do you match the colours is it trial and error?

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I have about 170 possible bead colors. NES sprites typically work in only around 20~25 color range, making them easy to pinpoint. 16-bit colors are more difficult to match, and 32-bit sprites are near impossible. All that said, I have learned to place colors that fit best in many situations. My sprites are never color-inaccurate. When I first started to make sprites, I would work solely in the NES pallet, but as time went on I started to base the sprite coloring not on system limitations, but rather on character artwork. Here's an example of what I mean.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3416/3449423104_317693b608_z.jpg

Here are two sprites I made of Toadman from Megaman 4.

The one on the left is a recreation of the sprite as seen on the NES, using the four colors the NES rendered the sprite in.

The sprite on the right is based on the Toadman official character artwork coloring.

I can do both, but I much prefer to make sprites based on the character art when possible.

[Corey_GB]

These are brilliant looking! :) I really want to take a stab at doing one of these in the future. Now, do you paint the beads in order to increase your palette or are there actually 170 different bead colors available?

[Satoshi_Matrix]

lol no, they aren't painted. If they were, the paint would melt when you need to iron them!

when I was 170ish colors, that includes bead colors from three companies, two of which are out of Denmark and require importing. Perler alone has around 40-50 colors max, and that includes crap like glitter and the glow-in-the-dark ones. I say this a lot, but consider what you're getting into. This is a tedious, time consuming hobby not for the impatient. If you only have a passing interest, I suggest buying some sprites from someone who makes them.

Anyway, back to my projects

Here's an extremely large project I've cooked up from one of my favorite games of all time.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3595/3424509685_d10c32ed5c_b.jpg

X, from Megaman X1 (SNES)

"You are X - it is a variable. It represents limitless potienal. You see, you are a new type of robot, who can think for himself. You truly are just like us humans, X.. that's why I'm afraid mankind is not yet ready to accept you. We are not yet mature. They may very well view your limitless evolutionary potential as something to be feared. The name X also carries contentions of danger. I'm sorry X...I didn't have enough time to see you enter the world. I've given you the power to think, to worry, to grow and evolve as you fight. But......it is too soon for that power to be unleashed. X, I want you to use that conscious of yours to help the people of the future. They will need someone like you to guide them. Farewell X...you are the world's one, true hope."

-T. Light, September 18 20XX.

X stands about 4 1/2 feet tall, and has well over 8000 beads. I don't remember the exact amount. this took about 3 months to complete.

[SpaceHarrier]

holy carp.

[OldSkoolBrian]

They are perler beads you can get at acmoore or michaels. Then you just buy the boards to go with them. I have a small collection I made I did a video on youtube about them. Use the link at the bottom if you would like to see them.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Since I've only made a very small handful of Pokemon sprites, I thought I should try my head at making one of the popular monsters. I thought of which one I should do, then thought I should do one of my favorites. Basing my choice by the fact that I have a LOT of surplus green beads I thought I should do a grass or bug type. I choose Exeggutor because I always really liked it.

Then it was a simple matter of figuring out which sprite to use, and then I remembered how laughably bad the sprites are from the original set of games. Looking over the RBY sprite, I instead chose to do the Green sprite. Boy what good detail!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3019/5735678023_e78509a5af_b.jpg

Having done a Pokemon sprite by *gasp* sticking to the original 4 color pallet, I gained a real appreciation for how much work Pokemon sprites are.

I took this pic on the pegboards because after making it, I thought of something else to reuse the green beads on. Stay tuned for that!

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I've finally finished my latest "big" project. When I was thinking of what to do with my surplus of green, I thought of doing a grass type Pokémon, since I haven't really make many Pokémon sprites. I also wanted the challenge of doing a really stupid-looking sprite that's laughably bad, yet complex and semi-difficult. The result was Exeggutor, from Pocket Monsters Red/Green as seen on the previous page. Having dismantled poor Exeggutor bead-by-bead, I've put them back down in a far more lovely form:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2103/5738998535_89f5159b8b_b.jpg

Lum Invader from Urusei Yatsura: My Dear Friends for the Sega Mega CD.

The Mega CD renders her hair blue, so I've gone ahead and recolored her hair to more closely match the coloring it should be, based on the color scheme used in Urusei Yatsura Stay with You for PCE CD. Many other small tweaks were made to make Lum look the best I could get her.

The whole project took around 20 hours to complete. Fine-tuning her bra was far more tedious than I thought it would be. Getting those tiger stripes to look much like tiger stripes was proving difficult, but I'm real happy with the finished result.

I had originally just planned to do her face, but it kind of got out of hand and just kept growing. Still, I had to stop somewhere, and where I did begs the obvious question: does the carpet match the drapes? I guess we'll never know!


So why Urusei Yatsura?

A few months back, I was chatting with a friend who lives in Japan and has a large collection of retro games. I mentioned to him my particular childhood love of the anime-style games on the Sega CD like Lunar: the Silver Star and Popful Mail, and he introduced to me a game called Urusei Yatsura: My Dear Friends. Only a few minutes in I was totally hooked. I wanted to know who these characters were, so I immediately started to watch the 1981 anime of the same name.

At nearly thirty years old, to say I was late to jump on the Urusei Yatsura bandwagon would be an understatement. Nevertheless, to show my application for this wonderful wonderful anime, here's my tribue to Lum Invader: best alien in all the universe.

Always more to come!

[Guyra]

These are some awesome sprite beads! I hope to see more! :D

[Satoshi_Matrix]

update time!


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2335/5794979388_267b6bae50_b.jpg

Sakura Kinomoto from Cardcaptor Sakura. Sakura flies on her magical winged dildo. Damn you magicalflute, damn you.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

here's another one for you guys.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3321/3531499049_d58bbe9d75_b.jpg

Dr. Wily's famous UFO pod from Megaman 2 onwards. Wily had one in the first game too, but it looked different. This is color enhanced to make it look even better.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Well hey guys, I've just finished my super special secret project. Presenting Link from the Legend of Zelda for NES....

IN 3D!


http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5023/5812751263_d155b66a0b_z.jpg

Inspired by the totally awesome 3D Dot Game Heroes for the PS3, here's Link from the classic LoZ game from 25 years ago. He's held together with glue and is somewhat fragile, but I'm pretty happy with the overall results. I decided to take the picture out in the forest behind my house - an area perfect for Link!

Additional images I took for you guys:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5317/5813328976_3b8b98514f_z.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5033/5812762959_59784f6c2a_z.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2028/5812764457_0b356ac41e_z.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2444/5812767453_34c80a0a22_z.jpg

This project was a lot of fun, but a lot of work even though Link is small at around 4" tall, he contains hundreds of carefully arranged beads and took almost a week to complete. I may visit the idea again sometime, maybe with Mario Megaman and others.

Anyway hope you guys like it!

[skaar]

Nice 3D Link there.

Did you just do the layers in sheets and glue from there?

[skaar]

I'm interested in knowing which companies/stores you import your bulk beads from? I've overstocked on the perler sets.

If ebay, link a few vendors you've done bulk buys with?

[Oobgarm]

I'm interested in knowing which companies/stores you import your bulk beads from? I've overstocked on the perler sets.

If ebay, link a few vendors you've done bulk buys with?

I used to buy mine from callhan13 on eBay (http://crafts.shop.ebay.com/Kids-Crafts-/116652/i.html?_catref=1&_fln=1&_ipg=50&_ssn=callahan13&_trksid=p3286.c0.m282). She seemed to be have been the most "involved" with the beading scene back when it popped up a few years ago. I see that she has Hama beads in her store too, but mostly Perler.

I'll admit, I've been out of the loop on beading for a couple years now. I dunno if you frequent the pixelgasm forum (http://www.pixelgasm-forum.com) or not, but that might be a good place to see how other are getting their supplies.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Yeah, Michelle Baker is an excellent source.

Anyway, here's my next project.

nothing too exciting but....

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2474/3531499491_0565171be5_z.jpg

Rockman in a different sprite style than the classic we all know and Roll in a sort of 8-bit Marvel Vs Capcom sprite.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Well it looks like the Link idea was something of a Pandora's box for me. Since then I've been flooded with requests for Mario and I've been happy to oblige. Hope you guys enjoy!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2670/5838675654_1942f9d1e7_z.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5191/5838676350_fd347bfec9_z.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2615/5838124605_b04dbd38c7_z.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3628/5838678560_a0a50c6630_z.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5222/5838129047_2b23167a1a_b.jpg
Atop my coin box storage bin

And with Link:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5275/5838126801_774ee8de90_z.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2501/5838680308_6c99519d6d_z.jpg

[Satoshi_Matrix]

wow, it sure has been a while since I last posted. Here's a small update with an order I recently finished.

A full arcade marquee sized Nintendo logo!

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6029/5935464835_95975bf3ce_b.jpg

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Kain and Paladin Cecil
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6105/6297863556_d1cd4ebcb4_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30701966@N04/6297863556/)


Retro Nintendo set. The person who ordered this wanted four sprites that represented the NES era, though I cheated and used 16-bit Link. It wasn't until after I took this photo that I noticed I needed to refuse the beads along his leg there.
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6055/6297336835_4c36296190_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30701966@N04/6297336835/)

[SpaceHarrier]

I'm still not brave enough to try a 3D perler project..

[treismac]

Great work, sir!

[OldSkoolBrian]

I make these as well but I really like the ideas I am seeing here.. I may have to try a few... Some of the better ones I have made include 3' tall characters from Mike Tyson's Punchout

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Well I figured I should update this thread to show you guys some more recent stuff I've been doing. These are all commissions I've got for the holidays this year.

If you're interested in an order, just pm me. I can do anything you see or take custom orders.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/4e9a0cc6c8be12a7eab5140ed18f04f0/tumblr_mfcde0DBBE1rc7qlzo1_500.jpg
Protoman custom

Well, it wouldn't be me if I didn't do a Megaman sprite right? This is a 100% custom sprite based loosely on the Megaman Powered Up chibi style.


http://25.media.tumblr.com/057c17a64292bc3544a5798de308c6b0/tumblr_mfcdf215v91rc7qlzo1_500.jpg
Yoshi & Baby Mario

Sure, it's been done to death, but a classic sprite from an excellent retro game that really stands the test of time.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/78c35e4f319a220c5a7e744f7c24ca14/tumblr_mfcdg6eL1O1rc7qlzo1_500.jpg
Shantae!

My favorite videogame heroine returns in a enhanced custom sprite I've created based on the sexy half-genie's more recent DSi game. I've got plans for more Shantae sprites in the future as it really is one of the great underrated classics of our time.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/d26f6e0c2c2cebda857489245096767d/tumblr_mfcdhd9xMB1rc7qlzo1_500.jpg
[fat] Majin Buu

fat Majin Buu from Dragonball Z Buu's Fury for the GBA.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/c9242299c5a36d11d2fd7b347e164176/tumblr_mfcdje9E281rc7qlzo1_500.jpg

Family Guy's Stewie.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/7052afb744ab2a2073bf9c9430cb55aa/tumblr_mfcdl04m9J1rc7qlzo1_500.jpg
Usagi, Sailor Moon

A color enhanced sprite I've made from a Japan-only GameBoy game with cute mascots from the mid 90s. I'm not a Sailor Moon expert, but I based the colors off official art.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

a few more commissions done!

http://25.media.tumblr.com/4b1e79acd31a8a09c6c4349772046e6d/tumblr_mfgkf3868Q1rc7qlzo1_500.jpg
Picard and Data coaster

and one I'm especially proud of, Akira sprite based on the original poster.
http://24.media.tumblr.com/861aecf5990a209b612e59a0ac3a9fdb/tumblr_mfgkg9HSka1rc7qlzo1_500.jpg

[Pedro Lambrini]

The Akira poster is excellent. It'll look really nice on someone's wall, that's for sure. Can I ask, what are the actual dimensions of it? I know you can get different sized beads so I'm curious. :)

Loving the Star Trek one too - Now go away and make something regarding REAL sci-fi like Babylon 5, Farscape or Doctor Who! :P

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Akira poster is 14.5 x 24 cm. If you're interested in ordering one, pm me.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

here's my newest commission project.

One mega-fan has called upon me to spur up everlasting love retro gamers have for all things Megaman while we all ask Capcom:
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz4yklheC01qjjp1ko1_500.jpg

To that end, I've decided to return to the abandoned Megaman Legends series with a tribute to the ever-helpful sidekick mechanic, Roll Caskett!

I'm rather pleased with how she turned out.
http://25.media.tumblr.com/baac7cdca11645c86fbb529998fd41f5/tumblr_mfs9t4HMuX1rc7qlzo1_500.jpg

hope you enjoy and happy 25th, Rockman! As always, if you are interested in placing an order, simply pm me.

[ImMelody]

I've been making these for a few months now. (Since my husband showed me someone selling them on etsy and I was like, no way am I paying that much for something I can do myself.) I have a couple of questions.


Do you buy your black beads locally or online?
If locally, which store do you find them at?
What kind of glue are you using for the 3D items?


I've found the black are the hardest to get in baggies, but the ones I need the most. I've check Hobby Lobby, Michael's and Joanns where I'm at, but never seem to find just black.

(This is my pride and joy custom. A Goblin from FFXI.)
http://media-cache-ec5.pinterest.com/upload/491033165591539421_IVEAuBF0_b.jpg

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I have a friend who is my private supplier and I just use a gluegun.

While I suppose you're right that anyone would do this, I don't think most would have the patience. What I do takes hours, days sometimes weeks to finish. There's a lot of dedication involved.

[CatTehBus]

just wanna say I'm blown away by your art, cheers!

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Thank you. I work very hard on it.

[ImMelody]

Sorry. I didn't mean anyone could do it. But I tend to be very meticulous on doing things. So instantly saw it as a craft I could pick up. You do definitely do amazing work. :)