Hi, I'm new to the Infinity Mugen Team and I wanted to introduce myself....

[sharky2009]

...I am very much interested in learning how to create characters from scratch and then some.  Some of the work that I have seen here and elsewhere has been pretty amazing and my kids just love the Mugen game itself.  I have been teaching myself and using sites like http://www.mugenfury.com/tutorials/aides/help.htm but what I really want to learn is what software I would need to use/download that would help me start out.  I would be more than happy to assist anyone with anything that I know on my end but please understand that I am learning on the fly...although I am a quick study!

I stand by the rule of giving respect to all owners of property of characters including Marvel, DC, etc.....

[Mugendude26]

Welcome to IMT! First off, for most creators, they use Fighter Factory to make characters, stages, and screenpacks. So I would suggest getting it if you want to start out making characters. I would also check out this guy's YouTube channel which I provide the link to below as he makes great tutorials on how to get started on character creating.

Link to bovery23's channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/bovery23

[DARKTALBAIN]

First off , Welcome to Infinity .

I use Adobe photoshop with A Wacom intous 3 graphic tablet for spriting & Fighter factory for putting the character together . You really don't need much more . You don't even need the graphic tablet . I just like top use it & I really think since I bought it , my spriting has improved .

Anyway , enjoy your stay & check out out tutorial section . You may find something useful

http://www.infinitymugenteam.com/Forum_345/index.php?board=18.0

[sharky2009]

Not trying to be on the cheap end here, are there free versions of these programs (are they already free versions)?  I am as tight on funds as the next joe but I can assure you that my first character will not be some lame clone. 

[DARKTALBAIN]

Everything can be free on the internet

Fighter factory is completely free .

Photoshop is not a free program . But it can be found on the net . Don't ask me where , I paid for my program .

You can just use MS Paint that come with Windows instead . But it doesn't have as many options & is kind of clunky to me

[Spidermew]

I use The Gimp, and thats 100% free.

I stand by the rule of giving respect to all owners of property of characters including Marvel, DC, etc.....

What exactly do you mean by this?

[aPoCaLyPsE]

Not trying to be on the cheap end here, are there free versions of these programs (are they already free versions)?  I am as tight on funds as the next joe but I can assure you that my first character will not be some lame clone. 

Everything can be free on the internet

Fighter factory is completely free .

Photoshop is not a free program . But it can be found on the net . Don't ask me where , I paid for my program .

You can just use MS Paint that come with Windows instead . But it doesn't have as many options & is kind of clunky to me

<---(doesnt' really speak spanish ;p~~)

Welcome to Infinity, Mi casi es tu casa mi amigo!

As for getting started, since i was in the very same spot that you are back in the daze, get yourself fighter factory and do yourself a couple a favors:

-Check out some of the fighter factory tutorials on Youtube from "Spriting", "Importing", "Making Statedefs" etc... It will be comfusing at first... DON'T BE AFRIAD! jajaja...

-After you download fighter factory, go to your Mugen folder, there should hopefully be a folder there called, "docs" or "Documents". From within there, read all the documents and tutorials, it will help in reguards to some clarity behind how the program works. It's litterally been one of the best things i did, and it's saved me hours of headacne. 

I'mma O.G MsPainter myself when in comes to creating for Mugen simply because i've found it easier to manager and get around, even though i have Photoshop CS4, Photoshop Pro (PSP) and Micromedia Fireworks MX as my disposal... I use MsPaint 80% of the time, with 90% of my character (W.I.P's).. but it's all a prefferance.

If you need any help or advice, your more that welcome to ask any one of us, even myself.

Have fun and enjoi your stay!

I stand by the rule of giving respect to all owners of property of characters including Marvel, DC, etc.....

What exactly do you mean by this?

Mugen Creator's Law.. I understand what he meant. 

[ATiC3]

btw Fighter Factory is at virtualltek.mgbr.net... Just in case you haven't found it yet...

[sharky2009]

I downloaded Gimp but looks a bit complicated.  Just have to do my homework....

[ATiC3]

Well.. a lot of people use Gimp.. some use Photoshop.. some use Paint.. I use Paint.net

You should try it.. it's really neat. You can open more than one image, so you can sprite a little easier.. has the same style as Paint but with a ton of more features... If you use it.. click the wavy arrow to the right of the paint brush size so that it doesn't overwrite the colors...

Also, when you get Fighter Factory.. auto update so that you can get the palette editor...

[Spidermew]

I downloaded Gimp but looks a bit complicated.  Just have to do my homework....

I made some videos that show how I use gimp to edit sprites

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=9BF1EECD78DE5EFF

[Weapon x program]

i use paint so if i can do it, you can.   

[sharky2009]

This forum is out of this world!  Amazing people here who are more than willing to help each other.  I am overwhelmed with the friendliness here.  There are good people on this earth.    I will share my knowledge openly and willingly with all here.  Amazing is the only word that comes to mind!