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Table of Contents
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1. Introduction
2. Version History
3. Controls
4. The Basics of Art Alive
5. The Top Bar
6. Saving your Images
7. Conclusion
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1. Introduction
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Over the years, we've seen games that aren't really games at all. Some examples
are RPG Maker 2 (PS2), Brain Training (DS), and Passport to London (PSP). Art
Alive for the Sega Genesis is one such title. The game is pretty much a simple
paint program and it allows you to cover a white background with little doodles
and works of art. Not only that, but you can import pictures of Characters from
other Sega games like Sonic and Toejam and Earl. This is my FAQ for Art Alive,
so I hope you enjoy it. If you need to contact me, or would like to host this
guide on your website, check the Conclusion section at the bottom of this FAQ
for my contact details and email address.
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2. Verson History
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Version 1.00 - 6th March 2007
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First complete version and public release of this FAQ to GameFAQs.
Version 1.01 - 8th July 2007
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Added Honestgamers as a site allowed to host this FAQ.
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3. Controls
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For a Genesis game, the controls really are very simple. The main controls are
as follows:
Directional pad - Move tool
A button - Press and hold while moving directional pad to use tool
B button - Not used
C button - Change speed of moving tool around
START button - Opens up the top bar
While the top bar is open, the following controls are used:
Directional pad - Select and change option
A button - Confirm options and head back to the drawing screen
C button - Change cursor speed
START button - Go back to the drawing screen
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4. The Basics of Art Alive
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Well, you've been given a blank canvas, so to speak, and it's your job to fill
it in. There are various tools you can use to do the job with. There's a pencil
for drawing single lines and there's even a button for drawing a circle. It's
similar to MS Paint in that you just press the A button where you want the
circle to start, then move the cursor over to where you want the circle to end.
Now just press the A button again to confirm this circle. The B button cancels
the circle, and deletes it from the screen. As well as all of the different
tools, there also are different colours you can choose from. There's your
standard blacks, reds, greens, and blues, and there's also some special
textures that you wouldn't classify as colours. For example, there's one with
a brick texture, so filling in a large area gives the impression of a brick
wall being shoved in your face. Any time you get bored of your drawing, there's
an option on the top bar to just start afresh with a clean new white screen.
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5. The Top Bar
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While on the main screen, pressing the START button will make this menu drop
down from the top of the screen. On this menu, you can pick which tools and
colours to use and also select animations and to start a new drawing. At the
left of the bar are all the colours. Use the directional pad to select the one
you'd like to draw in.
To the right of the colours is the set of tools you can choose from. Again,
just use the directional pad and the A button to make your choice. In the order
of going round the clock, the options are:
Free Draw - Here you use the directional pad to select the direction the
pointer draws in. Press and hold the A button to draw, and release
it to stop drawing.
Straight Line - Move the cursor around and press A where you'd like to start
your line. Move the cursor around again, and press A a second
time to draw a line to that location.
Circle - I've already explained this tool in the previous section of this FAQ.
Rectangle - Press the A button where you'd like to start the rectangle, move
the cursor around, then press the A button again to finish drawing
your shape.
Spray Can - Press the A button to start spraying then use the directional pad
to move the spray can around. Keeping the can over one spot for a
longer length of time will increase the intensity of the paint.
Press the A button again to stop spraying.
Fill in - If you've got an enclosed space with no gaps in it, you can fill it
in with this tool. Move it over the space you'd like to fill, then
simple press the A button and watch it fill up with colour.
Eraser - This is simple, just press the A button and start moving the
directional pad to rub out all the paint and markings you've made,
restoring the area to the original white colour. Press A again to stop
rubbing out.
Pencil - This is the most basic tool. Hold down the A button and move the
directional pad to draw a line. By holding down two directions at
once, you can draw diagonal lines. Let go of the A button to stop.
To the right of the tools on the top bar, there are three options for line
thickness. Use up and down to select which one you want to utilise. To the
right of that, you have the option to import a picture of Sonic or characters
from Toejam and Earl. To import these characters, you can move them around with
the directional pad and place them with A. You can have as many characters as
you want per drawing.
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6. Saving your Images
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While there is no official way of saving your images, the official game manual
offers a few suggestions as to how to save your drawings. I've also got a few
of my own ideas, so I'll write them down as well.
1. The manual suggests that you hook your Genesis up to a VCR and video the
drawings you make for a while, so you get to see them. This isn't really
practical and can be quite difficult to accomplish.
2. Take a picture of your TV screen. This is a slightly better idea, although
on some older cameras, TV screens don't show a clear picture or just show a
reflection. You may wish to try out this method first before using it properly.
3. Trace your drawing from the screen onto a bit of paper. With modern TVs,
it's not possible to put a sharp pencil onto the screen without damaging it,
but if you've got an older, smaller TV with a glass front, you can get a bit
of tracing paper and copy out the drawing onto it. It won't be in colour, but
at least it's something.
4. If you've not actually got a copy of the game cartridge and are playing on
a rom, then many emulators have a 'capture screen' button which saves whatever
is on your screen as an image file. This is probably the clearest way to record
your drawings as it doesn't take up valuable space like a Videotape does.
If you've got any more ideas, email them to me!
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7. Conclusion
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The only siteq with permission to host this FAQ are:
www.gamefaqs.com
www.honestgamers.com
and if you see this on another site, email me at:
bodo_parkour [at] hotmail [dot] co [dot] uk
This guide is Copyright (c) 2006 Bodo_parkour and it may not be reproduced
under any circumstances without my express permission.
This FAQ was written free of charge and no profit has been made for it, except
the satisfaction of knowing there is one less game without an FAQ.
I'd like to thank the following people:
- Me for writing this FAQ.
- CjayC for running and maintaining GameFAQs.
- You for reading and hopefully enjoying this short FAQ.
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