Doodad

blue = engine thrust
red = guns
yellow = missiles

i could use a Scout, Marksman, and Soul Shot.  I'm thinking a desert theme for the environment with Persian, medieval (crusades), renaissance, and even some roman influences on the style while being somewhat simple and cartoony.  none of the characters should be particularly heavy armored and are all good-aligned characters.

the scout is sort of a ranged melee so i'm looking for daggers/short-swords and any non-bow/crossbow/gun ranged weapons you can think of.  the marksman will use a bow, and the soul shot will use magical ammo in his arquebus - an early rendition of the musket.  two particular styles of arquebus that i'm interested in are this and this one.  i am, however, more interested in the actual character costumes to which, unfortunately, i don't have much input except for perhaps a more renaissance trooper for the soul shot - a poofy sleeved shirt, some slightly over-sized boots, and no metal armor/chestpieces.

as far as some reference goes, i found this site that has some interesting images that you can navigate on the left, though i'm not really looking for any of these three characters to have robes.  there is are also some sections on renaissance, roman, and medieval stuff so look through that if you want.  Aladdin, the Disney movie, is also pretty close to the cartoony style i'm looking for.

if you have any questions please feel free to ask, i know this wasn't the most detailed of requests.  also, the sprites in my signature are some that i've already finished if that helps at all.

looking at the stylus, both have two buttons to simulate left and right mouse clicks but the media tablet looks a bit more comfortable with the grip. as far as the pressure goes, if you're just starting out, 512 is probably enough, mine has 1024 and feels pretty true to life with the pressure.

as for the tablets themselves, the bamboo's active drawing area is only 5.8"x3.6" while the media tablet is a standard 8"x5" and from my experience, the more drawing surface the better. the media tablet's design seems to be a knock-off of the intuos 4 which is to say, it's emulating top-of-the line design for an affordable price though probably not as dependable. the media tablet has higher pressure sensitivity and resolution for pen tracking. the media tablet is larger and looks a bit heavier, especially on the button side. furthermore, the bamboo's cord comes out of left middle of the tablet while the media's comes out of the top right corner which is a little less intrusive.

in all honestly, given the choice between the two, i'd go with the media tablet. it has a larger drawing surface, more comfortable looking pen with the same utility as the bamboo's, buttons for quick actions complete with zoom wheel, and a higher pressure sensitivity. the media tablet seems like something you could really grow into while i see the bamboo more as a device to be upgraded later once you reach the limit of it's capabilities. one of the reasons the buttons really appeal to me, especially the zoom wheel, is that you'll spend more time on your tablet than having to interact with the keyboard.

as per your inquiry, i have an old intuos 2 with a corner being held together with masking tape. one of the things i like about it is the fact that it's pretty light so i can move it where i need to, it has a larger drawing surface (12"x9") which allows for more arm movement and freer strokes, and has a key strip up at the top under the sensor screen so i can tap one of the button images and perform a mapped action, like undo, copy, paste, save, open/close, etc. the stylus itself has a similar looking grip to the media tablet's with the rubbery ergo grip and is comfortable to hold for long periods of time. in addition to the double button, which is removable on my stylus, i have a pressure sensitive eraser nib on the back end which is really handy.

obviously, if you could get your hands on a physical copy of either and take it for a test drive that would really help to get a feel for them.

hope that helped.

a little more 3/4 but a little more stylized.

you are still accepting money and, thereby, profiting from the copyrighted work of others.

as far as using the sprites is concerned, it's wrong, though i doubt the project would reach a level of notoriety required to call the attention of the game developer.  and even then you'd most likely just be asked/told by the copyright holder's legal department to take down the game.  laziness is not a solid defense against possible copyright infringement.