Long time no see indeed...

Currently not really working specifically on any games so obviously this blog will probably be at a bit of a standstill. But am still dipping toes in some projects though such as attempting to mount an interactive portfolio/website thingie in flash.

So here's me. Walking. Forever!

At least until I hopefully finish the website or else I really will be walking forever.

Long time no see

As I've been busy with my thesis and my teammate has also been busy with his, Blooning Away hasn't really had an update for a while, although I did update/streamline the look of the objects in the game when I felt like working, but not on the thesis. Here are some before and after animations and why it changed.

BEFORE

Drawn in illustrator using a brush to give it a handdrawn look, which I thought would contrast nicely with the very clean background but also be a quicker artstyle, making production faster.

AFTER

Seeing the handdrawn objects in the build and animated did not satisfy me. The clash between the squeaky clean background lines and the messy handdrawn felt too big and therefore I opted for a cleaner line (it's not pixelated as the gif might suggest) using the pen tool instead. Surprisingly it does not take that much longer to draw and animate with this style.

Procrastinating

I should have been working 

on either my thesis or Blooning Away

instead I spent time 

pimping my resume

Would student working on laptop 

be a good game?

Probably not 

and unlikely lead to fame

Sleeping, eating, waiting, procrastinating,

enough of that, 

let's open a can of Whoop-ass

B'looning Away, background art

Despite taking a break from it for several months now, I'm slowly returning to it. Background art is completely finished but right now I need/want to start some prototyping before moving on to more art.

In the meantime, some cuts of the background art.

 

 

 

B'looning Away, back to work

One month of vacation over and it's back to work. Here's what I slowly managed to finish within the last week (working a bit slowly at the moment, adjusting to not being on holiday anymore). However despite working a bit slowly at the moment, I can see this project finishing for january.

We're moving into space with a space hotel. (Very Jetsons inspired)

In development: B'looning Away (mini-update)

My development frenzy for B'looning Away has kind of died down now after the initial 2-3 weeks of total excitement and now it's down to work. Although in that time I did manage to squeeze out backgrounds for 3 out of 5 levels, so it's been a very productive frenzy.

Here is a shoehouse for the game.

In development: B'looning Away

No rest for the wicked, I've started working on a game again almost right after finishing up all the mandatory semester projects.

The basic concept is the same as Neno from my first semester, however it will be completely redone and all the extra narrative and gameplay stuff that was piled onto the Neno will be stripped off, so it will end up being the concept initially pitched. The reason why it's important for me to remake and work with this concept again is that I feel it has potential to be an interesting experience (although not necessarily a game). There's something very innocent and nostalgic about blowing around a balloon.

The game will now be about a boy who has lost his balloon (so there is no longer a boy from space). The player will then be left to explore the universe and fly higher up or collect things to fly down and reunite the balloon with the boy. The balloon will always be moving upwards in a certain speed unless the player collect things which will weigh it down for a while, and then it starts moving up again. A very simple premise for what is a very simple game.

Although I initially thought I was going to reuse the art assets from Neno, I ended up redoing everything again and it looks much nicer now when there's no time constraint and absolute creative freedom. In fact I am enjoying creating assets for this game so much, that I ended up having made the background for the first level within one week, but there's still a long way to go.

Neno, a bit animation

Aww... Though Neno is long gone I still can't let the little guy walk away completely. Here's an animation I did for him but didn't make it into our build. Obviously he's not supposed to constantly swing like this but just when the player blows wind on his balloon.

The dictator (on hold)

I have decided to put the dictator on hold for now. Something that unfortunately happens too often, where I start a project and end up putting it on hold (sometimes definate, sometimes not).

The reason why is mainly that I suddenly got busy with two game projects in spring semester and a programming project (likely also a game). And frankly juggling around four digital games is no fun.
The other reason is my insecurities as an artist. I want this game to look good (better than the ones I've made before) and in order to do that, I either need to find an artist or become a better artist myself, both of which will take time.

It's always a bit of a downer when you have to put a project on hold, especially one where you actually have put in some work rather than just conceptualising. But I am however working on a new and physical game, where my programming skills aren't needed and art consists mainly of graphic design, so this will be a nice break from all the digital games I have to make this semester.

Here are some backgrounds I tried to make for The Dictator:

And a walkcycle for the main character:

Neno, art

This is a fraction of the art created for Neno.

Assortment of objects to be found in the game (there was an average of around 20-25 unique objects in each level with five levels in total, which equals a lot of assets!). Some of the objects had animation and some were moving still images (or stationary)

The complete five levels in a coherent environment.

• The first level was a forest and floating circus level, with a girl being the go to point of interest as she would give you a new balloon.
• Second level is skyscraper islands with a bag lady as the balloon stall. She makes balloons out of plastic bags.
• Third level consists cliffs and has a mythological settings with objects appearing like pegasus, angels, centaurs and so on. Point of interest is Daedalus who is looking for his son Icarus. The player gets a metal balloon in order to move on.
• Fourth level is a space pirate battle. The balloon stall here is a sailor who has been thrown aboard due to his betrayal towards his crew. However he stole their underpants and has made balloons out of them.
• Fifth and final level is a futuristic space hotel. There is a robot seller who will give the boy a ticket home on the StarXpress when he has done what she wants him to.