All posts by jseeman

Update 11/14

Game Development

I didn’t update Monday because it was a holiday but its not like anyone’s waiting on these posts with baited breath, like nobody is looking forward to me posting these things at all. I act like i have an audience here but it’s maybe checked out by one person every couple weeks or so. I give all my friends links to this blog but they don’t even look at it once but whatever i guess. On with the update.

I did a title screen. Its kinda weird and the animation isn’t great so i won’t be showing the animated version but it’ll be there oh boy will it be there. Color scheme is different than the in game environment but i like the juxtaposition.

I might work more on the mountains but if it comes to it, this can be the final image who cares

I also did the text box for all the dialogue. The way its made it can be stretched to fit any amount of text but it’ll probably just stay the same size throughout. I might make a neat stretching image for when it first appears.

I also did a bunch of body piles for the final shot so that’s pretty gross.

The end

 

Update 10/10

Game Development

Today I am very sick!! But even that hasn’t stopped me working! I have designed the basic layout for the level in the final demo.

Details

I still have to make some houses, a cathedral, and a bridge! But then the demo area will be done.
Also the mechanical tech demo i’m using for the BFA defense is completed!

Update 10/8

Game Development

I have created a presentation for my defense.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/14mSVg-D3PcgO7z0QnZLi9whIjohNS3FW-Bu-nctfebo/edit?usp=sharing

I have also done much more work. I have essentially completed the player and enemy sprites for the demo. I have also created some fun screenshots for presentation purposes.

Update 10/3

Game Development

The past two days have been pretty productive! Following Monday’s update i have 2 more enemy animations and some environment art!

The first enemy animation i’ll be showing is the demon’s walk cycle. This was pretty fun to do and makes me laugh a little! Its silly in a way that is unsettling, complimenting the monster itself.

I also have an attack animation for the demon. I was debating whether to make the attack claws or a bite, but i figured with a mouth that big, why wouldn’t it bite? I may add a claw attack later, it also makes sense that something a bit more imposing than a common soldier would have more than one way of attacking…

For the environment art, i made a canopy for the people to keep their supplies dry from the snow! I’ve created an empty version, and a version with boxes, barrels, hay, and a lantern. With the spot light capabilities of Unity, i wanted the lantern to be lit up so you could see it as you pass.

Update 10/1

Game Development

It is October first, the beginning of the spooky month! I have been working on quite a bit since last update, so let’s jump in!

First, the enemy swordsman has received both a walking sprite and an attack sprite! The walking sprite has gone through 2 iterations already, the first one i made for it was a bit too active and busy for the personality i was trying to achieve for the character so i started again from scratch and this time i came up with something i liked quite a bit more! 

I really enjoy animating the subtleties in detail, such as the hair and fur movement, and the flaps at the bottom of the tunic. There wasn’t a lot of room for that in the subtlety of a shuffling walk animation, but i got to go wild with this guy’s sword attack!

Moving on to environments, i finally completed a parallax tiling background for many of the game’s areas! It is quite large at 1920×1080 in comparison to the sprites of the game, so some resizing may be necessary.

The tiling of it is really seamless, but you’ll have to wait until the game to see it in action!

I have also been working on a bunch of environmental sprites, really trying to spice up the flavor of the setting, making it seem more lived in and less just like an empty testing area. I have made 5 tree sprites, but instead of showing you them individually, i’ve decided to treat you to a snapshot of an area within the game!

Lastly, my coder has been hard at work learning the ins and outs of the unity engine, and he has gotten a playable test! It is a simple gravity and character controller, but has also included the functionality of slopes, and has started his work on area lights! Unfortunately i cannot include footage of this demo as i don’t have a screen recorder yet, but it is coming along swimmingly!

 

Update 9/26

Game Development

For today I have updated the demon a bit. Now he has an idle animation in which his mouth opens. He also has more contrast to accentuate the ribs and other torso details. I also bulged his eye out a bit.

Idle: 

Also for fun, I have made an updated sprite composition, a “gang’s all here” photo so to speak.

Detail

Update 9/24

Game Development

Today I have decided to share some of the early concepts for enemies. Now i was at first hesitant to share these because they are simply prototypes with much that could be changed about them, but any progress is good progress! With that being said, I have 2 designs to share, one human enemy and one demon.

Enemy Swordsman: A simple standing sprite, this enemy wields a broadsword and an unwavering will. His hat is designed to both protect his head and keep snow from interviewing with his line of sight. His padded chest armor, complete with fur trim keeps him warm in the cold climate. The chain mail protects his arms and legs.

Long Demon: Not animated for now, I am unsure of how i want to animate him or even if this is the final design, but this demon is a skewed version of the Enemy Swordsman. His long hat transferred to the long head of the demon, and his short range so shown by his twisted position.

Art Exploration

Projects

http://www.metalgearsolid.net/features/yoji-shinkawa-interview

https://www.usgamer.net/articles/the-final-fantasist-a-conversation-with-yoshitaka-amano

This first interview is from a popular artist named Yoji Shinkawa. Shinkawa is mostly a concept artist for video games, and is namely known for his work on the Metal Gear Solid series.  His artwork is noteworthy for its ethereal nature, lack of color, use of lighting, and use of heavy shadows. In the article, he gets fanmail asking his inspiration. He says that he has imitated so many styles of artwork and that his style is the end result of that. I found this interesting because I am at a point where i am sampling many styles of artwork, trying to find a style that suits me.

The interviewer from Konami Computer Entertainment Japan asks if there was anything Shinkawa paid special attention to during his original artwork. He replied, noting that he wanted to appeal to people’s imaginations. With the limitations of the hardware for the early consoles like the PS1 or PS2, there was no way to get  the detail from the artwork to the actual in game models. This is such an interesting way to design, as it helps to bridge the gap between imagination and the actual in game experience.

The second interview focuses on another Japanese artist Yoshitaka Amano. He is known mostly for his work on video games and anime, most notably Final Fantasy and Vampire Hunter D. His style is also very ethereal and experimental. However, according to Amano, 90% of his work is contemporary art while the remainder goes to his games. Both styles of art draw from each other, but his concept art is more traditional concept art, while with his contemporary art, you may find him experimenting with painting on sheets of metal.

This experimentation is very interesting to me, as i still tend to experiment a lot with my artwork and styles. It also interests my that Amano’s art is mostly unshown, as his most popular artworks are concepts and the final product is a 3d model or pixel artwork. It would be interesting to try and translate some flowy artwork into a pixel medium to get a feel for what that is like.

For the second part, i downloaded a program called Aesprite which can easily make images into sprites. I wanted to do this to some of my own artwork.

I thought this sort of deconstruction to artworks that i’ve made in the past was really interesting, partly because i worked so hard on these pieces and seeing them broken down into simple components is interesting. The last of the 6 even makes me see a different character and is inspiring me to to dry out drawing a new character. Another interesting point is the second of the 6, the neon pill looks even brighter than in the original. The art of pixels and spritemaking is very interesting in both deconstructing regular art and creating new art of its own.

Update 9/19

Game Development

(properly) Introducing Kris! The best friend to the player character and the one who will do most of the talking in game. He serves as a pillar for which the main character can lean upon as he struggles.

Here, we have some simple sprites for him, a standing and a walking one, respectively.

Kris will be an emotive person, so expressions will be important for him. Thus he will have some emotive sprites!

Shrug

Head Shake (and looped version)

Contract

Projects

Contract:

My project is a video game. It is a side-scrolling action game, with a focus on the story. There is a solid start, beginning and end, which will be solidly represented through the pixel style. The game will not be especially long, but I am aiming to make it have an effective message and theme to it. I believe it fits squarely both in interactive media and in animation. I am however, not doing most of the coding myself, it may fit better into the animation category.

The main concepts that drive this project are the concepts of friendship and of mental illness. The story follows two soldiers in an invading army occupying a snow-covered country. A mistake leads from occupation to an all out war, a concept which the player’s character does not handle well. The player’s character starts uneasy about the occupation and steadily declines as the war rages on. To cope with the nightmares of war, the player character’s mind visualizes actual nightmares. Where soldiers once were, they now fight demons. The farther down this rabbit hole he goes, the more savage, until he meets a demon as savage as he is. The player fights and is ultimately defeated by this demon. As he dies, the player character’s mind snaps back to reality, to find the demon that kills him is his friend who has been traveling along with him the whole time. As the player character lays dying, their friend holds them, staying with them at the end.

The aesthetic is first and foremost a pixel based game, something rather unexpected accompanying a story so emotional. For the color scheme, I was going to make more of a muted scheme, as it is set in a winter scheme. The environment will be mostly whites and light blues, there will be breaks of dark brown and dark green for the houses and trees. The main character and their army has a red uniform to stand out against the stark white. As the main character’s mind slowly delves into madness, the environment also changes. Instead of a white purgatory, the character moves more into a red hellscape. This change will accompany the change of tone and music.

The final format will be a program on a computer. I’m looking to display a computer and monitor on a pedestal in a gallery. Hopefully there will be a spot with an outlet to allow me this computer.

Diagram:

Materials: For hardware I will need a computer and monitor to play the game on, I will also bring in a controller for the player to use instead of a mouse and keyboard. Software I will need photoshop and unity.

Calendar:

December 7th – finished/polished

November 20th – Base finish/levels done, enemies done, sprites done

November 8th – Levels designed

October 20th – base sprites finished

October 11th – Tech demo done

October 4th – base mechanics done