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Saturday, February 25, 2012

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Just Got the Giggles


It isn't proper for a grown man to giggle uncontrollably, but fuck me if this isn't the most ridiculous movie trailer ever.

You know what the best thing about it is? Totally serious. DEAD serious. If they had gone ahead with a, "Yeah, Lincoln killing vampires is silly." kind of attitude, I could understand that, I could respect that; but when you have the Great Emancipator swinging around an axe like a katana and tossing vampires into the air while a bunch of heavy notes play in the background then it comes dangerously close to some kind of critical mass of silly.



Youtube comments up ahead...

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

A Composition Moment


Click on the image and it will get crazy big and in your face.



Still working on the stupid Undermountain backgrounds. I was staring at the layers, totally forgetting what the hell I was going to do next, and then I was like, "Oh, hey. The logo looks pretty good right there."

So, if you're just joining me, then welcome to the most unprofessional dev blog ever. I think tomorrow I'm going to tell about that time I drove off a cliff. Either that or I'm going to embed a Youtube video.

The Youtube video would be less work...

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Contrast is Everything


So here's one of the backgrounds that's going into MAL. I've spent all yesterday air-brushing rocks and crap so everything looks detailed. It's mind-numbing work, and probably 95% of the workload.

But you know what? The rocks and air-brushed details are only about 5% of what you see when you're running through the game. I mean, you see them, but they don't register the same way that the you see the overall theme of the image; the colors and contrast that rolls around in the back of our heads.





Here's the proof:


I could have spent another three days perfecting those stupid rocks, and sure, the detail would be nice from a technical perspective, but one strip of turquoise and pow, the scene looks a billion times better.






And why not go even further?



So now the strip of rocks on the bottom, the ones in the far background, are almost entirely invisible. Hours of work down the drain. But it doesn't matter, because a big yellow, glowing mist makes that foreground pop like crazy, so not only do you have more color, you've got more depth.


(I was supposed to have, like, a billion other things done with the game by now, but instead, "Hey, fuck it, backgrounds.")

Monday, February 20, 2012

Tevis Thompson

I haven't played Skyward Sword. I'm not even that interested, which says a lot about the series that sucked me into video games in the first place. It's easy to just assume that I grew out of these titles, that I'm nothing more than nostalgic for childhood, but that's bullshit. Dude, I play more games now than I did when I was ten. I haven't changed at all. If anyone changed, it's Zelda.


On a related note, here is an excellent article to read.

The article really pins down what constitutes an adventure in a video game, which is so god-damned interesting. A lot of what is considered excellent design is put to question by Tevis, and you know what? He makes some really good points. Granted, if Tevis's wish came true and Zelda actually did return to it's roots, the game would sell less copies. Maybe a lot less. I'm almost positive on this, so I have to ask if what Tevis wrote down, this article that has me so excited, is it good game design?

Better question: Is it wise to label something as good or bad design when it's the essential concept of the game that's being questioned? Tevis is suggesting a return to a different genre, and the appeal of a genre depends more on a player's taste than a designer's skill.

I'm getting slightly off-topic. The original topic was: Read Tevis's shit. He's smart, and he certainly makes a better case for changing Zelda than I ever have.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Deathball



This was originally going to be a little ball of light that would hit you and do some damage, but then I was like, "What if it had a face? And what if it looked more and more freaky the closer it got?"

After that, nothing would do but a ridiculously over-the-top explosion, and three days later, I had Deathball.


Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Background WIP


Seeing as how I never post anymore, I might as well show the stuff responsible for eating up all my time.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

The Greatest Story Ever Told








For years scientists have been on a quest to discover a binding, universal formula. A single equation that can sum up the entire fucking cosmos. Is it possible? Does it even exist?

Yes it does, and here it is:

Baccano!  >  (Any other fucking show ever)


Friday, February 3, 2012

The Man From Nowhere


I've never seen an actor portray a more over-the-top dark and brooding hero than the one Won Bin presents in The Man From Nowhere. Through the first half of the movie, whenever Won said anything at all I'd bust out laughing. Not because he was bad. Won is incredible, but watching some dude who can't even see through his hair mumbling over a bowl of ramen with some cute kid at the other end of the table just adding contrast to his mood, it looks ridiculous.

Eventually the movie dives into heavy exposition on just who our Man From Nowhere really is, and while he does have an interesting and appropriately dramatic backstory, I would've been just fine without the details. The character had more of a mystique about him when all we knew was that he came out of fucking nowhere and could beat the shit out of everyone. I like that mystery. Let me fill in the blanks.


And aside from being a really good movie with a lot of fucking heart, The Man From Nowhere also has something else going for it: Cops eating stuff.

I love it when cops eat stuff in movies. Not because of the food itself, although I do enjoy watching people eat. But it's not that.
It's more like I'm witnessing some dudes who understand what's important in life. They're on the job, they're getting shit done, but they're going to fit a burger in-between all that stuff. I like that! I love that!

There should've been more scenes with those cops. Those guys were great.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

WIPsplosion



Why should you only see something when it's finished and looks good? Here's an explosion in progress. Will it look awesome when it's done? Hell if I know.

Animating particle effects is new territory for me. I'm beginning to really like it. Jamestown won me over to the style. That game is 100% beautiful sprites. Explosions are incredibly meaty.


EDIT: Nope. Turned out poopy. Time to start a new one.