Thursday 23 March 2017

Fast comic page colouring - A brighter astronaut

I started colouring up Astronawoot, an initially black and white game I released online in february. It's a comic-based choose your own adventure game, with the original still playable here

The trickiest challenge in this was to find a style that would look pretty from further away (due to how the panels are built), as well as allow me to draw it really really quick, so I can cover all of the 56 pages by myself in less than a month (it's not as scary to do it than it is to say it). 

With those in mind, I managed to find the best style quite accidentally, while painting a shape with a darker colour. Seeing the strands of colour next to each other, I knew I hit something precious. Also in order to make the effect applicable to any area, I paint with transparent black, this way not having to constantly pick a darker shade of the current colour. I started getting the hang of it, so I'll be back with more... :D


Friday 17 March 2017

Game Exploration - Polytopia

With Polytopia, I felt that simplicity and joy of game-making present in indie games, combined with the wish to show the world and its history in a new light.


How it all starts


You find yourself at the top of your little town. Proud Leader of a tiny 1 square world. There’s also that feeling of something hidden from you. Beyond the visually-satisfying low poly white Fog, there is an echo almost screaming “More”. “Explore Me”.
The call is answered.
And there’s so much to do.


Game Elements


You notice the great Resource. It’s portrayed as a little Star, because it will help you reach them. Metaphorically. You are ok with looking at the sky, but the Unseen is what excites you more. Time to go beyond the Fog.


Faced with such a big task, help will be needed. Using the Resource, you summon a fellow townsfolk to help you explore. It’s great to use it for things like that. But, looking in the corner of your vision, you notice something bigger. Something way more vast than your understanding.


The Tech Tree




Oh. This is certainly new. Everything. Well, you are an Oumaji, so riding geometric Zebras is a piece of cactus cake, but fishing?? You always wandered what those little underwater fellows are used for.
For that purpose, you use the Resources of a new day to learn this wonderful art of Fishing. With that done, opportunities open. Your whole town can benefit from it. But the local glory can wait… it’s time for the Unknown.


Conquering Villages




Breaking through the mythical fog, your view becomes blurred by the wonder. The flora is amazingly different, and the ground is covered in a cold white thing. You also notice a settlement. A tiny modest village, lacking its own identity. A thought crosses your mind. The Oumajis would be capable to survive here. And prosper.

Fighting




Things were going well. The fresh fish brought wealth to your hometown and its buildings, you advised your officer to conquer a new village found nearby, and you’ve just converted this one… When they showed up.
With pointy horned helmets and dull grey clothing, the strangers present themselves as the Bardur tribe, rulers of the Snowy Lands. Humph. This will not be easy, but at least the number next to their head shows you they are not immortal. And they will fall.


The World is Ours




A lot has happened and there’s still an infinity left. While the tides of War wash over the gates of the Bardur fortress, the cities produced enough resource for a real seafaring experience. After a port was built in your northern city, maybe your Tribe can form a fantastic fleet and crush the rest of the Bardur, however many of them might be lurking in the ancient Fog. There’s an entire world to discover, conquer and experience. And if at any point your empire will fall, or conquer so much that the world overflows in a void of boredom, the Gods of The Beginning will arrange you a new world and a new empire. A new fate.


The Gods of the Beginning




Before the birth of the World, some things have to be decided. A Nation, a variety of Rivals, and the most thrilling of all, how much the Odds favour or despise you. This is a place for new origins, and where this particular story will end. It’s up to you to discover the rest. The ever-changing lands of Polytopia have something lingering in them forever. The Fun.

Short disclaimer: The Battle of Polytopia doesn’t have the amount of cheesiness and sweet words found in this overview. It has its own mystic appeal, but it’s simple, fresh and lovely. Since I believe there’s always something life-related behind experiences like this, I had to write my own perspective on it. Be sure to share this with anyone who loves or would love Polytopia, and enjoy playing life.
-Andreas

Thursday 16 March 2017

Brave Sheep

This is today's doodle, and it's based on a project that kept jumping around my mind for the last few days... It illustrates fighting a conventional fear, something you are supposed to not go against. In this case, the brave little hero UL came to fight the monstrous Wolf King in the name of his entire home village. Having a greater exterior purpose helps with breaking from the inner fears...


Wednesday 15 March 2017

Game Project - Ship Ship

For the game design project, I decided to rely on an idea that has been sitting and gathering dust for a while. I had an idea of a top-down shooter in which the main character would first equip two "modules" that will increase some of its stats. I wanted those modules to be boxes, which didn't really fit with the human-like character (why carry a box on the side of your backpack to increase your firerate?), so for this renewal I thought of something way more functional...

A Spaceship.

With a ship, the dragged-in modules make way more sense.

So I have a top-down shooter game, starring a spaceship, with equippable modules influencing its stats.

After some designing,  drawing and coding:


Although it works properly, it still needs some graphic refinement on the enemies and of course, the background.