the online ramblings of a generally confused game designer

Monday, December 26, 2005

boxing day

Christmas is over for another year... just leftovers to enjoy now. And my shiny new wacom to play with. It's amazing how much control these things give you.. it makes my drawings look almost as good as they do when I use a good old fashioned sketchbook.

Anyway, back to work.. I've done some doodles for 'David', but nothing I particularly want to upload yet. Plus I need to come up with a new name. The game was originally autobiographical, so I decided to use my middle name for the title.. I just feel thats a bit lame now, so I will be comming up with something else.. sadly 'untitled flash project' just doesn't have the same ring to it :)

Mirror is comming along niceley.. flash can now take care of the imagery jules is finding, turning it into ripped up magazine pages at runtime. I'm still avoiding the issue of database handling.. but that has to wait for our server issues to get sorted out. Wow, I'm starting to turn into a bloody programmer. I'm terrified

here's another pic from the TV project, just to brighten up the blog a little

Friday, December 23, 2005

a little more depth

My last post was a bit on the short side, so here's a bit of an extension on each of my on going projects

'Mirror'
The development on the game is going well, the flash programming for it is about a third of the way through.. there's some working code over at http://www.animationnewport.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1157 which you can have a play with, a little buggy, but worth a look. The game is simple in terms of gameplay, but complex in terms of the maths going on under the hood... so a couple of late nights up ahead.

TV Project
I've been approached to do some character design and animation towards a new kids TV show. It's under wraps right now, but there are some interesting people and ideas involved. If the show gets picked up then this could provide me with a nice little piece of freelance work.. I'll give more details when I can, but as with any professional project in development I have to keep my cards pretty close to my chest

'David'
A side project I'm currently at the design documentation stage on. It will take the form of an online compendium of smaller games. The plan is for this to form a showreel / self-promotion piece that I can distribute to people I'm interested in working with. The games follow the adventures of David, a teenager with no legs, and robotic arms. Each game tells the story of a different dilema in the young man's life, hopefully in an intriguing and comical way.. fingers crossed, i've got some concept imagery I'll upload at some point soon.

Unnamed Mod
I've stepped back on the development of the Half Life mod I was designing with a team. I felt the need to focus on projects closer to my own heart. I continue to argue with the guys making it about their creative choices though.. that's always fun to do

that's all for now.. happy christmas, and good luck in the new year

Thursday, December 22, 2005

long time no see

i know, i know

i've lost my internet connection, been ill and been deluged with the usual pre-christmas crap.. so I haven't posted for a while

quick update

- working on Mirror still, building the game shell, should have a functioning version online for the new year
- working on 'david', a game which could be something interesting.. more info later
- working on a pilot for kid's show, can't say the name for the moment. I'm doing work towards the 2D animated elements, here are some pics

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

the game takes shape

wow.. it's late.. i'm juggling a lot of balls at the moment, so excuse my lack of posts.

The mod i'm working on seems to be going reasonably well... the level designers and programmers involved seem to be good, and on the same page as me. I've kinda taken on the role of conceptual artist on the project, and i'm chugging out some character designs, i'll post them when i'm ready :)

mirror (my game with chris and jules) is also going well. We're nearing the end of pre production, i'm teaching myself the relevant software to make it, and we all seem to be on the same track. I've settled into the role of programmer, despite a lot of panicking as i first took on the role. here's a mock up screen grab of one of the collage creation screens. placeholder text and imagery, as well as an as of yet un-bought URL


the player would drag the transparent definitions onto the picture, which would grow and become opaque to show they were being used... if anyone has any comments they would definitely be appreciated