I knew I should’ve updated the header sooner.

Will make a better version later (animated, even). This is just a preview of how it’ll look like, I guess.

What’s it for? I’ll post some more info some other time.

2011-04-14 - Miles - sketch

Also, I have now changed some fonts here into something more pleasing to the eye. While the font in the sidebar / menu loads fast, though, the other font for the main text takes a while to load, so if you’re on a slow connection you might be seeing Arial / Verdana for a few seconds. This should also serve as an excuse for me to finally work on a new header for this site (font used up there? Doesn’t match the site anymore).

In other news, still trying to come up with a new design for the site (current one’s okay, but it’s also too simple-looking). Once I do, though, most of the stuff here will probably be erased. Starting over, you know?

Simple answer: I am a procrastinator. Always have been, and despite all my efforts to quit being one I keep making all the same mistakes as before. Sad, really.

So I looked back at my life to see the things that I used to distract myself. Art’s one of them, but since Project Midnight requires a lot of art and creativity I’ve been using that one in my favor. Video games? …Nah, despite my love for them I’ve actually been playing them less and less lately (I actually haven’t finished the latest Kingdom Hearts game, which is unushal since it’s one of the two RPG series I always make time to finish, the other being “any game by Nippon Ichi Software“). Music? …Okay, I think I might’ve hit something here – I’m addicted to music. I can’t spend more than half an hour without hearing good music or else I get jittery and  can’t think well. However, if I start hearing something, I completely blank out for at least four or five hours before realizing I need to do stuff, then forgetting to do it anyway as I listen for a couple more hours until my stomach starts getting aggressive. First step is clear: get rid of the music for a long while…

…well, except for Champagne Supernova and Buckethead’s Population Override CD – those two help me calm down and concentrate more. Same with Gustavo Dal Farra’s Minimalista CD. *sigh* I’ll miss you, Anamanaguchi.

Okay, next step, next step… Well, I need to make some kind of scheduling system (things have gone to hell ever since I forgot to buy a new calendar to plan out stuff). Well, those sticky notes should help a bit – just post ‘em everywhere so I don’t forget again…

…Great. Now my house looks like a Room Full of Crazy – Oh! That reminds me: No more TV Tropes for a long, long time.

…

Okay, now that I have a plan to stop the procrastination, I just have to find a way to learn how to animate. I do that, and most of my problems are solved (the art-related ones, that is). I actually had a lot of game projects in mind before starting with Midnight, but I chose to focus on it alone because I thought it would be the easiest way for me to learn how to animate (small sprites should be easy, right?). Unfortunately, I’ve never been any good at an overhead perspective, which meant all my artwork ended up looking like crap (which is why I haven’t updated on it in a while). So that plan backfired.

If I’m going to be learning how to do animations, I might as well do it on a perspective I’m familiar with, right? Well, that leaves two options: a 2D platformer, or a 2D fighting game. Right away, I discard the platformer idea – not too good at designing them, even if I’m decent at doing graphics for them. So a fighting game it is. Might as well revive the old project I had before switching to the current one, while I’m at it.

So now I begin with Project Chaos (formerly known as Project Midnight before I gave that name to the other one).

For the curious: It’ll be a 2D fighting game developed for the 2D Fighter Maker 2nd engine. If it ends up being good enough, I’ll make an XNA version with added characters and online play. I have a couple characters in mind for it, and I’m already learning how to sprite better (been studying the techniques of some Japanese artists – can’t understand a word of what they’ve written, but the images are self-explanatory enough for me to get by), so hopefully I’ll finally have something to show by December.

Hopefully…

This is Seraph, and she'll be in the game (with pants on, of course).

Drew this on DeviantArt when I found out they implemented that drawing thing on journal comments. Compared to other stuff I colored, this one’s actually decent (though I forgot to fill that little part under the arm red… oh well, too late to edit). Her name is Seraph, and if all goes as planned she’ll be one of the Player 2 characters in the game (I’ll explain later).

Oh, and for those of you who’ve seen pics of her on my other galleries: No, she won’t appear as busty as in those pics. She’ll still have a large chest, yes, but it’ll look normal along with her 7 ft. stature. Vera, on the other hand, will remain exactly the same (except for a specific missing part waist-down – you know what I’m talking about).

Those of you who haven’t seen my other galleries: Ignore that last statement.

EDIT: Well, I decided to draw another character on it:

Another quickie.

This is Miles, and he’s the main character.

Yep.

...Yes, that's a guy.

Well, I decided to update a tad more frequently. This is just a work-in-progress pic of the main character of Project Midnight. Working on the concept art first before I start spriting – get things set up before I start creating the game proper, or else I’ll probably end up working hard on getting nowhere… again.

I’m progressing pretty well on this project (design doc’s halfway done, world is designed, concept maps are being worked on, etc.), but of course this comes at a price: Passing college at this state is gonna take a miracle. Heh, way to get my priorities straight…

One of the things I've been working on.

Well, it seems I’ve completely forgotten to pay attention to my own site, now, have I? Well, there are a few reasons for that, actually.

First of all, since this site is gonna be where I’ll talk about my personal game-related projects, I don’t really like to post stuff that’s not related to that. Unfortunately, that means rare updates since I’m barely making it in college and have to focus most of my attention to my classes. It doesn’t help that I have a buttload of art commissions on the side, either, which means even opening an art program brings me headaches (though strangely not the good ol’ pencil and paper… meh, must’ve gotten used to sketching by now).

Speaking of which: I’m still having trouble with the sprite designs for the game. I mean, platformer sprites I can do okay – side-view perspective’s easier for me – but overhead sprites? Not my forte, which is bad since I’ve almost finished the design doc for that project (or at least the part explaining how the world and the dungeons work). It’s weird – I can do pixel art for platformers, but I don’t know how to design one; and yet even though I can design an overhead adventure game (think Zelda) pretty well, the art always comes out… well, mediocre, at best. I’m gonna start using the artwork from La Pucelle, Disgaea and Makai Kingdom as reference, by the way – especially La Pucelle (Ryoji Nomura is my idol). I feel like those are the most expressive pixel art styles I’ve seen in recent memory, which is what I’m going for with that project.

By the way, I now dub this work as Project Midnight (working title).

Now, the way I wish to design games is thus: If I ever make more than one game based on the same world, I will never, ever use the same genre twice (which means, of course, that I’m gonna have to learn to design platformers one day… *shudders*). Still, I might have to break this rule if the games end up too large for Xbox Live Indie Games (though I hope not – that’s the secondary purpose for the pixel art), but until that day comes I’m gonna experiment with various tools and genres. First genres I’ll experiment with: overhead 2D adventure games, and interactive fiction. Why the latter? Because it’s fun. Also, it helps me set up some of the characters in the other game, as well as to make sure I have the backstories worked out. See the screenshot at the top? That’s the project. I’ll be using the Inform 7 engine for it ’cause it’s easier than the alternatives without sacrificing power.

…Well, that’s it, really.

(Note to self: change banner, please)