so that`s the end of week 6, I`ve not had quite as much work done as I`d hoped. it`s the same thing every year, i always get sidetracked with Halloween stuff. but thankfully it`s almost over and i do actually have ~some~ progress to show.

had a talk with my guidance tutor and glad to hear that my aims and questions were solid enough after all despite my concerns.

he raised a few interesting points, that the nostalgia for early graphics could be extremely circumstantial and using social studies to figure out the appetite for the style might be a bit of a stretch when it comes to the work amount, so instead to try to find people working in my field and interview them on the relevant topics. so basically, he shaved off a lot of bulk from the methods and replaced it with something fun instead. I think I`m gonna try to chase up other ocean and ask them about dark void zero if the circumstances are right I.e they reply to my emails.

I`ll ask questions along the topics of  “what limitations did you choose to impose/how cheap was a game like this to develop/did the team have any skill gaps regarding this art style”  so by all accounts the meeting with Gregor was pretty good. however i`m still waiting on feedback regarding my (abysmal) timetable and the rest of my details in the project plan. however in hindsight, because of that i spent a lot of time this week photoshopping instead of revising said plan. here`s what i have to show for it.

the beginnings of the patriot level

there`s a lot i`ve learned/should have differently from making this.

the layers close need to be designed a lot longer and the ones all the way at the back need to be a lot shorter, for this experiment I just made all the layers the same so there’s lot`s of cropping and details not on display. (some castles, altars, crops, paths,  scarecrows and sheep on the meadows) I had some animations of sheep and birds I wanted to place on the background layers but getting them to scroll alongside was a nightmare, I need to position everything properly before applying animation and suss out the canvas functionality in flash

cropped but not forgotten! (animated)

of course now I`m remaking the level in sprite form. getting ever better at making modular assets all fit together, even with the sharp sprite style. my usual habits were to apply layering styles,blurs and filters to make everything seamless. but of course, in the 16-bit format i have to be methodical and precise. but the remade level is looking sharp and stylish thus far.

wish I had a character made to run around it though.

and for good measure, here`s some more assets that are hidden behind the scrolling wizardry

the sky all the way at the back, no clouds this time. the scene is quite busy as it is.

hills at the back

closer meadows

the path without the foreground grass covering it. tetris rocks!

one of my objectives is to review games in my field of interest. and I finally managed to get my hands on superbrothers: sword and sorcery. I`m only about 10 minutes into the game but got a good meaty page of notes so far. and that`s only concerning details relevant to my research so yeah, the game studies should turn up a lot of interesting stuff. just need to think about how i can apply it and how it all matters in the long run.

I was going to make a research links dump again, but it`ll have to wait untill later in the week when i`ve more time. whenever I do my daily skim of websites I`m always turning up relevant games and articles, it`s brilliant that I have no chance of running out of material. but the quality of said articles are`nt comparable to journal entries or anything professional/academic from the summon resource. all i can do on that front is keep checking it every now and then since it`s constantly being updated.

got a submission to do on monday regarding the following

 

• As a creative what inspires, motivates & intrigues you?
• How do you research / explore ideas?  Words, sounds, images, style & observations.
• How do you communicate, interpret, define, story & experience ideas?

I`d like to think that I`ve comminicated all of those aspects across in my blog thus far, i do a lot of practical exercises derived from my inspirations and i dedicate a large chunk showing off games/videos/songs that inspire and motivate me. taking into consideration the regular updates you can see the evolution of ideas from sketches into photoshops and full-fledged animations.

but for good measure, one more rant on inspiration before I wrap this post up, the sonic generations soundtrack is leaked and is online. i`m dying of anticipation for the game to release (4 days and counting)  i`ve of course preordered the collectors edition. but to tide me untill then i`ve been gorging my ears on these outstanding tunes.

this is a (classic) remix or spagonias, rooftop run. I love it so much i used it in my video earlier in this post. it gives such a strong vibe of nostalgia despite being an entirely new melody.

chemical plant given an overdose of bass and electro funk. the outstanding melodic nature is taken to new heights and i cant wait to play through this level.

speed highway classic, when I first heard the cash cash remix of city escape and noticed the `endless mine` easter egg, i knew that they would be good for the franchise and this energetic song is further proof. the whole nightclub~ish style of music seems to suit classic sonic as the original 16-bit songs have always seemed similar in tone to the whole `dance and techno`genre.

this is a lesser known song, plays in one of the multiplayer levels in sonic 3. it`s a testament to the sheer quality of the original soundtracks that they sound so good still. im thinking that well made 16 bit songs are just like the visuals, they age well. this is`nt the most obscure song in the list however, they have remixes from the sonic advance titles,sonic  spinball, sonic battle and even knuckles chaotix!

non uni stuff below this line

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the stupid cardboard rocket is almost done

check the camo pattern! that`s the helmet on the left.

also discovered that unfortunately my xenoblade video entry will not be one of the finalists in that nintendo competition i mentioned before. so instead i`m going to remake the video and upload it onto my own youtube account. the laundry list of tasks is ever-growing.

that`s all for now! tomorrow night is halloween and i should have loads of great photos!