Here’s some more art

  • On May 21, 2014 ·
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As a follow up to my previous post I thought I’d share some more stuff I’ve been working on. I wouldn’t consider any of it finished.

Dancer

I’d been meaning to do more gesture studies of figures in motion so I freeze-framed a youtube video of a ballerina and scribbled 40 frames. I also tried out some paper textures underneath to see if I could make it feel more authentic.

Dancer

 Fennec Fox: Gunslinger

Fennec Fox Start Screen

This was a flash game I was working on for Stencyl Jam #14. The project grew too big and I didn’t finish it in time. I learned plenty from the experience, though.

His arm was handled separately to allow for switching out weapons

His arm was handled separately to allow for switching out weapons

I liked the idea of a punching mechanic but getting it to work proved problematic

I liked the idea of a punching mechanic but getting it to work proved problematic

The main game was built around a run and gun template for Stencyl. I also put together a rudimentary target practice stage where you’d have alternating good/bad guys.

Good guys

Good guys

Bad guys

Bad guys

Backgrounds

I experimented with different rendering styles for the backgrounds. First I tried drawing them in the same program as the characters but that looked too flat. Then I tried painting them with a soft airbrush. Eventually I settled on something somewhere between the two – solid shapes molded with shadow, texture, and gradients. This is also where trouble started as you can see I made the backgrounds many screens wide. I’d sketched them that big originally figuring I could just crop where needed. I think I was just afraid a smaller level would make it look like a spammy flash ad instead of a game. Click for full images.

Baddies and Other Character Animations

The funny thing is I’d originally decided to make the game a wild west shoot ’em up to scale back from my bigger idea where that was just a sub-section of the game. Anyway, Stencyl handles animations by designating milliseconds for each frame. I figured the sprites should use as few frames as possible to keep the motions snappy.

I liked the walk cycle I came up with for the monkey. I also had him holding guns with his feet

I liked the walk cycle I came up with for the monkey. I also had him holding guns with his feet

One of various characters that could shoot

One of various characters that could shoot

A punching enemy for variety. As with the player character, getting the attack to connect proved tricky

A punching enemy for variety. As with the player character, getting the attack to connect proved tricky

This guy would drop TNT if you got too close. A code thing you could endlessly tweak

This guy would drop TNT if you got too close. A code thing you could endlessly tweak

I wanted to populate the streets with civilians and such but I just didn't allot myself enough time

I wanted to populate the streets with civilians and such but I just didn’t allot myself enough time

I like the design of this little mouse Señorita

I like the design of this little mouse Señorita

Other

Once the jam ended I’ve been focusing more on animating. I’m trying to refine a finished look I can reproduce regularly and efficiently. Here’s a couple examples of the experimenting I’ve been doing.

Line Tests

Some line width and coloring tests. Click for a fuller view.

Stranger

Ink and color test