More Games!

Well since I wrote one review, why not another?

Another inspiration for me to start working on my own games are the people over at Pastel Games.  They've made a few generic, but very cute point-and-click escape games, but what originally got me following them was their Daymare Town series.  Seriously, just open one of those games and look at it.  They're set in this Dr. Seuss-like world, all the art is just hand drawn, plain black and white, but so wonderfully weird.  It's the minimalistic soundtrack, though, that makes the games just a bit unsettling (in a good way).  Be warned, like a Seuss story, the games run on their own weird logic, so don't feel bad if you have to refer to a walkthrough to finish.  I'm more appreciative of the art than the gameplay anyway-not that it's bad, that's just my taste.

But they have quite a few more series that kept me hooked.  The one I'm most crazy about right now is The Fog Fall, a story-based adventure game set after a nuclear war.  Can't wait for the next in this one!  There is a larger story to it, but we have to take our time getting there.  In the meantime, I appreciate the visuals of the world growing feral, the characters we get to meet along the way, and the lonely mood.

As I said, they've got quite a variety under their belt so try to check out more than what I've mentioned here, but one thing I always look forward to when playing a Pastel Game is the atmosphere.  This is especially true of their more serious games; the world of the game feels real, it's all around you, but you just can't see it all.  That feeling just makes their creepy series all the more satisfying to me.

C'mon, the winter break is coming, so check out Pastel Games when you have the time!

Games!

I remember at the beginning of the year talking about how I'd like to work on a game.  Just a simple one, maybe text-based or point-and-click, but after how crazy this semester was and all the trouble I had with my programming class even that started to seem overwhelming.  Still, winter break is approaching, and that always sets my mind toward working on personal projects.

One guy who keeps inspiring me to make my own games is an artist called Hyptosis, on Newgrounds.  He's most famous for his work on the creepy yet whimsical Alice is Dead series, but he's done quite  a few other games.  They vary in tone from slightly dark to very lighthearted, but what really gets me is that he is slowly developing a world for all of his fantasy games to live in.  Not just little jokes and references to old games here and there; events in one series are having effects on the events in the others.  Aside from the fantasy world, the main thing he sticks to is zombie apocalypse survivor games.  Dude loves zombies.  Now, I personally found his zombie games a bit hit-or-miss, but I do think everyone should check out his The Sagittarian series.  It's a choose your own adventure point-and-click, with a catchy soundtrack and a great, surprisingly complex story.

Wow, I didn't really mean to turn that into a review, but like I said, I admire Hyptosis and I've been following/internet stalking him for a while now.  Check him out!

Sketches!

So, I tried to save the sketches that were in my notebook on the disc with the final versions of all my assignments, but whenever I tried it would somehow corrupt the disc and everything would be removed!  Weird.  Now I've tried to upload some of my sketches here throughout the year, but I just want to try and make sure I've got it all up now.

Project 01: Logos

There are some other sketches from this project that I uploaded here way back when we were working on it, so I'm not worried about putting them up a second time.

Project 02: Ads

Project 03: Event Poster

Pretty much all of my sketches for this project were done on spare paper outside my notebook, so I turned them in this morning along with my sketches of the final project.

Project 04: Book Cover

Just like with project 3, most of the sketches for this one were done on spare paper, which I turned in this morning, and I know I uploaded them here, too.

Project 05: Packaging

And finally, our last project.  I turned in my sketches with everyone else.  Some were on spare paper, others in my notebook.  Here's the ones from my notebook just because:

Random Discussion

I just felt like bringing this up.  For my last project in another class this semester, I'm trying to build a zoetrope.  Ever since I found out about them the idea captured me, because I hope to be an animator someday and this is probably the oldest form of animation ever.
It's really simple, though.

What's probably the most amazing thing about them is that, with enough knowledge and creativity, you can make them out of almost anything.  Really anything: paper, plastic sculptures...
CAKE!!!
Yes, even cake can become an animation.  I feel a whole new world opening up before me...

Final Presentation Tomorrow!

Whew!  This has been a long semester for me.  I wish I could have gone out on more of a high note, but unfortunately I just don't feel happy with this last project no matter what I do.

Maybe I've just been staring at my own work too long.  Can't wait to see everyone's one last time tomorrow morning!

References

I just wanted to include some of the Art Nouveau advertisements and some of the reference pictures I've found over the course of this project, maybe they could be useful to someone else, too.

Also, wow!  If I need two blog posts per week, I need a total of 32, which means I still need 6 more posts!  I didn't think I was so behind!

Final Project: Packaging

Wow, I really slipped behind on my blog updates!  I kept meaning to log on over the Thanksgiving break, but I guess I just got distracted by food-erImean bonding with my dear family.  Yes, that's it.  Delicious bonding.
Anyway, this is the package I chose to redesign:

It's so brown!  And if there's one thing I have noticed lately, it's that photos of food on the package rarely look good.  So, off I go to redesign!