[garbageboygame]

Sorry for the radio silence everyone, it’s been a busy few months.

We’re still in the process of fine tuning GB’s mechanics but so far he feels great. None of us have made a game before so even getting to this stage is a huge accomplishment. Go Team Garbage!!

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Hat trick

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Rollin’ rollin’ rollin’

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Be hidin’ from those headlines like...

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Hideaway.

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Run Garbageboy, run!

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Jaunt

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Struttin’

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Here’s a little lesson in design I learned the hard way. 

I’ve always drawn Garbageboy to have spindly limbs and pretty generic human proportions which is how I continued to for the game. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it right? We quickly realized that he was pretty hard to read during gameplay and when designing a black and white game readability is key. (note: the BG is a test, obviously its values compared to GB are a huge factor in readability and will need to be toned down)

So I squashed him down, gave him bigger eyes, thickened up his limbs and slapped some big ole circles on there for hands. And whaddya know? He’s cuter than he’s ever been before, actually feels like a garbage BOY instead of some lanky teen and he reads way better from a distance! (note: There are frame rate issues with these GIFs)

So here’s what I learned the hard way: PUSH your designs! You can always pull back. I have a terrible habit of sticking with my first drawing which is usually the worst one! It takes a few drawings to learn about a character before you can really do them justice. I grew way too comfortable with GB and didn’t see a need to change him. Little did I know a better design was already in my head had I just explored a little more!

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Meet Garbageboy.

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More boss exploration. Designing a black and white game is really challenging, but I think little pops of color will help guide the player.

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Had a lot of fun designing this bad boy. This two-headed boss will chase GB while Goons throw banana peels to try and slip you up! The truck will 180 between positions, having a different set of attacks for each one!

I think there’s room for a TON of fun boss animation here... 

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Here’s another early 3D test. We were pretty bummed when we played Mario Odyssey and found out he can double jump off his hat. But GB’s lid toss is innate to his design and I think it will challenge us to be different than Mario. 

It’s a shame to scrap all this work but translating GB’s graphic style to 3D just wasn’t working. Plus, three of us are trained 2D animators so leaning into our strengths seems like a no-brainer for our first game!

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Awesome style frame done by my buddy, the talented @joey-vol2

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Rats will play a big part in the game, along with other more predatory scavengers...

I really tried to think about shape language while designing the raccoons. You can jump on them when they’re walking so I gave them a rounded, inviting back. But you can’t jump on them when they’re upright so I tried to emphasize pointy, threatening shapes on the head.

I think little details like this will help give subconscious hints to the player.

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No mercy.

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Using tax payer dollars The Mayor will stop at nothing to catch Garbageboy! 

Just brainstorming wacky, garbage tech. I think it will be fun to have The Mayor pop up time and again as a boss, only to be thwarted by Garbageboy and retreat until he has a new wackier, scarier machine invented for him.