#binaryowl

[gamemakernathan]

Man, it’s been forever since I’ve posted here, hasn’t it? And for good reason! Here’s the short version: - I’m a real Game Dev now working on an awesome project!!! - I’m still been doing pre-production/design work on SkyClash, and got some sweet character art commissioned by binaryowl and tekknicole, who are still taking commissions and totally deserve your business! Wanna see the sweet art and hear about my sweet new job? Hit the read-more!

I’ve been working with NostalgiCo on their upcoming game “Cryamore” since November! I was super psyched to be brought on for this project. I never dreamed I’d be working on a project like Cryamore so soon out of the gate! I figured I’d be stuck working on ports of “Imagine Horsie Races 5″ or something for a few years first. It’s been rough going, but that’s par for the course for any indie project, right? And the chance to work on a tight team of awesome people where everyone gets a say is well worth the occasional pipeline hiccup! As great as working on Cryamore is, I haven’t forgotten about my own projects and ideas. I haven’t had time to do code work on SkyClash in awhile, but I’ve been taking time to hash out game mechanics and character concepts. Pictured below are some bits of concept art I had commissioned from my good friends binaryowl and meira/tekknicole!

- I shared a picture of Fylis, my UFO-piloting alien character awhile back, and asked Binary to draw a picture of Fylis in their super-well done disguise. She also made a sketch of Fylis in an action pose and threw it in as a bonus, so hooray for that!

- Awhile back, around the same time as the first Fylis pic, I asked Meira to draw a picture of Kwale, who’s meant to be the closest thing to a main character SkyClash has. She’s got a magic wind-fan and a love of the open sky! AND I NEVER SHARED HER! How terrible of me! Better late than never, right?

- Way more recently, I asked Meira to draw up some concepts for another character, a hobbyist Super Hero called The Cerulean Jay (CJ for short)! His wings stopped growing when he was a kid, so his parents got him a jet-pack! Pictured in each Meira work is my own sad excuse for concept art, made in MSPaint. Binary got similar references. Amazing what actual artists can do, right?

Both are actively taking commissions now, by the way. Click their names anywhere to go to their blogs and put in a request! Pro-tip: Did you know you can write off art commissions like this on your taxes if you’re a Freelance game developer? I get to pay my friends properly for their art AND write it all off as a business expense! HOW COOL IS THAT?! :D That about covers things for now. I’ll be putting my all into Cryamore, as well as polishing the design and character docs for SkyClash. Who knows? Maybe SkyClash will even end up being a future NostalgiCo title? I’ve got some steep internal competition for the honor of Project #2, but you never know! Wish me luck!

[gamemakernathan]

I commissioned my buddy BinaryOwl to draw a character I have planned for a game I’m working on. I’ve been busy with ProGen’s commission work, so MY game is still far from presentable, but it’s great to have some professional-grade art for one of my characters! Now that I think about it, I haven’t talked much about the game at all yet. I suppose I can talk a little about it now that I’m serious enough to commission artwork for it. “SkyClash” is a 2-player aerial dog-fighting game in a fantasy/sci-fi setting. That’s the elevator pitch, essentially. Each player selects one of (ideally) 9 characters, then they fight each other in aerial combat. I wanted more interesting characters and vehicles than a bunch of military planes. One of my character concepts is Fylis: an alien sent to the SkyClash tournament to study the native populace’s combat capabilities. Fylis pilots a flying saucer and uses laser blasters and cloaking devices in combat. I’d say more, but then I’ll just start gushing about a game still in its early stages, which is a game-dev no-no. Maybe we’ll be lucky and my next post will be a SkyClash prototype. More likely, though, it’ll be more character art. Also, did I mention Binary is still taking commissions? Find more info and her rates here.