#cyborgcatsonthemoon

[clairedfoster-blog]

Repost from @kimdotty, but a huge thank you to everyone who came out to the opening for @mfa_ilp's thesis show! It was so great to share all our hard work with so many people! Also a huge thank you to everyone who helped behind the scenes to make it so awesome! #cyborgcatsonthemoon #meuwnsmadness #illustration #micagradshow2016

[clairedfoster-blog]

Thesis show is up!!! Come by #mica's Decker Gallery to play #cyborgcatsonthemoon #meuwnsmadness the video game demo!! #videogames #illustration #animation #micagradshow2016 #catlady

[clairedfoster-blog]

#wip jungle poster! Having a lot of fun with these! #cyborgcatsonthemoon #meuwnsmadness #illustration #videogames #catlady

[clairedfoster-blog]

Close up of the deep sea #poster for #cyborgcatsonthemoon #meuwnsmadness! 🐙🐱🐟 Come to the opening on April 1st to get your own! #illustration #thesislife #videogames #cats #catlady #underwater

[clairedfoster-blog]

Video Game?

What the hell am I doing and why? It’s the summer of my second and final year in my Master’s program at the Maryland Institute College of Art and I’ve just decided that I am going to make a video game for my thesis. Seriously? Making a 2D platformer from scratch with no real game development background? It seemed too much beyond my knowledge and comfort zone to try at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that anything is possible with passion and a desire to learn, push boundaries, and take risks. A video game? Well why the hell not? Jump to a few months later and I’ve decided to begin documenting my experience on this blog. As I progress in all the creative aspects of game development from character design, to background concept art, to music, to marketing and finally publishing, I’m learning about all the pieces that go into making a game and hope that putting my thoughts, process, successes and failures into words will help others understand where I’m coming from and how I’m approaching it. But why a video game? More so than any other medium, video games have the potential to be fully immersive experiences. They are visual, aural, and tactile. They engage our imaginations in ways not possible by books, music, or even movies. They run the range from entertaining time consumers, to emotionally fulfilling experiences that can have a significant and lasting impact on players. Just ask anyone who’s played Tetris for its quick and challenging entertainment or Ocarina of Time for its beautiful and expansive storytelling. My favorite games (think the Myst series, Oblivion, Skyrim, the Mass Effect series, the Zelda games) have all combined storytelling with gameplay to create truly unique playing experiences. These games have used music to set the tone, visuals to create new worlds, and fun gameplay mechanics to bring those worlds to life. It’s therefore with all this in mind that I want to create a game that utilizes the things about these games I love the most: a fun engaging story that is also fun and engaging to play.