tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15222404443481339042024-03-04T21:25:49.114-08:00the Elder InventorUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522240444348133904.post-8086467637257850392014-10-07T02:07:00.001-07:002014-10-07T02:07:18.087-07:00RELEASED - DOWNLOAD LINK<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvZ9mej-FUyHaXcuD5mMTK7xRm4OTHD9R0BgHkH3msntA_1_-b8HoX1LeFuGD44vpOjQVNJ2kAzBtatDLmm7venEYJaxlaNycgBBOMJvZk7P8q6gDzLlh6jjF6HP8YuawjsaddPcYSJyo/s1600/Banner1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvZ9mej-FUyHaXcuD5mMTK7xRm4OTHD9R0BgHkH3msntA_1_-b8HoX1LeFuGD44vpOjQVNJ2kAzBtatDLmm7venEYJaxlaNycgBBOMJvZk7P8q6gDzLlh6jjF6HP8YuawjsaddPcYSJyo/s1600/Banner1.jpg" /></a></div>
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After two-plus years in development, Omnis -The Erias Line's demo is finally available for download. It's been thoroughly beta tested (although there may still be the odd, minor bug) and I'm confident in its quality.<br />
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<a href="http://rpgmaker.net/games/6894/" target="_blank">Download the demo here free</a></div>
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In the run up to the Kickstarter campaign, all likes, shares, ratings and reviews are really important and hugely appreciated. Above all, though, I hope you enjoy playing and experiencing the world of Erias for yourselves.</div>
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-S.E</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522240444348133904.post-50482757321448602112014-09-24T02:17:00.000-07:002014-09-24T02:17:18.021-07:00Release Date Fast Approaching<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-k_EV4-fehyphenhyphenjxuIADft5uHhz4A9wNNMlynSGkqPvU_g7dlrw_IjayxapGhivehWeUD6bqxJ3Huq9RJ7cqqNyJauP1sQCWw4Sh05yl_cz14tXECENd5ZEg_tfuVacyMYhQnrUEvssMh_Y/s1600/Cover+Photo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-k_EV4-fehyphenhyphenjxuIADft5uHhz4A9wNNMlynSGkqPvU_g7dlrw_IjayxapGhivehWeUD6bqxJ3Huq9RJ7cqqNyJauP1sQCWw4Sh05yl_cz14tXECENd5ZEg_tfuVacyMYhQnrUEvssMh_Y/s1600/Cover+Photo.png" height="106" width="320" /></a></div>
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After all this time, the project's first phase is drawing to a close. The demo is ostensibly finished, the trailer's current iteration is getting positive feedback and promotional materials have been assembled. Coming toe to toe with the day of reckoning, so to speak, has put me in a state of constant anxiety. <br />
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It's been hard to think of myself as a game maker. From inside my head looking out on the world, game making is what other people do. Their projects are actual games, whereas it has felt for a long time like mine is an amateur's imitation. It's a sensation that's difficult to describe. I cannot see how any developer can put more effort/time/work into a project than I have - I've worked solidly for over two years on this two hour demo to make sure it's as polished as professional as I am capable of achieving. I've also been extremely lucky to have talented people around me willing to lend their time and expertise to the project: James Wilson, who has produced an album's worth of beautiful, original music, Kate Bystrova, who as well as providing some gorgeous concept art has been vitally helpful in helping me with feedback and my old friend Bobby MacPherson, who has been a solidly reliable critic and corrective influence on the game's script.<br />
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And yet, despite these merits, my mentality wavers frantically between confidence and uncertainty. There are a lot of high quality projects on Kickstarter (of the indie RPG variety alone) and I am forced to consider what makes my project unique amongst them (and amongst all RPGs in general).<br />
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This stream of thought will need careful fine tuning before it becomes official copy, but here are my conclusions:<br />
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<li>The title:</li>
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"Omnis" is the name of a character that features heavily and significantly in the game's lore.<br />
"The Erias Line" is the name of an ongoing and ambitious construction project that will link the Exclave Peninsula (see below) with the Erias Mainland (see below) for the first time. It does not appear (except by name) in the demo or any of its associated promotional materials, but will play a crucial role in the plot of the finished game.<br />
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<li>The story:</li>
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I am wary of providing any synopsis that strays into the realms of predictable or cliched 'RPG' language - simply because I believe that there are no cliche's in my game. I have striven, in fact, to stay away from tropes and cliches as a core principle of the project's brief.<br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Orphan and Skyler have arrived in Verdamm City. They have traveled together for years in search of a place to settle and live out their lives - but they find Verdamm to be far less than the utopia that rumours and descriptions portray. </span></span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The city is decaying under the weight of a brutal depression. Mechanisation has made tens of thousands of skilled workers and tradesmen obsolete. The Exclave Kings - a powerful consortium of business interests who have become de facto rulers - have tried to counter the depression with charity and civil works projects. But their attempts to redirect wealth have been to no avail. And now they have vanished without a word from the public square, leaving their less philanthropic subordinates to squabble and compete for power as they manage the Exclave's affairs.</span></span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Orphan and Skyler are immediately swept up into this chaos and forcefully conscripted into the Operatives - a vague and secretive network of mercenaries and murderers whose ranks constitute the city's unofficial enforcers. They are given an assignment and told that if they refuse or fail it, they will be killed outright. The Operatives do not risk loose ends and have learned that valuing life is a weakness they cannot afford in these difficult times.</span></span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The assignment begins a path for Orphan and Skyler that will set them against events spiraling wildly out of control. </span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></i>
<i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">To survive, they must fight for lesser evils and for each other, all the while enduring the fascination of a strange, unseen entity.</span></span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">An entity that wishes to test the limits of their love for one another and prove that it can be utterly broken.</span></span></i><br />
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My main focus was to create a story where there are no clear heroes and no starkly contrasted, generic evils. I wanted to play with the tropes of the good guys and the villains, exploring motivations and drives and fears rather than polarising all of my characters into obvious, arbitrary categories. This is not to say that there are no protagonists or antagonists, of course. But each has motivations and a back story that elevates them as characters above being simply "the heroes" or "the villains". A main theme is to stretch the limits of the characters' moral courage and relationships and to tell a story where genuinely difficult and ugly choices must be made and all good moments cherished. <br />
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To this end:<br />
- The relationships between characters will be decided by the player, whose choices will be tracked and will influence many elements and events in the story, big and small. I am not including multiple endings based on these choices. I want to provide a streamlined story but give the player the option of pursuing character relationships, histories and secrets if they want. The choices made will therefore influence what new, optional story content is opened for exploration.<br />
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- The antagonist is not evil for evil's sake. He is motivated by envy, does not seek domination or power and is not a 'dark lord' figure. I wanted the villain's motivation to be difficult to question despite its destructive, chaotic implications.<br />
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<li>The game play:</li>
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Orphan and Skyler are main characters jointly, and the player will
alternate between controlling them during different sections of the
unfolding story. To keep the narrative streamlined, the player will only
very rarely control one of the other three characters (Dillon, Regan,
Nadime)*.<br />
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This project focuses on a character driven story, so new mechanics aren't a priority. In the finished game, each of the five main characters will have a unique combat mechanic, but beyond this I am not interested in reliance on gimmicks. Thus, Omnis's game play is that of a classic RPG. Turn based battles, exploration, puzzles, dungeons, side quests. All of these elements are built within the context of the story as it unfolds and nothing is inserted for the sake of it.<br />
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*(<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>the demo download will include a 'Project Summary' that outlines characters and setting and the production process</i></span>. <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>It will also include a selection of artwork and screenshots and other visuals to give a better representation of the project.</i></span>) <br />
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<li>The setting:</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSvp7VJ4LhqdIKkZnnJ4_hyphenhyphenvYX0rbNm2Aeo9VEzeif8kp8-37GVutNeyLj5LVrUArhhCHVd6VZFH6aqXAVGDk9eHqP0C-kYz9Li0DtY0boFTEP0BQs84fL-NoelKeHRplQC0Lq1wfOhoA/s1600/Erias+GENERAL+MAP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSvp7VJ4LhqdIKkZnnJ4_hyphenhyphenvYX0rbNm2Aeo9VEzeif8kp8-37GVutNeyLj5LVrUArhhCHVd6VZFH6aqXAVGDk9eHqP0C-kYz9Li0DtY0boFTEP0BQs84fL-NoelKeHRplQC0Lq1wfOhoA/s1600/Erias+GENERAL+MAP.jpg" height="198" width="200" /></a></div>
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Erias (the world) has survived the natural extinction of the universe. While stars were fading from the night sky, human engineers were constructing an artificial sun - the means by which the world could be warmed and kept alive even as its star was dying. The artificial sun is not a perfect surrogate, though, because by necessity its position above the planet's surface is fixed.<br />
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In the eastern hemisphere, weather and the night/day cycle are carefully orchestrated from the sun's control centre, Solis City. This method is inefficient, however, and the unnatural distribution of light and energy has had some extravagant effects on the landscape. Snowfields have become colder, jungles more voracious. A stretch of land now exists where it rains constantly - and the rain is scolding hot.<br />
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Since the artificial sun took over, the remote, unexplored western hemisphere has existed in a state of constant, freezing night. Nothing is known in the east about this region, but it has been theorised that all wildlife, barring the most adaptive life forms, will have died out.<br />
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For centuries, humans have existed as nomads, roaming the Erias mainland in search of resources and trading peacefully with other small groups. Just over 80 years ago, a few of these groups made their way across the sea to what would later be called the Exclave Peninsula and established iron ore mines at the base of mount Errum. The resources there were so abundant that they stayed, creating the world's first permanent settlement. The relative ease and security of their lives attracted others and soon dozens of small mining towns had expanded and merged into Verdamm City.<br />
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The artificial sun opened a plethora of new technological fields, spurring an industrial revolution. In the space of a few years Verdamm City became advanced and mechanised. The idea of money (known as 'Slips') was introduced for the first time, but this signaled the start of the city's decay. Advancing technologies made many workers, who still relied on their traditional, nomad skills, instantly obsolete. Despite the best efforts of its Kings, the Exclave's currency slowly gravitated into the hands of a few, leaving tens of thousands newly impoverished.<br />
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Verdamm (and all of its worsening troubles) provides the opening for the game. <br />
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Another unique feature of the game world is that there have been no wars because there have, until very recently, been no nations to fight them. There are still no empires or rival states that could necessitate weapons development on an industrial scale. Engineers in Solis are beginning to design projectile weapons based on solar energy, but for now these weapons are a show of technology and are far from fully effective.<br />
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This creates context for a world where advanced technology exists but where firearms are the novelty province of inventors and scientists. Originally, this choice was made because I really like the aesthetic of swords in a high-tech world, but I have been careful not to shoe-horn anything into this game that does not fit perfectly within the established lore.<br />
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On a similar note, I have foregone the inclusion of 'magic' as it is commonly recognised in RPGs. For example: Dillon, the party's controller, uses 'compounds' to inflict elemental damage. My aim is to have every element fit neatly together and while it may be a distinction without a difference, I believe that having grounded explanations for everything will create a better rendered, more realised world.<br />
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As I say, these blurbs and outlines need heavy revision before they become official copy, but in this mood of promotion, it feels good to give it away in broad strokes. There's a lot more to say (and in a lot more detail) but I'm wary of info-dumping as a means of promotion and would rather, if it proves possible, that players discover and experience the world of Erias for themselves.<br />
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Check out the facebook page (link) above for updates and new information.<br />
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SE<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522240444348133904.post-82340902046299269962014-09-22T05:09:00.000-07:002014-09-22T05:09:22.668-07:00Character Presentations 2I've been working on promotional material over the last few weeks, doing and redoing everything to get as refined a final product as possible. Here are some example pages from the "Project Summary" piece I've been working on - a 19 page document that outlines the game's characters, setting and creation.<br />
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-S.E<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMlJky2b-34IYwlPYJqblRDjfAz679znV5D5MVUlt3gyCje_goKHJQ6zCVtMdKViEXtsby_0uXDIS6CbTF4kKuNxKBI7KGdf3EeTr7m1oYp78yvxf1r9FPrgjnRHWv-J-scc_wLrbtaU8/s1600/4+-+Skyler.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMlJky2b-34IYwlPYJqblRDjfAz679znV5D5MVUlt3gyCje_goKHJQ6zCVtMdKViEXtsby_0uXDIS6CbTF4kKuNxKBI7KGdf3EeTr7m1oYp78yvxf1r9FPrgjnRHWv-J-scc_wLrbtaU8/s1600/4+-+Skyler.jpg" height="320" width="252" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUIpQYpARNpsLfSn0k6IKrjIU4fsv6CrBFwhBZ8wONfKKawkhCENSginOVSAorCIW7cl7rIM5UBrGbNT9e1QcWEw9aaAnfGRKZ4UUA4ztqxZ4Gfr9oNfR7iOmbqx13V1AxRmzaZ6rxWXc/s1600/5+-+Orphan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUIpQYpARNpsLfSn0k6IKrjIU4fsv6CrBFwhBZ8wONfKKawkhCENSginOVSAorCIW7cl7rIM5UBrGbNT9e1QcWEw9aaAnfGRKZ4UUA4ztqxZ4Gfr9oNfR7iOmbqx13V1AxRmzaZ6rxWXc/s1600/5+-+Orphan.jpg" height="320" width="252" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdeAqzf5cXEwon5f-iCroKRZm7GqM63jjBORcyTL9g8jzTX8K8alNX3T7My6sJ8Zk8THXoOVdllyIWqNpPcTFw36aWa_ieRW82FPRuRAsEQtCgwlJFRDEyLgo4HJuIwgOwj46t95Yz-0/s1600/6+-+Dillon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdeAqzf5cXEwon5f-iCroKRZm7GqM63jjBORcyTL9g8jzTX8K8alNX3T7My6sJ8Zk8THXoOVdllyIWqNpPcTFw36aWa_ieRW82FPRuRAsEQtCgwlJFRDEyLgo4HJuIwgOwj46t95Yz-0/s1600/6+-+Dillon.jpg" height="320" width="252" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhlZJLnnX7Eiln7b5wFAT8K_AUg9wIzYAAjCUX8m3I_bi8gYS8tQfdlzhcQ9HwPJicOidpcuek4IFE26ZfMrsBpNqSp0r5cKXKfVvGoiKLDhL0FESvioAhNQiVhBz_hRY_MBOd_bKE_j4/s1600/7+-+Extras.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhlZJLnnX7Eiln7b5wFAT8K_AUg9wIzYAAjCUX8m3I_bi8gYS8tQfdlzhcQ9HwPJicOidpcuek4IFE26ZfMrsBpNqSp0r5cKXKfVvGoiKLDhL0FESvioAhNQiVhBz_hRY_MBOd_bKE_j4/s1600/7+-+Extras.jpg" height="320" width="252" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522240444348133904.post-37483176047407968102014-09-08T04:41:00.004-07:002014-09-08T04:41:38.168-07:00Omnis: The Erias Line - character presentation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGVhw5pmX7QqfIislY3rXXjoo8KkTgNPhhIBGOon7hSK4095x0WFHFfcntfiz1hsIIWZ8Q4ACKNB97rr0Yju2mWEVjqK2FDue2zNE8hsOigbs_RCLct8do0I4nTCr6MhihVu6mAttH7BA/s1600/Characters+ALL+Presentation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGVhw5pmX7QqfIislY3rXXjoo8KkTgNPhhIBGOon7hSK4095x0WFHFfcntfiz1hsIIWZ8Q4ACKNB97rr0Yju2mWEVjqK2FDue2zNE8hsOigbs_RCLct8do0I4nTCr6MhihVu6mAttH7BA/s1600/Characters+ALL+Presentation.jpg" height="640" width="268" /></a></div>
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With the demo largely finished and beta testing underway, I've got time free to start considering presentation/promotion. Above is a test compilation of character art/information/names and such. There will undoubtedly be a number of versions created before I settle on one.<br />
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-S.E<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522240444348133904.post-58062299631583404172014-09-05T16:13:00.002-07:002014-09-05T16:13:50.814-07:00The Erias Line - updateIt's been a long time since I posted last. This is because I've been unbelievably busy coping with a burgeoning sense that days are not only not long enough, but getting shorter.<br />
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A lot has developed since my last post.<br />
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The demo is now finished, subject only to some stringent beta testing and error proofing. I've now moved onto developing a trailer, which has turned out to be a much harder process than I imagined, using Lightworks 11.5.<br />
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As the whole thing inches towards ultimate completion, promotion and submission for funding, I feel myself growing more and more nervous. The stakes come into sharper and sharper focus and the rising terror is tempered only by an equal sense of excitement.<br />
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It was strange to realise that I hadn't considered other people playing this demo. Of course, that's what it's for - but I'd never taken time to consider the effect this would have on me. The amount of work that has gone into this project, and all of its incumbent risks, have left me with a strong feeling of being exposed. And while I would never hope for false praise, I am obviously anxious for players to enjoy the story, setting and characters unfolding before them in a quantity at least partly equal to the effort that has gone into orchestrating those features.<br />
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It's late at night now and I've probably waffled on enough. For your patience, here is a sample presentation of the (finished...) game's five central characters, including the three that will appear in the demo.<br /><br />-S.E<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGsjXqaQHw3-bEBIwrdvonVyqLLF9oDFH4mfDtE6aYq8w4imx5KlqsrLctn_jtpv4YVEX2whORIt0z8BWnBHs90vLGOYySldqT3z4mMLT_Y_onv25ZhtExy0G843svQD_zCgz8O8QHTos/s1600/Character+Previews.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGsjXqaQHw3-bEBIwrdvonVyqLLF9oDFH4mfDtE6aYq8w4imx5KlqsrLctn_jtpv4YVEX2whORIt0z8BWnBHs90vLGOYySldqT3z4mMLT_Y_onv25ZhtExy0G843svQD_zCgz8O8QHTos/s1600/Character+Previews.jpg" height="274" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522240444348133904.post-19386680063436846852014-06-12T01:52:00.000-07:002014-06-12T01:52:07.398-07:00Technical ChallengesAs soon as I decided to make my own sprites, and make them larger than the squat, RTP ones, I began to notice problems. RPG Maker has an overlay layer function (star, for the initiated), which allows certain tiles to appear 'above' the character. The effect is the ability for the sprites to pass behind things, but taller sprites interfere with these special tiles:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqviNJAeJfjNjFUv7FtE3cCHyrVOWIB7lzfbrDGU9kwK2q4CrXqHoJQ8D6F2s41IJ1zm5TUMNhao1XjYsqyb4t9BpqZ9OCqvbNi80Xvm4d9FUNwhIjvh85hVngmxVU7FJ77MK8cN3772s/s1600/Overlay+interference.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqviNJAeJfjNjFUv7FtE3cCHyrVOWIB7lzfbrDGU9kwK2q4CrXqHoJQ8D6F2s41IJ1zm5TUMNhao1XjYsqyb4t9BpqZ9OCqvbNi80Xvm4d9FUNwhIjvh85hVngmxVU7FJ77MK8cN3772s/s1600/Overlay+interference.jpg" height="456" width="640" /></a></div>
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The problem is not insurmountable, of course, but it does necessitate special planning when it comes to designing maps and backgrounds.<br />
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SE.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522240444348133904.post-81144213350920918952014-06-05T03:40:00.002-07:002014-06-05T03:40:40.842-07:00OMNIS - The Erias Line: Elevator Designs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiapJ-VfH2L1U1ta1e1Mnz5XIPjVGXeNNiUD4u032wS0U3fLcxOcWQurpRP1D4XQSYWoDrHfGwWIRJTrPGyO2fKEJaJOYGaZJcZzilc8ry5_yxOCrO_knEHtDQXnK_FWQ0emYkfz6aYZqU/s1600/Elevator+Designs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiapJ-VfH2L1U1ta1e1Mnz5XIPjVGXeNNiUD4u032wS0U3fLcxOcWQurpRP1D4XQSYWoDrHfGwWIRJTrPGyO2fKEJaJOYGaZJcZzilc8ry5_yxOCrO_knEHtDQXnK_FWQ0emYkfz6aYZqU/s1600/Elevator+Designs.jpg" height="438" width="640" /></a></div>
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The freight elevator for the opening scene was the first element of the pre-rendered backgrounds that I created. I have learned a lot of new tricks since then, and wanted to enhance the design. Since I've now finished all of the pre-rendered background resources (the collections of images from which they are ultimately 'built') it feels fitting to complete the process where it began.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522240444348133904.post-91991927302737998252014-04-23T07:25:00.002-07:002014-04-23T17:11:14.927-07:00Mocked Up Woodland Scene Tree Test Things<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6_HUwnfK31vTiLoUT6vOIVntJ89PO4QCTN21qZDD7k12DluR0ciHBZuNzrgrcMuUXV7waHfOImS_28AkwAZxFJPmL__En5yVMImSPPoc9_xGLXRUiWHNP6roFOVbM0nAF4eqU4A5v-1A/s1600/Tree+Display3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6_HUwnfK31vTiLoUT6vOIVntJ89PO4QCTN21qZDD7k12DluR0ciHBZuNzrgrcMuUXV7waHfOImS_28AkwAZxFJPmL__En5yVMImSPPoc9_xGLXRUiWHNP6roFOVbM0nAF4eqU4A5v-1A/s1600/Tree+Display3.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlYChQOiK2rI6vc0oO988-y0luyHJLsM8pIQJLNIaUAkNJIaDYQOWhz5nVH6EN74wdx4NwZVM2QbmSlMBtHDzBvCLGTx_8tAaSaJCPt5dCnL6awCagK0fkI8fGN7u6ScUURlfyj-d2K3c/s1600/Tree+Display4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlYChQOiK2rI6vc0oO988-y0luyHJLsM8pIQJLNIaUAkNJIaDYQOWhz5nVH6EN74wdx4NwZVM2QbmSlMBtHDzBvCLGTx_8tAaSaJCPt5dCnL6awCagK0fkI8fGN7u6ScUURlfyj-d2K3c/s1600/Tree+Display4.jpg" height="336" width="640" /></a></div>
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(The resolution is a touch screwed here, but won't be in-game.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522240444348133904.post-52064202310501734522014-04-23T05:21:00.001-07:002014-04-23T05:21:17.449-07:00OMNIS - the erias line: Evolution of Plant LifeI have decided, on the advice of friends, to extend the demo to include an extra area. This is to increase the game's 'palette'. Since the first two regions are dominated by metal, brick and other typically dark, industrial textures, I thought the next should be outdoors and natural.<br />
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Trees, it turns out, are not as simple to compose as tiled floor textures and sections of wall. The problem lies in finding ways to capture their organic chaos - the arrangement of leaves looks random, but they cannot be compiled randomly without the finished tree looking more like a pile of leaves than a natural growth of them. At first, I tried Photoshop's "noise" filter to generate leaves, but the effect was lacking. The lighting was the problem and, in another valuable step in learning this lesson, I realised that there were no "auto-generate-tree" functions amongst the software's array of filters.<br />
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I decided to design clusters of leaves and them arrange them over simple, hand-drawn branch structures, taking time and care with the placement. The trunks were textured last.<br />
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The results are good, though the flat, featureless grass texture beneath the trees detracts somewhat from them. Giving the ground 'form' is next on the to-do-list, but here are examples of my trees so far.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij0DtmvZ63ItQdc3Wux305VwhY_USPUpTlhA1LUDGFUXwSE0LJyPU6JS9QOyBzsysIqJfYcTyZdRkoBo4Afssk3Zmaw2tAus9ETs33bjL-k6ZtzXXuJaNYmGzF35iNcnZA5KeeHOXcrM0/s1600/Tree+Display1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij0DtmvZ63ItQdc3Wux305VwhY_USPUpTlhA1LUDGFUXwSE0LJyPU6JS9QOyBzsysIqJfYcTyZdRkoBo4Afssk3Zmaw2tAus9ETs33bjL-k6ZtzXXuJaNYmGzF35iNcnZA5KeeHOXcrM0/s1600/Tree+Display1.jpg" height="348" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu3Iq4JIkyGFm2Mt9bqtbGsVRcnKet7xKssHf_Jt1vvwKl0ofcNJOU4TCw09e58v5koCeOImpsmV63fmTfP8IQAbEV0tuurnyCES6VCKIIy0PivgVJLP-_HspanLHQKGIZ7CNDt6XfEjs/s1600/Tree+Display2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu3Iq4JIkyGFm2Mt9bqtbGsVRcnKet7xKssHf_Jt1vvwKl0ofcNJOU4TCw09e58v5koCeOImpsmV63fmTfP8IQAbEV0tuurnyCES6VCKIIy0PivgVJLP-_HspanLHQKGIZ7CNDt6XfEjs/s1600/Tree+Display2.jpg" height="640" width="634" /></a></div>
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(the fir trees were most time consuming, since each stacked layer of branches required having its lightness minutely edited).<br />
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S.EUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522240444348133904.post-66921397077441840182014-03-29T10:13:00.003-07:002014-03-29T10:13:55.279-07:00OMNIS - the erias line UPDATE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvtVEM0y3tfYGeCNsJ16fy3o1TDe2TTRXck_woUbtax20Ere4gRC0daRQRQhBgXUwt88IK2d4q2uM3gMSnKMS4BFqPzvWCcmvMKaBw_l2yQEHLX__qVew9eq9WrudZ4i3AMUrABSqmUa8/s1600/Screenshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvtVEM0y3tfYGeCNsJ16fy3o1TDe2TTRXck_woUbtax20Ere4gRC0daRQRQhBgXUwt88IK2d4q2uM3gMSnKMS4BFqPzvWCcmvMKaBw_l2yQEHLX__qVew9eq9WrudZ4i3AMUrABSqmUa8/s1600/Screenshot.jpg" height="476" width="640" /></a></div>
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It's been a while since I've posted, but not through lack of progress.<br />
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The narrative script is nearing completion of its eighth iteration, with many new inclusions that I'm both pleased with and excited about. The daily precession of odds and ends that need attending to doesn't seem to end, though every session of work I put in constitutes another step towards the project being finished.<br />
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The screen shot above is of the menu screen, and includes one of my more recent additions. Namely, that of the icon for the status effect "sadness", which RPG fans will already be familiar with. In my project, Sadness hampers the accruing of AP as well as reducing the amount of EXP received from a battle if the status is still in effect upon victory.<br />
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I'll make more of an effort to post frequently, though whilst I'm focusing on the script there won't be much in the way of visual updates to present.<br />
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S.E<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522240444348133904.post-59724127907778706862014-03-06T02:31:00.000-08:002014-03-06T02:31:15.646-08:00OMNIS - the erias line: FINAL LOGO CHOICEAfter a lot of tweaking and adjusting and submitting it here and there for feedback, I've settled on a "main" logo design. I plan to use the better examples of its variations for other things (official strategy guide, anyone?) but for now, this is the iteration that will be used in-game.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCru-OcTyP4HjjHfiarHB9hOIXsGfSN5YPwubLgjdPBk68gSC1RcIWVBKuaf1Fi0dpesnUtpRhkzYFRQKpvkmnICE_n9UwIOmTo_Hi6UXw8Zuf8I0xwnFx2TKW7Ph2OR2RY1usRSEZgP0/s1600/Logo+FINAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCru-OcTyP4HjjHfiarHB9hOIXsGfSN5YPwubLgjdPBk68gSC1RcIWVBKuaf1Fi0dpesnUtpRhkzYFRQKpvkmnICE_n9UwIOmTo_Hi6UXw8Zuf8I0xwnFx2TKW7Ph2OR2RY1usRSEZgP0/s1600/Logo+FINAL.jpg" height="362" width="640" /></a></div>
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S.EUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522240444348133904.post-42087941704401763052014-02-22T05:43:00.000-08:002014-02-22T05:43:04.347-08:00Video Footage 2<br />
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Using my paid-for version of FRAPS, I made another video. This one tests the (admittedly primitive) stealth mechanic and also showcases the first piece of custom music by James Wilson: the battle theme, "To Survive".<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzZ8-8IemSTTER8HWLSX4Tfz6nKw3u9y6PXJt7DeRKwYQBBHVulb6XU0Sfvkxa0fdSr93xLrUM4V73MAYBUJQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
S.EUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522240444348133904.post-54719032680711707462014-02-22T05:24:00.002-08:002014-02-22T05:24:47.257-08:00OMNIS - the erias line LOGO CONCEPTSI've been tinkering with this on and off throughout the entire process of making this demo. I've done logos, redone them, settled on them and then, later, decided they needed entirely redoing.<br />
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The latest iteration comes in multiple forms; since every tweak I made seemed to produce something I liked, I decided to keep a copy of every version.<br />
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Though each of these is the product of two days worth of design, I don't feel that much closer to decided which one will be "the one".<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4XwIQDwKlCn9Wi1VYcNpKZiTw68_mBuAjsNF_QSLJSTh5bDnhVBjIfDAzF66OXec-KA5QABGgBXmXmOPkeIZV821vN5XNg37GDg7EYBq-dr3yE7ugbgnM6LR231xnBuFHUKLIt9vTxFM/s1600/LOGO+SHEET+2+normal.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4XwIQDwKlCn9Wi1VYcNpKZiTw68_mBuAjsNF_QSLJSTh5bDnhVBjIfDAzF66OXec-KA5QABGgBXmXmOPkeIZV821vN5XNg37GDg7EYBq-dr3yE7ugbgnM6LR231xnBuFHUKLIt9vTxFM/s1600/LOGO+SHEET+2+normal.png" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0t-fsxd83dOQdID7YbXajFvIf5uy9EroGPNql04Z_3COvy6YWCijV2HJchfaroTYZl02gkapV2xWjGK6HS7VAmsnHUXDolS7sRdyCXm-NzjUCTi7nWX6uHbjDfPkl3PDJ44tg29611yU/s1600/LOGO+SHEET+smaller.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0t-fsxd83dOQdID7YbXajFvIf5uy9EroGPNql04Z_3COvy6YWCijV2HJchfaroTYZl02gkapV2xWjGK6HS7VAmsnHUXDolS7sRdyCXm-NzjUCTi7nWX6uHbjDfPkl3PDJ44tg29611yU/s1600/LOGO+SHEET+smaller.png" height="221" width="320" /></a></div>
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There's also an element of "promotional" presentation to the second image, I was trying to apply the basics I've picked up from FZD's youtube videos.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/7rI6q6bv7do?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Not that I'd compare my artistic talent to Feng or the students showcased here: I'm merely taking examples from the methods of presentation he commends in this video.<br />
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S.EUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522240444348133904.post-50616810412995311172014-02-11T01:41:00.003-08:002014-02-11T01:41:58.181-08:00RPG Maker VX Ace dot net Profile Banner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizjlCzJmFecyu0a5WTxFX2BeEIlLzZOMTfrl1TJt58U6uTCSuvT2gB1pUEkcINLZsi_fV5Ahj4QnNhuxLjoN25ghZ_mm2lSylbLyi265-XcolKjFp3go0Xt914mZntPIchoKSVBs-wq90/s1600/Banner.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizjlCzJmFecyu0a5WTxFX2BeEIlLzZOMTfrl1TJt58U6uTCSuvT2gB1pUEkcINLZsi_fV5Ahj4QnNhuxLjoN25ghZ_mm2lSylbLyi265-XcolKjFp3go0Xt914mZntPIchoKSVBs-wq90/s1600/Banner.png" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522240444348133904.post-67522056423727614402014-02-07T05:25:00.000-08:002014-02-07T05:25:06.984-08:00Project renaming underway...After having another look back through the older files in my "RPG resources" folder, I was lead to recall the project's original title. This game, before it was revised into a "creative demo", was going to be the prequel/prelude to a novel I was writing at the time, namely: Omnis. All this time later, with high hopes and ambitions for the demo firmly settled, I've decided to rekindle that connection with a view to, perhaps, making Omnis into a game itself down the line.<br />
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And so "Erias Line" is now a subtitle and the splash screens will need to be redone (a small task).<br />
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This whole episode came about, by the way, because I had fancied attempting some promotional concept art. And while I had high hopes for the finished piece, concept art is just a sideline at this point and there really is a lot of more important elements that I need to be working on.<br />
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Nevertheless, I thought I'd post the piece as it stands (as is likely to remain standing).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Zclr7mtKLfOcYj28yvGq4HAXhfb3iFeOCqAVx3zOWh9r7U14-acOwWNReIiL_4apd75POtRp0S7_bWq4cfiGRE2QjN1JVVmjwPwAUq8wqo7z0rJNKuje9NBLD2B4hgxsbPGkahvhkW4/s1600/Imliss+and+Omnis+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Zclr7mtKLfOcYj28yvGq4HAXhfb3iFeOCqAVx3zOWh9r7U14-acOwWNReIiL_4apd75POtRp0S7_bWq4cfiGRE2QjN1JVVmjwPwAUq8wqo7z0rJNKuje9NBLD2B4hgxsbPGkahvhkW4/s1600/Imliss+and+Omnis+2.png" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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S.EUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522240444348133904.post-30483712246014848292014-01-27T15:46:00.000-08:002014-01-27T15:46:56.556-08:00Video FootageHaving finally committed to a piece of screen capture software (with a view to eventually concocting some sort of trailer) I now have a much easier way of providing clips of in-game footage.<br />
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Anything I record (that's in any way worth watching) I'll also be uploading to youtube.<br />
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So, here it is:<br />
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In-game footage of Erias Line:<br />
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<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/-oSz_4WdqqQ/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/-oSz_4WdqqQ&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/-oSz_4WdqqQ&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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Please excuse the temporary low quality. I'm not actually using Action!, I'm using Fraps, and have only just sorted out paying for the license.</div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522240444348133904.post-41785612749439795612014-01-08T04:54:00.001-08:002014-01-08T04:54:13.061-08:00Let's Take A MinuteThis blog is primarily for showcasing my own work, in the hope that it will eventually come to stand as a C.V. (or 'resume') of sorts. But this post is about somebody else's work and efforts, without which I'd still be crying my bodyweight in frustrated, frightened tears.<br />
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RPG Maker VX Ace, whilst undoubtedly the perfect foundation for anyone who wants to make an RPG but has no programming nouse, is not (apparently) without flaws.<br />
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I have, for two years, been working very hard on my demo. Continually upping the stakes and increasing my workload, I've humbly attempted to put quality before any other consideration. From the beginning, where I fumbled with the program and made ugly tilesets cannibalised from Google reference images, to now, where I consider myself to have acquired many new skills, the Erias Line project has become deeply personal to me. It constitutes hundreds of hours of painstaking, often back-aching and headache inducing work. With the encouragement of friends, supporters, contributors and well-wishers, my ambition for the game has steadily flourished, drastically exceeding the idle curiosity that first lead me to try RPG Maker VX Ace's trial version.<br />
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Imagine, with this prologue, how I reacted when playtests of the demo's first five maps lead to repeated crashes.<br />
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Crashes.<br />
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With no explanation.<br />
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Typically, RPG Maker VX Ace identifies coding faults in an error message. But this particular brand of crash, insidious and evil, culminated in the dreaded "...has stopped working, Windows is searching for a solution to the problem" banner and nothing more.<br />
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(When has Windows ever actually found a solution, by the way? Is it really even looking for one? Or is this message merely a form of ineffectual consolation?)<br />
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Trembling with fear and irritation, I took to the VX Ace forums to share my problem. And, like a patient in a GUM clinic, I anxiously waited for results.<br />
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To my rescue came Galv.<br />
<a href="http://galvs-scripts.com/" target="_blank">His website.</a><br />
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He recommended a thread in which was contained a 'debugger' script by Mithran, that deals with a generic problem encountered randomly by VX users.<br />
<a href="http://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?/topic/17400-mithrans-crash-debugger-graphical-object-global-reference-ace/" target="_blank">That thread.</a><br />
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Now perhaps, to those with a more intimate understanding of coding and the software's technical aspects, my problem was incidental, commonplace and worth nothing more than a tut. But to me, like a prehistoric man faced with the wrath of a stubborn VCR timer, the issue was one of terror and intense frustration. My own methods of trial and error having failed miserably to even identify the problem's cause, I was literally elated to find a real world hero coming so casually to my rescue.<br />
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Galv, sir, should you ever come across this post, I'd like you to know the special significance of your help. I cannot over-exaggerate the particularly sinister timing of this malfunction and your simple recommendation saved everything. I wish that I could offer more than the gesture of special thanks in the demo's credits.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522240444348133904.post-5430333606026782862014-01-02T11:44:00.001-08:002014-01-02T11:44:19.339-08:00Erias Line: Final StepsI'm fast approaching the end of the design phase; I'll soon have all the components ready for making my parallax maps. In honour of this checkpoint, I'm posting the very last element of my resource sheets that I've completed.<br />
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These are screenshots of the walkway above the Solis Terminus. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVgbPNnWwmWAr8vsJrUaxjzD4_QHldReKlZPcchpSMwcjGDRySwcqFTPOAuZGNKIRLihQFfEVcE7Lafz5hyphenhyphenxebnRMXySaKGjYwIw2lqrwIdOCeDsikmEX-ohFitObomBeXwzWqLy1TkUs/s1600/Latest2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVgbPNnWwmWAr8vsJrUaxjzD4_QHldReKlZPcchpSMwcjGDRySwcqFTPOAuZGNKIRLihQFfEVcE7Lafz5hyphenhyphenxebnRMXySaKGjYwIw2lqrwIdOCeDsikmEX-ohFitObomBeXwzWqLy1TkUs/s640/Latest2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy9Bt9uY5dWQqkJFGhUTJJ-BxQ4zlobesXmrN4Un8slfM5Lr-fvpdD1nqFI8R97UVjbYZ-XsXDauhuLtX00lRQKciWXkWC8vU1cTY8GhSR_OG3UUuWL0XqZVZINwgXxfQmE7p1FcduuFQ/s1600/Latest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy9Bt9uY5dWQqkJFGhUTJJ-BxQ4zlobesXmrN4Un8slfM5Lr-fvpdD1nqFI8R97UVjbYZ-XsXDauhuLtX00lRQKciWXkWC8vU1cTY8GhSR_OG3UUuWL0XqZVZINwgXxfQmE7p1FcduuFQ/s640/Latest.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522240444348133904.post-29867842632567886452013-12-31T04:28:00.002-08:002013-12-31T04:28:27.882-08:00Erias Line: Script DemandsWhile writing the script for my demo, I only half paid attention to the technical/time limitations imposed by RPG Maker VX Ace. For example, I would freely write "he kneels to pick up the charge pack" without worrying all that hard about the fact that this simple action requires a "kneeling and picking up" animation.<br />
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At the level of quality I'm aiming for, even small inclusions and adjustments can be hugely time consuming to implement, so imagine my unease when I rediscovered the line:<br />
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"scene changes to short cutscene of train exiting tunnel"<br />
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Although by now I'm completely numb to what was once an ominous sense at the idea of significantly boosting my workload, the cutscene I'd imagined required creation entirely from scratch.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbGw2Azrb7g0RC95RvFcYlTFc20Pj-ZFEqFblDJ6BVkOvIYxyAFN8r9FcTKC3lfxUflsMw8zz4S1OBGFdJqKIQ98XuT4IHv6u4uXRbF8L0Pj3d7jpKhsqX21jp_oei6Vb3LIwwHkFXMDs/s1600/Latest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbGw2Azrb7g0RC95RvFcYlTFc20Pj-ZFEqFblDJ6BVkOvIYxyAFN8r9FcTKC3lfxUflsMw8zz4S1OBGFdJqKIQ98XuT4IHv6u4uXRbF8L0Pj3d7jpKhsqX21jp_oei6Vb3LIwwHkFXMDs/s640/Latest.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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In the finished cutscene, the camera pans left, following the train as it emerges from the tunnel before finally fading out. The spectacle of which lasts for little more than a handful of seconds - but took five hours to create.<br />
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I had to create sprites of the train carriages (greatly reducing their scale), draw an entirely original parallax map and create a tileset to overlay so that the train could pass 'underneath' something before emerging. I'm at a stage now where huge work for small rewards no longer oppresses me, since I'm keener than ever to compile the final product.<br />
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Everything's looking the way I hoped it would and, now that the script is almost finished, the completed demo may not be more than a month or so from completion.<br />
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S.EUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522240444348133904.post-22064396071000871062013-12-22T17:39:00.000-08:002013-12-22T17:39:05.616-08:00Erias Line: Final FacesThese have been finished for some time now, though I'm only just uploading them. The avatars for the three main characters (of the demo) took a lot of time, principally because I am not, generally, adept at compiling faces. I'm very happy with the end results, though.<br />
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S.E.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN-Ho2HeLVGOLAIl5E6TgrPmr_xtRew5O-x2GWHyn25NU9Xo1uleJMyDqXLKIgzDBMxEOu0qnMi2L43WipqSlCLegch6ukUrXfj78JPJ7ftUbPV_-knls5FSEKvn5H0ln2WiN-woukuWk/s1600/Dillon+Face.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN-Ho2HeLVGOLAIl5E6TgrPmr_xtRew5O-x2GWHyn25NU9Xo1uleJMyDqXLKIgzDBMxEOu0qnMi2L43WipqSlCLegch6ukUrXfj78JPJ7ftUbPV_-knls5FSEKvn5H0ln2WiN-woukuWk/s320/Dillon+Face.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVeAytJnmI7kw1GrMbIpVxZStyegc1EJE7xW0LDWTasmXenuO-BLGu0sGCGfybCPfAhjio-3Ke6gV4-unxoTWJjB_a_0Kqt4WVD-QnP-XXkUt87u83JrPtFKosFEbXXMY1yaZFCkUSSZg/s1600/Orphan+Face.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVeAytJnmI7kw1GrMbIpVxZStyegc1EJE7xW0LDWTasmXenuO-BLGu0sGCGfybCPfAhjio-3Ke6gV4-unxoTWJjB_a_0Kqt4WVD-QnP-XXkUt87u83JrPtFKosFEbXXMY1yaZFCkUSSZg/s320/Orphan+Face.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrsmzjf8THTa8c7RJDKRsr_EWB-BJkiWq_7oCWZDOw41YTe9P_bCN0zFjMFpOsbPLAidyClHd4LvITNCrPI_6VQkAoad-dexgPokni8ma5-RYQ-FFqkaVQ4hJD1nM17vBoZhVqog46iKo/s1600/Skyler+Face.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrsmzjf8THTa8c7RJDKRsr_EWB-BJkiWq_7oCWZDOw41YTe9P_bCN0zFjMFpOsbPLAidyClHd4LvITNCrPI_6VQkAoad-dexgPokni8ma5-RYQ-FFqkaVQ4hJD1nM17vBoZhVqog46iKo/s320/Skyler+Face.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522240444348133904.post-65450447805730820402013-12-10T06:11:00.002-08:002013-12-10T07:35:50.310-08:00Erias Line: Passenger Access Panel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkrj4s5GdE6FptjkmLdz9xnmDe8tpexrzhpLwttOl63M9dt-O_v8ft8O25BwryiB4_cOzIXFy55pxB3pB0akud7pvip57T2kBAB98KX0rTiqcJvUqKIk-GbHllrIEWfHJQMrznSdN85BA/s1600/latest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkrj4s5GdE6FptjkmLdz9xnmDe8tpexrzhpLwttOl63M9dt-O_v8ft8O25BwryiB4_cOzIXFy55pxB3pB0akud7pvip57T2kBAB98KX0rTiqcJvUqKIk-GbHllrIEWfHJQMrznSdN85BA/s640/latest.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The transition from prose to videogame script writing is initially difficult. This is due in part to the extra methods of exposition that a game can make use of. My first attempt at writing the demo's script shoehorned every whiff of exposition into the dialogue, because it had not yet become a natural process for me to consider rendering certain information visually or as interactive elements.<br />
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The Solis train, setting of the demo's second half, now has a Passenger Access Panel in every carriage. Although it took several days to design and implement, the Panel is completely optional and offers only a bit of extra detail/ world building. If the player consults a panel, they're likely to understand more about the train and the history of its service, so the contribution is not superfluous. <br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522240444348133904.post-85473665004365701622013-12-10T05:59:00.001-08:002013-12-10T05:59:48.363-08:00Erias Line: Island of Dolls A friend sent me a link recently in offer of an inspiration source. The link, which took me to "The Scariest Places on Earth" was a true cornucopia of ideas, but it was specifically Mexico's Doll Island that gave me the most to think about.<br />
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The Verdamm Sublevels, now squatted in and ruled by the city's most depraved and desperate, are meant to have a threatening, haunted feel to them. Scratching ghosts, cobwebs and random claps of thunder from the list immediately, I wanted the design elements to have an original theme, but one that drew from a number of sources.<br />
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Unashamedly taking from Doll Island what I can only describe as the perfect mix of Silent Hill-like decay and the 'scary little girl' trope, I decided that there would be a kind of shrine in the Sublevels where dolls and toys would be hanging.<br />
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To preserve the sense of the unknown that makes the scariest things scary, the shrine will be unexplained. Orphan and Skyler's guide doesn't know what the dolls and toys represent. Are they hung in memory of children lost during the panicked rush back to the surface when the mining operation closed? Or were they hung by a gang of sadists to mark their territory or "for the sake of being creepy"?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo0qEZavN2GvZyzRnvNPXEpcl5rxtS_e3y1vnGGGyA5eRZDDJ1DLorgYf1Oez8uFz7dyd5iZgtLL7Eup_b6SpT6dfUs3UsRgtNpbcRvSfyanpIe0KjsmqgjD9MTK21FyUI_D7Pza2cAHQ/s1600/latest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo0qEZavN2GvZyzRnvNPXEpcl5rxtS_e3y1vnGGGyA5eRZDDJ1DLorgYf1Oez8uFz7dyd5iZgtLL7Eup_b6SpT6dfUs3UsRgtNpbcRvSfyanpIe0KjsmqgjD9MTK21FyUI_D7Pza2cAHQ/s640/latest.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
I've come to greatly enjoy spending hours working on the minutia of details required for my demo. In the beginning, the task seemed ominously huge. I struggled for a good while with the idea of making my own RPG Maker tilesets and then with facing the enormous workload involved in using pre-rendered maps. But, two years later, I find designing lengths of pipe pixel by pixel to be oddly relaxing. The dolls were extra fun to do, however. Especially the gathering of resource photos.<br />
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<a href="http://content.messynessychic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/island-of-the-dolls2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://content.messynessychic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/island-of-the-dolls2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Apparently, the dolls are hung (on the real doll island) to ward off evil spirits.<br />
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I'd suggest that, nominally, the island rather invites and encourages them.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522240444348133904.post-87207917874687635812013-12-06T08:42:00.000-08:002013-12-06T08:42:03.055-08:00Erias Line: SAVE POINTS!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwEG_du9Q5FC3RsosHH5JEVZiYpUSZ4v2FFLUayIoVl8F9ORk73OyVdBVUD_oUkmthQVpoSsN25Fe3iG9XcID_Mk_nQLxHzuIJRLR-Jcr25fbwVy4lvScXVpWFyZZXAHougoiliG_RHec/s1600/latest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwEG_du9Q5FC3RsosHH5JEVZiYpUSZ4v2FFLUayIoVl8F9ORk73OyVdBVUD_oUkmthQVpoSsN25Fe3iG9XcID_Mk_nQLxHzuIJRLR-Jcr25fbwVy4lvScXVpWFyZZXAHougoiliG_RHec/s640/latest.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I spent the day working on some of the demo's sundries, with these animated diskette save points as the crowning achievement. The Verdamm Save Point (left) is free to use but the Solis Save Point (right) charges the player for "Save Coupons" before it can be used. A tough choice when it's your only option?<br />
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Anyway.<br />
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The use of the the 3 1/2" floppy disk as the standard "save game" icon might be a bit obvious, but it wasn't an element I wanted to devote too much time to. And besides, its presence in the game serves as a pleasing homage to my first ever gaming love;<br />
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A grinding, moaning Commodore Amiga 600. A mistress with whom I spent many hours ensconced on a bed of floppy disks.....<br />
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"Put it in me," the crude ol' hussy motions, "And you'll thoroughly enjoy what happens."<br />
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--SE <br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522240444348133904.post-24452385074369261312013-12-03T06:45:00.000-08:002013-12-03T06:45:34.510-08:00Erias Line: updateIt's been a while since I've posted, mostly because I've been a short break from the project. Now returned, I'm working hard on the script and design doc, polishing details and outlining the story's progression in fine points.<br />
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Here, for the sake of providing pictorial proof that I'm still busy and have not given up, are the in-game schematics of Verdamm City:<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522240444348133904.post-23012708016539492342013-10-07T05:02:00.001-07:002013-10-07T05:02:13.779-07:00Erias Line: The Sub-Level Accommodation <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Recently, I've started work on Sub-Level 33, where the excavation miners lived underground up until the project's completion. When the works were finished, the subterranean population moved in a panic back to the surface, conscious that jobs would once again be scarce.<br />
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The accommodation then, almost as quickly, became a refuge for the surface city's criminals, psychopaths and sadists, who turned the ready-made underground town into a lawless state separate from the one above.<br />
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The design covers several key elements: one, that there are still several haunting echoes of the pleasant family life that once filled them (children's toys, clothes draped across ironing boards), two, that they were only ever meant to be temporary and so still bare the hallmarks of hasty construction (scaffolding especially) and three, they've been severely vandalised by their new occupants...<br />
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In terms of putting pre-rendered maps together, the Sub-Level apartments are probably going to take the longest by some distance, since every 32x32 square requires several levels of detail to get this finished effect. Should definitely by worth the wait, however, and I'm very pleased with how it looks thus far.<br />
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S.EUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0