roads? where we're going, we don't need roads

So animating has been great fun but i have descovered a problem, when putting my stuff into ags i realised a few things, instead of saving the animations as .gifs it is better to save each individual layer/frame as a .png and make sure that the transparency is on and there is no white background. The problem being that if there is a white border shows up around the character and it looks horrible! Also the character needs to be drawn in and animated on the very bottom middle of the page in order for it to be centered in the ags editor. It is good finding out these issues now by doing a build early because i haven't tackled too many animations yet. I will have to re draw all of the animations and that way i can improve on them there and then, and i will keep this updated to say how that goes.

Have checked the background in the ags editor to make sure that the character can interact with it and the colours are okay and it doesn't look shabby and the resolution holds up just fine and dandy! Each small build is a new step to a working Pax Insectica!

In the meantime my lovely friends, enjoy yet another concept of the main character Blatta.

i shut my eyes, in order to see

I was recently lent a book on animation, which has helped me phenomenally! I have finished a walk cycle for blatta, it is a little clunky and certainly rough round the edges but in all honestly i can say i am pleased with it. Might need some cleaning up but overall you get the idea. Made him walk at a steady pace, as he is an insect and naturally they don't move too slowly. Still so much more work to be done on other characters, but this is fundamental work that should be gotten on with and it's a joy to do it and really work hard at it too.


One step at a time.

wise men and cups of tea

I have been posting here a lot lately, after getting into level design and animations i really can't help it because i want to keep this updated with what i have done. So if you saw my last small animation (Blatta scratching his head in confusion about what to do) then this animation should fit nicely. It is a simple static boil on the character which gives an overall feel for how the character should look in game. It was a very wise beardy man called Rhys Thomas that told me it would help gel all the animations together, so this is for him to critique as well as you all!


Put the kettle on!

pipe dreams, to wonder where a non-conformist, mild mannered cockroach lives

This is a concept of a screen appearing in the game, it is the front door to the main character's (Blatta) house. There is a grating underneath that is covered by leaves which will require moving to get down there. The image is compiled of different photographic elements and then played around with in photoshop. These images will probably have a faint black line around parts of the scenery to add a drawn feel to them, though as yet this is still undecided.

to itch a scratch, a scratch that needs itching

So i have been busy animating in photoshop once more, working primarily with gifs as i know that these will export to ags (adventure game studio) for when i put them into the game. I am looking over all the animations that will have to be done and it is fair to say it will take a lot of time but it is so rewarding if done to a fine polish.

If you notice this animation has a slight boil effect on it, this was not intentional it is merely due to me not drawing exact with a tablet but i like the effect so i may keep it. It would be nice to hear feedback on what people think about it. (that is you people, because you are wonderful!)

Without further ado, here it is... A simple animation, basically it is the main character (Blatta) scratching his head with his antennae when he is unable to perform an action. (a useful animation as it will be seen a fair amount in most point and click games, usually through dialogue)

Blatta Confused

I see your interesting picture, i raise you one perspective!

Here are just a few pictures that myself and my good friend Dave went out to take the other day, the aim was looking at places and objects that will form game screens and assets. It was interesting and more are being taken to get a good feel for the overall vision of the game. Enjoy and feedback is always welcome.

If we build it, they will come

So, have been doing lots of research for this project and things are moving along rather smoothly, the story is pulling together. The other day headed into town to get some inspiration, took pictures of lots of different things, which i will post here. Gave me a lot of inspiration for environments in the game and a feel for what the main character will encounter.

I also got to work on the logo that you see above, which features the concept for the main character "Blatta" the name refers to the latin for "Peace Insect" i am hoping to stick with it, but i am open to changing it too.

I will continue on with working more on character design and environments and as ever will continue to post on here so all you lovely people get a good update on where i am at.