cloudy with a chance of cockroaches

As the workload piles I am determined not to let it get me down, after a brisk run this morning I approached my work with the attitude that I shall not let it defeat me!
I am powering on with the dissertation taking breaks only to draw with specific concentration on my final year project. I can't help but want to draw more concepts but there is lots of other work to be done, I am updating this blog to just really say that more is being done and hopefully after the dissertation is done I shall be getting on with things at a better described steady pace.


For all you people that have been so faithful to following this obviously amazing project here is a lovely present for you, a desktop background to show your support for Pax Insectica.

Poster Time.


Did I say you only got one?

"In his belly you will find a new definition of pain and suffering as you are slowly digested over a thousand years."

The further I delve into this project I must be honest the more I enjoy it. The work has been a challenge, but in the challenge lies a great reward, just because when I encounter a problem and then fix it I feel very awesome indeed and amen to that feeling! 
An update has been long overdue and it gives me great pleasure to unveil these latest concepts for the town centre big bug. (he has no great name yet, so if you want you very own input on the game submit a suggestion after this post)

First.

This is a basic idea of what the bug will look like, bright stand out colours and a large tongue to over-exaggerate the rather slobbish nature of the character. With a padded area to make it more than an obvious fact that he sits forever in the same place in town, eating whatever is unfortunate enough to land near or on his tongue.

Second.

I didn't want to give too much away however this image does a lot for me so you might as well be filled in. You will be required to be swallowed by this bug for a reason and navigate his insides. This quite simply put is a cut away with the body layer's opacity turned down to give an idea of what might be done at first in the game.

Third.

Finally this is the same insides seen in the previous concept, the only difference being that it is surrounded in strong darks. Basically it is another idea I have been considering in order to surround the player with a bit more of a sense of enclosure and to make the player feel a bigger connection to the importance of the puzzle.

So I hope you have enjoyed the concepts, and you have a slightly better idea of where the game is headed in visual style and sense of play and how puzzles may be constructed. Fun stuff right? Try not to get too excited folks, there is plenty more to come and I can't wait to update you all very soon!

"Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light."

As I sit here listening to some most wonderful Ludovico Einaudi embracing a new day filled with the endless designing opportunities. I am pleased with what has been created so far and can honestly say that I am enjoying where this project is going. I am currently doing slightly rougher concepts for the other levels to flesh out the game and hopefully white box (for you not sure of what this means it is very simple, basically very simple graphics as a place-holder to concentrate on the tech for a bit) it so I can then work a little stronger on the engine.


This is really only a small post to let you know I am still working, I am still alive and this project fills me with only the greatest joy, I want to see it thrive and with a high level of input it certainly will! Way hey!
I leave you with this still very rough but good layout concept of the Kingdom environment.

do not underestimate the power of the photoshop

It's been a great experience trying to create these environments for the game, especially as it's not the easiest process in the world. I have been working first and foremost on Blattas home, the reason for this being the first environment i work on is because it serves as the games hub screen and has a lot of importance. So I shall show you a few pictures that were taken first and then the slightly more refined images last.

This is the picture as it is without any editing, as you can see I played with depth of field to get the right feel for where the players focus should be held to. The colours where chosen to give it a warm feel, i am not sure whether they work. However I could have been simply looking at this image for too long. Nevertheless onto the next...

With this image you can see a few changes, i distorted the camera to give an inward fisheye lens effect. I like this because it creates the kind of feel i am going for. As if you are looking in on this tony room from an outside perspective. It all seems so small an delicate. There is a vignette to give more realism to the light.

Again, same drill, has a slightly darker vignette and flair added to the lightbulb giving it that slightly more realistic glow, still not sure on that to be honest. Though i do like the darker vignette, only because i think it gels the image together a bit more. A home inside a pipe probably would be rather dark.

This last image is really the same as before but there is no lens flare from the lightbulb which i think i rather prefer. I hope the image isn't too dark and i do think it needs more work. Hopefully when more images are completed all the environments will look brilliant when put together.

So this keeps you all up to speed and you know how the images are shaping up, it has been brilliant fun so far and i am confident that it will continue to be a testing but brilliant project. As ever i will appreciate feedback that is given.

I shall keep my chin up and keep in focus the awesome finish line. Until next time eh?