Hey there, I am bit nervous to show this off as I am new to solo dev but here is an early look at a game I started as a way to get better at my day job as concept artist by understanding all the roles that go into development but has since grown into something of a loveletter to the dreamcast/ps2/xbox/gc era of games.
The artwork is based on my own paintings I have done through out my life which are mainly inspired by classic anime OVA’s, old master paintings, heavy metal magazine, and travel when I have an opportunity to.
Really glad you decided to share this with us. Especially since you’re new to solo dev - the nerves can get to all of us! From what I can see with the trailer, this looks fantastic so far. The artstyle, specifically, is simply phenomenal. The anime inspiration is definitely visible and super memorable! My only complaint is that I wanted to see more
Thanks again for sharing and I can’t wait to see more development progress updates
Of course! technically 3 years on evenings and weekends, however, in reality, it’s more like 1.5 to 2 years of actual work during evenings and weekends. There was a gap of a few months a year in when I felt a bit down because my hard drive crashed and my apartment flooded, I had to restart most the project. That’s when I learned the most important lesson of game development – always back things up, haha!"
I learned I am a very stubborn person when it comes to creating tho and love working with the engine so much that I eventually restarted it with gusto, this time with personal documentation, and backing it up consistently. Having to do a lot twice really helped me learn the engine to be honest. The last game studio I worked at as a concept artist let everyone go last month after failure to secure more projects so I polished up a steam store and announcement trailer for my game while I look for more work/funding .
Oh wow! Well congratulations on having the passion to restart after such a huge loss. And a huge kudos to you for getting so much done in such a “short” amount of time. 2 years for game development sounds like a lot but in reality, it never seems to be. Thanks again for sharing and giving us a reminder to backup our projects!
Sending you lots of support in the looking for work phase as well.
It’s hard to gauge as this is my first solo commercial game. Maybe 30% done? I spent 6 months on movement and level design prototyping then blocked in half the levels, did the main char/art sounds, then fully polished a few small areas for a trailer that I deemed “Highest risk”(hardest for me to pull off) before development since if I could do them, I could probably do the rest.
To have a polished trailer early is something I got from Kojima, in his podcast he said the first trailer is more for yourself as a sort of guiding light/motivator, and to get people into your game’s universe.
It’s a fancy way of saying it’s a Sonic Inspired 3D platformer where you pilot a futuristic jumping and dashing hover ski that moves more like a ship from wipeout but through levels that are closer to Sonic!
It’s definitely on my mind haha. I knew going in that Tricks would be the most requested given the expectation from the extreme sports side of things. ATM no the personalized style is more in the route you take and movement options you utalize, it’s not built to let you do full controlled flips and controlled rolling is limited so the player doesn’t accidentally miss a wallride. I may eventually add sort of simple pre-animated tricks that give a boost/score addition if done mid air as long as players don’t spam it, since you can jump on command. I don’t want to force players to think they need to treat it like tony hawk to get a good score. Another way is the way Sonic does by having a QTE off certain ramps that way tricks are not spammed at a more serious point in the story.
I never got a megagrant so my motivation is a bit low at the moment and I have to start looking for more long term concept art gigs to pay rent(artofwez@gmail.comartofwez.com if you know any studios needing an experienced concept artist) but i will keep going on my game when I can afford to.
Concept Art for my Halloween themed Level, have a Happy Halloween weekend!
