Portraits

Not quite finished with these; but they're getting there.

Lords of Shadow rant..

No updates this time, I've been keeping those mostly to my thread at shmups.

Anyways, my brother was awesome and got me the new Castlevania for Christmas, knowing how big a fan I am of the series. I like it; but being a fan, I have to admit it leaves me feeling pretty conflicted. Here's my take:

I haven't stuck with it long enough to see where it 'gets better' (hopefully it will start to actually resemble a Castlevania game at that point); but my conclusion is that this is basically the Star Fox Adventures of the series.

1: Started out as a different game
2: Given to an outside developer (I'm aware the series has moved many times between different teams; but those were typically divisions of Konami.)
3: As a result of 1 & 2, the game contains characters, environments, enemies, story elements and music that are *totally* out of place, making the entire experience almost wholly alien to fans.

I'd also say it's kind of the Metroid Prime of the series as well, in the way that it tries to build on the mythology of the previous games in... admittedly bizarre (and sometimes unwelcome) ways. Why are there Central American looking ruins in Europe, guys? Oh, an ancient civilization no one knew existed, ok....wait, what? Do we *really* have to muck around with the history of a part of the world that is already pretty mysterious and cool as it is this much to get buff guys in leather whipping skeletons and vampires? Just...come on.

That said, I'm enjoying this one a lot... while I can manage to suppress my inner Castlevania fanboy at least. He rages at almost every plot point (even some of the enemy descriptions want to make me beat my head into a wall) ; but it's still a fun game and very pretty to look at.

The only thing I can't excuse at all is the music. If there's anything that could oust a game from the series despite it saying 'Castlevania' on the packaging, it's a generic and dull orchestral soundtrack like this one. Combined with some of the admittedly out-there architecture that's going on, I feel like I'm playing Lord of the Rings rather than a horror game. :|

XYX Update

Started tinkering with XYX some again.... trying to get back on schedule (and that end of the year deadline...ugh.) These are some neato emblems I made to go along with the pilot portraits. The Yellow Jacket one isn't quite finished (it was supposed to be on a heart); but the bug is, so screw it for now. :D

Happy Halloween!

These are the first images for a horror/adventure game I want to make with a few of my friends (who I collaborate with on small writing projects off and on.) Basically, these would be like those startling and memorable 'YOU HAVE DIED' screens from games like Shadowgate or the Uninvited, where you get a horrific description of your own death coupled with a closeup of the nasty that just did you in.

I love those games for that fact it utilizes your imagination more than any actual visual depictions of gory deaths and is no less effective in creating a horrifying and threatening atmosphere for it.

The actual part of the game you interact with I imagine being much simpler visually.. again, to force you to use your imagination more than you would normally playing a game. That said, I have yet to put down any code on this yet, so there's no telling what it'll actually look like. Here's hoping I can get some good stuff written and this thing doesn't fall off for a few more months (or longer.)

A MANIACAL LAUGH ECHOES
IN THE INFINITE DARKNESS
THAT SURROUNDS YOU .
YOU REALIZE YOU ARE DEAD!

ZPF - new footage

Just showing off some of the new enemies and backgrounds.



Apologies for the absolute shit quality, though. The eternal battle with screen recorders goes on.

More

New, more futuristic HUD for the appropriate ships.

Anyone who's played my old Blast Works stuff may recognize this guy. :)

ZPF things

I'm back to working on ZPF.

As you can see, I've decided to go a slightly different route with the theme. The original idea was for it to be a sort of techno-fantasy cross all the way through; but fiddling with the game recently has given me a few alternate ideas.

Basically, now it's going to jump back and forth between different settings, this way I can cover more familiar bases (ie. bio horror ala R-Type) as well go back to some older ideas I'd like to re-use. Every one will have a playable ship to match it, too. :)