Keep on drawing, keep on drawing, keep on drawing
That's pretty much all there is to say, lol. I wish it was more exciting then that
But, I guess that is the honest truth of game dev. Sometimes the job can be very repetitive
At least it's fun though. Would be real hard to do the repetitive parts of the work if I didn't love what I do
I have been focused on my character art for the game.
I knew from the start that I wanted lots of customers and staff members in the game. And that I wanted them to all look pretty different.
To realistically achieve this goal; I made a plan to create a character customization system. I draw ears, noses, eyes, etc. And then I write code to slap them randomly together for a different looking person.
I have been *this* close to going full steam ahead and cranking out art pieces. But, each time I think I am there, I find another little bug in my 'slap them together' code. I think I just fixed the last bug though. And so I am about to start cranking out art files again
Wish me luck
Sometimes game dev is 2 steps forward and 1 step backward.
Last week I tweaked my art style a bit. It's basically the same, but some of the details are different.
This means, though, that some of the art work I had done in previous weeks no longer 'fit' the newest art. And I had to redo those older images.
Redoing work always feels bad, is often avoidable, but sometimes inevitable. (At least in game dev).
Making a game takes a long time, and you are repeatedly using the same skills while making the game. So, it's natural that your skill will increase and you will get better. This is true regardless of the task (programmer, art, music, whatever). Therefore, you are pretty much guaranteed that the thing you made at the start of the journey is not as good as the thing you made when you are done with the game. And, when that happens, you will probably think to yourself "Crap, I need to redo that earlier work. It's so bad compared to everything else now!"
This is the trap.
Sometimes the answer is "Yes, redo it", and sometimes it's actually not important enough to justify the lost time. Sometimes the amount of work to redo is so small; you might as well. Other times it will be something that *should* be redone, but it would require sooo much work that you just cannot justify doing so.
It's hard to make the right call, too. We are often protectionists, and we want to put out the absolute best. But, if we keep falling for this trap, then we will never end up releasing anything.
So, last week, I hit this trap with my art style that I have been developing. This time around, it was so early into the process, that the amount of re-do was relatively small, and the returns will be worth it (I hope).
I guess you never really know until it's finally done. So, we shall see
Catch you next week
