Dev Diary #8

I just got home from PAX West last night. It was so inspiring.

So many indies showing off their hard work and passion. So many fun games I can't wait to play once released.

It was a breath of fresh air.

While the mega companies of my industry are cutting jobs to squeeze more profits; these indies are pushing the art form forward.

Today is back work, and that means back to drawing again. I expect to spend a couple days finishing off my brewery, and then its switching gears to some characters

Dev Diary #7

The most recent step for art has been to create a system that randomizes the arrangement of my drawings.

Basically, instead of drawing a whole room, I draw a door, a table, a window, etc. Then, I write code to swap them around in different spots or different colors.

This way, the breweries will look a little different each time.

I expect to be done with this soon, and then will be back to drawing actual assets again.

Dev Diary #6

I spent all last week drawing, and expect to be doing the same this week, and probably a few more after that

Originally I had sort of dreaded or been worried about this phase of development. In the past, I have done some of my games' art, but mostly I contracted out professional artists to do the work for me.

For various reasons, this time around, I decided I was doing to create the actual art assets myself.

The problem is, my art skills are not nearly developed as my programming or design skills.

I enjoy doing crafty or artistic types of hobbies in my free time, but that's very different compared to doing it for work. There is much more pressure with my work, because it has a direct impact on the potential success of my games.

So, at the suggestion of a professional artist I know, I purchased a Wacom Cintiq. It's one of those monitors that you can directly draw onto. So your eyes are able to look at the same spot you are drawing. This is something we totally take for granted when we pick up a pencil and start drawing on paper, and in the digital world it's not normally possible.

This Cintiq product absolutely changed my world. I can create so much easier and the results are better as well. It was a game changer for sure