March 10- Files in a Field, and Gradient Learning

I built file cabinets out of brushed metal colors and lines today. There were no instructions outside the ones in my mind, but they seem to be working. I put them in a field that showed up at my house the other day. His colors were pretty alright, so I let him crash in the basement for now. The sky had to stay outside though, because as it turns out the sky is quite larger.

Then upon learning all about the gradient tool, I revisted the ol’ E. Hopp and started doing some touch ups. The napkin holder, The Bah-Stoo’s, Cash Register, and our good friend Boof all got Gradiented. Needs tweaked, but Shine is shine, unless you’re in a dark room.

Also you’ll notice that we’ve moved to Pre-Alpha 1.4. The numbers mean something, I’m sure but I’m not completely clear on that yet. Since 1.3 (Which was notable due to coding being complete on the walk cycle), I’ve added ‘Phee’ (needs art tweaked) behind the counter where she will tell Detective Michael all about Kel (Summary), and the town of Von Isla in general. Also there’s a cash register.

Mainly the Cash Register was what pushed this to 1.4. The Cash Register told me to tell you that, but at the end of the day after hours of self-reflection I tend to agree with the guy.

Check the gallery below for full resolution images from todays article.

KLind

March 9- Interactive Resume Progress

To my fellow students that expressed that they were not fans of the pointless exposition, saying I was stupid because I was taking a creative take on a given assignment, I feel as if I must say “I am sorry”.

I’m sorry that you’re somehow offended by my actions, but I should let you know I won’t be changing them. If you’re not a fan of my creativity then you should probably just stop reading now. It’s for the best. 

On topic, I started work on my police station. Rough stuff, just for layout, but new content none the less.

Here’s the layout:

Again, sorry to my non-fans but I’m not changing. Perhaps your attitude on life could? Just a thought.

KLind

March 6- Interactive Resume Timeline

KLind’s Journal

March 6, 2009

Given deadline of April 15th for Interactive Resume. Stressed.

This project is afraid of me. I’ve seen it’s true scope.

Thought of adding humor to writing. Held back. After all a Comedian is Dead.

 

Alright. Enough of that.

23 Days to have this son of a father done, and presentable. How will I break it down you ask?

March 10-14: Draw out ConVien. Which is to say, Trace. Need’s done.

March 17-21: Finish ConVien, and Begin Police Station.

March 24-28: Finish up buildings. Stitch in together so they can be on same walk loop. Walk from Diner to Police Station by Friday.

March 30-April 3: Build area between shops. Insert portfolio pieces. Finalize Characters and clickability.

April 6-8: Title screen/ Menu.

April 8-10: Fixed what needs fixed.

April 13-15: Cover Art/Presentation.

 

The whole while I’ll be recording audio and getting conversation system up and running.

Seems doable, but most things do until I start working on them. At least now I have a loose goal to work toward now.

Blerg nonetheless.

KLind

March 3- Summary for You & Me

Mainly me though. The summary in my interactive resume will play out in the form of a conversation with a waitress. Here’s my progress:

Hello. I’m Detective Michaels. What do you call yourself?

 

-The name’s Phoebe, but my friends call me Phee.

 

This place looks like a Diner. Am I correct in this observation?

 

-That you are. Welcome to the E. Hopp Diner. We serve both food, AND beverages.

 

You may be wondering what brings a man like me to a small town like this. I’m looking for artist by the name of Kel Lind. Know of him?

 

-Oh yeah. Kel’s a great guy. He comes through here for Grape Soda all the time!

 

            -What can you tell me about him?

                       

-Let’s see… He took many art classes throughout his schooling, but for junior and senior year he attended the South-Western Career Academy in the Interactive Media Design field. He made all kinds of fantastic products ranging from music to games. He actually designed the Arcade game we have right over there! Kel never shuts off the creativity. He’s very spontaneous and full of ideas. He’s always talking about how he wants to share his ideas with a larger audience. He likes to make short films, and picture books, but not as many people will get to see that. The last I heard he was looking forward to moving out to the West Coast to get a job in the industry. We’re sure going to miss him, but as Kel says ‘Life is a boardgame that is made by Milton Bradley. Roll the dice already!’  

 

-He sounds like quite the character. Do you know where I could find him?

I’m afraid not. He was in here a bit earlier adding some tunes to our Jukebox over there. He did some strange tribal dance too, but I’ve learned not to question things like that. You might try asking over at the Police Station or ask his good friend Yents over at ConVien. Is he in trouble or something?

 

-We’ll soon see won’t we…

 

Keep me posted Detective. You’re always welcome back here at the ol’ E. Hopp.

 

 

So that’s my progress thus far. I’d love to get that recorded and functioning, as it would be something cool to show outside of my walking back and forth. Hopefully you the reader can understand the reason the diner is called E. Hopp…

And with that, I’m going to go tweak our good Detective’s walk cycle and perhaps redo some of his art!

-KLind

March 2nd- A Retrospective of Thought

I’m getting more reasonable area plans up and running. Today I started work on my introduction area. Tree’s in the background will be dark enough so you won’t notice that I can’t draw trees, but you’ll be able to tell what they are. There will be a lamp post that uses different opacity layer masks to reveal the detective when he emerges from the darkness. Then he’ll enter the diner.

I’m still having issues with my Conversation system. I was going to record audio to work with, but Mr. DiMasso wouldn’t unlock the teachers office for me citing that things were unplugged.

Anyway, Intro area is chugging along. Conversations can wait until another day.

-KLind

Code and You- A Public Service Announcement Paid for by the Foundation for a Better Yesterday!

I plan on using the code we learned today, mainly as triggers for events. A bell sound when you enter the Diner, Rain sounds when you’re outdoors, And a time out option if you aren’t saying anything in a dialogue window. Also I think using variables to label if you’ve asked a question in your dialogue tree already would be of value. Random coding for flicker of street lights, and Thunder rolling by would add a lot of pizazz. I think this refresher course helped me out a lot, if not just on the concept side.

-CuhManDer Kool Beins

December 16th- What I did, how I did it

Worked on storyboard for BPA. With pencil. On paper. Stressing hard over it.

Started area that will come before Diner. Very Early. Flash was used.

KLind

December 10- Interactive Resume Progress- Ideas About Icons

Given the prompt to come up with icon ideas got me thinking. The navigation is looking pretty blah, and I want my magnifying glass, map, etc., to contrast the rest. The depth of field on Boof started this trend, but it can go much further. For the main launcher icon, I think Michael’s hat at an isometric angle (3D perhaps) would be pretty awesome. The rest should be 3D too. 

Icon’s are awesome, but I started thinking about boxart/disc art as well. My Interactive Resume already stands out from the rest, due to the nature of control and style. Why not make the packaging match this quality. Package it as PC game, with clear reference as to what it is. For the image, I want to have something like a movie poster from the golden age of film. Something showing the characters, setting the tone. Something Noir-Like. Maybe go for a Casablanca movie poster style…

I think this will make the whole thing present better. Also it will help me transition better from my diner, to the fields to the left and right of it. I need to assemble my environment. That’s my next thing.

KLind

December 9th- Interactive Resume Update- Fantastical Widescreen

Boof is looking nice with new blur. It’s also not self replicating any more, or running away!

In addition to this, I got fed up with the size of my stage. Since my area will be one long scrolling background, I think widescreen could work nicely.

KLind

Interactive Resume Progress- December 4th- Boof & Depf O’ Feel

Collected some ambient audio, as well as tried adding ‘The Boof’ into the scene. Blurred it and put it in the foreground, and looks nice. It loops though, and doesn’t want to stay in place, though. I’ll look into that.

KLind