Art Assets Added

Guys. This apocalypse is taking too long. Can we cancel it and book in another quicker one, at a later date? I’ve got things to do. No? Well, I guess I’ll do some art then.

Yes, it’s doodling with Matt! In an attempt to make my prototype look a little less like was put together by a child using MS Paint in about half an hour, I resolved to create some temporary assets to make things look a bit less… default.

I decided to start with some barricade objects, my theory being; if I create a bunch of things, I can assemble them together to look like a pile of stuff. And I should be able to reuse them to have different piles. Simple right? Sorta. Perspective is a pain. I can get away with a bit, but I did end up having to redraw things.

You might be wondering why I wouldn’t just create 3d assets, and use those. Good point. That would be quicker for reusing. But so far my intent is to go old school with this, I feel like a 2d style will lend itself nicely to the game, and more’s the point… I can’t 3d. I can’t draw either, but I can’t draw quicker than I can’t 3d.

So I started with that traditional of all game objects. Boxes. You know how everywhere you go in real life, there are wooden boxes lying around? Me neither. But it’s a convenient trope, and should be quick to build. I drew a few iterations, and put them all together into a pile:

They won’t be winning any awards, but they’re toony, and will suffice. I could’ve been a lot slicker, used a straight-line tool, done some curve editing, but I wanted to practice my freehand, and in some ways, I kinda like the almost childish simplicity.

What else is in abundance in a zombie apocalypse, but less so in real life? Oh yeah, concrete barriers! Usually reserved for long term construction sites, or for cordoning off events, these bad boys can be found most anywhere in a videogame. Let’s chuck some in!

Not much to add to these. They’re simple and effective. I’m sure you’ve noticed I’ve cunningly only made two barricades, then recoloured them. I am lazy. But I am only one man, so it’ll have to do for now.

Then we need some way to decorate the barricades, and indeed the world. This is a longer endeavour, as it could include literally hundreds of items. But for a bit of flavour, I threw together a few objects, including what has to be the single worst tyre anyone has ever drawn! See for yourself:

LOOK AT IT! WHAT IS THAT!? I made it in the last 5 minutes before logging off for the day and it shows. I’m pretty happy with the others though. Even if I couldn’t get the flat mop to look right. Solid effort I think.

I haven’t put them into the game yet, that is a job for future Matt, but I really think they’ll help give a better insight as to where the game wants to go!

That’s not all though! I have also been trying to develop the concept art a bit. For more info on that, you can check out our latest video!

It’s a 5 minute speed-draw trying to improve on the existing concept art. I took the two best received concepts, and tried to take the best bits from both. I also tried to face them so the perspective is closer to what it will be in game. Hopefully that’ll become my zombie token for a while and add to the proof of concept.

You… didn’t watch the video? Oh. Oh you did watch the video? But you want to see the image again anyway? Well, OK to both of you. Here’s our guy:

I like him. I think he’s cute. And I’m not just saying that because I created him. In some ways, I didn’t create him. You think I could come up with that hair? No no no, that just sort of happened. No idea how. I’m tempted to take that hair and Photoshop it onto everything… I digress.

I don’t know what the next blog is likely to be about. Probably by the time I write it, it’ll just be me, begging for toilet roll repeatedly. I do still need to add the assets in and look into creating a gameplay loop. Which would you prefer I write about? Assets, gameplay loop, or toilet roll? Hell, I’ll probably do all three.

Matt out.