Welcome to our first devlog, everyone!
I’m Michael, the writer on the Pixel Sprout Studios team. I’m going to be keeping y’all updated on various developments as Sun Haven gets increasingly nearer completion!
I thought I’d start us out talking about art. And since I’m all by myself in a room, there’s nobody to tell me I can’t!
The art of Sun Haven goes through quite a process of review - I know, you’re shocked that it doesn’t come out absolutely perfect the first time. I was too!
Our first example is a small enemy you’re likely to encounter in the dark forests around Withergate. Let’s say someone on the team says, “I simply must have a wiggly little pumpkin monster.” BOOM! That’s a concept right there. Now begins the process that every animated asset will go through, starting with a basic sketch.
After review, it’s decided whether or not we like the idea and if it’s worth sending down the “pipeline,” which just refers to each iterative step required to get it ready for in-game work. This little pumpkin is one of the lucky ones, and it gets to be pixelated!
Looking pretty good there so far, but it could look better. Next is the “polish” phase where our artists spruce him up so it looks good enough to be “player-facing material.” Think of that as the difference between someone you bring home to meet your mom vs someone you wave goodbye to a block away from your actual doorstep.
DANG that pumpkin is looking fresh! If it wasn’t actually trying to kill me, I might invite it inside. Our pixel artists are all done with this asset! Now it just needs to meet our animator to give it some life. Here’s the whole process with the end product!
Unfortunately, this blog format doesn't support animated gif images. But if you want to see just how wiggly the animated end product is, head on over to our Indiegogo website and check out the "Art" section! Love me a happy, sentient pumpkin. Great work, team!
From there, our programmer puts him into the game using some kind of magic wizard code (as far as I know), and then we’ve got a new enemy to fight.
Now let’s take a look at one of our 16 romanceable NPCs, Vaan!
This guy has got it all - the looks, the attitude, and of course, the air magic! Believe it or not, this Elven air mage actually started conceptually as a female character!
Lookit how cute she was!
Of course, later on she became a he in review. However, it wasn't the review of Vaan herself that led to this decision. It was actually a demographics review of our romanceable cast. We needed another male-presenting character on board, so Vaan got a makeover. And now…
Vaan makes a pretty sharp-looking dude!
Hopefully that gives a little insight into our process - a process that happens multiple times every week, by the way. Sometimes even multiple times a day if we’re really cranking it out!
Thanks a bunch for clicking over to today’s post! Look out for many more of these going forward. If there are any specific topics you’re interested in knowing more about, please leave a comment - and don't forget to subscribe to our email list so you can be notified whenever a new update goes out!
Stay happy and healthy, everyone!
- Michael, Sun Haven Writer
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