Finishing Up Monochrome Character Implementations
Last week, I was given a list of Grayshade Valley characters to add from the Airtable spreadsheet into the Monochrome project. The focus for the prior week was to finish up the battle characters and previously implemented characters with documented problems. It’s really cool to see how the project continues to expand with new, unique characters and older characters being polished up. It was a very long process to implement the characters, so the work carried over from the previous week. I was able to finish up the story characters with overworld animations by the end of Monday, meaning that I probably won’t have to do any more character implementation for a while. Overall, working so close to this project has made me very passionate about it and I hope to be able to see it completed in the coming months/years.
More Concept Art!
I’m still chipping through an expansive list given to me about 2 weeks ago as well as a new list provided even sooner. I have my work cut out for me with concept art, but am excited to continue character and creature designs! First, I had to finish up some environment work from the previous week, one of which were chandelier designs and the other is a concept for Romeo’s home/flowershop. The only parameters I was given for the chandelier was that it must be floating, so I pictured something mystical and refined. I like the idea of floating accents and candles, so decided to go with that for both designs.
The last of the environment work is Romeo’s home, which doubles as a flower shop run by himself and his grandmother. I wanted to go with something cute and unassuming, so the base design is rather simple. I believe that there could be room for more techno/sci-fi elements to be added to the home to fit the theme of the game, but perhaps the contrast of simplistic and techno could be cute? I’m still waiting on feedback, but for the most part, I can continue character and creature designs again.
Finally starting the new list of concepts! This next series of tasks focus on character and enemy designs, which I feel I do the strongest in. Essentially, I’m given a series of occupations and expected to create a loose design based on the class rather than a description. I find this fun and challenging, and can’t wait to explore different ideas, creature races, and body shapes for these designs. The first three of the classes I chose to complete for this week are the manatechnician, the archer, and the techno-priest. I really like these designs and think they’re really neat. My personal favorite is the archer.
Next Week
Expect more character designs and revisions for next week! I still have to work through a list of tasks so bear with me, but overall I’m really excited to explore these ideas.
Media
A fan-made tribute to Mother 3 came out last week. Mother 3 is one of my favorite games ever and has always been able to hit me in the feels every time I go back for another playthrough. Nintendo will never localize the game, but it’s clear the community around the game is extremely passionate and loving, producing some of the most impressive work I have ever seen. The fan translation, fan animations, and video essays about the game are all amazing pieces of creativity, but this project has to be one of the coolest reimaginations of an old game I have ever seen. Sadly, it’s just the trailer and there’s not actually a game under development, but the thought is comforting.