So the Metroid Prime re-release on Wii is out; all three games for the price of one, and MP1 and 2 now having full Wii Controls and Widescreen, which for those that played 3, know is a very, VERY good thing.

So yeah, anyone else getting this?  MP1 is definitely one of the best games ever made (I don't throw that around lightly, and from experience it seems a lot of other people feel the same way), but 3's controls were much nicer; gotta love that MP1's the best of both worlds now! 

Yeah, the relationship between the crisp lights above water and the blur as they reflect on the water is great! 

I had an idea to make a series on Youtube that was reenactments of indie games. Like you try to climb up a cliff with only a hammer. Or you drive through the forest with only one hand to operate the steering wheel and pedals.

But none of my friends wanted to join in so it didn't happen...

That sucks, because that would be absolutely hilarious.

"He" meaning Nifflas?  Nifflas was never actually working on this, it was a member of his forum, who was (is?) still a student.

As much as I'd like this too, I think I'd be just as happy with a unique co-op exploration focused MMO.  I mean, I don't play any MMOs, but the idea of one where you just explore amazing landscapes with friends would be amazing.

I'm currently in the process of making some indie game related graphic designs to get printed on shirts; I currently have very few shirts with logos or graphics on them, so I figured I'd just make some that were indie. 

Great thread!

I'd say I'm good at art, but obviously I have my strengths and my weaknesses in that depending on the style.  Pixel art isn't something I think I'm amazing at, but after a few years of messing with it I think I can hold my own with the ultra-low-rez stuff.  I'm a lot better at thrown together collage-y things and styles that are meant to look more like sketches than super polished works.

And design is definitely a huge strength of mine.  Being an architecture student, a lot of what I've learned from that (more than most would think) is directly and easily transferable to game design.  Really, it's a state of mind and rough approach more than anything else, but that approach is still quite different when it comes to game design.

Hopefully sooner-than-later I'll be able to add music to this list, but definitely not yet. 

I can model things like that, but I can't UV map, or render them like that either.

I can pretty much say the same thing.  But yeah, I'd definitely like to see some tutorials on all this stuff too.

Just from taking an educated guess, I would assume that you would make a really simple model, uv map it (which is something I can't say I really understand), and then mess with the settings for how the camera views the world.  If the camera's resolution is low, then it's naturally going to end up pixelly so long as it doesn't do too much smoothing of sharp edges.

Great image!  The style of music fits, but there are definitely some issues.  The whole thing does feel a bit cluttered, but there's also this warm hum that seems to cover the music, and not in a good way; better instrument samples, perhaps?

But yeah, great start, and though it's not exactly this style, I Am Robot and Proud's music definitely has some strong similarities to this, and he's pretty unmatched when it comes to catchy little melodies and "music as collage" (and who doesn't like catchy little melodies!). 

1) Why is it that whenever two people in movies are speaking completely different languages to each other, they are able to totally understand one another? Don't most people normally choose one language to speak in together?

Sorta.  When two people both know multiple languages, there's usually a lot of code-switching throughout; they'll speak two languages in the same conversation, commonly even in the same sentence.  In terms of the movie (I'm assuming you're talking about the human-alien dialogue), I'd say it's a situation where each party can understand the other's language, but not speak it themselves (for obvious anatomical reasons).  In a situation like that, there really isn't any other way to communicate than the sort of awkward method that happens in the movie.

[So post any cc music that you think might work for games in this thread.]

So for those of you that played Petri Purho's little post-it note shooter recently, I'm sure you'll remember the hilarious song that accompanied it.  The song that Petri used is creative commons, so using it in his game was a lot more straightforward than using commercial music.  By taking this route, Petri (presumably not a musician, or one with the styling, skill, or time required to make music for this particular game) got himself a hilarious song that really made that game that much better.  Given that enough of us making games also have that skill issue when it comes to making good, memorable music, looking at cc stuff is another option when finding music to use (the other main option being hooking up with a particular musician, but if you don't know any that make the style you want for your game, then that's a real problem).  There are two cc license variants that don't allow the work to be used in other projects, so make sure to check the license on anything you intend to use.  And I probably don't even need to say it, but yeah, always make note in your game who's music you're using, it's just common courtesy.

So post any cc music that you think might work for games in this thread.

Here's a huge and unspecific one to kick things off (making them specific is probably a better idea, actually):

http://www.archive.org/details/audio
really massive; there's a whole section for netlabels which I'd advise going to; you can actually find the song Petri used there (netlabel = Comfort Stand)

Oh, and for anyone that does end up using cc music, this thread is a must: http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=3249.0

I saw it tonight; very awesome!  Lots of action, but because the action was on top of such a solid, meaningful foundation, it didn't feel hollow (as is often the case).  Amazing concept, and the execution of it was definitely spot on! 

Haha, maybe that's why it seemed a little "off" then.  I think I was put off by the dark spot by the eye, and the lashes.

I thought platformers required like... jumping on platforms 'n stuff? So maybe gravity?

Haha, yeah, when I started playing Aquaria, the closest thing I could think of were shmups, and that was still a huge stretch because the gameplay is very different most of the time.

And that was a good comment about "retro" also being a design philosophy, not just an art style, Valter; definitely rings true for me.

OK, this whole thread is fucking amazing; Puzzdog rocks!  Alec's actually had me laughing out loud there!  :D

OK, the focus in this is probably the biggest thing that makes it amazing! 

Having it clear right on the eyelashes, then slowly fade away as you move down the face is brilliant.  I like how her mouth line is analogous to her eyebrow, and that even though this is tightly cropped, you can still easily pick up her facial expression.

Other than that, it's kind of a tough one.  Part of me says I'd crop it slightly differently, but I'm not really sure how.  I think the whole thing seems a bit surreal because that angle+cropping isn't really one that we experience very often when looking at people.

Oh shit; I missed it.  Chevy told me he was listening to PJ earlier, but I thought he meant one of the videos; no idea there was a live one today. 

Ah well, another time I guess. 

I hear ya there.  Anyone who talks about design as if there is some kind of repeatable method is suspect in my books.  The process should be quite unique for each project, because it will cater to the unique problems and questions posed by the project.

I guess I'm still a bit of a fan of jumping in and "seeing what happens" even though its pretty stupid, lol.

Pretty much sums up my attitude...and my rational opinion of my attitude.  :D

Art styles definitely set the mood when it comes to a game's atmosphere.  So the art style that you pick should will also say something about the theme of the game, as it will really "set the tone" of the whole experience.

You were probably quite right to start with the oil pastel thing, as it probably reflects your ideas quite strongly (as evidenced by your initial preference for it).

But yeah, practicality (eg. actually making the style) comes into play, and that's always an issue that has to be considered.  If it really can't be made, then it can't be made, which just plain sucks.

For my current project, I've been creating the rooms out of scrap bass wood, bits of coloured tissue paper, and ink drawings.  I've scanned it all in, done some touch ups where necessary and created animations from my sketches, and the whole thing is coming together fairly well.  There are definitely issues (and the standard I set for myself doesn't help any of it), but they're surmountable; adding a flickering film grain effect, and a "lens" that darkens around the corners are things that add that extra layer, and strengthen the atmosphere.  I chose the style because the theme it implies is the core theme of the game, so the quiet, implicit message of the game is very consistent and non-contradictory.

Awesome game; I just had quite the bit of fun with it, and will definitely be playing it some more! 

OK, the only way to respond to that is FUCK YEAH. 

But really, that's some nice graphic design right there!