I'm a sloppy fuck.

But I'm getting better at this "smoothness" thing. 

@airman4
I love you please give us more

Things I've learned:
Trying to apply volume to an inherently anatomically incorrect rendition of a human being is quite difficult. And looks awkward. Especially when smooth shaded.

I hope your cpu can handle that... That's nearing THE DANGER ZONE.

Also I'll take one order of bbq duck. To go.

................. === I WONDER HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL NOT READ THIS BECAUSE THEY THINK ITS A SPOILER ===....................

One thing I notice is that your illustrations don't have any gradient. If you look at JWK5's and pen's recent posts, for example, you see how they gradient from one color to another and how they use that to create volume and texture. Like on your right cheek(viewer's perspective), where you go from a highlight to a dark to a mid-tone of a different hue, back to a highlight against the nose. That implies a really strange form! Also the use of blues as a light against the sun and with skin in combination with your light gradients makes her skin seem metallic for me. The speculars on the opposite side of her face which are often against a dark tone contribute to that as well. That said, I think that face looks really really cool. Just not photorealistic.(I am assuming that is what you are going for)

Now, I need to stop being a nitpick and go practice.

No you just tilt your head to the right. Facial recognition bitchesssss

John I don't think you need to get so defensive, I don't think pen meant any ill will towards you.

Also to note, there were some objective points, it's not so much a question of taste & design goal that your green highlights were very out of place with the smooth style of the rest of the piece. It clashes. Furthermore, your edit had lots of sloppy, rough lines, which I would consider a loss of polish--It lacks the elements of refinement and careful attention to detail which I consider major constituents of "polish".

And this is my impression only, of course, but she feels rather clown-like in your latest edit due to the rather overblown lips and eccentric hair. While you have your preferences, I believe more saturated lips do impact the characterization of the character as well, which felt to me like it was skewing from John Sandoval's original goal, where it appears pen's goal was to work towards Sandoval's goal rather than to his own tastes.

Either way, very awesome stuff by both of you. It was very interesting to take note of and analyze how the minute changes affected the piece.

[EDIT] corrected minor grammar errors

Many games are far too "designed by committee" these days(not like it hasn't happened in the past) and they end up bland and same-y. Back in "the old days"(wherein I had not existed...) there were less established conventions, less financial risk, and more experimentation as a result of the previously stated factors. I think this made some wonderful, flavorful games.(also lots of failures, naturally) Lots of great unique experiences. A common charming aspect I find in indie games(but not exclusively to) is the dedicated direction that shows through with something that seeps with character and cohesiveness. There's more of a unique direction and less of a reliance on what a consultant from a publisher would tell you is "the way you do things to make a good game".

Imagine if traditional artists had publishers and all the publishers were saying "your art needs to have a vignette, emphasis on greens and oranges, and hatching." I think that sort of thing is happening far too much right now, and it's limiting potential.

People tend to only remember the goods things in the past. As time goes on the bitterness fades and you're left with the good memories. Ten years from now we'll look back on this console generation(et al) and probably go "man there were so many great games back then" even though we're all being totally cynical about it now. We'll remember the gems and have forgotten the crap. And we'll all still be bitching about Zelda.

Happy 4AM post 

Mockup for a possible new color scheme

Been organizing my thoughts/todo thoroughly. I have pretty much mapped out the course for the rest of my development.
The game will have short playthroughs but they should all be quite enjoyable and wholesome, with lots of variety to be had in and between playthroughs.

I am looking forward to hitting the polishing stage sooo much.

Also I want to make a video showing Toad/Flysworth gameplay soon.

New character:

Flysworth, the dragonfly.



[EDIT] also I'm fucking nuts! I've been up over 24 hours straight, 18 of which have been spent on this game.

It was made in a month and they were on rush schedule and are not accustomed to such paces of development.(I assume)
I do not blame them. 

There is now tall grass which will sway back and forth when something touches it. It uses a 1-D spring system, as per a suggestion Eddie gave me. 
Right now grass sways when you walk through it, stand on it, and hit it(weapon). I plan on adding other neato things like wind and reactions to explosions.

Yet another one of those things you'll have to see in motion!

Can I cheat with a video?

Well... yeah...

Video up: http://youtu.be/lyVFY7qCfmw
(the quality should improve before too long--I uploaded it just now)

And it's not like it's unheard of to be the most critical of what you're most closely involved in.

There are tons of model repositories that you can lift models off of for your games. If you're not into that, simple box-based geometry could take you a long way.(think of it like 3D pixel art)

 

I get a heavy Amish vibe from that more than anything.

I hear great things about LOVE. (  )

Also: aside from a display of tech I don't think people actually use AS3 outside of the context of Flash, because that is what Adobe made it for. So if you're using AS3 you're probably using the Flash IDE or the Flex SDK, which includes all of Adobe's libraries plus whatever you decide you want to use.

Have those people specifically stated their opposition to such institutions?

If not, it's a serious mistake to generalize "indies" as a collective of people who share similar viewpoints, especially on business practices.

Unity has support for Javascript, and Javascript is pleasantly simple and flexible for a beginner looking to get their feet wet. The advantage here is that when you've became more confident in your abilities you'll be able to step up to C# or whatever and take advantage of its capabilities, yet still be in the same environment. I'd call that a win.