Incredibly charming, I have nothing but positive thoughts for this game. While it may not have much gameplay to it, i really don't think it would be better if it did. The atmosphere and general sense of joy and fun you get from the whole experience is what i really like about it. Reminds me of EnviroBear2000 in that you just feel happy playing and i can tell the maker was having fun making it.

KUDOS!

I had mucho funo playing this. Really nice aesthetic too.

Grats on the EA sponsorship too, i haven't seen a flash game with EA's name on it before.

Flipping rad! You sir are a genius kudos to you! hahaha

[Not]

I'm a big fan of the arrival too. I got it quite some time ago and i too was absolutely blown away by how well the story was communicated with no words, as well as the story itself of course... It almost puts games to shame really. We have so many more tools at our disposal and yet very few games have conveyed a story, emotion, experience or atmosphere as well as that book.

Another great one by Shaun Tan is "The Rabbits" about the colonization of Australia with some really awesome illustrations.



also a book called "varmints" Not by Shaun Tan, that expresses an atmosphere and emotion really awesomely with few words (i think most is through the pictures, but the words actually enhance it). Its getting made into a short animation too.

Site of the people making the film, Click the bit that says play, if that isn't already obvious.

[/tangent]

ah, so back on topic. I agree with ChevyRay, "adapting" would be the key, if you set out to portray the same story, same atmosphere or anything else the book did, the game would instantly be redundant because the book did it so well. I think you could go so far as to say this is why so many Movie-Games suck complete ass, the game medium is actually very different from film, literature and other mediums. Most AAA titles are doing their best to emulate others, rather than properly explore their own... but anyway, i don't need to get into that here now do i, haha.

umm, sorry i think i'm full of tangents tonight, better stop before i kill the thread.

Very interesting topic to raise though, i might give it some more thought.

Do monkey's count?



Donkey Kong Country 3... ok kiddie kong is reaching for a banana, but i think we can call that innocent, right? 



Donkey Kong 64



Alexandra from Eternal Darkness. Shes pretty awesome, and smart in the game, you solve the case through her character.... freakin awesome game if the proverbial "you" haven't played it.



Silent Hill 3


As a note on the Samus talk, for what its worth i think she is totally badass. In pretty much all the games you play through in the suit and you feel awesome, shes a space bounty hunter and she kicks ass! With the exception of the Zero suit stuff, i think she maintains her respectability as a heroine even when she is sexy.

Thanks everyone.

Me and the Jeff (the guy i did the 3 flash games with) are going to give a go at working over the net. He moved to another city after our last game. So we'll see how that goes hopefully it works!

In the mean time, here is a doodle i did while i was listening to some of Jonathan Blow's lectures, and then it got WAAAAY out of hand and eded up  taking several of Jonathan's lectures and some others to finish, heheh. I think hes kind of cool though.

I do hope you are kidding Greg-Anims, i am of the firm opinion that if you want to get better you must compare yourself only to people better than you.

Here are just a few other neato art folks.

http://www.nivbed.com/
http://www.thinktankstudios.com/
http://crayonboxofdoom.blogspot.com/ Thomas Scholes - aka IdiotApathy, someone to look out for i reckon, mhmm.

@ Inanimate

You should probably have introduced yourself, but I bet you're doing that now.

Whoops!, thanks for pointing me there, i just made a half way elaborate introduction here if you feel curious.

Thanks everyone else for the kind compliments.

@ ChevyRay,

Now make more awesome games.

I may have omitted the fact that i can't program XD i'm in the middle of deciding whether to remedy that or just hope to meet some people to collaborate with... i don't know what to do about that one really.

[(i just found out it was made the year i was born!)]

I actually posted in the art section before posting here, oops! but here i am now.

My name is Tom, i'm 21, I've done the art for a few flash games and an iphone game, some may posssssibly know of a very simple point and click game called Anikas Odyssey.

I've become super interested in the indie scene (although i'm already getting tired of the word indie) over the last two years. I'm really interested in moving away from just being the art guy and being a fully fledged game designer on some games. I contributed to the design of the game, but it wasn't my leading role in the games i have worked on. Sounds a little strange saying this when really it was me and one other guy that made the games. Anyway.

I think the first game i ever played was shufflepuck cafe on our family's apple (i just found out it was made the year i was born!) it had super awesome characters.... I kind of forgot about that game until now, i think it influenced my sensibilities more than i would have thought, haha

Soon after that though my mum got me a snes without me even knowing what it was, and from then on, i really really really really liked games. Super Mario world and Donkey Kong Country are what i grew up on. But i think i was still very impressionable during the N64 era with Super Mario 64, Legend of Zelda:Ocarina of time and Banjo Kazooie.

   

As far as more current games...
These games have all made a significant impact on me and what i think a game can be/do, in one way or another.

    -Jonathan Blow's Braid
    -Edmund Mcmillian's Coil
    -Rod Humble's The Marriage
    -Cactus's Psychosomnium
    -Sony???'s Pata-Pon
    -Valve's Portal
    -Team Ico's Shadow of the Colossus

So yeah, hello TIGer's, you guys are super cool. 

The Experience

7 Culture, 10 Feeling, 4 Story, 5 World, 8 Rules and 6 Tutor!

You have a clear vision of what your game should be like, it is made of Marvellous environments and moving characters. you seek to provoke emotions within the player, and seek innovative ways to convey them.

Your idea of the game is hard to put into words, so you probably need to check on your collegue's work regularly : it is posible to work endlessly without ever reaching your expectations. You pay attention to details, how they can affect the player, and seek an intense game Feeling.

Pretty much spot on for me... i think. Not so sure if i have that clear of a vision, but that is kind of contradicted by the hard to put into words bit nicely. I will often have a clear vision of a really really fuzzy abstract idea of a game i want to make... so, not very clear .

[Anikas Odyssey]

This is my first post here. oh my!

I've done the art for a few flash games and recently a game for the iphone, these have all been games "for" a company i worked/work at. But really, it was just me and a really cool programmer/game designer dude (Jeff Nusz ( Sprout )) that did them because we think making games is fucking neato. Since then however, i have increasingly become a indie geek with dreams of making more/better games and possibly taking more of a role as game designer, rather than just making art assets. Although i did contribute significantly to these games design, Jeff was definitely the man with the plan.

Anyway, i guess my point is, "Hello, you guys are cool!" i'd really like to get to be a part of this rad community.... please.

Now that i got that out of the way, here is some stuff.

Anikas Odyssey
(released November 2007)



You can play it here

The Cool
(released December? 2007)



This was actually a game done for some rapper, but it was still quite fun to work on, just a double dragon clone. You can play it here

Save Kaleidoscope Reef
(released September 2008)



You can play it here


umm, and here is a banner thing for a game on the iphone that isn't quite out yet. Just a simple tile puzzle game, but... with fuzzy monsters in it. (yes... avatar)



----------------------------

here is some of my personal drawings and stuff too, but there is a lot more if you want to look on my blog and or portfolio site in my signature.