Blender is the almighty deity of free modeling software. I would recommend looking at tutorials for it (it really doesn't have a steep learning curve).

Might be able to help out. I'll try and send something if I find the time this week.

For anyone who has played it (and remembered it for the most part), you might have noticed that the security cameras that sound the alarm when they spot you happen to usually be within two seconds of a security panel that will disable the alarm. To me, this kind of removes the tension of getting spotted if you can literally turn the alarm back off within seconds, and not even get attacked. Is there a specific design reason for this, or did the level designer just not think about how the tension would be broken? Just curious...

I play with the engine until I find something interesting, take a few steps towards working on that, then look back to see what I created. From there I'll make small design improvements on it until I feel I'm ready to move on to the next random idea. Basically, I create before I design, as counterintuitive as that sounds.

Getting into mudbox stuff. Kinda messed this guy up with the posing, but  eh...

Something you might want to keep an eye on is this game A Hat in Time. Its devs cite notable collectathons as inspiration, and are attempting to create their own entry in the genre. It looks pretty good so far - still a little rough, but full of the same kind of colorful character that was offered by the collectathons of gaming's past. I'm very much looking forward to it.

I am particularly fond of the old collectathon games, and it's a genre I miss dearly. The game industry of late has seemed to go in a different direction, but I think indie devs could revive the genre. I see many of you giving modernized examples of games, but I don't think they offer a comparable experience. They may have some hallmarks of collectathons, but they don't quite scratch the same itch.

I think A Hat in Time does a lot to show how a modern entry can be reasonably adapted/achieved. But there are a lot of ways to go about it. With ever-improving hardware, games allow for bigger levels, with more instances, better graphics, etc. But it comes down to what the designer prioritizes. Imagine if Mario 64 had multiple castles, or if Spyro the Dragon had more detailed combat mechanics. There's a lot of room for growth and experimentation, and as long as people keep the core values of a collectathon in mind, we could very well get some interesting projects in the future.

Personally, I want to see something with a lot of variety in the objectives. Platforming is ever important, but how about a level where gravity is thrown off, and you can walk on walls and stuff, without relying on the mechanic through the entire game as a gimmick? And I think it would at least be interesting to see one with objectives driven by story arcs, a la Fallout 3. Collectathons are about discovery, and I think discovering story could be a driving force behind the player's desire to explore the game.

I completely forgot about this game! Thanks for reminding me.

Low poly island?

Sometimes I feel like Minecraft is a collectathon.

I've heard this argument before. I'd say while both these games share a common aesthetic (exploring 3D Space), Minecraft is more open ended than games like Banjo Kazooie.

It seems like old 3D platformers like Banjo Kazooie with the core aesthetic of exploring 3D spaces have died out in a way, possibly because the novelty of the genre has worn out. Old genres like roguelikes have been brought back from the dead by modernizing mechanics and improving accessibility. What kind of things could be done to modernize this kind of genre?

PM on the way.

Is this the kind of look you're going for? Email me at w.podpechan (at) gmail.com if you want my help with the game units.

Dem eyes...

Hey. I'm not exactly the best pixel artist on the planet (I commonly do toon assets), but I might be able to help you out here. just email me at w.podpechan (at) gmail.com if you're interested.

Animated version of earlier doodle:

Quick little 5 minute doodle.

Export as a .mov, go into photoshop, and save to web as a .gif.

Email me at [email protected], and send me the details. I bet we could work something out.

lee already answered that question

ps: photoshop literally cant make vector art

Right. My mistake, I was thinking of the pen shape tool.

Vector art in photoshop, more likely than not.

Hey Julien. I remember I was working on one of the boss sprites for this project, but I haven't heard from you recently. I actually have a rough version of the sprite done, so if you're still interested, PM me or email me at the link in my signature.

Good luck!