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[Chris Pavia]

Most of the time I start out each body part as a cylinder. I'll make a torso cylinder with a few edge loops and push the loops into the shape I want, then make leg and arm cylinders separately and attach them to the torso when they're done.

Hands are usually a pain which I is why I always just take them from a previous model then tweak as needed.

[Ouren]

I'll definitely have to have another go at it.
Just really frustrating to have a bunch of really crappy and useless work after a few hours.
Practice, Wolfgang, practice! 

[Chris Pavia]

Back when I was in college, a teacher gave us an optional, unofficial challenge to model a hi-res head every week from scratch during the course, always based on a real person. A head a week doesn't sound like much, but with a job and classes, not to mention the lack of quality hi-res tools back then (before ZBrush days), it was tough. But by the end of the course the few of us who actually did it were head and shoulders (pun intended) above the rest.

So, um, practice makes perfect is what I'm trying to say, I guess.

[Chris Pavia]

I can finally share the news that Dungeon Hearts has been picked up by Devolver Digital for publication, as a result of their Pitch Fork Parker campaign they were running at GDC, which involved pitching the game on a bus driving around SF. Working with DD has been great so far, as I retain the IP and have full creative control of the game.

There's an article about it by Ben Kuchera of Penny Arcade right here!

[cynicalsandel]

 

Congrats! Looking forward to the game.

[eigenbom]

awesome news mate, well done

[Chris Pavia]

Thanks guys 

[Franklin's Ghost]

That's great news and really interesting to read the article.

[Ouren]

Congratulations Chris.
I can't wait to hear more.

[Chris Pavia]

Here is the finished version of the environment I posted previously:



I'm considering switching from red lava to a green or purple glowing substance so it doesn't clash with the fighter, but I'm saving that till all the other environments are done.

[randomshade]

Congrats on getting picked up by DD!

Also, you got some Destructoid love today: http://www.destructoid.com/dungeon-hearts-mixes-match-3-puzzling-with-final-fantasy-227878.phtml

[Chris Pavia]

Huzzah!

[Chris Pavia]

Dungeon Hearts is on Touch Arcade!

[Chris Pavia]

In-progress work on one of the later environments:

[zede05]

Congrats on getting a publisher, well deserved! 

[Chris Pavia]

It's been awhile. Still pushing along on the environments, only got a couple more to go.

[Chris Pavia]

Currently trying to come up with a solution for one of the biggest remaining design issues: the player's attention is always focused on the puzzle section at the bottom, rarely looking up at the battle section. My current (inadequate) solution is to pause the puzzle whenever the player makes a big attack so they can watch the character animations play out. This doesn't really fix anything, instead the player uses the pause to plan their next moves.

One idea is to decouple the puzzle from immediate character response in the battle section, since both happening simultaneously is the heart of the problem. What if the player plays the puzzle for a fixed amount of time (1 minute for example) to "charge up" their characters as much as possible. When the time is up the puzzle stops and the battle phase begins. The battle phase is kept short (10-20 seconds), and the characters attack on their own. The more charged up they are the more likely they are to use their special abilities. I'm envisioning it playing out similar to

. Perhaps there should be some minimal interactivity here that affects the next puzzle section, so there is a continuous flow.

Does this makes sense?

[brettchalupa]

That makes a ton of sense, and I think would work well to decouple the top animations from the actual gameplay.

I think having a charge meter that has an impact on the battle would work very well.

Are you thinking of having a visual representation of the charge somewhere on the screen?

[Chris Pavia]

Are you thinking of having a visual representation of the charge somewhere on the screen?

Yes, a visual will be needed to provide a link/bridge between the players actions on the puzzle and the characters action in battle. Not sure yet if it will be 1 meter the whole party pulls from or a per-character meter. Leaning toward per-character since puzzle combos are made per-character.

[Chris Pavia]

Also would need to come up with a clear, non-invasive way to signal to the player that the puzzle phase is about to end and the battle phase is about to begin.

Maybe put a special, impossible-to-miss token on the board, and once it hits the right side it destroys all the tokens and ends the phase. I could even make it moveable like most other tokens, so the player could move it farther back if they are desperate for more time in the puzzle phase.

The "NO MODES" User Experience Designer in me cringes at the thought of Puzzle Phase and Battle Phase though. We'll see.