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[3leggedegg]

Every game has a journey from start to finish, we thought ours was special enough to share with the world as well!  Our game, Sky Tourist is still in development and is getting closer to completion, but we still want to start from the beginning with our story.

It started with a mechanic idea from one of us (Zoli), and it elaborated as we started to get art behind the idea.  The mechanic was simple: to use your thumbs to guide a character, which flies about like a pendant on a necklace, around the screen through a series of puzzles.  Looking back on the first mock-up of the game brings back many memories, not all of which can be discussed at the moment due to time constraints.

When we first started with what we now call Sky Tourist, it began in a more confined / aggressive world that you can see above, with hostile creatures and unforgiving obstacles.  
This was a result of 2 different styles on the team.  First of which was the designer of the game, Zoli and the artist, David.  Zoli had created quite a number of mechanics / puzzles even in the pre-production of the game.  He was constantly playing with different ideas, many of which were quite hostile to encompass the challenging environment he was creating.

David’s style, on the other hand, was one that conflicted with such a world, as some might notice by looking at the image above.  The minimalistic style he chose took a more kind approach to the background story, as well as some of the mechanics (which we will talk about at a later time).   Eventually, there was a happy medium found between the two. One that David enjoyed working with and that Zoli could utilize his puzzles in.  The style was something that David pushed for from the beginning of his involvement.  He wanted to avoid bloodiness of any sort as well as any unneeded aggression.
 

After a few iterations, the next visualization of the game that was agreed upon by everyone looked something like this.  It created a more appealing environment to a wider variety of people, but still allowed for the challenges that Zoli had in mind.
One big change that is present between the two is switching of vehicles that propelled the player’s character.  The original wheels attached to the rope constricted us within interior environments, and because of the new direction the game was taking, it made more sense to be outside.  Obviously, floating wheels did not make much sense, so we went the more silly route and attached them to rockets, which are still present in the current version.

Another change that can be seen is the coins from the first image.  It was still something that we wanted to use as a mechanic to reward / influence the player, but they seemed to lack any character.  They were also changed to something more indicative of the environment around it, hopefully for the better!

This is what we can share for now because we are quite busy making the game as well as doing our other jobs.  There will be a lot more to come!

[3leggedegg]

After more iteration, the final look of what we wanted the final in game art to look like took shape.  The larger, white edges presented in the previous post made for many issues in the design.  Although aesthetically pleasing in many cases, it just did not fit together for a game.  

When David first put together that iteration of the art we wanted less crowded levels.  After some time that Zoli got his hands on the new assets and started to create levels with them, things quickly got crowded and the white lines became an apparent problem.

The crowded levels were not necessarily a bad thing at this point, but more necessary to facilitate the puzzles that Zoli had laid out.  After some time, levels with more objects started to grow on us and we continued to use them.  We eventually did away with the contours on both the environment and the space tourist.  We enjoy the final outcome quite a bit (see below)
 

The contours were not the only thing to change for the more final version.  The coins also evolved again, into what we like to call: cubelets!  They seem much more fun with some personality added to them (their eyes and wings).

[Udderdude]

Your protagonist looks a lot like the main character from Dig Dug or Mr.Driller.  Just sayin :3

[3leggedegg]

Who knows where the true inspiration comes from.  Too many games played over the years. It's probably the complete visual average of all of them 

[happymonster]

Nice graphic style and in an interesting post on the game's development so far.

[3leggedegg]

Evolutions:

This is a quick post to show the evolution/iterations of some of the assets that we were creating.

Our main character went through a couple of iterations, although they were not far off from each other.  The original visor that was used reduced a bit of facial visibility, which in turn (we feared) would somehow hinder they players ability to identify with the character.  The ears were also changed from black to red to make it more identifiable to the player among the terrain.  The first in game version was quite spot on to the first sketch of the character, but after using it some time in testing, to a perfectionist (such as David) it needed more work.  Fingers were added, the remotes were colorized along with the rockets, the helmet was cleaned up and better proportions were given all around.

Our cubelets took journey as well as the game worlds evolved.  The first row is a basic unit worth 1 cubelet, the 2nd row is worth 20 cubelets (still subject to change).  We wanted the ways these fly in each level to match the theme a bit more (screens of other worlds coming soon!).  The first one is for the Jungle world, so it had to take a more organic shape with insect(?) wings, the 2nd is a simple rotor like an early version of the helicopter and the last appears to have a space aged hovering device.  

This is our island (for the Jungle world specifically), the basic unit of all of our levels.  It started off as just this humble, simple square. Eventually, after some quick editing/skewing in flash, we were easily provided with multiple assets to build entire levels out of in a quick, smooth fashion. These each took minor evolutions of their own before they became final (and more precise):

[3leggedegg]

Nice graphic style and in an interesting post on the game's development so far.

Thanks HappyMonster! If there is something you are more curious about, we'd love to share with you and everyone else.  Just let us know!

[SolarLune]

Great style! I think you could desaturate the background a little bit to make things stand out more. Still, I like it. I assume this will be for mobile devices?

[eigenbom]

I like the colours and design 

[cubertron]

great design! I like the graphics 

[C.D Buckmaster]

Looks pretty cool, the gameplay seems unique and well suited for touchscreens, the art is lovely as well, especially those weird, cube trees.

[wccrawford]

Very nice!  Even the initial image did a great job of conveying the game's mechanics.

[CasePortman]

Well, I gotta say the graphics certainly standout beautifully and the gameplay mechanics look very unique. I'd love to see video gameplay on how things play out but looking at the screenshots I imagine it being super smooth and gracious. Fantastic work!

Quick question: Do you guys have a sound designer for the project? If not and need some music for the game, check out my soundcloud in my signature and lemme know if you'd like to try me out.

[3leggedegg]

Thank you everyone for the kind words, they are encouraging!  Just to answer a couple questions

Great style! I think you could desaturate the background a little bit to make things stand out more. Still, I like it. I assume this will be for mobile devices?

Yes, this is being made for mobile devices.

Well, I gotta say the graphics certainly standout beautifully and the gameplay mechanics look very unique. I'd love to see video gameplay on how things play out but looking at the screenshots I imagine it being super smooth and gracious. Fantastic work!

Quick question: Do you guys have a sound designer for the project? If not and need some music for the game, check out my soundcloud in my signature and lemme know if you'd like to try me out.

We have had a sound designer working with us locally in Hungary for the project.  Perhaps in the future we would need more help.  We'll be sure to ask!

[Greg Game Man]

this is a cool idea and the art is great too!
my feedback is to make the scenes easier to read visually, there's a lot going on and a lot of detail elements which are the same saturation as things like enemies, which is what your eye should probably be drawn to

[3leggedegg]

We've been wanting to post this for a while, but development takes time as we all know here.  Some people have been asking to see it as well.  We are happy to be able to release some video footage of the first world!  We call it, Plumia!

The locals here are looking to protect their treasures from outsiders.  Their favorite tools to ward off unwanted guests are blow darts and giants that hurl stones through the air!

Unfortunately, there is no way to embed video on TIG Source.  So, here is the link:

[wccrawford]

It's looking good! 

Hopefully this is Android, too, and not just IOS!

[3leggedegg]

It's looking good! 

Hopefully this is Android, too, and not just IOS!

Unfortunately, we have to release on just iOS first    This is due to our small team size and that we have created this game mostly in our spare time.  If the iOS release goes as well as hope, it will most likely hit Android as well

[3leggedegg]

We have more footage from the 2nd planet in Sky Tourist.  We hope everyone enjoys planet Platory!

Platory is an industrial planet, with its own set of rules.  The locals are a bit more aggressive in this area and many of them carry machine guns or other forms of heavy weaponry.  It is not without a reason they like to keep outsiders at bay.  Their casino and moon-shining industries have created many profits and they believe it must be shielded from the rest of the galaxy to protect their riches from being plundered.  Fortunately, you're only here to see the wonderful mechanical sites of this rigid rock!   

Things are a bit more tricky to get to the top of the sights on Platory compared to Plumia.  There are many armed guards and watchmen that will close doors in your face if you are are not quick enough to traverse the terrain!

[laxwolf]

Wow, looks amazing. Gameplay looks fun and the art is fantastic. Can't wait!