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[Devi Ever]

Looking great! :D

[GabZero]

Looking great! :D

Thank you!

[Sundrop]

The art looks so good! Really like the fluid motion of the Meowja too! 

[GabZero]

The art looks so good! Really like the fluid motion of the Meowja too! 

Thanks a lot! The hero was the first thing I ever animated in pixel art, I'll make a full rework on him once we finish the game.

[GabZero]

Mini-log #21 - Training Stage Remake [Jan/03/18]

Whoa, this took longer than expected, but there's the mini-log I promised. We remade all the Training Stage, aiming to better teach the player about the mechanics. The original stage was OK on that, but it failed in teaching that you can actually block projectiles with the sword and shuriken. The idea was adding arrows on a straight path so the only way to not take damage would be hitting the arrow. It failed on the original level because the path was too short so many players tried only to avoid the arrows instead of hitting them:





Also, there where no way you could predict when the arrow would come, unless you got used to the timing (what we agree, was too fast).

The new version has longer paths and now the arrow holes are better marked. What is better: it has an anticipation so the player can see when the arrow will come.






This is the main change of the stage, the other parts are more simple and projected to show the treasure chests better than before. I'll be adding more details to the scenario as well.

[GabZero]

Mini-log #22 - Cave Worm death animation remake [Jan/11/18]

Greetings, ninjas!

These days I worked hard on remaking an old death animation from the first miniboss: The Cave Worm. This guy was my first big animation and I remember taking 1 full month to complete it. Its death, at the time, was like any classic game: explosions! The defeated worm exploded and faded like the old times. It was OK, everyone loved it. But as the project continued, I got more skilled as an animator and soon the explosion death looked out of place. It just felt that it did not belong to the game anymore. So we decided to remake it.

The main problem with this remake was that I made the original one with Photoshop, and today I use Aseprite for almost everything. That means the PS file it was a big, BIG mess, especially because I was really a beginner. So I could not use the same file from 1 and a half year ago because, obviously, I have no clue how to deal with those tons of layers I have created. I don't even know how I did it. Even the colors were placed in different layers than the lineart. With that in mind, I decided to use Aseprite that is way, WAY better than PS to work with pixel art animation IMO.


Original animation:



New animation:



A fun thing is that I just had the idea to put out the Worm lights because, well, I was lazy. The original file had the lights on a separated layer, and even if I decided to make those light effects again, I would have to deal with it through all the animation process. So I decided to get rid of those lights and, well, turned out just fine, even more interesting.

I took around 4 hours to complete it and the full animation has 34 frames.

[GabZero]

Greetings, ninjas!

Today I worked on a light effect, we needed something to show where the player should step in order to end each stage after a boss fight. It is still something that we'll test and see how it works in-game. The animation is really simple, no need for something too fancy:




With this completed, I decided to move to the Archive arts. They will all be pixel art but I like to do a traditional drawing for reference before. I could make the pixel art from the start but for some reason it does not turn out so well.

The first art, of course, will be the game hero. I spend a lot of time adjusting the pose, probably tomorrow I'll find some problems but for now this is what I have:

[GabZero]

Greetings, ninjas!

The arts for the Archives are being developed at full steam. Below is the process of creating the Hero art:




With the hero art done, I started to sketch the pose for Master Tao:

[GabZero]

Mini-log #25 - Archives WIP part 3 [Mar/10/18]

Greetings, ninjas!

Sorry for not posting any log for over a month. We had some serious problems and needed to take a break from development. Also, my external HD just died, taking with it 98% of my personal stuff. Don't worry, every single Meawja file was already stored on Google Drive so the project is safe. I'm just taking the time to adjust my files since I don't have enough money to pay for an HD recovery.

Well, now for what's important: Development!

We are back in tracks and fixing small details on the game we left behind. While our programmer works on small bugs, I'm finishing the characters from the Archives as promised. This time I completed Tao art. Below you can see the whole process from sketch to pixel art:



I'll post Nuru tomorrow, who is already complete as well. Working next on Zane art.

[GabZero]

Greetings, ninjas!

Took more time than expected, but here's the process of creating Nuru's pixel art for the Archives:



As a bonus, here's a sketch for Zane art:

[GabZero]

Greetings!

It's been a LONG time since I last posted, but don't worry, the project lives! I had a serious health issue and I'm finally back in tracks. In respect to our fans, I wrote an article explaining what happened and what is the future for the project Meawja. Read it on the link below:

https://steamcommunity.com/games/meawja/announcements/detail/1709572995867956653

My sincere thanks for all the support and patience!

Onward, ninjas!

[GabZero]

Greetings!

From this post today, we will be working on an (almost) complete rework of the game! The core will still be the same: a ninja cat who will face a dangerous challenge. But we will improve many aspects of it, so many that we consider this a remake more than anything else. Why? Because while making our smaller game, Ravva and the Cyclops Curse, we learned SO MUCH! Making a simple game is such a great school we did not expect. So when we jumped back to Meawja we saw so much we could do better! Don't get me wrong, we are not trying to make it super big and amazing. The rework is focused more on gameplay and fun features that will remain simple, but interesting! So with no time to lose, here we are.

At first, the rework includes:

>>> Hero redesign
We will update the hero visuals, and with that, his animations and moves!

>>> Ninja Tools
Three unique weapons you can grab and use as you like, with the help of a new resource:

>>> Chakra
This energy will be used for the Ninja Tools at first.

>>> "Ultimate" move
Wo-hoo

>>> Stages rework
There will still be the same levels, but with better visuals, different level designs, challenges and even some enemies may be totally reworked.

>>> End-game Challenges
Once the player finishes the game, Challenges will be unlocked! They will add rewards account-wide to increase the replay value. Probably will be linked to the:

>>> Legacy system
Stuff that will be carried over many adventures, no matter if you started a fresh new run.

>>> New cinematic style
Will be awesome!


So yesterday and today I worked on the Hero redesign. Tried some stuff and had some fun with new visuals:





Tomorrow I will work on the sprite, trying to translate the idea into pixels and see what I can get.

[Beyond]

Great music!

[GabZero]

Great music!

Thank you!! I'm happy you liked it =)

[GabZero]

Greetings!

Today I worked hard on the new sprite for the Hero. It was a nice challenge because I had to keep it close to the concept I posted yesterday, and also keep the iconic yellow eyes. After a lot of tries, I am now satisfied with the result. Might add some adjustments on the way though. Here is the comparison with the old design:



I also made some prototypes so the programmer could start working on the character controls:



That's all for today!

[GabZero]

Greetings!

These days we worked hard on the character controls. For that, I animated the prototypes so we can have a better vision of how the new Hero will look and behave. The new one will have not only better visuals but smoother and quicker movements. Below are some of the animations and a little demonstration of the new gameplay. Everything is sketchy but I tried to make it clear enough.



The Special Move, "ninja shadows", is a finishing skill that will hit every enemy on screen. The hero will summon ninja clones and attack at a quick pace while everything else is in slow motion. We are still working on the skill but it will look something like this:



We are still deciding how to make one of the skills "Ninja Swap", where you will avoid a hit completely by changing places with an object. At first, we tried a log, but maybe a dummy will be more fun.



That's all for today, ninjas!

[Xonatron]

Looks amazing! Love the 8-bit palette style and gameplay.

[GabZero]

Looks amazing! Love the 8-bit palette style and gameplay.

Thank you very much!! We are using the NES color palette, it is really nice.

[GabZero]

Greetings!

We worked on the prototype for the 3 ninja skills you will have during the game. We also made a prototype for the HUD.

The first skill is the Ninja Substitution (we are still deciding about the name...), where you avoid 1 hit by changing places with a random object. For this prototype, it is a dummy.



The second skill is Ninja Dexterity. When you successfully parry an enemy attack, you gain extra movement speed for a few seconds:




The third and last skill is the Shadow Clones. Basically is an ultimate skill that you will charge while you play, and once your energy bar is full, you can unleash this strong skill to kill every enemy in the camera. For bosses, this skill will deal a lot of damage. We are still testing the animation and details, but we will do our best to make it fun and rewarding.




That's all for now, ninjas!

[ProgramGamer]

As someone who's also made a complete restart on the development of their game, I appreciate your dedication to making the best game you could and implementing the things you learned by making your other project. Looking forward to future updates!