[Art] Featured in the Starbound Chronicle!

The Starbound Chronicle  came out today for the month of September and my Novakid Pixel Art got featured!

If you haven't heard of Starbound yet you need to check it out at:  playstarbound.com

It's one of the games I'm most looking forward to this year.

Anyway, thanks to the Starbound team, I appreciate it!

[SBX:I] Enemy Art Update

SBX:Inv:

Well lots of artwork has been reworked so far and implemented in the game.  Here is a sample of the first 3 enemy art reworks:

And here are some early pieces of art for Enemy D and E:

Old Vs New Enemy D:

Old vs New Enemy E:  (Boss 1)

We're redoing ALL the artwork so here is a sample of the new Title Screen as well:

We're plodding along but it's coming out very nicely.

Subscribe to the blog for the latest updates and I would say we'll be ready to publish around mid to late October!

Cheers,

Jason

[SBX:I] Artwork Update Teaser

SBX:Inv:

So the artwork is getting an overhaul.  I'm working with another pixel artist and here is a teaser of what is to come:

The old (reworked) player ship:

And the new ship, reworked by Cody Rigby the additional artist on the project:

It looks very nice in game and adds a lot of feel to the game.  We'll be reworking every art asset over the next month.

Stay tuned for more info!

Cheers,

WakeskaterX

[Art] Art Overhaul for SBX:Invasion, also, another large Floran Sprite!

SBX:Inv:

The game is getting pushed back for a bit to accommodate an art overhaul in order to make the game look better.  I'm working with an additional artist now to really polish up some of the graphics and draw more players to the game.

So for now the game is being pushed back and will not come out this Friday.

Art:

I have spent some of my free time working on a new Floran Sprite for Starbound and have it for you here!

Here he is 400% size

And here is normal size:

Hope you enjoy the artwork!

Stay tuned for more updates on the art rework to SBX:Invasion soon.

Cheers, WakeskaterX

[WSS] New website Logo and Forums are up and linked to the site.

Wakeskater Studio:

  I redid the main website graphic which was frankly ugly, and now is... well just slightly less ugly.

Here is the older header for the website:

And here is the new header:

Oh it's not the most fabulous header image in the world but it works for now.  At some point I'll probably redo the top image part, I like the buttons for now.

Also the forums are now up and linked to the blog and website!  

You can register at:  

  http://www.wakeskaterstudio.com/forum 

...so go sign up and introduce yourself!

Lots of little bug fixes and small things added to the game.  The last big thing is adding the last 3 songs to the custom map creator.  1 is already finished, but I'm just waiting on the last 2 before putting them all in.

That's it for now,

Cheers!

~Jason Carter / WakeskaterX~

[SBX:I] Ups and Downs - Getting ready to Release on Sept 13th

SBX:Inv:

  Been getting the game ready to ship on Sept 13th!  SBX:Invasion will be available to purchase from the website as well as at IndieCity.com and FireFlower Games.  I'm working on getting it up on Desura as well.

It's been a tough week of ups and downs, but things are going well and I'm excited for release.  This is my first game so it's tough sometimes to realize that it's not the best game out there.  It's fun, small and perhaps way too complicated but I've put a lot of heart and effort into making it and I'm proud of it.

I got turned down by GoG.com, which is understandable, I'm an unknown indie releasing my first game, and it's probably not as good as it could have been.  It was tough to hear, but I'm going to keep moving forward and try to find that niche market out there for the game.

Then I talked with FireFlower games and they agreed to host SBX:Invasion for 2.99 Eur at their site (about $4 USD, it's a little cheaper to buy from FireFlower so go there!)  [http://fireflowergames.com/]

I'm still trying to customize my forums, but the stylesheets for a style I downloaded are pretty complex so it's taking me a while to customize them and it's not the most important thing on my to do list.

I've certainly learned a lot from this project and will keep moving forward and growing as a designer and developer.  I'll probably do an official Post Mortem for the project a month or two after release, but for now I'm just getting everything set up.

The next couple weeks will be testing testing testing!

Cheers guys,


WakeskaterX

[WSS] Dropping out of Ludum Dare

I've decided to drop out of the Ludum Dare for a few reasons.  

• First is:  I don't like the theme too much.  This wouldn't be a huge issue if I could get behind what I was working on and put out something fun.
• Second:  I couldn't put my heart into my project.  About 4-5 hours into development I found that I just really didn't like my project.  I don't know, I just realized that I hated the game I was making and when I realized that, I knew I couldn't work on it any longer.  It's not the idea, it's an idea I've had for a while but I just didn't enjoy the project at all.
• Third:  I wasn't going to turn out a decent project.  I was trying to make something completely beyond my abilities and realized that.  
• Fourth:  I was getting stressed and eating tons of junk food and energy drinks.  This is more just my fault for not taking care of myself but I was so focused on "Ludum Dare yeah!" that I didn't take care of myself properly this weekend.  (And the wife was out of town).

The Idea:

The game was going to be called Tzarr and was based off of a board game idea I've had for a while.  Basically it's kind of like a turn based strategy chess, where you have various units (soldier, lancer, archer, etc) and then you have your 'Tzarr' or king.  Units within 1 space of the Tzarr have bonus abilities so it's balanced around keeping your king safe but keeping him close enough to empower your units.

I like the idea, but I think it's best left to staying a board game idea.

What I learned:

Dropping out of the LD was a tough decision.  I don't like quitting things, but I was doing to the Ludum Dare to have fun and turn out a fun game, and neither were happening.

I fully intend to join up in the LD competition again, but I should probably plan it better and not just hop in when I'm already quite invested in pushing out another title.

So a few things I can take away from this as a learning experience:

1. I need to focus on my current game.  I'm releasing SBX:Invasion in a few weeks and that needs to stay my focus and what I put my energy into.
2. Scope.  Will I make something similar to Tzarr in the future?  Probably, I really like Strategy games, but I'll do it if I have the resources and time to.  I was trying to do something new with the Ludum Dare and that wasn't the best idea.  I didn't have the time or energy to figure out all the new things I needed and it was stressful.
3. Planning.  I need to plan out what my options are for game types and practice making smaller versions so I know exactly what I need to do when the game starts.  Having set of game types to choose from will make coming up with an idea easier and make starting the game less stressful overall.  
4. Eat properly.  I was kinda  just binge-ing on junk food and didn't think too much about what I was eating (I normally eat pretty healthy too) so my body just kinda crashed and burned as well.

I enjoy game Jams but this one just didn't click with me.  I'm certainly looking forward to seeing what people make for LD though and kudos to all those that finished a game!

For now my focus will stay on shipping SBX:Invasion.  That's what I need to do for now, and when the time comes when I can put my focus into the Ludum Dare, I'll do it.

Cheers,

WakeskaterX