Tightening up the graphics on level 3
December 11, 2007
Tightening up the graphics on level 3., originally uploaded by Red Fly Studio.
A lot of videogame development doesn’t actually consist of playing a game. It’s mostly building geometry and textures, animating movement states and other stuff that doesn’t really feel like playing games. But there are times when the only way to make sure you’re doing the job right is to just outright play the game and see your hard work in motion on-screen.
Sneak peek of Mushroom Men DS
November 20, 2007
Sneak peek of Mushroom Men DS, originally uploaded by Red Fly Studio.
Just a quick little pic to show the current build of Mushroom Men for the DS. Zen Studios has done a great job pushing the Nintendo DS to its absolute limits, making this 3-D side-scrolling platformer look really nice.
Creepy crawlies
November 8, 2007
Creepy crawlies, originally uploaded by Red Fly Studio.
Here’s a small portion of the cast of villains for Mushroom Men. Concept artist Frank Teran has gone to great lengths to find freaky real-world creatures to draw inspiration from. Some are commonplace critters like poisonous frogs, but Frank delved deep into some more bizarre natural creatures found on Earth like the Star Faced Mole (actual photo on right) and the Earthstar Puffball.
Nice shot
October 10, 2007
Nice shot, originally uploaded by Red Fly Studio.
Haven’t posted anything in about a week. This week has been very hectic. Next week: even worse. And don’t even ask about the week after that!
Here’s a sneak peek of a scene we’re reviewing today. Environment geometry, texture and lighting. Enemy models, textures and AI complete with weapons (flaming hex nuts). Scripted attack waves and puzzles.
Mushroom Men is really starting to look like a game, isn’t it? Just one year of development to go!
And then on the next day…
September 21, 2007
And then on the next day…, originally uploaded by Red Fly Studio.
With the 2-D map drawn out and actions plotted spatially, a simple block-out version of the level is extruded so Damien can actually drop in the hero character and begin running around immediately. The most basic scripting can be accomplished with just this slight amount of
artwork, and the details and flow will be laid out in their entirety before the artists look at this environment again.
Today it’s Damien’s turn.
September 4, 2007
Today it’s Damien’s turn., originally uploaded by Red Fly Studio.
We’ve got a whole new batch of levels to design and script. Now that we’re done prototyping, it’s time to enter full production mode.
John demonstrates his next level.
August 31, 2007
John demonstrates his next level., originally uploaded by Red Fly Studio.
Before beginning the bulk of scripting and artwork for a level, it must be presented to the entire team to assure that everyone knows what takes place in the level. This is the opportunity for anyone on the team to voice their opinions or concerns about the level before production advances past the point of no return. This is how we guarantee that everyone on the team is on the same page and unified for a single, focused goal.
Custom animations, scripting and stuff.
August 15, 2007
Custom animations, scripting and stuff., originally uploaded by Red Fly Studio.
We’re preparing a Vertical Slice demonstration, a level that represents all aspects of the final game: character control, art, gameplay, sound, and level design.
Ever wondered what the inside of a video game looks like?, originally uploaded by Red Fly Studio.
It’s full of triangles.
We would love to show more, but since we’re only a few months into production, all of the in-game stuff is still pretty primitive, just the bare skeleton of the game to come. Block-out levels and a basic set of enemies for testing game flow with on-screen text as placeholder for cinematics and such: it would be counterproductive to show any of that at this early a date. It would misrepresent the final product. Red Fly Studio was founded by artists, and no artist wants to show his work in progress. We still have over a year until we ship!
But we do like to give little peeks here and there, and as I’m laying out the nav mesh for this scene, it strikes me that the guts of a video game are pretty unexciting.
The only flashy images we have to show this early are concept art, some of which you’ve already seen. More will be released in the coming months as we develop it, and after that, you’ll start seeing some in-game shots that better represent the forthcoming game.
Just to show that we’re actually making a game here…
May 31, 2007
Just to show that we’re actually making a game here…, originally uploaded by Red Fly Studio.
I just noticed that the past several entries have shown us in meetings or interviews, but don’t let that fool you. We’re still spending the bulk of our days developing video games. Here’s a little peek.
