Entries Tagged 'Production' ↓

Some things are changing here at Creatrix Games, and we are looking for a potential lead programmer for Lila Dreams.

If you have Java and Flex experience, we want to hear from you. If you know somebody who might be interested and qualified, we want to hear from you!

For all the gory details about the position, please read this page.

Don’t worry, the project isn’t stopping. We’re just shifting things around a bit.

Here we have a conceptual scene of a group of three memekins in the hills near Jalopy: a Naturalist (bottom, left), a Trapper (middle), and a Painkeeper (right). I won’t say much about the details since none of this is final yet, but one key fact is that you are what you wear.

This week, I present another concept drawing of one of the game’s locations: Elevon. It is a manifestation of Lila’s ingenuity and logic, populated by gentlemen scientists and their quixotic experimentations. They even have a rocket.

This is a city of science, but a strange mix of it. Retro and bionetic (living machinery) mingle amid the step pyramids upon which buildings are constructed. Exposed gears and pipes peek out of the pyramids and suggest mysterious goings-on. You can never tell with inventors.

Surrounding Elevon’s pyramids is a vast stretch of desert, where only thorny plants and hardy iguanas thrive. Well, there might be more out there, but don’t go exploring unprepared.

Better late than never, they say. It might not be Tuesday, but here’s a little something I wanted to share anyway. (I didn’t mean for that to rhyme, but sometimes… you’ve just got it.)

Behold, the icy shores of Northlook Island!

Ta-ta! Now I must get back to doing secret game design things.

Ok, so I didn’t post anything last week. I’ve flogged myself for six hours and twenty-nine minutes for that. But, really, I didn’t want those wonderful memory stories to stop coming! Go back and post one if you didn’t already.

With the titillating title of this post, I have to deliver something. And I’m absolutely dying to share what we’re doing behind these tightly closed doors, so I’m going to allow myself a smidgen of satisfaction and show off some of the pre-Alpha art Greg has done.

First, though, what the heck is “pre-Alpha?” Am I some kind of space cadet geek or something? Actually, the game production schedule is broken into some big pieces, and we just call those ridiculously ambiguous names: pre-production, prototype, alpha, and beta. Lila Dreams is in prototype now, where we’re building the main parts of the game that will support all that fun stuff we have planned. Next comes Alpha, which means we have all the major features done (but they’re probably not very fun and definitely not refined). So, “pre-Alpha” means somewhere before Alpha.

Lesson aside, here’s what you came for. (Disclaimer: this art represents one tiny slice of the game world. Don’t go thinking it’s all about monsters and combat and stuff–that’s only one focus of several. You probably already know that if you read this blog regularly, but someone just coming here for the art might get a different impression.)

The first of our test creatures is called a Barnockle. It’s a little multi-eyed thing that sits on pretty much any surface (sticky butt, you see) and shoots out little poisonous spores at anyone who comes near. (It’s on the left, there.)

Then we have a Shakroo. This is a boney-insectoid creature that has to hop to stay alive, so it hops a lot. Just don’t let it hop on you or those pointy feet will be stabbing you in the face. In.. the.. face! That’s gotta hurt.

And then is the conflicted Wocky. Except, it’s us that is conflicted, because it seems like a gigantic, cute, furry-tailed thing. In reality, it’s nasty and mean, and tends to stun with its sonic attack. Don’t get any ideas about petting one without special preparations which are classified right now.

There you have it, some Lila Dreams art that may or may not end up in the actual release.

While the above pics are static mock-ups, they were made with the in-game art. So what you see there is how the game actually looks right now (minus the glorious multi-layer scrolling). These are not official “screenshots,” just to be clear, but they’re a really good approximation.

Well, Joseph asked, and since I’ve mostly spilled the beans on as much gameplay talk as I am comfortable with, I thought maybe I could discuss some of the technology we’re building for Lila Dreams.

Some graphics snobs will scoff at a 2d game. The client is what? Flash? The server is what? Java?! Ha-ha-ha-ha! “Your game is so low-tech players have to pedal to keep it running.” (Ok I just made that up–it’s bad, I know.) But, seriously, there’s a lot to love about 2d art. Especially when you’re on a budget!

One central technology for the game is the “2d bones” animation system. That’s just fancy-talk for little bits of art attached together like a paper doll puppet that has joints. Only digital. This has a ton of great benefits over traditional animation techniques.

Avatar Customization

Since player avatars are made up of various pieces, it’s really simple to mix and match. So, instantly you get a huge range of customization options. And because the system uses hierarchical rotations, we can do cool things like attach items to your avatar’s hand and the item will move with the hand. It’s gonna rock.

On-demand Animations

Because the art is in pieces, and there are no “cel” frames, we can create animations separate from the art, then mix and match animations. For instance, maybe there are several styles of walking animations (one of which is a limping walk, just for Chris Pasley). Since the animation consists only of motion data, and not artwork, that animation can be used by any avatar.

But wait! There’s more. This opens up a particularly large amount of options for emotes! You could have hundreds of emotes. I could design a dancing mini-game around that fact. (Wait, did I just type that out loud?)

This just goes on and on.

Creature Comforts

Well, maybe not comfort, but body parts! Interchangeable ones. So the game can randomize body parts for creatures and the issue of a room full of clones goes away. So maybe for each creature there are several head, torso, and limb variations, and each creature would have some random configuration of them so that each one appears a little different from the others. How cool is that?

Animation for Everyman–sorry, Everyperson

One more nice thing about this system is that to create an animation, you don’t have to be able to draw. You just drag joints around and set keyframes. So even if we can’t all be an artistic god like Greg, we can maybe make some really cool animations. This has the benefit of allowing us to spread that workload around the team, or maybe even to talented community members! That way we can generate mountains of animations without killing a single starving artist.

So, there’s a little taste of the kinds of things we’re doing in terms of technology. We’re doing a lot of other stuff, too, but we have to parcel this out across weeks so there’s something to talk about! It’s for your own good, so don’t complain.

And now, we present concept art of a snail mail courier.

[This week we have an interview-style chat with our very own visual designer, Mr. Gregorius Maximus!]

Who are you and what do you do at Creatrix Games?

My name is Greg Tice, and I’m the sole artist for Creatrix Games. I guess you could say I wear all the many hats (and helmets?) of the art department, from intern to director. Its my job to make sure Lila has a visually striking and unique style. Its Jason’s job to make sure I don’t take it too far! Worry not–he shall not succeed.

What’s the most recent game that you played?

I’m replaying Planescape Torment for the 100th time. I am determined to go through the game with an evil alignment. I’ve never actually managed it, my bleeding heart always gets the better of me. As for new games, Mario Galaxy is currently in heavy rotation.

What are your favorite art mediums to work with?

Ink, acrylic, charcoal, and anything that I can find in the parking lot, kitchen, or scattered about my desk. This means that some artwork has a vitamin water or coffee scent.

You are responsible for visual design of everything from characters to architecture. Where do you get inspiration for such a diversity of visions?

I have a treasure trove of art history books. You can’t go wrong with the masters. But really inspiration strikes at the oddest times and from the quirkiest things. I do keep a notebook in the bedroom since I often wake up with quite a few interesting ideas that are quick to fade.

What color is your hair lately?

Dr. Pepper can colored at the moment.

As the visual designer of Lila Dreams, you have immense power over the perception of the game to its potential audience. How are you planning to shape the look of the game so it appeals to a broad group without it becoming generic or watered down?

Its a tight rope walk. We bounce all the ideas around and eventually end up at a result that is unique and not too far off the deep end. I believe that if places and things have a foundation in reality you can take them pretty far before you start to lose people. However, the public doesn’t always shy away from the strange and absurd. Just look at the success of Alice in Wonderland and Dr. Seuss!

What’s your favorite flavor of coffee?

Coffee has flavors other than coffee? I’ve been on a Turkish coffee bender lately. Its like pure energy mixed with pond sediment.

What aspects of yourself or your thoughts are you putting into Lila Dreams?

I often think back to my perceptions as a child. How the world looked and what fascinated me. Basically I’d like to instill that sense of wonder of exploring a larger than life and mysterious environment.

In what ways will visuals contribute to the fun of playing Lila Dreams?

Oddly enough I’m not a graphics snob. I still play the old Infocom text adventures every now and then! However, as an artist I am aware of how immersive good art direction can make a game. I’d like players to forget they are playing a 2D MMO and feel as if they have a tiny window onto an imaginary world that they are oddly a part of.

Thanks for your time and thoughts, Greg!

And now, the latest of his Lila Dreams works made public: Experius, the city of administration.

Today we introduce the official writer of Lila’s fiction: Ted Ludzik.

Writer, actor, and all around really smart guy, Ted has been a tremendous asset to the project since he began collaborating with us about a month ago. Bringing his own style to the game’s world, he’ll weave the words to chronicle Lila’s ups and downs.

So, here we present a short vignette from some of the experimental stories being created to help us define Lila’s life in all its dimensions. In this brief excerpt, Lila is at her grandmother’s funeral reception, which is taking place at her grandmother’s house.

(Disclaimer: the events herein may or may not be in the final canon of Lila’s story. We’re still exploring possibilities.)

Lila hadn’t realized the turmoil that had been roiling under her skin. Like a greasy-backed sea serpent three inches below the surface of an algae choked Sargasso, she had been alone with her frustrated sadness upstairs. In the midst of her “closest” family, she had flailed with a hydra of simmering anger and was befuddled by how she was supposed to act in a never-before-experienced situation. Nobody told her how to do this yet!

But her jaw released and what her dad described as “the only pouting smile on the face of the planet” and “Lila’s lip mushroom!” began to billow up.

With her dad’s butt sticking out of the dishwasher, she couldn’t help but smile.

In his best suit (which was half a decade out of style), he was scooping out small wads of tomato chunks, bloated spaghetti strands and amorphous dollops of dishwasher-digested globs.

“Izzat dinner, dads?”

Startled, Lila’s dad spasmed a little further into the gloom of the washer. Bravely, he clambered back out, his caterpillar thick brows rose in greeting, “Naw, just some maintenance.” He looked almost fondly at the dead food gathered in his hand. He stuck it up towards her, “Unless you’re hungry?”

“Ewgh! I’m all good, thanks.”

He kneeled to standing and shook his hand into the garbage can, then washed the remainder out in Grandma’s white porcelain sink.

Lila talked over the gush of water. “I thought she never used that thing. She was a hand washer, wasn’t she?”

Dad dried his paws on the tattered rag that hung off the oven’s wood-patterned handle. “Yeah. But she was feeling pretty dragged out those last few weeks. Amazed she even had enough mustard to get up and dirty a few dishes.

“How are you doing, pod?”

Pod. His first ever nickname for her. Born before Lila was born; it came from her dad’s favourite veggie from Grandma’s garden and the furious cell-division that was carbonating in his wife’s pregnant tummy. His little pea-pod.

His work as mechanical engineer changed things up occasionally; she was also his “favorite little cog;” when she misbehaved, it was “Spanner;” when she was acting all goofy, she transformed into his “wankle rotary engine.” But now, even as she started to wrangle teenhood by its grade five horns, she retained the “Pod” moniker.

How was she? “Um, I dunno, kinda… empty?”

“I think you did a lot of your, mm, accepting while she was sick,” he said to her, but his eyes were looking through the yellowing lace curtains hanging off the kitchen sink window.

“Is that what it was? I thought I had turned into a drippy snot-machine.” At her dad’s subtle smirk, she asked gently, “Whaddaboutyou? I didn’t see you cry at all.”

The smirk flattened and his pupils suddenly seemed miles deep. Kneeling back to the dishwasher he stated quietly, “Well, like your mom says, ‘We all grieve in our own way.’”

His torso crawled back into the maw of the dishwasher and his elbows began to produce more grease.

And, here’s your weekly concept art: buildings from a city called Experius.

[This week I turn the blog over to our programming pugilist and technology architect, Neo, for an introduction to his world. --Jason]

While I don’t have the gift of the gab (or jabber) that Jason has, I will never the less try real hard not to bore anyone to death with sterile algorithms but instead regale all and sunder with marvelous tales of the trickery in the trenches of online game tech (and bore everyone to death with that instead).

I am where Jason’s dreams come to die, the graveyard for his creative darlings. Its up to me to push Jason and Greg to new levels of inspiration and creativity and then to murder their darlings by feeding them to the monsters of technical limitation.

But fear not, while we may not get to experience their bursts of illumination in their full spectrum, at least we will wring out every inch of what is technically possible.

Don’t read this as a lack of confidence, far from it, it is just that I am so blown away by the talent of these two lads that I wish I could transplant all their creations directly into everyones minds.

Now that I’ve thoroughly ingratiated myself with them I can get back to work on the tech so that I have something to say next week, same time, same place, same ole human race…

[Obligatory concept art image for the week is in the gallery.]

In case you missed it, I recently did an interview with Wired magazine’s game blog. They also scored a couple of exclusive concept art images, so go read the darn thing!