Mudtato
Where do I even start?
I’ve been busy recently and haven’t touched the game at all. In fact when I sat down at my workshop last night I realised that some of my models had cracked for some reason, and others had succumbed to gravity and were a bit warped. Good things to see, actually, so I can be prepared for what may happen later on.
Coming back after a break means that yet again I’m hit with the overwhelming bulk of work that needs to be done.
Planning is a real skill, and executing on a plan is another thing altogether.
My plan is to build out a demo level, in the swampy depths of the sausage factory, which will need the following:
- A playable character (ideally both of them)
- An environment set
- A collectible item
- 3 enemies
I’ve already built a good amount of the environment, and have started on the characters, but as a percentage of completion it’s probably only at about 5%.
It’s no wonder I’m feeling overwhelmed.
From next week I’ll hopefully be able to start spending 1-3 hours a day on the game.
Here’s a pipe. 
Here’s a panel. 
Here’s some glowing fungi. 
Might not look like much stuck here on the page, but it looks pretty awesome in Unity.
New Camera, New Setup
I got hit with covid and it sucked.
Now that I’m feeling better, and out of isolation, I’ve been able to pick up my new camera and a table to animate on.
I got the Canon RP and had the stop motion firmware installed, so that’ll work nicely with Dragonframe 5. I’ve tried out the high-res live view but still need to work out the nuances of focus peaking and aperture control. The quality of the images is impressive so far!
I wanted to get a sturdy square table to do the animation/image capture setup on, so I went to Ikea and thought I’d check their discount area first. I managed to pick up a high outdoor table and a plain tabletop which are working perfectly. It’s nice to have a table I can use standing up.
Pretty much all set up and ready to go now, just got to shake this covid fatigue…
Go Frog, Go!
Today I came across Hop For The Best which is a “clay-style” platformer currently in development.
With it being a solo project by a fellow dad with two kids, and a similar concept, I felt compelled to contribute to the Kickstarter campaign.
It may not get over the line, being less than half way to the goal with just over a week to go, but we can still hop for the best!
In a past life I may have been discouraged or dismissive of a project that could be considered a competitor to my own, but I’ve come to appreciate the following quote - “Blowing out someone else’s candle doesn’t make yours shine any brighter.”
Modelling and Stuff
Since the last post I’ve continued to work on building assets. I built several more environment assets, like panels, girders, chains and organic objects like mushrooms (with bioluminescence!).
I’ve also been making a ‘toolkit’ of hard items like spikes that I’ve baked and can add to soft models as required.
More recently I’ve been building armatures for the two main characters, to get the scale and materials worked out. I’ve settled on 10-12cm high which is manageable.
For the internals of the armature I’m using compacted aluminium foil, baked inside a layer of Fimo. For limbs they’re made from armature wire, with some baked elements to help keep bending in the right place and maintain form when animating.
For the skin of the models I tried my usual Jovi plasticine, but it was a bit too soft for the amount of handling I need to do with the characters. I’ve found Sculpey III to be almost perfect and will be using it as much as possible.
This is such a big project with so many things to do… I’m hesitant to work on components to completion, as the things I produce later in the project will inevitably be of a higher quality than the things I’m making now, simply due to practice over time.
The main thing I need to keep in check is the usual “everything sucks, I should quit or start again” issue that always comes up in a long running project and just make sure I finish it!
Seeing the photos (like the Pipes below) is pretty motivating. Unfortunately I’m unable to have my camera equipment permanently set up in my workspace, so it’s too much of a hassle to do it bit by bit as I’m working on models.
Pipes!
I’ve been working on some environment assets, mainly pipes, and thought I’d capture some test images to see if it was going to work.
I think it’s going to work!
The focus is a bit off, and I didn’t capture enough angles to really have a ‘lego set’ to play with, but for a proof of concept I think it works really well.
The final models will include more details, like bolts, leaks, panels and so on, and I’ve also got other interesting pipe shapes to work with.
Getting My Hands Dirty
The concept art phase is almost done, and it’s been a really great process. I feel lucky to have found an artist that is easy to work with and who creates good quality work.
I’ve acquired the last few bits and pieces and tools that I need to start building (clay) models.
I don’t think I fully comprehended just how much effort (and clay) will be required to build the environments… I’ve already decided to scale down my models slightly, as at the scale I had previously decided on I’d have very quickly run out of space and materials.
Everything is scaled according to the main characters, so I need to make sure they’re just big enough to have a good level of detail and animation, and everything else should fall into place around them.
Working with the clay is a lot of fun, but it’s not easy. I can see why it’s such a niche artstyle.