Just a couple videos I've come across with handy tips:
Never knew R was a short cut to rotate the canvas! This might be handy in the future. This also explained how to get a second window which I've always wanted to know how to do. The rest of it I definitely already know how to do (some ways better for me). When something is selected just right click to inverse selection. But just for these tips, I want to record and remember.
Part 2:
I found the lighting at the end really interesting and I would like to try this.
She actually a popular animated youtuber and I'm surprised I havent seen her before.
Here are the images I've sent to Peter to potentially screen print at SIT on T-shirts:
version 1
I'm still not sure what will work exactly or what designs would be best. I've tweaked the wings so they've got outlines and block colours. I'll stay away from gradients for safety's sake.
These images are also flipped, I just assumed so maybe they dont need to be flipped? I'm not sure.
The wings would be on the back of separate shirts, black or white. While the heads would be black or white lines on coloured shirts. The band could be anything but ideally black shirts. [these are flipped]
I do like these silhouettes. One for each character would be cool in their usual poses and superhero ones. I'll need to think about what surrounds the silhouette which would be the colour or I guess the silhouette itself could be a colour. Duh. Playing with both would be cool.
I like the heads, though eventually the full colour lineart is ideal. Also learnt in Harmony to convert stroke lines to pencil which saved my life with these wings!
So after talking to Ruth and Peter today I've learnt some more about the process and researched some stuff myself.
The designs don't need to be flipped as they need to be printed on clear plastic (just gotta know which is the right way). What places print on plastic? Or can we use our printers to ink onto acetate? A4 size acetate must be able to be bought from somewhere.
What's printed on the plastic needs to be black for all the designs so the emulsion doesn't harden there. So I need to make all my designs black for printing and they will need to be printed or transferred somehow onto plastic. A video I watched suggests to double print the plastic and layer it. I might also need to touch up after printing.
It would be ideal to be putting these designs into an illustrator vector file format (I think companies prefer it, set-up is costly) but I feel like this might be a lot of work if the vector button thing (I forgot the name) doesn't work nicely. Especially as Toon Boom Harmony unfortunately doesn't have a way to take stuff into illustrator.
I think the wings will need to be black outlines and not worry about the colour yet. Prioritising the black ink on white and coloured t shirts is best for now. There is also always that photo print transfer that can be printed on the printers for a photo colour quality.
This video was interesting because there was a couple different ways he did it.
He just put the shirt in the dryer to set the print. The contraption was pretty cool too. I am impressed on how much text detail is possible.
From the description: "Use high dpi screens. These provide finer detail, and have significantly improved my prints. Have someone hold your frame so that you can use two hands to evenly pull the squeegee.
If you don’t have access to a dryer for heat setting, you can cover the print with a piece of paper and iron it for a minute.
If using a dark material, look for an ink labeled “super opaque”. You’ll get a brighter colored print." Here's another video explaining the technique:
A good point about leaving room at the top and the bottom of the screen for ink excess. Also need some glass to put on top of the design on plastic when exposing so the edges don't curl up. I can use that glass that broke in transition probably. I thought his technique when inking was weird but I read a comment that this is a good way to ink: "One thing that will improve your image drastically is to flood the image first. What that means is to drag a layer of ink over the image VERY LIGHTLY before you actually try to push the ink through the screen." Only going one way is reccommended. That comment was under this video:
this video wasn't too interesting
I think embroidery hoops are in second hand shops. Having a small sized design could be handy for kids clothes maybe. This lady knows her stuff:
very important about taping up the board and wedge so ink doesn't go in the cracks. Part two is very interesting too, it explains more about flooding.
SpeedballArt is a handy channel with lots of info. I think it's a whole company that supplies screen printing kits and supplies.
Ok so I made it!
The only art I actually made was the mermaid but I just wanted to see if I'd be able to skin the flappy bird game with my own art. All of the sprites are the same name, which isn't good practice, and the exact same size. But if I changed that then the scripts wouldn't have worked.
The art:
Game:
I've built the game, it's pretty lame but it was fun to make and a good knowledge basis of Unity and scripting.
I used their art so none of that is mine but I wrote out the code myself, copying what was written in the tutorial. All the scripts for reference are on the site at each stage and have notes in it.
I definitely think this is the type of game I want to make. But I'd need to make it have an ending/finish line. Which would probably need to be coded in somehow. The code I have written today I should be able to copy and then change the naming conventions to suit.
Chris gave me a great idea to make this game but with my mermaid character in the sea. I'd just need to make the background, and animate 3 frames of the character, and have an obstacle, seaweed probably.
This also makes me think about changing the style of the characters to a kind of pixel style in Fastest Flyer at least. I won't have to animate as much and it might be nicer as a standalone game in the app store with that kind of style. I'd also like to keep the background as simple as possible at first and then amp it up if I have time.
An interesting and good thing I learned was that Unity can take font files without having to install them, which means I could use any font! Plus need to find my font as a font file somewhere. I'm not sure if they'll be stored somewhere on the computer if they're already installed?
Also, I really like and prefer this layout in Unity. I can immediately see things in my game view and it feels nicer to navigate around. Just remember not to change anything while the play button is on!!
I'm trying to look for games that have a similar scale to my fastest flyer side scroller. Fairy size is smaller than for a regular game scale.
I tried looking up Smurfs games and most of them don't have that nice of a scale that I expected (a lot are probably cheap skins of previous games)
This one is the best image I could find. I kinda like the ground having images inside of it. This one is a flying version and we only see a little bit of the sky.
Nitrome.com is my favourite game site with free flash games. The syles and games are so great. I've played and clocked quite a few of them.
One of my favourites that has a smaller kind of scale with a small character you play is Parasite. http://www.nitrome.com/games/parasite/#.W1vU6NL-haQ
Maybe it's the kid of big flowers around that make the character feel the same scale. The butterflies are a similar size to it also.
Sky Serpents came to mind because it's all set in the sky flying around. But the scale is huge and very high up. Not quite what I want. But the art is super nice anyway.
When looking at game backgrounds it seems that a theme is to see the ground underneath the grass, like the soil/earth. Is this something that's been conditioned because of popular previous games? Or does it actually help with grounding that character and knowing what can be stood on or not? Is this something I'll need for a flying game? Should the character slow down or die when they hit the ground or not be effected?
I think it will probably be good to include a little bit and not have it effect the character negatively. I guess for a UI perspective, it means that text can go there and buttons like a pause. Or where the flag timeline is.
How to make a flappy bird style game, which is almost exactly what I want to make!
Already in the first video it's made me think about having the background move, not the character because of the endless runner type of game that it is. I think this is what I'll need to do.
Moving the world instead of the player.
Though flappy bird only has the one button, (I want up and down controls in mine).
It's going to show me how to repeat and cycle the background and obstacles. Also non-realistic physics to get a precise style of controls.
I downloaded the assets:
It would be nice to have more parallaxing stuff but for the basics I think having these two background elements plus one obstacle (not a pillar, something more relevant) would be best to start off with.
I definitely think moving the background is key. But I did just think maybe it wont work with ghost Kahu?
Explained in one of the videos in the course, moving the background is much better for the game, less glitching.
Today I slipped into the episode workshop by Duncan.
It was super great!
We got to question our ideas and projects and write on pieces of paper all our ideas and arrange them and discuss with a class member. This discussion was interesting as she brought up the possibility of having one of the main characters actually suffer from autism/ a social disorder and have the stories help display friendships with people who might have these conditions. I think in the show I wouldn't label it and it would be more subtle with the characters having some of those traits and dealing with it in a productive way. As I think in general kids should be shown ways to deal with social awareness and interacting with all kinds of people.
I ended up thinking of some new ideas for Monarch Park and rearranging the episodes in the first season.
Before:
After:
It was also interesting thinking about the event of only being funded 6 episodes. I picked out the main episodes I think would be the best introduction for Monarch Park. Potentially these are the ones I focus on the most next and then it would still be a complete story. Possibly having episodes left out of a visual novel lineup in order to have new stories for when it's fully animated.
This is could what I pitch with to get funding and then pick 6 other episodes for a 'season 2':
This leaves out 4 episodes from the original lineup that wouldn't be shown through this format.
Rachel also told me about the funding for interactive development which basically what my visual novel is. It'd be a good idea to talk to Kathryn about funding before November. https://www.nzfilm.co.nz/funds/interactive-development-fund
New Zealand game or screen-based companies that:
Are looking to develop interactive works that have a strong story focus
Hold or share the necessary intellectual property rights for the project
Can demonstrate the ability to be able to deliver the project.
If Green fairy can get money why not me.. I think I'll need to start to put together a company name and logo though. Corkscrew Cartoons might not work to include other things. What's great about names like Mukpuddy and stuff like that are that they're standalone names for the company that encompass everything they do.
For my next exhibition it's going to be a draft of my Southsure exhibition. It will be in Transition gallery with elements of my previous exhibitions.
I'm thinking about changing the room layout a bit and planning on where other things could go.
Some things I definitely want in Transition are:
lounge
game room
showcase walls
wardrobe
history
behind the scenes?
Projector
Having the projector would be cool on a big wall in transition that has some stills and animations that show the scale of Monarch Park.
Here are some layouts I've mocked up for my next exhibition:
This one is kinda standing out. I'll need to test the projector soon and see if it will work nicely close to the ceiling. I quite like all the room sections in this one too. It might feel more like a choice when going to each room?
If the room sectioning doesn't work, this one might be worth looking into because of how open plan it is. There's no projector though.
This one could be worth trying also. It still has the rooms but in a slightly different place. the issue is where I would put the projector as I dont think I'd be able to hang it from the ceiling.
think about my blog, make some posts from gaming that relate to transition and my next exhibition, some reflections and relating and linking things across
answer the questions about the why and do some critical thinking on transmedia and Monarch Park's audience engagement, conceptual ideas and themes, and installation.
Write a synopsis of the first episode and include my script and thumbnails in the dissertation appendix
look up some references for getting an audience/fans
plan and sift the stuff I have for the ILP document
Finish the documentation from February to August
I think another theme that is developing in Monarch Park through my visual novel game is the ability to choose your own path and considering all options. This could be a theme of my exhibition of choosing paths to which aspect you want to engage with. Paths on the ground or signs or something.
I could mock up transition in 3D and play around with layout ideas. A floor plan would be really handy.
The headings I have for my dissertation at the moment are:
Another minigame I want to make for my visual novel is a game where Katie throws the paper plane in class and has three outcomes for the next path the player goes down.
The options are:
Hit Kahu
Hit the teacher
Or miss/not hit anything
I was thinking that it could be an 'angry birds' kind of game on the side and aim and throw the plane. But it might be too difficult.
From the Extra Credits video, apparently top down shooters are up there on 'easy' games to make, depending on how complex the idea is.
So I had a google and came across this Unity tutorial which shows how simple it could be.
The changes for my game would be for the plane to only be 'shot'/thrown once. I have the classroom mocked up in 3D so I could get a top down view. The view for the characters would probably be not quite top down in order to see the characters.Top down but side characters maybe? Or this minigame could be chibi style?
So it'd be top down and Katie has the paper plane in the bottom center. It's on a moving side to side aimer that needs to be clicked to throw. The auto movine means it's more random the next choice maybe? Kahu is on the left side of the room and the teacher is on the right. If the plane lands in the middle it's a miss. The hit boxes need to be reasonable, maybe an equal choice for each?
This game is to be really simple in order to move on and get the next choice/path in the story.
With this aim and shoot mechanic I think of infinite minigolf that also has a power mechanic. This is in a 3D space though. I think I could get away with not having the power section.
Another more likely type of game style are the bubble shooting games.
This one is super simple, the mouse controls where to aim and a click fires the bubble.
There are lots of arrow shooting games too but most are on the side.
I think I could use the likes of this bubble shooting one but have the aimer automatic.
I can use the 2D characters how they already are, and it made me realise that I don't have to stick to exactly top down or exactly side on. This view will still let the player aim and throw the paper plane. I can angle Katie a bit more to see better too.
Here's a simple mock up that includes the hit boxes and plane area:
It's so pretty!
This one is a flying version and we only see a little bit of the sky.
This one is kinda standing out. I'll need to test the projector soon and see if it will work nicely close to the ceiling. I quite like all the room sections in this one too. It might feel more like a choice when going to each room?
If the room sectioning doesn't work, this one might be worth looking into because of how open plan it is. There's no projector though.
This one could be worth trying also. It still has the rooms but in a slightly different place. the issue is where I would put the projector as I dont think I'd be able to hang it from the ceiling.
This is in a 3D space though. I think I could get away with not having the power section.
