slynyrd

Devlog - 59

Building upon the blood resource and scoring mechanics I described in the last Devlog, we are now incorporating enemy types into the mix. Naturally, you wouldn't expect a metal ship to bleed, therefore, we also have organic baddies in the mix. Sometimes these enemies immediately appear in the flesh, and sometimes they are hidden in the metallic armor of more typical looking ships that must first be destroyed to expose the vile beast within. In any case, the blood resource can only be procured...

Heroes & Monsters - 11

Bard

64x64px inner canvas 128x128px frame
31 colors
Aseprite

Devlog - 58

The latest changes and refinements have this darling evolving into something truly special.  

-The beam has already been done masterfully in many shmups, but sword weapons are much less common and have room to expand on. Also, it just feels cool to slash things, and satisfying to risk the close range. Furthermore, we've decided to drop the beam weapons and focus the level design around the sword and spread shot. To create incentive to use the sword, not only is it more power...

September Schedule 2024

A new month is here, along with a fresh slate of pixel dreams to guide the cycle.

We've been cooking on the gamedev side of things the past couple weeks. After months of scheming, the gameplay concepts are starting to cohere in a brilliant way, and I'm as excited as ever to share in the upcoming devlogs.

Two new entries for the Heroes & Monsters are on the schedule, which should wrap up the series with a total of 12 characters. Can't wait to compose a gallery of all of th...

Micro Tutorial - 1

I'm launching new serial content I call Micro Tutorials. These small and simple tutorials will feature all kinds of subjects, independent of my Pixelblogs. I will still be making Pixelblogs with my larger tutorials as usual, but the Micro Tuts will give me more opportunity to create spontaneous learning content without having to cohere to the laborious formula of full feature articles. Furthermore, Micro Tuts are purely visual guides, and will simply be labeled by number. To kick off number 1...

Devlog - 57

More good progress this week.

-New massive ship design just for the background graphics. You won't have much time to look at the backgrounds, but after hundreds, or thousands of replays, the rich details are gradually absorbed with much appreciation.

-Created a couple more size variations to round out the explosions effects. See how they can be combined for all kinds of bombastic chaos. Note, the shrapnel is not included in the examples.

-Created new hit effects and modi...

Heroes & Monsters - 10

Undead Knight

64x64px inner canvas 128x128px frame
24 colors
Aseprite

Devlog - 56

Gamedev in progress. Here's a peek at some of the happenings from this past week.

-New massive explosion animation. 15 frames for the explosion. 2 shrapnel variants with 8 frames each. The shrapnels will be randomized, so every explosion feels a little different. Lots of labour involved, but it's a critical element of shmups that the explosions are satisfying, as you'll be seeing a lot of them. I plan to make at least one more explosion variant, so we'll have small, mid, and large vers...

Heroes & Monsters - 9

Dwarf

64x64px inner canvas 128x128px frame
22 colors
Aseprite

Devlog - 55

Lots going on lately, as we get into level design. Here are several odds and ends in the workshop.
-Trying out some new, more realistic explosions.
-Rough level design plan for the opening segment of the first mission.
-Blood droplet pickup idle and feedback animations. This fills Psycho Meter for special attack
-Golden Jewel pickup idle and feedback animation. Rewards bonus score.
-Screen shot of actual gameplay from build. Since I deleted my adobe apps I can't easily mak...

August Schedule 2024

Hey folks! It's been a busy summer, and things aren't going to cool down any time soon. I've got another round of pixels primed for you.

I'll be ramping back up gamedev with several devlogs throughout the month. We're finally getting into real level design, and tuning the gameplay.

I've really enjoyed making the Heroes & Monsters series, and it seems to be popular, so I plan to extend the series beyond the usual 9 entries. Lookout for a couple more fantasy characters.
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Tutorial - 146 - City Builder Terrain Tiles

Become a city builder

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Tutorial - 145 - City Builder Assets Pt. 2

Essential services and commercial property.

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Tutorial - 144 - City Builder Assets Pt. 1

Start your city with some cozy little homes and work your way up to a grand cathedral.

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City Builder Source Files

All the sources files used in the making of Pixelblog 51. Includes 3 Aseprite files, and 1 Pyxel Edit file.

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City Builder Assets Pack

Everything you need to start a happy little town.

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Pixelblog - 51 - City Builder

Go from razing the earth to building a full city with roads in this quaint series of top-down tutorials.

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Neomecity

The final artwork featured in Pixelcast 47.

240x320px
30 colors
13 hours
Aseprite

I decided to make the commentary in my blog for a more appealing format than a post. Please check my first Pixel Diary. https://www.slynyrd.com/blog/2024/7/12/pixel-diary-neomecity 

Heroes & Monsters - 8

Kobold

64x64px inner canvas 128x128px frame
19 colors
Aseprite

Pixelcast - 47

It's been a long time coming, but Pixelcast is back with one of my most ambitious recordings ever. Cleanly condensing 13 hours down to a 16 minutes process was no easy feat. This is my first recording since I've switched over to Aseprite, so things look a bit different, but the format is pretty much the same. It wasn't until I was about done with the artwork before I realized I could lock down the preview image, so sorry it jumps around most of the video. Anyway, I will release a detailed com...

Heroes & Monsters

Paladin

64x64px inner canvas 128x128px frame
24 colors
Aseprite

July Schedule 2024

The calendar design has gone dark mode. It was well overdue for a refresh, but the change was spurred on by recent changes in my work flow. I finally got off the Adobe teat, and canceled my creative cloud subscription last month. Yeah, I have issues with the new user agreement, and their push for AI driven tools, but the bottom line is, it's just too damn expensive. Having used their products for nearly 3 decades, there's going to be some growing pains, as I transition to different apps. Whil...

Heroes & Monsters - 6

Mage

64x64px inner canvas 128x128px frame
15 colors
Aseprite

Devlog - 54

Bullets galore! We're developing a tool that allows easy experimentation and creation of complex bullet patterns. This will be especially helpful for bosses, or anything that spits out multiple, overlapping patterns.

Planning and clear vision is still a major part of the design, as you can see in the attack patterns on the massive floating temple structure. All the buildings will leave a nice flaming crater in the wake of your destruction. Watch out for sniper tanks that emerge from t...

Heroes & Monsters - 5

Archer

64x64px inner canvas 128x128px frame
19 colors
Aseprite

Devlog - 53

Showcasing more background graphics in this update. I made at least 2 dozen iterations of parallax examples with various speed rates to get the right feel for the motion. Think we've settled on the formula shown here. The ground moves slowly to capture great distance, while the clouds move briskly to imply wind. The platforms move slower than some of the cloud layers as they are not under the effect of wind, also they will have interactive elements on them like turrets, so they need to move a...

Buried Trauma

Experimental artwork I've been pecking at on the side for a while. Stream of consciousness style that has more in common with my drawings on paper than my typical pixel art designs. Uses minimal colors, focusing on clusters, and texture. What do you see?

240x180px
11 colors
Photoshop

June Schedule 2024

Things are heating up. More pixels incoming!

My focus this month is on gamedev, and continuing the Heroes & Monsters series. I'm leaving an open slot at the end of the month for yet to be determined content. Duty calls for a new Pixelcast...

Well, I'm struggling for words at the moment. The fruits will come through the art.

Thanks always for the support of my Patrons!

Tutorial - 143 - Human Female Clothed Walk Cycle

Strut that stuff.

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Tutorial - 142 - Human Male Clothed Walk Cycle

Ready for business.

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