slynyrd

Tutorial - 141 - Human Female Dummy Walk Cycle

Walk like a lady.

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Tutorial - 140 - Human Male Dummy Walk Cycle

Walk like a man. 

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Human Walk Cycle Source Files

Includes tutorials 140-143 psd files.

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Human Walk Cycle Assets Pack

Includes all the assets featured in Pixelblog 50.

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Pixelblog - 50 - Human Walk Cycle

Learn to create a realistic walk cycle using the anatomy models established in Pixelblog 49

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Devlog - 52

Working on a new boss design concept. The pods blast lasers and can move along the rails for all kinds of interesting patterns, while the main unit fires targeted bullets. I plan to break it down into phases, so you destroy each ring, then face off against the center hull at last.

We've also got all of the standard weapon systems and the various power levels integrated into a working build. Only showing off the spread shot and beam in the example, but the sword and streamers are also ...

Heroes & Monsters - 4

Ogre

64x64px inner canvas 128x128px frame
19 colors
Photoshop 

Heroes & Monsters - 3

Healer

64x64px inner canvas 128x128px frame
20 colors
Photoshop 

Devlog - 51

Revisited this giant air carrier design. Worked out all of the animations, attack patterns, projectiles, and damage states. Well, at least it's a draft concept for the behavior, but there's always further nuance and iteration involved when put into practice. Looks pretty intense when you see all the attack patterns together, but it will slowly enter the screen so you wont't be dealing with all of this at once. The hangar door will open when it comes on screen, and launch several kamikaze ship...

May Schedule 2024

Staying on top of things, I got the May schedule in before I've officially turned over the calendar. It has been a good month for me, as the landscape springs back to life, my mind also flourishes with a fertile spirit. While the public only sees the output of an artist, that tip of the iceberg is only possible with a mass of foundational input. This includes all manner of experience and study, not always within the realm of art. Recent input has been wholly fulfilling, as I earnestly study a...

Contemplation by the Water

Was feeling inspired, made this over the weekend. Wish I had documented the process, but too much consciousness of my actions often spoils the flow. I believe creation doesn't come from you, it comes through you. That said, I still had to use reference to nail the fabric, and water effect.

80x124px artwork, 170x206px canvas
48 colors
Photoshop

Heroes & Monsters - 2

Hexarider

64x64px inner canvas 128x128px frame
20 colors
Photoshop 

Devlog - 50

After recent revisions to the weapons system, my current work has involved a lot of organizing and formatting assets for implementation. But, I do have some interesting refinements and new designs involving the enemy units, and their projectiles. It seems simple, but great care should be given to projectile designs, especially in a bullet hell style game where they fill much of the screen. Static assets really kill the vibe. Therefore, I'm creating a variety of designs that flash, spin, and j...

Heroes & Monsters - 1

Knight
Kicking off the series with an armor clad, sword wielding badass.

64x64px inner canvas 128x128px frame
20 colors
Photoshop 

Devlog - 49

Good day folks! Let's review some Death Vapor updates.

I revised all of the weapon designs with new colors, and in accordance with a leveling/power up system. It's satisfying to power up your ship in shmups, but I'm not a big fan of pickups that bounce around the playing field. Therefore, we propose a system that allows you to choose a permanent upgrade at the completion of each mission. Choose to upgrade your main weapon, drone weapon, or psycho power. Both the main weapon and drones ...

April Schedule 2024

Happy April everyone! Don't worry, no April fool's antics from me. Everyday clown world already dishes out enough cognitive dissonance. Entertaining folly has never been my style, anyway.

Got a solid line up of consistent content planned for the month. The results of the poll for the next Pixel Minis theme ended in a tie between monsters, and fantasy characters. Rather than picking one, I figure they compliment each other enough to combine into one series. This will give me the opport...

Tutorial - 139 - Human Proportions Action Poses

Show me some attitude.

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Tutorial - 138 - Human Proportions Side View

Now, turn to the side.

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Tutorial - 137 - Human Proportions Front View

We start with the front view to establish proportions.

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Realistic Human Anatomy Source Files

Includes tutorials 137-139 psd files.

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Realistic Human Anatomy Assets Pack

Includes all the assets featured in Pixelblog 49.

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Pixelblog - 49 - Realistic Human Anatomy

A fundamental exploration of human proportions using the realistic 8 head model.

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Pixel Minis series selection round 11

Hey, haven't done one of these in a while. Your votes will decide the theme for the next Pixel Minis series, which I will start next month. I'm looking to up my game with character design, and more organic subjects. Keep in mind, these are limited to 64x64px.

Devlog - 48

Happy Friday! Didn't have a lot of time to work on DV this week, as I'm preoccupied with work on the next Pixelblog. I'll be revisiting human anatomy, so let that be your tease.

That said, I still had time for a fruitful gamedev diversion. What we have here is a mockup of DV in a traditional vertical scrolling format. First image is an example of yoko mode (horizontal display), and the second image is tate mode (vertical oriented display). It seems the more I analyze the genre, the mor...

Devlog - 47

Did another round of iteration on the God Lance weaponry. In the first video you can see all standard attacks; sword, streamers, beam, and spread shot. I'm also trying out a secondary color for outlines and additional details of the God lance, attacks, and effects. While I want to keep things minimal, I'm afraid the pure white could bleed into an unreadable mess when the action picks up. I'm not a big fan of outlines in general, but they are often necessary for clear readability of all elemen...

Devlog - 46

Been exploring more weapon configurations before committing to level design. It's crucial that your weapons and basic movement is viscerally satisfying, but are also conducive to intuitive level design.

The more weapons we include the harder it is to balance, but I would like to give the player at least a couple choices to explore different strategies with. Furthermore, I'm thinking to break it down into 2 main weapon types that you can choose. The first type is the God lance weapon, ...

March Schedule 2024

Time never ceases. The pixels must flow. In the first half of the month I'll be focusing on development of Death Vapor, before I switch gears to bring out a new Pixelblog. Also, scheduled a poll for a new Pixel Minis theme, so it actually happens. No idea what I wanna make at the moment. Let me know if you have any suggestion that would work well in the 64x64px format.

I also wanted to mention some new products I've added to my 2024-03-04 17:13:50 +0000 UTC View Post

Biker Gal

New piece! Leaning into my classic style with a fun combination of familiar elements. Sorry, I didn't have time to make it into a Pixelcast, or add animation, as I've been busy writing the text and preparing materials for the Hyper Echelon manual this week. Rather than a Pixelcast. I'm thinking of breaking things down Pixelblog style when I have time. Furthermore, I would make step by step guides for every element of the composition. Containing, buildings, clouds, plant life, and a human char...

Devlog - 45

More steady progress this week. Beam now shoots out and has collision with hit effects. Wave shot has been beefed up with side options that now animate when spinning.  New generic hit effect for wave shot. I expanded the cloudscape tileset so I can make various floating structures. I made some gem pickups to possibly use for scoring mechanics. The assets look good, but they are a bit out of place and too generic for the art style. Might have to repurpose them for a tutorial and come up w...

Devlog - 44

I'm grinding away on assets, as we continue to flesh out the basic functionality of movement, controls, and collision. Spread shot bullets are now absorbed into enemies and a hit effect plays along with a subtle flashing effect to show damage. Function is good, but the hit assets need improvement. Less frames, more spark, me thinks. Also side options have been partially implemented without the rotating animation frames. Should be looking even fancier soon. The beam attack is also only partial...