February 17, 2017
[font=arial]This piece was originally posted on my personal website blog yesterday, though I think it'd be appropriate to put here as well due to talking about some ideas that are particularly applicable to indie games. (I'll apologize here for the state of formatting in this entry; copy & past…
February 04, 2017
In additional to my own projects and freelance jobs, one of my goals this year is to build a humble - but steady - stream of income from selling game assets online via the various game dev asset stores. A few reasons make this appealing:
January 11, 2017
So I've been doing lots of reading up on Unity & tutorials to get a grip on how it works. I felt like rambling about a few thoughts and observations about Unity in the process of doing this, so here goes.
When a pixel isn't a pixel
Although I've worked in a 3D pipeline, my skillset is 2D art. I…
December 15, 2016
So it's been five, almost six years since that last entry. I was busy for a bit there it seems, eh? Let's do a quick review of what happened to catch up to the present.
2011-2012: Dredmor
With two other guys I founded Gaslamp Games. Being "the artist" I got the grandiose corporate title best-met-wi…
March 04, 2011
[font="Arial"][size="4"]The world of Starfarer has lovely 3d planets which roll beneath whatever chaos you are sure to wreak out in space. It is only right, for what good is space without planets to fight over?[/font]
[font="Arial"][size="4"]Below: Flying an absurdly over-armed frigate past a j…
[font="Arial"][size="4"]Below: Flying an absurdly over-armed frigate past a j…
February 19, 2011
Nicholas and I were interviewed on the Immortal Machines podcast (an affiliate of Colony of Gamers) last week by the good bunch of guys there who were far too patient with certain Gaslampy ... excesses. Now you can listen in to learn dark secrets about the Dungeons of Dredmor -- about the unnatu…
February 04, 2011
So Nicholas (brave code-wizard) and I are going to be interviewed on the Immortal Machines podcast. Here's the entry on Colony of Gamers where people can post questions for us to get asked.
This will be our first official interview as Gaslamp Games! And, really, my first professional interview.
I'm…
This will be our first official interview as Gaslamp Games! And, really, my first professional interview.
I'm…
January 28, 2011
I've just finished the latest round of revisions to the entire pile of spell icons. This is just one task which is part of the massive spell overhaul we're doing for Dredmor's beta 0.92 (when I'm not getting distracted drawing the disembodied heads of founding members of Gaslamp Games).
Man, th…
Man, th…
January 28, 2011
(This post is written to promote the game Starfarer by Fractal Softworks.)
There's more to space combat in Starfarer than nearly-obsolete front-line sluggers like the Onslaught. Meet the Astral class capital-ship carrier: a modern, refined platform for supporting squadrons of small fighters and bomb…
There's more to space combat in Starfarer than nearly-obsolete front-line sluggers like the Onslaught. Meet the Astral class capital-ship carrier: a modern, refined platform for supporting squadrons of small fighters and bomb…
January 19, 2011
Here's a trailer for "Binb", a simple but compelling game by Maxim Karpenko (posted on IndieGames at the end of December) for which I drew some cute animated pixel-art sprites and terrain:
[media][/media]
Very bomberman, but it of course isn't, as it's given a somewhat different format and goal, plus…
[media][/media]
Very bomberman, but it of course isn't, as it's given a somewhat different format and goal, plus…
January 10, 2011
Alright, I've been slaving in the pixel mines on this one for years and now the end is truly in sight. The release date for Dungeons of Dredmor is set for April of 2011!
This new GameDev.net is ... disorienting ... [s]so I'll just post an image of the video with a link next to it. Go watch![/s] Edi…
This new GameDev.net is ... disorienting ... [s]so I'll just post an image of the video with a link next to it. Go watch![/s] Edi…
December 23, 2010
Or: Weapon design & graphics modularity in Starfarer
A game which revolves around combat in space naturally places great importance on the weapons uses in said space. In short: They must look really cool. Here's a picture to show how I've been going about this:
You see here the process of taking …
A game which revolves around combat in space naturally places great importance on the weapons uses in said space. In short: They must look really cool. Here's a picture to show how I've been going about this:
You see here the process of taking …
December 23, 2010
December 21, 2010
Bard's Apprentice, a cute little Flash combat rpg, was released earlier this month on Age of Games. It was developed by Cun Sun for whom I drew the overworld terrain tilesets, some UI backgrounds, and some items.
You can play Bard's Apprentice for free online here.
Some screenshots here:
You can play Bard's Apprentice for free online here.
Some screenshots here:
December 21, 2010
In the current revision pass on Dungeons of Dredmor we've finally had to make some hard choices about what skills mean to a player's character. Thus far, all skills have been more or less freely available to select from any point for testing purposes. But if every skill is always available then by…
December 01, 2010
Combat RPGs don't traditionally offer much active choice to a warrior character: Do you attack? Do you not attack?
Maybe you get to quaff (but never "drink") a potion every so often. A player's agency comes more from the set-up to combat through having a much more equipment-driven character than, sa…
Maybe you get to quaff (but never "drink") a potion every so often. A player's agency comes more from the set-up to combat through having a much more equipment-driven character than, sa…
November 29, 2010
This is from a series of posts I'm writing to promote the space combat sandbox/rpg game Starfarer by Fractal Softworks.
Ahoy there! My name is David and I'm what passes for an artist around here. But enough about me; I'd like to talk a little about how the graphics of Starfarer come to be, starting …
Ahoy there! My name is David and I'm what passes for an artist around here. But enough about me; I'd like to talk a little about how the graphics of Starfarer come to be, starting …
November 20, 2010
The game "Starfarer" by Fractal Softworks has just been publicly announced! It's a sandboxy spaceship combat/strategy/roleplaying game and is still in production.
Oh, by the way - all the graphics are by me! (And the lovely background is by NASA, I should add.)
Art for this have been a ton of fun to …
October 06, 2010
Painted these while daydreaming about tile-based games:
What is it, the world map of an RPG set in a post-apocalyptic world, a spiritual successor to Fallout? (The only Fallout.) Is it Armageddon Empires with charmingly re-interpreted graphics and non-awful UI?
(From a design and aesthetics standpoin…
What is it, the world map of an RPG set in a post-apocalyptic world, a spiritual successor to Fallout? (The only Fallout.) Is it Armageddon Empires with charmingly re-interpreted graphics and non-awful UI?
(From a design and aesthetics standpoin…
October 04, 2010
[Posted to the Gaslamp Games blog]
Quiet? Only outwardly. Our Dear Leader saw fit to allow ye players to select your own resolution rather than be limited to a proper and traditional 800x600 screen. Oh, we have such things in store. You will be able to descend far deeper into the Dungeons of Dredmor…
Quiet? Only outwardly. Our Dear Leader saw fit to allow ye players to select your own resolution rather than be limited to a proper and traditional 800x600 screen. Oh, we have such things in store. You will be able to descend far deeper into the Dungeons of Dredmor…
August 09, 2010
Okay, done. With page one of five. (This is going to take longer than I expected.)
This is a comic I'm drawing to promote Dungeons of Dredmor which has been written by the talented Mr. Vining, our lead programmer, and illustrated by myself. I'm going to do these as a series, so uh, stay tuned for mo…
This is a comic I'm drawing to promote Dungeons of Dredmor which has been written by the talented Mr. Vining, our lead programmer, and illustrated by myself. I'm going to do these as a series, so uh, stay tuned for mo…
July 29, 2010
For quite some time I've been intending to write about pixel art technique. Today I stumbled on a pixel-art platformer game called Frogatto & Friends which has inspired me to get on this because I was struck by the game's lovely art. (I haven't actually played the game yet, though it is availab…
July 23, 2010
Or: Why I listen to people talk about playing games instead of actually playing games.
Mostly.
I'm an artist, right? Right. I draw using my computer pretty much all the time. It's what I do. Drawing (or 'digital painting' or 'pixeling' or whatever it is) doesn't particularly engage the part of my br…
Mostly.
I'm an artist, right? Right. I draw using my computer pretty much all the time. It's what I do. Drawing (or 'digital painting' or 'pixeling' or whatever it is) doesn't particularly engage the part of my br…
July 16, 2010
This is only the beginning of a story, but it could prove to be a very interesting story if it bears out. I think it already contains instructive lessons for game development and design.
On the left, Dwarf Fortress. On the right, Goblin Camp.
I hope you know about Dwarf Fortress, the very complex rog…
On the left, Dwarf Fortress. On the right, Goblin Camp.
I hope you know about Dwarf Fortress, the very complex rog…
July 15, 2010
[Start faux-manifesto]
Pixel art is for the pixels!
I don't care for being formalistic about pixel art, of adhering to a limited palette or carefully anti-aliasing my lines by hand, of using all-or-nothing transparency (actually, I do the latter two more often than I'd like to admit). What matters is…
Pixel art is for the pixels!
I don't care for being formalistic about pixel art, of adhering to a limited palette or carefully anti-aliasing my lines by hand, of using all-or-nothing transparency (actually, I do the latter two more often than I'd like to admit). What matters is…
July 08, 2010
With most of the foundational art assets completed I'm shifted my focus on Dredmor toward producing content for the game. In particular I'm polishing the dungeon tilesets and creating new dungeon objects (as the game items have actually been finished for a long, long time).
Tilesets
Let me take a mom…
Tilesets
Let me take a mom…
July 02, 2010
[Posted to the Gaslamp Games blog.]
For the Great Gaslamp Webpage Revival I've started drawing steampunk portraits of the crew of the good ship Gaslamp Games.
(click to view full size)
From left to right: Nicholas, deranged technologist/bootlegger; David (myself), foppish art-lord; Derek, internet-tub…
For the Great Gaslamp Webpage Revival I've started drawing steampunk portraits of the crew of the good ship Gaslamp Games.
(click to view full size)
From left to right: Nicholas, deranged technologist/bootlegger; David (myself), foppish art-lord; Derek, internet-tub…
June 24, 2010
[Posted to the Gaslamp Games blog.]
Make game
Profit!
Something is missing here, see, and what's missing is what really does the trick for the commercial indie game development thing. It is those developers that can fill in point number 2 that are successful, I think, regardless of any sort of brill…
Something is missing here, see, and what's missing is what really does the trick for the commercial indie game development thing. It is those developers that can fill in point number 2 that are successful, I think, regardless of any sort of brill…
June 18, 2010
[Posted to the Gaslamp Games blog.]
This wouldn't be Gaslamp if we didn't completely redo a major game system once a week.
And this wouldn't be the ongoing Dungeons of Dredmor beta if we didn't completely redo between three and five major game systems every week!
Let's talk about UI redesign.
Here's th…
This wouldn't be Gaslamp if we didn't completely redo a major game system once a week.
And this wouldn't be the ongoing Dungeons of Dredmor beta if we didn't completely redo between three and five major game systems every week!
Let's talk about UI redesign.
Here's th…
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