I've been... things. Doing them. I've been doing things!
So apparently it's been a couple months since I posted a Journal Entry. A few things have happened since last time... Obama was re-elected, Halo 4 came out, I found out my best friend at work is a former reality TV personality... ummm, and Bandai apparently has access to my deepest desires since they're finally making a Master Grade Tallgeese. Plus I have been very slowly working on the sprite pack.
[hr]
Sprite Pack
For the sprite pack, I really want to get it done before the end of the year, or at least in January (hey, I'm a hobbyist, I can move deadlines however I feel like).
To that end, I made a tracking spreadsheet for the top-down sprites, which are the most important part of the pack from what I've seen people using in my "Free Airplane Sprite Pack" of yesteryear. What I've been doing lately is doing three things: adding a one-frame per side "tilt" frame, adding "camo" versions of each airplane, and general polishing. I'm kind of regretting deciding to add the animation frame since that requires a significant amount of work, but it's too late not to simply finish that on the remaining sprites. I am going to drop some of the original planes I intended to include since I don't like them that much and I doubt there's really a demand for them. Here's the current list:
[actually, due to unforseen productivity tonight, the J-20 is complete, as you shall see]
Yeah, a spreadsheet. But think of this:
Honestly, cutting everything not started might not be a terrible idea, although the FQ-3 would make a good bad guy since it basically looks like it belongs to Batman, and the Su-49 looks like this.
I'm also toying with the idea of splitting the pack even further and having the top, side, and full rotation animations in a separate pack. It would allow me to release the top ones, to have them done, and let me take my time with the other packs. What do you guys think?
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My elephant in the room for my right now getting a damage state for every airplane... and I haven't started. I have a reasonable idea of what it will take and have found some more tools in Photoshop that will make it easier, but still, troubling. My basic plan is to make essentially large texture or two of "damage," like charring and bullet holes that I can then rotate, mirror, clip, and otherwise obfuscate so I can reuse the same ones for each airplane. Should be fairly easy, just making the texture (have it started), and then slapping it on all 20 or so airplanes... but "should be" and "actually what ended up happening" can be vastly different things. We'll see I guess.
For sort-of proof that I actually have been working, here's a J-20 camo version:
Actual size:
My goal now is to get that damage texture stuff working, and show you a damaged version of this guy by the end of the weekend.[size=1] And play Halo.
So if you don't hear back from my by Sunday night, 'merica time, something terrible has happened...
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You guys have a good weekend!
