News

Keep the Bottlecap

02.22.2016

Outside of freelance work, I occasionally find the time to enter the weekly art contests at Pixel Joint, an online gallery for all things pixel (of which I am a moderator).

Last week's challenge celebrated the 25th anniversary of the classic game, Lemmings. The rules stipulated a limited palette, one derived from the original Lemmings sprite:

Lately, I've committed a healthy amount of time exploring the wastelands of Fallout 4. In fact, when I spotted a pack of cigarettes in the gutter my first instinct was to collect it, since I need the cloth to build beds for my settlers. The post-apocalypse is a tough place.

A pinup poster in the game caught my eye, channeling the vintage format to advertise a fictional soft drink. With its bold, simple layout and plethora of specular highlights, it suited the contest's required palette. Plus, the nuclear-waste green reinforced Fallout's setting.

Because I decided to enter the contest a few hours prior to its deadline, I had to finish the piece in a single sitting, which took 4.5 hours. I could have shaved off more time if I re-sized/indexed/traced the logo text instead of replicating it freehand, but cutting that corner felt antithetical to the spirit of the competition.

I tried to apply the campsite rule to the original, abandoning the standard Z-shaped composition in favor of something more customized to the elements. To keep the lines crisp, I made a conscious effort to use only one midtone at a time for anti-aliasing.

Something Something Catdog

01.29.2016

What better way to start 2016 than with a good old-fashioned gaming competition? How about one that features some of my animation? With the latest update from Run or Die, you can now play with two additional protagonists!

Notice how the three characters are all different sizes? To avoid making new levels for each one, Team Flo stipulated that the new sprites must fit within the existing heroine's collision. These constraints made animating a challenge, but I'm proud of the resulting solution.

The Doc hunches to fit through the two-block-tall gaps in the walls.

The catdog carries volatile chemicals, so low ceilings are equally hazardous to its journey.

Yes, the game features a cat-dog hybrid! Break those piggy banks and head to Run or Die's Steam page.