Hey there! You might be wondering why it takes so long for BB-1 and Charge content to appear recently, as I used to have a yearly big animation projects at the very least!
Truth is, when Anomalies 2022 was released, I didnt enjoy what was playing on the screen.
The VA team did an AWESOME job, but the graphics were ugly, the animations were rough, I'd argue it didnt even feel like the retro style I was trying to copy so badly..
So ever since that I have been working even harder to improve my assets, and Im trying to reach a certain point of quality before I continue my usual projects!
The goal of Syncergy art:
I think the Syncergy universe as a more vibrant and cartoony looking universe, but still carries the depth and weight of an actual universe!
Its not just floating blocks despite being a platformer, I want EVERY environment to be a real breathing world! But its that is VERY different from our own!
If platforming is involved, I wanna design it in such a way that it feels natural by the standards of the Syncergy universe!
The goal of Anomalies Art
The Anomalies world is a very different world.. Its inspired by my childhood nightmares that co-existed with my happy imaginary world! It always felt like the evil counterpart of the Syncergy world to me, but also one thats still connected to it in some way!
Its an unstable world full of dangerous anomalies, but (much like Syncergy) facinating locations to explore!
I think Anomalies both needs a sense of eerie realisme, but with some cool stylization that conveys that connection to another more viberant world, but twists it into something more scary/unsettling then comforting!
If I can get that right then I think I can give Anomalies that dream-like feel I have been striving for!
The Syncergy learning process
To learn about what made the visuals in platformers so great to me, I collected screenshots of games that I personally enjoyed for their visuals!
I decided to stick to lowpoly because it would be easier to start with in 3D, and there seems to be a bit of a charm to it that recently seems to be enjoyed by a lot of people (including myself)!
After that I looked at the environment and character designs of my favorites, and tried to to learn what was lacking from mine! Then I started recreating the assets! Its a slow process, but one I think already paid off a lot!
The Anomalies learning process
-is pain. like ACTUAL pain!
Anomalies's as a whole is very new for me.. I now have to deal with setting brightness correctly for eerie scene, but while keeping accessibility in mind, and designing ACTUAL realistic enviroments compared to Syncergy's cartoony fantasy world takes a skill of its own!
I started a little of the modelling work on the monsters and the environments, but most of my effort so far has been poured into the human protagonists!
You dont realize the importance of every detail in EVERY pixel of the human face to make humans NOT look uncanny untill you tried this yourself! My respect goes out to every artist who does this like its nothing!
I have been polishing this model for over a year now and the face is STILL hard to look at.. Here is the june 2023 version vs the newest screenshot from 23 may for comparison!
Things have improved a lot since, but it still needs work for sure!
Here are some environment screenshots to wash the nightmares away, but its not much!
These two screenshots are from early shader and material testing!
And this screenshot is a work in progress stage from the actual game, more on this later!
Conclusion:
Graphics are a very important part of the appeal of videogames, and its very important to get it right!
I have been taking my time to make sure that the quality of my assets are ULTRA high quality, so that BB-1 and Charge will be enjoyable on a visual level alone!
This turns out to be a MASSIVE undertaking, especially for anomalies because when you create (semi) realisme, uncanny valley shows its ugly head, and for a rookie that takes a while to overcome!
Comentarios