Tree
For a couple of days I was working on a tree sprite for the game. I sketched out a few different tree shapes before I decided to work on one that would only cover one game tile.
I had a hard time figuring out how to draw the leaves and in the end settled for a custom leaf-shaped brush.
Since I wanted to be able to reuse the tree’s assets to make multiple variants of the same type, I made each of the branches individual along with the leaves of that particular branch. That allowed me to try different leaf sizes. The left is the original, the middle is 125%, which is preferable, and the third one is 150%, which feels as too much. In the end, I could also use a combination of these.
Initially, I intended for the trees to be animated in the game. The problem, however, is that each unique tree would need its own set of frames. The size of the game would quickly blow up, and it would take too much time for what it’s worth.
Artbook Instead of Cards
Having been thinking about what to use for the front of the trading cards, I realized I don’t have many projects, and even less images of those project that could actually be used. I didn’t want to create collector cards if there were only going to be four of five of them, so started thinking of an alternative.
The concept I came up with is instead of using trading cards, where each showcases the best image of the work, I’d make an artbook. It’s different from a traditional form of a printed portfolio, which doesn’t necessarily fit well with video games, and is in fact often seen as a kind of video game accessory, similarly to a soundtrack CD, key chain and other merchandise.
For the time being I was thinking of an A5 horizontal book format, but I’ll do some research before I make a final decision.
