First recorded test - dummy enemies!

Oh happy day!

Elspeth's Garden is progressing really well.  I'm slowly implementing features on the basic battle system, so there is no shortage of things to do even with the art I have so far.

Unlike a month or two ago where I usually just wait, now I have enough materials to occupy me indefinitely.  I can continue to polish the gameplay, add more features and subsections, or even finally start adding in the story elements (I tend to want to design around battle stages first).   Which reminds me, I should finally decide on the optimum method to display 2D sprites, then start tracing from the design spec sheet and create them already.

The best news is that I received a whole package of environmental sprites that really put this game on another level graphics-wise.  In addition, the main character model for the adventure-game-like sections is currently being worked on.

Once I have enough materials, I can upload a gameplay video.  But right now, there's so much to do, and most of it is in my court!

I should be more humble.

So I was reading yet another Minecraft editorial and the new info that stuck out to me was how humble Notch was, and how from everything about the way the game was presented starting from the website comes the conveyance that this was a simple but deep game, made by a simple but good guy.  Here's a person who is enjoying rockstar status but not acting like a rockstar.

Me?  I'm nobody.  And yet why the hell do I always have to have a tinge of arrogance in my posts?  Why am I so hell-bent on conquering the world?  Maybe it's because I'm so desparately trying hard to achieve something that stands out in the sea of mediocrity.  I used to have low self-esteem, so maybe this is the pendulum swinging in the opposite direction.

The biggest realization I had that I'm nobody was when I stopped being helpful in an online forum I used to be so active in.  I expected people will miss my presence and my help but guess what?  They didn't.  Oh well.  (But just because I ceasing being proactive didn't mean that I should adopt an asshole or troll mentality).

I have to become more like Notch.  Maybe not in skill (it's impossible), but in attitude.  Or another alternative is to become anonymous then only come out of the woodwork if there's success and someone wants an interview (I wish.).

In any case, from now on I'm just going to talk about the project or any larger topic of interest.

Creating new IP is hard.

I've been wondering lately what makes a project popular.  It's familiarity.  If it's in the top ten, or a bestseller, then people will trust that the experience must indeed be good.

For a new endeavor, it's easier to drum up support if it's based on an existing work that people are already familiar with.  That's why movies not based off anything like comics, novels, or games are rare.  If you're making a game, it's easier to make a sequel, a remake, or a translation, than something totally new from scratch.  It also explains why it's easier to get a group together making a fanwork than something original -- the people in the group share their love for the source material, so they all strive to make sure to recreate the feel of the original. 

That's not the case in original works, where the source is usually a single person, and it's really dependent upon that person to communicate and inspire other team members.  If the entirety of that vision is not yet communicated, then it's understandable if hardly anyone is interested.  So what ends up happening is that only the creator is enthusiastic about the work.  It's really lucky to have other people interested enough to work for free, but usually help will only come if you pay people, such as commissioning freelancers.  And even then, you might not really need to divulge the entire vision, but only the elements needed to get the art assets designed on spec.  It isn't just that the freelancers have other projects they're working on... they may also have experienced their fair share of failed projects so it's really hard -- as a near-professional -- to really get your entire heart into any project that looks mildly promising.

The best I could do is to strive to surprise and delight people with the resulting work -- even with the freelancers I'm working with -- to see how their art is unexpectedly adopted in innovative ways.  That's the main reason why I'm holding off on posting any artwork until I have enough resources to convey the full force of my vision.