game dev art

I find the little bits and pieces of graphics resulting from game development oddly endearing, almost an art form in itself: function producing form. My independent game development history is on display here, in the incomplete sketches and mockups of yonder.

None of it is particularily impressive; this' more of a memoir than a showcase.

Core Warz

Around 2004 I used to work with the talented Nathan 'DontEatBadgers' Christie and Ted 'darkhitman' Nubel on a real-time strategy game of my design and art direction, dubbed Core Warz.

Nathan's concept art skills were phenomenal. No matter how crappy of a sketch I'd throw at him, he'd come back with a detailed and accurate reimagining as drawn by a proper artist, retaining the emphasized elements and adding some flare of his own!

darkhitman was responsible for most of the programming, and all the working prototypes and screenshots henceforth are his handiwork.

Because pixel art can only go so far, we tried to augment the graphics with pre-rendered 3D models; I'm unsure if our skills were up to the task though. Maybe for 1995.

Nevertheless I prolificly produced art direction sketches and design documents (not pictured) for the project. They are extremely simple, but communicate clearly the distinct, stylistic intent of each unit, building, and asset.

Including a varying cast of commanding characters, definitely inspired by Advance Wars.

Colorblind

Due to a percieved lack of graphical talent on my part, in 2006 I wound up making (but not finishing) a platformer with a striking silhouette style. (way before Limbo was a thing)

scientists

For whatever quirk of fate I've always been drawn to the mad (and likely evil) scientists in children's media. Many of the villains and protagonists in my game designs are such characters. Friend 'Razor' from a Spanish game makers' group realized some of these designs for me.

miscellaneous

Random bits and pieces of projects long forgotten. Some of them collaborations with various people, aforementioned and otherwise.

retro

Getting into pixel art, I would often imitate the graphical limitations of the time in my style and technique. Later on this would evolve into the minimalism to which I now subscribe to.

In 2019 I was briefly inspired by PICO-8, but quickly hit my head on its asenine artificial restrictions and moved on to more powerful tools.

Coming from a ZZT background, I was fascinated by text graphics for a moment. This died off rapidly in favor of actual graphics but these mockups are still kinda cute.

A live demo of the cave dungeon generator (last thumbnail) is available here. If I recall correctly it's mostly just cellular automata.