I’m A GameDev!

Posted on by MikeLeave a comment on I’m A GameDev!

Devblog Day 1:

Guess what, Diary.

I’m a gamedev!
Yup. In the sense that I’m making / learning how to make a video game. I have been for quite a few months but I’ve kept it super secret. Well not really. Kind of secret. But now the cats out of the bag for one very simple reason:

I NEED PEOPLE TO YELL AT ME WHEN I DON’T WORK ON IT!

(I don’t know why I never use capslock when I write like that. I always just keep shift held).
I’ve watched hundreds of hours of GDC videos  and read dozens of articles about how to not fail while making an indie game and the number one suggestion is “Don’t Keep It Secret”. Telling people (especially people that give a darn) will keep you motivated. Not only because (hopefully) those people will be excited to see what you’re producing, but also because they’ll remind you when you’re slacking off.

For instance:
I have done ZERO work on my game for three weeks. Also I bought Monster Hunter World three weeks ago. Coincidence? maybe…

(It is so NOT a coincidence. Also, I main Insect Glaive. It’s awesome.)

So I’m going to try to talk lots about this game while I make it. Blog posts, tweets, facebook, instagram, etc. Maybe youtube videos?? If you REALLY care about what I’m up to I recommend Twitter since it’s where I’m the most active. I don’t know if I’ll make a website for the game or my ‘company’ or what. And if so, I don’t know if I’ll move this devblog over there. But for now I’ll only worry about the game and keep everything here on my portfolio website.

OH! Also I will occasionally be making comics about it. Because it’s a nice distraction and stick figures are super quick to draw. Plus comics. I mean come on. Comics.

Love Michael

The Summer I Stopped Writing

Posted on by MikeLeave a comment on The Summer I Stopped Writing

I can’t believe it’s been 3 months since I updated this. This website isn’t just a place to show off my doodles. It’s also a place to log my journey to becoming a concept artist (and hopefully after I make it). I’ve written dozens of posts over the last few months… in my head. But I never found the time to sit down and write. Here’s whats been going on:

This summer has been hard. Not bad, though. Just hard. I want to make that clear that it’s been a great summer. I work full time for my families auction company and we have been busy. Big auction after big auction every few weeks. I’ve been working overtime nearly every day for months. I was supposed to get 2 weeks off as a break and I ended up going back after 7 days off. 10 times I planned to take a day off for a rest and ended up working the full day plus more.

It sounds like I’m complaining but I’m really not. For the most part I love my job. I feel like I’m needed at my work and that I’m good at it. But it’s been demanding on my time. I went 4 days without seeing my son. That sucked.

Because I want to spend time with my son, Mason, I don’t draw while he’s awake. Plus I want to give my wife, Becky, a break. With me working so much she’s basically lived the life of a single mother for most of the summer. Meaning most days my homework begins at 11pm.  Assuming I didn’t go straight to bed. And I’d draw until 1am to 4am. Then sleep. Then work. It doesn’t leave much time for writing blogs (even though I missed doing it).

Also I’ve been late on EVERY. SINGLE. ASSIGNMENT this term. It’s awful. It’s EMBARRASSING. It’s not what I pictured when I signed up for this program. My teacher, Todd, has been VERY understanding and even supportive. But firm. He understands why I’m late and doesn’t blame me… while also reminding me that if I was a professional I wouldn’t have the luxury of late drawings. Sometimes weeks late.

I’m going to quickly catch up on my assignments right now (multiple post night) but I hate to leave a post without any pictures. This is a comic I drew in 15 minutes (notice it’s only 3 colours and mostly copied/pasted frames) about some of the usual anxiety most artists get.

artfluke

Completed Eel & Nasa Lab

Posted on by MikeLeave a comment on Completed Eel & Nasa Lab

It’s been a little while since I’ve written in here, Diary. But I have a lot to say. The biggest thing is that I got 90% again this week! WOO! The assignment was the colour and texture and basically finish the images I’ve been working on the last few weeks.

First the harder image: The 1960s Nasa Lab

computerlabv3

There isn’t a lot to tie this to the 1960’s with the exception of a very mid century style lamp and a rotary phone on the counter but the huge vintage satellite in the middle is pretty obvious.

I got good points for imagination. The original brief was “Interior Computer Lab” but naturally, as a concept artist, I can’t just draw a modern computer lab. I could just find a real one and take a picture. So I imagine this computer lab was where America created the first satellite.

Animated process:

labprocess

Now the weirder (and more fun) picture: The Eel.

eelorange

The assignment brief was: “Eel with white body, yellow head, black spots, lidless eyes and a fin running from the head to tail on his round body”.

The robot arms and legs were implied in that.

Officially I handed this in after the critique class so I didn’t get a chance to talk to my teacher about it yet. He’ll be discussing it tomorrow though so that’s good. If it’s normal notes then I won’t write about it but if there’s something major then I’ll make sure I let the blog know.

The process:

eelprocess

As you can see this stops before the final orange atmosphere lighting. I added that last minute before uploading it to the school and I had already created this process gif and I can’t be bothered to edit it.

I have another big post coming very soon before this term ends.

Michael