I Must Have Done Something Right

Just a boy and his cape.
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Hi all!

Another week has passed. Can’t believe we are already one month through the summer. Damn. This week was still kind of in the terrible zone, but I made it through! WOOHOO! Things are looking better for this week, and I have a nice extra day off, thanks to the 4th of July. Gonna get so much coding done.

So I found out that my company is going to go the publisher route, so I have been tasked with coming up with a name/logo for our game development studio. I have some pretty fun ideas, and working with the team to make something. I can’t wait to show that off! Other than that, Project Manager got a ton of tasks together for the team, and everyone has something to work on right now, which is great news. We went over some design ideas today, and I gave some examples of games that had art styles that I feel would flow great together. They are all amazing games in their own right and are big inspirations to me.

The tragic, tragic owl.
The tragic, tragic owl.

The first game is Ori and the Blind Forest. This game just about overwhelmed me from the first moment to the last. It has a beautiful watercolor feel, and the forest itself feels so lush and alive. The music? Foggetaboutit. I also really love the design of the characters. They feel like familiar beasts but are unique to the world of the game. Lastly, the way they tell stories without words — just expressions and tone. It’s incredible. I really need to do another playthrough soon, I think. Especially with part two right around the corner.

Rime Tower
Rime Tower

The second game is RiME — which admittedly, I have not played yet, but it was on Steam Sale for 50% off, so I picked it up. But I have seen many, many videos of trailers and gameplay of it, and Henny friggin loves it. I am enamored by the art style in this game, and to be truthful, I’ve always been a huge fan of cel-shading. RiME pulls it off with finesse and style.  What I’m hoping to go for is something that feels alive, lush, and beautiful like Ori, but has the smoothness and warmth of RiME.

Secret of Mana Remake
Secret of Mana Remake

Finally, I gave the team some examples of what the game is going to end up looking like, perspective-wise. For this, I used the remake of Secret of Mana. While this remake has had some bumps in getting it out properly for PC users (REALLY bad) — among other flaws — It still does have the proper look and feel for what we are going for. Plus, the original is my all time favorite SNES game. I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve dumped into it.

Little Tahoma Peak in the distance.
Little Tahoma Peak in the distance.

So this weekend, I took a mini-trip down to Mt. Rainier National Forest and did a bit of hiking. It was quite a damn trip, and I did a fun In and Back 3-mile hike. The way in was pretty rough for me still, all uphill the whole time, but the way back was nice and chill. I’m just going to go ahead and show you my favorite picture out of the whole bunch. It feels good being able to tackle these hikes, and I get a little faster and stronger every single week. I’m really glad I have someone who keeps encourages me to get out and inspires me to overcome my fears (this hike, in particular, followed the ridge of a valley, and I spent over half the time freaked out at the drop beside me).

No idea what I’m doing next week, but it should be fun. The next two weekends after that is camping, then Portland! I’m excited for July.

Have a great week everyone!

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