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Messages - Maka
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Devlogs & Projects / Re: MakaPixel's Game Projects
« on: June 21, 2018, 03:01:29 pm »
Yeah that's a good call! I wonder if I can just approach it more like a Disney animated film and instead make the backgrounds lineless and more painterly. Hmmm

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Devlogs & Projects / Re: MakaPixel's Game Projects
« on: June 18, 2018, 06:30:54 pm »
Here's a hybrid action/platformer stage. The goal is to ride along in your dragster car and blow up the trucks parts. You can also get out of your car and use melee on the truck parts.

Originally I wanted to have enemies on the trucks but since I was stupid I programmed the truck to actually move.

When I get back to this project I'm going to redo this section and instead of actually moving the trucks I'm going to fake it with background moving.



Also I have some concept art to show



   

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Devlogs & Projects / Re: MakaPixel's Game Projects
« on: June 17, 2018, 12:41:11 pm »
Curly I agree with you. There is also an issue of the size of the character, the slimness and the speed of the character that makes it easy for the eye to lose him. I need to tone down the BG art as well as possibly slow the character down and give them some sort of after image or flowing flame thingy so that the eye has more to latch on to.

Although I wonder if there is a way to still keep the appearance of the colors without the loss of clarity with regards to gameplay. Hmmm.

Any thoughts on Red Hot Riders?  I initially made RHR because I wanted to work on a smaller game but yet again my own ambitious nature got the better of me.

Anyway I'll post more small bits of gameplay from both.

For the Untitled game I'm switching all the code over to Construct 2 from Clickteam Fusion 2.5. However, I might wait for Fusion 3 before doing any of that.

I decided to work on a smaller arcade NES style action game that is more about score attacks and stylish action than it is about progressing through stages. Still in the concept phase for that one.

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Devlogs & Projects / MakaPixel's Game Projects
« on: June 16, 2018, 11:33:05 am »
I hope it's okay if I use this thread as a home base for all the games that I have been working on. As well as pixel art, animations, ideas, etc.

I will be updating this thread slowly but surely over the coming weeks/months.

My intent for this thread is to get feedback, comments and critiques from the community.

I've tried posting my work to twitter but it doesn't seem like a good place for discussion. As it stands now I haven't really found a community for posting and discussing games, design, pixel art, animation, etc. With twitter for instance if I post my work people don't really comment in a way that starts discussion. I understand that is the nature of twitter though.

For awhile now I've been longing for more discussion about my work so that I can learn more about myself and learn from other peoples experiences as well. No one man is an island. I do have friends that comment on my work as well as other designers but I'd love it if I could get more fresh takes. I'd like to hear some suggestions or ideas or just general brainstorming.

I'd like to create a dialogue between myself and the community. I believe the games that I'm working on are pretty cool and unique(art style wise) I would like to know if they resonate at all with the community.

Please let me know what you think about these projects! Thank you!

For now I'll post a few screenshots and gifs of what I'm working on so far.

Red Hot Riders: It's a fiction based western game that is inspired by such games as Metal Slug, Gunstar Heroes and Sunset Riders. It's an action game that puts emphasis on smooth kinetic movement and stylish action. It was going to be a 4 player game but due to the inability to release it on Switch/PS4 I've decided to turn it into a single player game. I don't think PC players will be sitting down locally and playing a 4 player game on 1 PC. Sadly.

Goal of the game is to fight through waves of enemies per stage and beat a boss at the end of each stage. After you complete a stage you'll be taken to a shop where you can buy equipment. In the core game I wanted to keep the amount of weapons you can get fairly small. You'll always be equipped with a handgun but you can switch to either shotgun, machinegun, or rifle depending on which you find and pick up. Like in Metal Slug the secondary weapons have ammo. However, you can freely switch between Handgun and secondary weapon.  You can also pick up sub weapons in the form of bottles, molotovs, grenades, dynamite and a special fire work sub weapon.

There is also a sub system where you have a little robot partner that you can upgrade as you play through the stage. I initially wanted the players to raise this robot buddy throughout the course of the game but instead I've decided to take a more Cave Story approach and you'll level the robot up per stage by finding special pickups inside enemies, boxes, chests, etc.

I'm currently in the process of rethinking the scope.











Untitled Game #1

Action based platformer game that takes inspiration from Devil May Cry, Earthworm Jim and other wacky Sega Genesis style platformers. I'm designing the game so that combos are more organic and physics based(like Smash Bros) and less dial a combo.

Goal of the game is basically to fight and combo the shit out of Ice based enemies. However, since I've stopped development on this game I've decided that when I go back enemies will be a lot more wackier than just ice enemies. It's gonna be sort of an drug based high/trip. So think like fighting fire hydrants, street signs and other weird inanimate objects.

You can also explore the stage and find hidden objects, collectibles, and secrets. At the end of the stage you'll fight a big boss and a score will tally at the end and you'll be graded. I've always liked when games do grades because it helps increase the replay value and helps steer the player toward playing the game in a more optimal way.

I was really only thinking it would be like 5 stages long with a decent amount of replay value and reasons for wanting to keep playing. The scope for this game is fairly overwhelming and unfortunately I started this when I didn't quite have the experience to finish it up. I still plan to come back to it some day and shrink the scope down a bit, although my skill level has improved so maybe I wouldn't have to shrink the scope that much.











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Job offers / Re: The Ultimative Pixel Art Business Guide
« on: June 16, 2018, 09:20:04 am »
Whenever I have clients that think I'm charging too much I explain the reason why I charge what I charge is due to my experience, speed, skill level, reliability and my communication skills.  Furthermore, I tell them that my rates are based on what I believe is worth it to me. This is completely to do with what I believe I deserve hourly. I like to break it down that way because that is what I am used to since I am a veteran from the game industry. Basically it comes down to how fast you are and the quality of your work.

I also explain to them that newer artists that undercut the market are putting themselves in a weird position because clients expect them to be professionals, have good communication skills and can take criticism and implement revisions without a fuss. Oh and above all else finish the job 100% When newer artists undercut they market they are severely hurting their own future prospects as well as the prospects for every other artist in the biz.

A lot of times I have clients tell me that they are hiring me because another artist bailed on them mid-way or had poor communication throughout which put a strain on the working relationship.

After explaining my position clients usually negotiate with me in a more fair manner. And they feel more secure in their investment after I assure them the reasons for my rates. However, I am still fairly lenient and understanding of various clients budgets. Especially indie devs, considering I am one myself. If they still don't negotiate fairly I politely decline the job and wish them well on all their future endeavors.

Don't be afraid to turn down jobs. If you take every little low paying job that starts to get around then it will typecast you and it will be VERY HARD to raise your rates without it seeming unfair.

Disclaimer: These are my experiences and your results may vary.

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I just recently did some work for a client. Great working relationship, I enjoyed the assignment a lot!

I designed this character for pixels (from live action reference) and I made his animations from scratch








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Portfolios / Re: MakaPixel Portfolio PIXEL ART/ANIMATION
« on: May 22, 2018, 05:55:27 am »
Currently looking for cool projects to work on!

contact makapixel @ gmail

 :)

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Portfolios / Re: MakaPixel Portfolio PIXEL ART/ANIMATION
« on: September 03, 2014, 03:55:59 am »
Just wanted to add this to my portfolio (didn't realize I could've posted these sooner)

Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark

Bruticus:


Swindle:


Slipstream:


Arcee:
 
 


9
Pixel Art / Re: [Critique request] Brawler Knight Hook Punch
« on: July 10, 2014, 09:39:35 pm »
I completely agree with you about deleting those extra nonsense frames. It really does add a certain force to the action without making it come to a dead stop. Sometimes it's easy to just keep adding frames without taking into account the feel it will have toward the overall animation. I guess I made that mistake for this one.  :(

You gave me an idea of how I want to proceed with this animation. I'll post it a little bit later :)

In the mean time I look forward to more critique haha! Hopefully my edit won't be completely obsolete by the time I get back.

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Pixel Art / Re: Stance animation
« on: July 10, 2014, 12:46:59 am »
All I'll say is you definitely don't have to redraw simple stuff like knee movement. Don't work too hard and try and work smarter. I feel this really applies to pixel animation since we can get away with so much rotation, and pixel shifting and then going into clean up. However I do think it's great practice to redraw it. Personally I redraw my frames when it calls for big movements and I rotate and pixel shift when it's small movements.

With that said what you have so far is pretty good. It's just cleaning it up is going to be a nightmare.

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