New Year News!

Hey there!

It's a new year and it's already been full of excitement for the Andrecca team. We've recently started to move towards working on the user interface (UI), for the game. I've still been working on art and even branching out into other pixel art projects too.

As far as the UI goes, we want it to feel unique yet comfortable to play no matter what controller is being used. We've just started tweaking the UI and it's going really well as far as what buttons to use and setting up how it will look for the player(s). Making use of the negative space on the screen without it looking cluttered, is not as much of a challenge as I thought it would be. The space we have is not huge, but I think with the options we'll have on the screen, it won't feel cluttered or crowded. It's really coming along nicely, and quickly too. Hopefully I'll be able to share some screenshots soon!

The art I've been working on is really more of doodles and it's been a lot of fun.
When I started working on pixel art I had studied sprite sheets from old SNES games, but I didn't know where to begin making my own art. Now (thanks to the internet), I've done a lot of studying of techniques and really started to practice some skills. I try to doodle everyday even if it's something I'm not using in the game. The picture I added is a little tile that I lovingly call "Purple Butter". I don't think this piece will be used in the game, but it does use some of the basic techniques I've been honing in the past few weeks. It's a simple rectangle that I created based on some isometric squares I had been working on. I also did a little dithering on this "butter" to give it a little more life and add a little whimsy to it. I really love it! It's simple and fun, but I don't feel it has a definite place or use in the game so I thought I would share it with you guys here. This way even though it may not be in the game you can get a little taste of what I've been working on.
In the game I've been working with 32x32 pixel squares, and while I've gotten used to that size, I want to branch out a little to push myself. Today I'm starting to work on a project of doodling a 100x100 pixel square a day, and then at some point I'll connect them all together into a kind of a digital art piece. When I do have the piece created I'll be sure to share it here with you all.

Recently we've been talking about the game, and once it's finished how it will play. I really think it's going to be a game that will keep regular gamers on their toes, but also be something that a new gamer can pick up and have fun with from the start. Once the game is finished, it's definitely going to be a flippin' fun time!