I’ve been working on a style guide and technical manual for Arden that will be used by future Lead Artists on the project. The purpose of this guide is not only to give some artistic direction for the world, but to also provide some helpful tutorials for Maya, Multiverse, and Photoshop — basically any technical, back-end stuff that can be frustrating. The outline for this guide is posted after the break.
I’ve added a textures section to the gallery on my website. I’ll be adding more and more to it this afternoon.
You can view it here.
Okay, so you might’ve heard some rumblings about this game on a few websites. It’s available for the PSP and the DS. There’s also a free demo for the (upcoming?) PC version available at the official website. If you are a fan of simple, mind-numbingly addicting puzzle games like Bejeweled but also have an interest in RPGs, you owe it to yourself to check out this game. I can sum it up in one sentence: Puzzle Quest is an RPG where the battles are resolved by playing a one-on-one version of Bejeweled.
So that sentence probably didn’t do the game justice, but if it’s enough to pique your interest, please give it a test drive. Despite what the interwebs might tell you, the game isn’t very hard to find. Both the DS and PSP versions are available on the usual e-commerce sites. You know, where gamers STOP to make such purchases.
Late last week I finished updating the Arden project site with some information about the assets we need before the end of the year. When I say end of the year, I mean May 4th, which is officially when my work on this project will end. I can’t say “It’s been a lot of fun and I’ll be happy to move on…” There is still a substantial amount of work to be done and I wish it wasn’t over for me. Funding for Arden is not unlimited so the possibility of employment for another year is very slim. Before you get the wrong idea: yes, it has been fun.
I hope that my technical manual and style guide will provide the next artist with some legs to stand on. I have roughly a month to get these two documents completed, which should be sufficient time. Items included will be a list of naming conventions, a walk-through that takes the reader from Maya 8.0 to the Multiverse engine, texture specifications, asset lists, and concept thumbnails to give artists some aesthetic inspiration. Yay for that.
I’ll post updates at some point outlining my progress.