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Art update 36
🕑 Added 2018-05-10 13:24:40 +0000 UTC Time for another art update!I was planning on doing this earlier but I sometimes have these short bouts of absolute loathing concerning anything I draw and those aren't the best moments for me to talk about what I've been up to. They can take anywhere from an hour up to a couple of days. It's a mood which basically strips away any sort of objectivity I have towards my own work and puts all of it behind a black veil of uglyness. I can still enjoy other people's work, but anything I've had a hand in... not so much.
Those aren't the best moods to have when trying to draw but I've sort of gotten used to them and learned to just take it easy when they happen. Anyway, I had one of those moods for a couple of days but thank god it's starting to quickly subside again.
Don't worry about the amount of work that allowed me to do. If anything I've been doing so much it might actually have been the cause of my shitty mood.
I've been really busy cranking out a bunch of new scenes for the next build. Probably around seven so far? And that's without the extra necessary snippets. I try to go as fast as I can to make sure the coder has as much time as possible to work his magic. At the start I still had this idea of trying to aim for a midmonth release but that has turned out to be nothing more than a fever dream. I probably was the only one who really entertained the thought of it perhaps being possible. My estimation skills remain horrible to this day.
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I'm really happy with the way one of the scenes has turned out, but I gave myself less time than necessary for a couple of others so I'll have to go back and do some touching up on those. I very much prefer to get them 100% done before I send them off, but like I said it's more important now for the coder/writer to have as much time with them as possible. I can keep improving on stuff I already sent him right up untill the day he creates the new build and that's exactly what I plan on doing.
Especially one scene with an unusual perspective needs more time and I'd like to mess a lot more with it. I could've made things a lot easier on myself by using a reference photo but unlike many artist I rarely use reference material when drawing more difficult positions.
I'm not even entirely sure why myself, but there's something about it which irks me. It's almost like I feel I'm cheating which is ridiculous because close observation is basically one of the two "legs" of drawing. I dunno, I'm just weird I guess! Of course when I finally DO try and search for reference material out of pure frustration I usually can't find the position I need anyway, heh...
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I've been adding parts to some scenes which would be considered a full fledged scene by itself when we where still knee deep into creating book1. That's mostly my fault. To give you an example, the coder asked for an extra pic so we could use an older scene in a different way. I did repurpose some older art, but in the end I made an entirely new scene with about 95% new drawings.
Another example is me seeing a comment from you guys and me thinking "maybe I could change the scene I'm working on to include that option...?" Turns out I could!
I'm prone to sending the coder entire new scenes, taking his small suggestions as a spark of inspiration which quickly turn into a wildfire. Will it make the game better in the end? I think so, but I made sure to tell him he can rip out whatever he feels is too much. We're a bad match when it comes to setting ourselves limits. Usually when he comes up with something interesting it inspires me to come up with something new which inspires him etc etc.
Being inspired by each other is awesome, but with the amount of characters we have to take care of I hope we can keep those a bit more contained when we reach book 4. Maybe to the same amount or less...? Either that or really limit the things which can be done with most of them. They're fun to have and to me they really flesh out the world, but they come at a price.
Talking about that might be a little premature though. We still have this route to close up and start/finish the love route of book3. I consider nearing the end of this route a major milestone all the same. We're well over half of the game and with all the new ideas we've put into this route I was genuinely concerned whether we would be able to keep it all from crashing down. The maze, entirely the coder's idea, initially scared the bejesus out of me. Perhaps that's why the first time he mentioned it is etched into my memory and feels like it happened yesterday. That's an odd sensation when you're busy getting the final elements of the maze ready (for this route). Talk about a twisted sense of time!
My own personal proof it really didn't just happen yesterday is the fact my arm cushion has at long last pretty much flattened to the thickness of a pancake under the weight of my drawing arm so I made myself a new one. Let's see how long this one will survive.
The coder has given me a list with optional scenes which I can try to add and secretly I want to do them all(and more). That may sound nice from a more is better kind of perspective, but I have to keep in mind it's not me who has to stitch all of it together into coherent story. And that's not even mentioning the inevitable amount of bugs which will have to be kept in check. I have a lot of trust in his skills to pull through, but he's only human so I should really try to reign myself in some more I guess.
I think I'll try and do a few more scenes before I'll revisit the ones I've already done and start improving them. I usually go through a lot of ups and downs before I can finally say I'm happy and done with a scene... Heh, honestly I'm never truly done with a scene. If reality would let me I'd be working on each scene forever and ever.
Despite the short hiccup(shitty mood), I'm feeling pretty good again about the things I'm working on and ready to lay the foundation for another crash in about a week or two ;)
Oh, almost forgot. I've also been experimenting with some drawing software which allows me to draw using vectors. That basically means your drawing is saved as a bunch of mathematical functions. The big advantage is you can basically zoom in forever without things looking blurry...ever!
It's also great for getting that "perfect curve" for a boob. Instead of drawing a line over and over again hoping you'll eventually get it right(which sometimes happens). With vectors you can just pull some strategic points on a line and have complete controle over what happens.
We could never use vectors for the actual game itself, since the software for the game simply doesn't support it, but as an intermediary means during creation it can be pretty awesome! It's also corrupting me..... corrupting as in, you want to get it perfect and now you have the means to do so which naturally gobbles up time.
I did a quick experiment trying to figure out whether it was useful for us to use and drew a sketch the normal way and traced it using vectors afterwards. Oh man.... I could really feel the lure of playing indefinitely with the linewidth, flow of the lines etc. etc.
Sketch done the normal old way below.
A quick trace with vector lines below.
In the end I think the advantages don't outweight the disadvantages. I'm simply a lot faster using the old way and I don't think it's a simple matter of getting used to the new way. I'll keep testing it out to see if I can find some happy middleground though.
For consistencies' sake and time concerns I'll probably stick to my old ways. If you'd like to see some bigger exmples of my experiment, you can find them in the attachment to this post.
Well, that's it for now, I'll go and start work on a new June scene! Till next time!
Comments
skidriver
No way. Slave route complete on ~50%. Best hope is complete this route on summer's end. Btw I wonder about none of news too...
I think their plan is to release when book 3 slave route is complete. (I hope that's before the end of the month)
Mouseman
Ok i hope there ok i know they work their asses off
Jason Durkis
I think so. I think they finally realized they couldn't get a release at the end of each month and delayed this one for end of May (sort of like a sleep reset after you pull an all-nighter). hopefully
Mouseman
is the update coming at the end of the month?
Kuzuha Chan
totally agree
RockD
This game needs more Smellerbee.
agreed
skidriver
Don't be so nice with Toph. It's slavery route that means she deserved much harder training :)
percy Jackson
I've touched into with vectorworks and photoshop that used the same concept and that was a big problem. unless your model was in 3-D, it would just end up 2-D'ish.
MITY
In defense of the vector, I went about tracing the sketch pretty quick. It might have looked better if I had taken my time, but yeah I think your observations are pretty much on the mark.
MITY
Oh man, you're so right about that. I think everyone with the slightest spark of creativity and a time limit has met that particular pitfall. All we can do is keep reminding ourselves and unclench once in awhile ;)
MITY
That's not even remotely true, but thanks anyway :)
MITY
We mostly try to keep the player body "out of the way" during the scenes. Especially his head.
MITY
I'm not sure if enough practice will make it just as natural to work with as "normal" images, but I certainly had a few moments where it pissed me off :)
MITY
Hahaha! To be entirely honest I've used a pen and piece of paper at the beginning to keep track of the more important rooms myself.
MITY
I've had these moods too often to make any long lasting decisions depending on them. They still suck though! You're certainly right about those 3000 enthusiasts, which is always a major motivation! And of course there's comments like yours, thanks! Vectors are so far an awesome plaything for when I just want to mess around, but aside from some very specific situations not really worth the extra time/effort it takes atm. They're good to have as an extra tool for if I'll ever have a real need for their advantages
percy Jackson
to be honest, the vector way is much smoother than the old way but it almost seems fake and almost 2-D'ish. the old way I can see the depth of eerything. good for you for sticking it out
Mukuro
You are so honest, and its appreciated. Don't stress about your art, just keep moving forward. Easier said than done I know, but everyone loves Mity Team and 4ET, so keep doing your best and striving to get better, but don't stress out! Stress is the death of creativity. (Oh trust me, I know it well...)
Mukuro
Haha takes me back to the old pen and paper role playing I used to do. Seriously tho, good idea.
Brandon Navarro
Thanks for being so awesome!
Booty4Bass
I forgot we’re currently aang
Corvo
I tried using vectors in clip studio but i had the same issue where i spent forever just pulling around on different parts of a line. pissed me off to no end
Omnikuken
Pro tip and super old school : use a pen and paper to draw what you do in the maze. Up from entrance, then left, then straight, then right, etc. Also note where stuff is (girls/items/walls). You won't ever get lost
DarthC
The Maze scares the bejeezus out of me too but mainly because I have no sense of direction.
Sparkbomber
Y'know, you're not the only artist to suffer from that affliction. André Franquin had a severe loathing of his older works as well to name an example. Just hang in there and don't let these bouts discourage you. As things stand, well over 3000 enthusiasts like your work, no? As for vectors, yeah they work well for scaling, but can be a nightmare to work with. For now just focus on the old style and do some vector doodles when you have time to practice. No rush, no pressure.
