Back to the land of the living... with gifts!!

Wow, it's been a while...

I've spent some time away from my blog (and even making games) for a little bit now and I just wanted to let anyone whose out there know I'm not dead. Close, but that's part of the reason I was away.

See, some of you know I have a bad heart. This bad heart keeps me from being an athlete or astronaut or even a dentist. It does let me go to the front of the line at airports and theme parks, but I'm not a fan of travel or roller-coasters, so its kind of a moot point. 

A couple months ago, I started to get worse. The ejection fraction for my heart started to get lower, I started bloating, and lost nearly all my energy through-out the day. Doctors wouldn't directly say it was heart failure, but it was a term that was used. I ended up getting some new meds and things were starting to look up until a few weeks ago.

I started to get fairly severe abdominal pains and heaviness in my chest. Long story short; I got a blood clot that ended up in my spleen and killing half of it. Most people can live just fine without a spleen, but I kinda need mine. 

So yeah, been in and out of the hospital for the past month or 2 pretty regularly and it was only recently that the whole clot issue happened, meaning I have tons of new meds, a struggling immune system, and some pretty devastating pain that I have to deal with for a bit.

But game making must go on!

And in the spirit of continuing on, I've made a little sprite sheet to share with folks who are looking to get into developing games or maybe are vets but aren't that paint-ily inclines; either way, they might be looking for some pixel'd doods and here they are!

Now I know they aren't perfect or even spaced out properly, but they should be a good cast of characters to help make some fun games!

Right-click; Save-as
If someone is trying to charge for the sheet, tell them they're dumb.

Now get out there and make some fun games and enjoy life! Its too short to not do what you love.

Until next time,

Dave

Game Dev Blog - Garbage Bird

I have no idea why I do the things that I do, but today... oh today.

I spent 4 hours of my day today making this silly little game just because of the above video....

Don't get me wrong, I love this country I live in, but this made me giggle and it was almost like I was forced to make this game because of it.

I hope it doesn't offend anyone but fuck it, download and have fun!

ENJOY!

It's called "Garbage Bird"

download links for Mac and PC linked below...

https://db.tt/x3E1dLRd 

Until next time,

Dave

Darkest Dungeon on Kickstarter

Kickstarter has been the home to many successful games and now a new title has captured my imagination with it's haunting campaign video; Darkest Dungeon.

Pulled directly from the Red Hook Studios press page; 

Factsheet

Developer:
Red Hook Studios Inc.
Based in Vancouver, Canada

Release date:
January 2015

Platforms:
PC, Mac, Linux, plus TBA

Website:
darkestdungeon.com

Regular Price:
TBA TBA

Description

Darkest Dungeon is a gothic roguelike RPG dungeon crawler about the psychological stresses of adventuring. You will lead a band of four heroes on a perilous side-scrolling descent, dealing with a prodigious number of threats to their bodily health, and worse, a relentless assault on their mental fortitude! Five hundred feet below the earth you will not only fight unimaginable foes, but famine, disease, and the stress of the ever-encroaching dark. Darkest Dungeon focuses on the humanity and psychological vulnerability of the heroes and asks: What emotional toll does a life of adventure take?

History

Darkest Dungeon was conceived as an antidote to the loot-piñata RPG experience which focuses solely on a character's numerical capabilities. Squad leaders and sports team managers have to contend with the human factors as they strive to maximize effectiveness--why not in RPGs? Combining this concept with a Lovecraftian-inspired grim setting, the game was born. Full development began in May 2013 after assembling a veteran team which had the artistic ability, system-based game design experience, and technical versatility to deliver a game that would meet the ambitious vision while also being entertaining to play.

Features

• Manage a team of heroes through the physical and mental stresses of adventuring. Try to stop paranoia, greed, anger, depression, and more from crippling the party.
• Affliction System: Make the most of character flaws and strategically construct your party to overcome hardship.
• Innovative turn-based combat with a nostalgic feel
• Striking hand-drawn 2d gothic art style
• Original score by Stuart Chatwood, composer for eight "Prince of Persia" games and founding member of multi-platinum Canadian rock band "The Tea Party."
• Meaningful consequences and permadeath deliver heightened tension and provide for truly heroic moments.
• A Lovecraftian-inspired story of greed, fallen greatness, and redemption.

If you're looking for an adventure in a cruel and unforgiving world and they carry unseen wounds of gruesome battle on their hearts and minds, then consider backing Darkest Dungeon. 

More Marvel Characters! - Cable

Hey there! So I'm just sharing another illustration I did for you guys!

This time, it's the time traveling, psychic super-mutant from the Marvel Universe; Cable.

I drew him a bit more slight in proportion than his usual Liefeld-esque build of 6'8" and 350lbs, but I still like the way he turned out.

Anywho, hope you guys like it and if you have any suggestions or requests for my next drawing, leave a comment and I'll see what I can do!

Until next time,
Dave

Symbiotes, Robots, and Bears.

A little gift for my lovelies.

Hey everyone out there!

I haven't updated in a while, and I wanted to remedy that! And to do so, here is a lil' sketch I did of Marvel baddie Venom! Enjoy!

Now, if you don't know me, you might not know I have some health issues; namely my heart.
Nothing too bad, but enough to screw with life every so often. This time, it was looking like I had a valve going out. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. The valve is still weak but instead of getting cut open again, I'm just taking a pile of pills and "taking it easy" for a bit. Speaking of Valve and valve-related things...

Though that did slow down my whole "make a game a month" plan.
Which might be a good thing, considering more and more of game ideas that I thought were totes original are coming out as beautifully polished indie games. (See Matador reveal trailer below; its gonna be amazing!)

Matador is an upcoming perma-death-adventure (read: rogue-like) by Stellar Jockeys and gausswerks featuring isometric action and giant gun wielding robots and one life before starting it all over again. What's not to love about this game?! Can't think of anything? Then you must be a bad enough dude to vote for it on Steam Greenlight. They seem like awesome dudes, so give 'em some love!

Now some of the last news from me. 

Even though my "make a game a month" plan has kinda fell through, some of my friends have agreed to help me press forward with a lovely little game I had pitched years ago. Its an action-y, arcade-y little shin-dig where you enforce the law with massive, fuzzy claws of justice! *Cough cough* bearcop *cough*.

Originally I was going to produce and finance this game (completely tapping me out every month), but once these medical issues reared their ugly head again, I got a new pile of debt really fast. My friends agreed to help in their free-time and have already helped so much.

Once we get a good alpha, we might shop it around to get those who worked on it the money and recognition they deserve.

Until next time,

Dave

(Psst, I heard you like making games. If you want to make games with me, send me a message.)