Art Test

It's not everyday you witness a ridiculous act of self harm to your country and see your freedoms and opportunities vanish and realise that you're trapped on an island full of idiots and nationalistic twits who are prepared to pay more for everything just to have a few less 'foreigners' around. 

Today is the day our stupid leaders triggered Article 50 - signalling our with drawl from the EU.

   

And there's more bad news. I also heard back from a job that I'd applied for. They said no.

I was really disappointed for a couple of reasons. Firstly this position was for an innovative company in Sweden that I really admired and would have given my eye teeth to work for and they approached me, which seemed like a positive. Secondly I'd have an out for leaving England, where I really don't want to be right now and this all seemed really encouraging.

After a half an hour chat with someone from recruitment that seemed to go really well I agreed to do an art test. Normally I roll my eyes and refuse these time consuming tests as everything on the art front with me is already on line and presumably they like my art style and my professional abilities as laid out in my CV. But, like I say - this is an amazing company that I'd love to work for.

So I spent a week working on their brief. I took time from work and gave this project everything and then submitted the PDF I'd agonised over laying out nicely... then nothing. For weeks.

Today I got a barely personalised email saying thanks but no thanks.

I understand that companies must get loads of applicants and art is perceptual but to get an email saying they've been extremely fortunate to have an overwhelming interest in the role, and have been able to select profiles with very strong visual styles that fit effortlessly into the visuals we're targeting for our future games. They tell me this after seeing my art style, approaching me and then making me spend time on an art test. 

Sorry to whinge - I just need to get this disappointment out of my system.

Space Port

Here's a test for a game I was involved in which sadly, never went anywhere.

Just thought you'd like to see something different to the usual kittens and zombies and such.

Rainbows

What do you make of this weather? Flash floods and hail in Brighton yesterday and now it's super sunny again. After the rain comes the rainbow so why not take a moment of quiet reflection to relax with these rainbow themed images. They're from the Grumpy Game I did with Koyoki last year.

MagNets map

Here's an idea for the transition screen in MagNets. Early days yet but it gives an idea of the game's direction. Check out Total Monkery to see how the game is going.

They're angry?!

A Year or so ago, I was asked by a a major publisher with the logo of an aquatic bird to submit some illustration ideas for a book they were doing on Angry Birds. It was all unpaid of course, most illustrators hate being paid - in that respect we're very much like dentists or mechanics. Anyway, they sent over loads of character bibles and I sent in the pictures... never heard from them again.

Android advertising

Back on the MagNets today. I'm doing some level details for all the advertising that the robot denizens of the world we're creating get to see as they live their lives. It's all very rounded and immersive. Yes, we've got rich characterisation, back story and dramatic story arcs it's not just frantic multi-player action you know.

Don't forget to check out Total Monkery's site. Support your indie developers.

Mag-Nets at the Gadget Show

I was up at the NEC in the second city of Birmingham last week (very vaguely) assisting the Total Monkery gang showcase Mag-Nets at the Gadget Show Live. The game went down amazingly and it was great to see people playing it and really loving it. That's always a treat as normally I never see how my work is received - I just assume it's universally loved by everyone!

Here are some designs for the robot character you control. It's getting there. It's a fine balance getting it cartoony but appealing to the game playing demographic who shy away from too much cuteness - I think we're nailing it though.

We're wanting to make the character as customisable as possible - this is especially important for multi-player game play so you can keep track on your self when the game play gets too frantic.

These two hologram headed robot were an early idea but unfortunately the semi-transparencies and flickering holo-effects I wanted would slow everything down... or some such computery excuse.

You can follow the progress of the game on the Total Monkery blog. It's an amazing venture and you need to support your British indie developers.

Tower defence

 Here are some designs for a tower defence game I was working on. Sadly it was aborted, which was a shame as it played pretty well.

 Here are some goblins, the typical troop character of the game. I was going for a cute but deadly vibe.

This ogre would be the more defended muscle character. I was messing around with textures but the sprites would have been minuscule in game so you'd have never seen such detail.

 I really like this mangy feline warrior. I don't think anyone else on the team did though.

The most fun was designing traps for the troops to blunder into. The garden level was a particular favourite.

Frog spawn

I found these graphics from a puzzle title I was working on for a company that is no more. It never saw the light of day but I really like what I came up with - makes a change from sliding sweets.

Mag-Nets - the game of the future

Can this really be my first post in 2014? Looks like it is.

Well, I've been enigmatically busy working on concept and character designs for an old chum from my Pure Entertainment day who has a development studio in Devon, the Atlantis of England. His company, Total Monkery is making a multiplayer game for all your favourite consoles and computers.

 Here are some designs for a few of the fantastic characters you may encounter in the the game. I've been playing with various builds and despite my brain not comprehending the old school tester keyboard controls it's taking shape very nicely, thanks for asking.

Don't worry, it will all be totally 3D but we're going for some exciting rendering styles. If you want to follow the progress of this game, you can check out the blog on the Total Monkery site.

A bit more Grumpy stuff

Here some examples of the promotional art I did for the Grumpy game. It's interesting to see how the logo used to be, below. Hand drawn is the way forward!

And if you want to experience the joy of owning a Grumpy yourself you can download it from the App Store.

Grumpy - Your Super Deluxe Virtual Pet

Here's the app I spent most of this year working on. 'Grumpy - Your Super Deluxe Virtual Pet'. It's an amazing tamagotchi style game where you have to raise a nonplussed pet. I did all the art for this beauty and I'm dead proud of it. Download it and give it a try. You can get it here and it's free to play.

It's published by Koyoki which is a great place to work for. Have a look at their site and check out their other amazing titles.

Rat Attack

We've come to the end of my little stroll down Rat Attack Memory Lane. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have and have been inspired to seek out a copy of your own on Ebay or in your local charity shop. Here's a few images I found Googling 'Rat Attack' to save you having to do it your self. The image above is the cover of the PlayStation game version instructions. The game was really nicely packaged. Not many games feature different box art for different console releases. They didn't bother with this in the USA and just went with a badly rendered CGI cover as market research told the publishers that American gamers wouldn't understand a 2D rendered cover on a 3D game. You can decide for yourself below. We had to change the logo for American eyes too. Thus began my lifelong love of the homogenised world of market research - the biggest stumbling block creativity has to overcome.

Here is some of my early Scratch Cat concept work.

Here are some enemy concepts. I found a lot of these images on the IGN game site. Good to see they're still going strong in the modern age.

This is one of my attempts at using 3D Studio Max. Don't laugh, this was in the proposal that sold the game. Load of these original elements made it through to the actual finished game.

Another one of my fantastic models. King Scarab was the boss at the end of the museum level.

King Scarab looked a lot better in the actual game when a real artist had a go at it.

And here's a screen of Rat Attack in action. This the pinball level from the funhouse.