2019.11.17 North Rhine-Westphalia, written by Kuna.
It’s time to get back to a new development post! 😃 Development posts have gotten a bit rare lately… However, now that Halloween has passed, I can write about updates on the game again!
The game features a rock band
I’m not sure if I have ever been clear about this detail, but Pitch Black Serenade is also a story revolving around music and a rock band. Once back in Tokyo, Kairi and the player will make their encounter with the five members of a band who engage in live concerts.
Development-wise this translates to… drawing tons of musical instruments! 😅 To me it’s an enjoyable task but I can’t deny it’s also very demanding.
Shin’s guitar 🎸
Since I’m drawing the sprites for Shin, I’ve started tackling his instrument first: a Gibson Les Paul electric guitar.
I’ve downloaded a model from SketchUP Make’s library and, once found the right angle for the perspective I needed, I’ve rendered a 2D lineart out of it. (SketchUp is certainly faster than IRL photographs but not 100% accurate…. ( ; ω ;*) )
I referred to several pictures from the very Gibson’s website to correctly depict the guitar. I will later perform one last check and decide on the exact model for the instrument (ideally one from 2001-2007, but it might as well be that I decide for an original design).
Shin’s expressions
Another demanding task was that of deciding the expressions for Shin.
I have a draft of part of the script done, so I’ve used his lines from there to sketch some of his variations. Then I added others that would fit the body pose and might turn useful in situations not yet depicted by the script I have now.
Even in this case, I have yet to perform one last check (and maybe add a couple of last-minute-expressions) before I can proceed with implementing them into the sprite.
If you are a Patron you have already seen Shin’s poses by now, but this is the first time I show their silhouettes here and publicly. Right now I have eight poses. I’ve printed and pasted them into my notebook and sketched the expressions next to them.
Well, this is my sketchbook so everything is a lot rough in there… But by using this method I can visualize all the expressions easily and immediately sketch whatever I want to add.
Again, there’s all sort of brainstorming in this sketchbook… Also, when sketching his variations I don’t really mind about his “facial features” and just draw eyes and mouths in a standard, doodling style.
I hope that you’ve enjoyed this preview although it’s only a draft (^∀^*)ゞ I really wanted to show you my progress on Shin and also the way I brainstorm. I think that deciding important parts for the game – in this case, one of the main characters’ expressions – takes time and revisions before I can confirm any choice into the game.
See you next!
That’s all for today! If you’re a Patron, there is a new poll you can take part in and it’s going to decide the characters that will dress up for the upcoming Christmas illustration! 😃 (If you’re not a Patron, accessing the poll only requires 1 $).
Thank you for reading! See you next! ( ´ゝ∀･`*)ﾉｼ
