A write up from my 2019 diary. Here's to 2020! and tomorrow I'll be 9090, maybe I should bring cake into work ;)
Game:
Get Sh*t Done.
Keywords:
Motivation. Dedication. Discipline.
Visuals:
Koala in space. Mehndi planets and stars. Planet per goal. Galaxy background that slowly shifts over the year (timelapse)
Sun bottom centre of the screen is the home main menu button and takes you to a more traditional diary. 5 rings coming out each with their own planet. Each planet can be clicked on to take you into its goals breakdown.
UI Prompts:
Up to 5 planets with 52 growing stages and 12 key developments.
Goals - x 10 you got this year
Monthly - x 10 reason
Weekly - x 52 Small tip / good wish
Day - Happy, Sad, Bored, Sleepy, Excited, Star
Small space flower with the date top-right, small spin wheel to get accessories for your planets, both rocks and space things floating in the orbits of planets also.
Monthly and weekly push notifications to remind you about the app, if it's not been opened in 3 weeks one last notification to say turning them off for now.
Know it, apply it, turn simple things into a habit.
- Plan. Big steeps planned so you have the clarity to change. See the competition and know where you are going. Break down into 5 major steps, start at your goal and work your way backwards reverse engineer.
30 MIN break the day into 30 min intervals and plan it out, use Sunday nights to plan the overall week and each day the night before.
Discipline = freedom
Procrastination is a habit to keep you safe. This is all about creating habits, what is the vision behind the vision? Plan it out. What are you scared of?
No clarity. No change.
- Productive environment. Create an inspiring place to work in. Plants, Sunlight, A clean mental environment. Tidy = more productive organisation.
Reticular activator - clear mental space.
Brain dump all the things your brain is nagging at you.
- Get shit done buddy. Speak it. Share it. Stick to it. 40% more change (citation needed?)
Don't say anything to naysayers, say to people who care about your success and will hold you accountable.
- Say NO! Literally taking time from the goals you want to do. Protect your energy. Each day 3 things that would happy to do. At least 3 things that are moving you forward in life.
One life + One of you.
- Choose long term>Short term
Wake up 1 hour earlier / stay up 1 hour alter/ give up 1-hour tv/sleep a day.
365 hours (366 for 2020) buy giving up one of the above. basically getting a whole extra month each year. (That said sleep is very important, for health, memory). Remove yourself from addictive things.
Stay focussed. Let people know when you need to be distraction-free. Pomodoro 25/30min do the thing then stretch, breathe, repeat. Set a timer if needed.
- Heart hustle. If you're feeling a little uncomfortable push through. Show up for yourself. Determined, desired, intention. Goal to wake up at 5am. Start by waking up 10 minutes earlier, then 15, then 20. Wake up a little earlier each day and inch towards that goal.
- Generate energy. Listen to yourself. Exercise, food, supplements. Things that help your brain get focussed, use tools for production and make sure to drink water. Figure out if you are naturally a morning or night person and work with your energy flow.
If you can afford to get a cleaner /doing an online shop getting other to do admin, outsource and get help where you can don't need to do everything. Be efficient and effective.
- Celebrate not berate. Flip the switch on what you've done/ 3 things to do and get them done and actually do them! what have you done? Not what you haven't. Let the negative go. Have rewards, on a birthday / Celebration level.
- White space. Leave empty space in your plans for you to do whatever you want in. Some time for you to meditate/yoga etc, chill, watch tv. Plan week on Sunday and have fun on Sunday. Divine downloads your brain will help you get the answers.
- Be a badass. Visualise and affirm what you are about to do. Choose to be disciplined. You live one life this is not a dress rehearsal.
Game:
Draw Cats With Eyes Closed
Keywords:
Fun, Pun, Cat, Party
Visuals:
Pastels and cute, you open the game to see a cat with buttons on its tummy that take you into the main game.
Main sections:
Menu / Gallery / Settings / Play
The animation UI style is elastic and squishy
Cat stretching loading animation chasing a ball. When you interact with a folder in the gallery section little cat paws poke out, an ear twitches, a tail flicks out, small hints of squishy cats appear. When scored for your drawing (out of 5 stars) they
briiing into existence, like flashy jelly. Words describing your drawing pop up
Smushed cat face for the app store icon.
Different "Cat-egorys"
Cat / Octopus / Girafe / Koala / Sloth / Mountain goat / Duck / Whale / Turtle / Rabbit
Random each time you unlock, change colour of the background for differnt animals.
But for cat-related ones, puns to critique your drawing/rate it.
Clawful. Apawful. Catastrophe. Furmidible. Unfurtunate. Purrfect. Clawver. Purrty. Pawsome. Cattitude.
Gameplay:
Click play -> pop up category -> 3,2,1 -> Timer 1:30 - 10sec timer (Player can change but default is 30sec) -> images share of players session -> Rate drawings (No names, thumbnail gallery) Rate out of 5 -> Reveal~ see who drew what and see all side by side, save pictures into folder if wanted.
The closing game screen blinks closed to black, cat's eyes open
Cost:
Colours to draw with, player cap, Add free
Game Story notes from February with Colin:
Don't Trust Larry
(marketing imgur DTL 35 second gif, game food transition to real food, less than a second intro and outro. Make the 3D food in real life. White duck icon comes out at the end)
A1)
- Ducks have an aggression meter
- Narrator "you take care of the ducks well being they'll look after your well being" all calm and nice
- Larry becomes more aggressive trying to eat bread, you have to try hard
not to feed him
- Narrator "oh, I've given one duck a name, here is Germima, who's actually a duck. Not Larry, because
Larry, is not a duck"
- Non-sequential random order lines to flesh out pre bush Larry and after bush Larry.
B4)
- "You can smell what the rock is smashing"
Rock Johnson
Rebel Rubble
A2)
Shop - Each time you go back to a shop the character gets more annoyed for different reasons
- Narrator translating the duck squawking noises "I don't know if you speak duck but they are not happy" "oh dear, no need for that language"
- Ammo slots for different weapons
- Drake Canaveral
A1 - Tower bridge boss
A2 - Tunnel boss
A3 - Train boss
Gun - Cycle through ammo left and right hand. After each area boss, there is a gun upgrade.
(A) Security guard zoo. Police on the streets. Scientist ducks (gun upgrade). Cowboy duck (level boss).
(B) Museum security. Ninja ducks (gun upgrade, makes bread bigger). Right-hand man (level boss).
- Suck larry into gun then feed him to make him big again?
A2)
Big and small bread Larry.
/........../......./...../../././/.(I).//././..../......./........./
Normal uck size at duck pond smashes through gates then starts to shrink to "waist height"
Some food makes him grow some makes him shrink, takes less effort to maintain "normal size/waist height". Each food has it's own value +/- to time wheel depending on the food.
Size management: food, growth value + time value that stack on top of themselves.
Game:
Koala game
Level based or never ending?
I quite like the princess drop style with 10 "levels" in a row but very hard to reach level 10. (Although I did find it very frustrating as much as I did fun)
Fail?
Maybe fall from the tree, or gets eaten? Or the koala starves to death? In some way a sad death for the koala. If there is water intake, koala slowly dehydrating from sun/need to collect water for the tea.
Win?
Top of the tree? Maybe a golden leaf at the top? Quest of the god's style.
Obstacles?
Spiders, Sun, Snakes, Snapping branches, Scoundrel koala...
Power up?
+1 <3... Probably decide after obstacles and then added, the koala-fications
Level playtime?
<10seconds but with high replayability.
Fun features?
HATS :D Different koala, different hat.
Cost?
70% free, can be played 100% for free and not super grindy with everything available but then the option to buy if feeling lazy.
Graphics?
Pixel art. Center of the tree moves up the middle, branches move off to the left and right, main play area split into three sections [_!_!_] far-left and far-right has empty sky, the camera follows koala that can either jump inside same area or move left/right depending on branches climbed onto.
Marketing:
Before the launch plan
100 days before launch~
100 images, 100 statues, 100 RTS/tags
10 gifs, 10 polls, 10 mentions
1 video, 1 blog, 1 thank you
200 days before launch
20 YouTubers
10 bloggers / streamers
1 website
Game:
Sneaky Slime
Power-ups:
Golden chicken (boss drop)
Cake slices: one slice, half cake, one slice missing, the whole cake
Animation:
Pose
- A strong line of action: flow, direction, guiding the eye, shows a force
- Mountain peaks, not all are super exaggerated one big mountain theme of the shot
- Flip the S curve for dynamic
Most humans look to the face and "feel" the language of the body
Use pose to direct to face / important parts. Visual elements used for clean flow to point of interest in the shot.
Don't force a silhouette - focus on the lines. Clean and flowy poses are key. Can use to flow through multiple points ( travel up a leg / to face, travel up a lifted arm / to something they are pointing at)
Can use eye line to connect body parts for an added bonus.
The link between characters use the entire scene,
*head tilt* this action is human, can add persona and show weight and appeal, it also makes them more accessible.
Rotate hips and shoulders independently not the head.
If it's in the shot then use it, use shoulders and briefly show hands to imply gestures but save time.
Try and avoid showing only one eye on the screen (one-eyed Pete), instead have the nose forward with the eyes to the side, this way you can direct with both eyes.
Think of a human as 3 weights on a line, where the weights lie can help show the personality of the character.
To show an introvert imagine them inside of a bounding box and they don't move outside of that, lots of open space on the screen. For an extrovert a lot of space really big bounding box, less empty space on the screen.
Animation:
Timing
- Mini anticipation to big anticipation will make it flowier (1 + 2 frames)
- But anticipation into ease in will create popping, avoid!
- S curve computer-generated in-betweens aren't great, make sure to add the frames in
Start by blocking the poses/shapes with no timing just the images, then add drag and lip-sync get it all in there so you feel the movement. Then timing away. Wait to spline, the pc may not be your friend.
Projects:
- Inktober gif
- Animation mentor games gif
- DTL
- Cat with eyes closed
- Sneaky slime
- Koala tea time
- 100 vector ladies
- 11-second club
- Get shit done koala planner
- Overwatch healers
- Profile pic
- Steff drawing
- Tom card background
- Locomotion marketing plan
- Prize studio 3 commission if they ever get back to me
- Demon cycle drawing (powerful book series?)
- Dragon dynasty
- Timmy the reaper
