It's Been Too Long

So, I'm sorry my super dedicated zealots of Into This World fandom, but I have been super busy. This stupid thing called "life" got in the way and slowed down progress of ITW. New job, various art jobs, building props for a web series. All that shiz.
But I'm back and starting to get my pixel on again. I decided to do what I normally do with my sprites. I went back and touched them up a bit because I am never (never ever ever never) happy with them... Ever!

ORIGINAL

The very original flying animation had a gradient light on the back leg. I thought it looked dumb. And I was right.

REDUX!!!

Redone sprites can get a little too overly sprited. I added a couple of panels to the cockpit to make it look more like a Viper or Hind cockpit. But the newly added Iron Man/ Minority Report tech stuff got covered up and left the whole design too garbled. I also added some highlights to the mech. And I shaded the arms a bit more. I also added a shadow under the halogen light and the big round gear thing that holds the weapon. The cockpit also now has more of a gradient to highlight an ambient light source. Lots of subtle things but I think it fleshes out he design more.

Without the bracing on the cockpit you can see all the flight controls stuff going on. This is what I will end up using.

This gets way too garbled. If you think something looks bad or have a second thought about it, that's because your brain's pride doesn't want to give in and say that extra work you put it actually made the art look worse. If you second guess yourself, it most likely means it's a bad idea and you already know it. Kind of like the part of me that ants to get rid of the bounce that the EDU does in this idle animation. Is it dancing? Does it have Parkinson's disease? 

Now you can actually see the scanning system. Each action you make will change the cockpit HUD display. If you simply stand there, this animation will play. Kind of like Drea is scanning the area and receiving information.

Unrelated Awesome Redux Video

Not my video but pretty damn cool. Watch it with loved ones. If you have no loved ones... yeesh.

Getting to know you

Let's get to know each other!

Well, just got done watching another shitty episode of Grimm. How is it that I have watched every episode and have never been enthralled by it? Yet, I have seen every episode? Must be some Hexenbiest spell. Meh.

So let's get to know the main character... Drea LeBas.

Drea Cuadra
So she had some bad luck in the past year or so. Her planet was overtaken by an alien virus (boo hoo). She was ripped in half and put back together with cybernetic parts (double the boo thrice the hoo). And to top it off she is now back on Earth and fighting an army of creatures to find her long lost brother (cry me a river, then jump in said river and drown yourself, please). So, basically she is a drama queen. Possibly a diva. Still working that out.

Drea has a military background but for her recovery process, she has been working for the UDF drilling company mining precious ore in the caverns of Mars. She acclimated her motor functions through diligent work and got used to her new cybernetic body.

She is kind of a Bitter Betty since the accident and doesn't talk much. She is pretty legendary around the Mars community due to the fact that she is the only person to ever survive an attack by the alien planet.

My inspiration for this character was of course Samus Aran. Who is of course inspired from Ripley in Alien. Drea is not a rip off but more of a homage to the perfectly competent female capable of kicking some major ass type of character of movie and game lore. At the same time not throwing it in the face of the audience that Drea is a woman. Sure she has some nice bazooms but this character can be a male or female. Doesn't matter. It worked for Ripley in Alien and Aliens (we don't talk about the other movies).
The major difference in character is that this chick is pissed. She has a military background and therefore does not take anybody's crap. Unlike some people that would like to talk out their problems, Drea would rather punch it out. Since the accident where her body and face got mangled, she has become kind of a shut in. She's kind of an emo girl that would kick your ass. On a side note, I pray to whatever cosmic god out there... Please O mighty deity, let there not be this vile emo fad in the future. And if you do not heed my cries, it's no future I want a part of.

"Since your'e rambling, I thought I might add my two cents. I don't know if the emo craze is still officially going on. I think they started as scenesters, evolved into emo then into their latest form of hipsters. Much like the misunderstood nerds turned into goths then eventually turned into vampires after Twilight came out."

Uh... wha? Anyways, you'll get to know more about Drea when the game comes out. During the game you will be able to jump out of the EDU drilling mech and give your legs a stretch. Of course you won't be physically as strong as your mech but you will be able to fit in smaller spaces and be more nimble.

   

I promised bazooms. You shall receive bazooms.

"Another thing about social classes. Why do the jocks and bros pop their collars? The original collar popper was Dracula. It was used on stage to help the actor disappear into a trap door but a giant popped collar is synonymous with vampires and other nocturnal ghoulish fiends. Why do jocks pop their collars? Dracula is just about as gothic as you can get. Don't jocks despise and pick on goths? Sure Drea has a popped collar but it's because she wears a military flak jacket. It's meant to protect the neck. And have you ever tried to fold those things down? Impossible. Plus a popped collar was how they used to make seemingly boring characters seems more hip and cool."

He is as cool as Mickey Mouse playing a blue guitar without any pickups and not even plugged in. Good job, bro.

Space Bending Level Design

Hey, I'm James -- Lead programmer and secondary artist for ITW. As you may know, Into This World is a story about a woman named Drea digging through the planet to find her missing brother. For now, that's all you need to know. No spoilers for you!


Stay focused, because this post is about navigating your way through This World. (See what I did there?)

Different Styles of Map Making change how space is perceived. Bending space has never been so fun!

Here I have referred to them as Type A and Type B. How the rooms relate to each other doesn't really change gameplay, but greatly changes how the player will perceive their position in the 2D space. For example, both maps above represent the same exact environment. Notice the Orange room in Type A spans the length of 4 gird cells -- that's a room 4 screens long. In Type B, this room doesn't exist. Green Room A connects directly to Gray Room C, thus bypassing this space.

This is often seen in RPGs, in which entering a small house takes you to a room that is much larger on the inside than it appears on the outside. I call this the Wonderland Effect, and it can be seen in many games across time. Bending space like this allows for some trippy level design.

Into This World will be using this (Type B) style of level design to its fullest effect, which is different from conventional Metroidvania kinds of games. And if everything goes as planned, we'll be releasing a level editor to allow players to make their own challenge rooms. (Separate from the main story line)

So brush up on your relativistic physics, because this'll be a mind (and space) bending experience.

"Hey everyone! Bannon, here. Before my associate goes ahead and promises space bending experiences, please familiarize yourself with Heim's Theory of manipulating space. Here's a quick example... Ya know baryons and all...