Lovepreet
So after a 9:1 ratio of composers to illustrators that applied (82 composers, 9 illustrators), I have finally managed to narrow it down to the individuals who will help me improve Retool. Liz Rainsberry will be composing the music for Retool and Kimberly Parker will be creating the promo art for Retool.
Other than that, Retool is making good progress. I am still hoping to release it in the next few months but this will all depend on QA testing and how that turns out..
I am looking for a concept artist (or any 2D artist) that can create promo art and a composer to create music for Retool. If you are interested in either of the positions, then read on what I require and how to apply.
There weren’t many updates this month, partially due to the holiday period and partially due to me taking part in Ludum Dare 34. Below you can find all the changes I made to the game.
This weekend was Ludum Dare 34, the first Ludum Dare where there was a tie between two themes. This was the first, and last, game jam I took part in all of 2015. It was fun since I did quite many things. First was that I made a 3D game for a jam (I took part in the jam which is 72 hours long instead of the compo that is only 48 hours long). I even completed the game and it is fun. Short, but fun. You can download the game from GameJolt, and vote for it on the Ludum Dare website. Below is some information about the game.
I have decided I am going to change how I post updated on my blog. Instead of doing weekly updates (or random updates), I am going to compile all of one month’s updates I have posted on social media and other platforms and post them on here at the end of every month. I hope that everyone will enjoy this new format. So here it goes.
It has been quite a long time since I last talked about Retool. The last update that I made about Retool, excluding any award mentions or artists search, was in July. That was over three months ago. I was going to do a video update today, but I think it would have been too boring for what I was going to talk about, which is Retool’s UI (User Interface) functionality.
No. It is not over for indie developers. Far from it. Let me write a brief summary of why I am writing this blog post. In the last few weeks, there have been more and more articles saying that it is a bad time to be an indie developer, that indie developers will cease to exist due to lack of sales and exposure, that it is the índiepocalypse’. The reasons behind these articles are two-fold. The first reason is that it has never been easier to be an indie developer and create your own games. This is true. I wouldn’t have been able to create my own games if it wasn’t for all the tools that are available (Unity, GameMaker, etc.). The second reason is that because it is much easier to develop games, there are more and more games being released every day. This makes it harder to get exposure, especially for small one-man indie developers. Lack of exposure leads to lack of sales. This is also true. Just look at Steam this year compared to previous years. There are now dozens of games coming out nearly every day. But here are the reasons why I don’t think it is all over for indie developers.
After 43 artists applied, numerous counts of bad art by me, and 6 weeks of deciding, I have chosen three people to do the art for Retool and make it look better by at least 48%. So please welcome Richard Schmidbauer and Esther Nho as the environment artists, and Tan Woon Tzer as the character artist.
There isn’t much else to say about Retool other than I am trying to optimize the code to get it ready to add all the new assets and features. So until the next update, here is a GIF of Agent M shooting some guards (yes, the characters in the game finally have some names).
Retool is at a stage where the core gameplay is implemented and the game can be played (and hopefully enjoyed). Now I can’t endure to look at its art, especially as it was created by my limited art skillset. Therefore, to improve the game a further 43%, I have decided it is time to hire a professional 3D artist. Read on if you are interested.
Retool (you know, the game I have been working on for the past six months) has been selected as a finalist for the 2015 Indie Game Contest (IGC), as a part of the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival.