Sprite Jam: The Mysterious Woods (Voting Until Nov 20)

Started by dactylopus, Thu 21/10/2021 14:12:55

Previous topic - Next topic

dactylopus

The Mysterious Woods

I've been watching Over the Garden Wall, which is perfect for this time of year.  It inspired me to think of other, similar media, which in turn seemed like a great concept for a Sprite Jam.


It's autumn.  Days are shorter and colder.  Nights are longer and full of mystery.

You and your best friend have come out to the woods for some camping, cocoa, and s'mores.  After an evening of laughter, after your friend has fallen asleep, you think you hear a shuffling outside the tent that doesn't sound like the wind.  You pause, hold your breath.  You were alone out here, what could that have been?  Time passes, but you hear nothing more.

You think maybe it would be a good idea to grab your flashlight and go take a look, just to be sure.  Summoning your courage, you unzip the tent flap very slowly.  You put on your shoes and step out into the dead quiet of the night.  You turn on the flashlight, but a fog has settled and the light is useless.  You wander by moonlight for several minutes without seeing so much as a squirrel.  As you are about to turn to walk back to your camp, suddenly you see....


So for this Sprite Jam, let's see something you might find out there in The Mysterious Woods!  It can be a character, creature, object, or whatever, as long as it's a sprite!

The last day for entries will be November 13th.  Voting will then take place until November 20th.

Have fun, and good luck out there!

cat

Nice topic! Let's see if I can come up with something.


dactylopus

You see something flutter by in the wind and instinctively grab for it.  It's a piece of paper, and there appears to be writing on it.  Holding the page up to the moonlight, you read its chilling message.  Where did this not come from?  How long has it been here?  You've got more questions than answers.  Still afraid, you step deeper into the misty woods.

Nice entry, thanks Mandle!  I hope cat finds the time to participate again!

Royal Graphics Studio

Hi everybody! I am new to AGS, and thought to introduce myself by participating in this competition. Sword is made as a vector file in Illustrator and than exported as .png. If this is pixel art only  competition, my apologies. It is my original art and if you like it and want to use it in your projects, feel free! :) I hope you have a great day!



P.S. Can I post more than one entry per competition?
Trying to become a game dev...

Pax Animo

Removed.
Misunderstood

Cassiebsg

That looks good, but think outside of the competition. since I would call that a Background, not a sprite. A sprite is normal a character or object, that goes on a BG.

Also, don't use past art in competitions, please. They are meant to be new art that you do for the competition (but if you can then use that art with a game you're working on, the better.  ;) )

And no, it does not need to be pixel art, that's a fine sprite (the sword).  :)

If you want to share your art you can look for an apropriate thread, and if it does not exist, open one in the correct forum. If you are looking for feedback on your art, that's what "The critics lounge" is for.   ;)
There are those who believe that life here began out there...

Royal Graphics Studio

#7
Thank you so much for the reply. :) Here is another try for this jam. Same style as the previous sprite (vector art and than .png export).

Trying to become a game dev...

dactylopus

Moving carefully through the darkness, your foot kicks something hard.  You look down and see a flash of light reflect off of the metallic surface of the object.  As you bend over to pick it up, you realize it's heavier than you expected.  It's a sword wrapped in foliage, and even by dim moonlight you can tell it's in fairly good condition.  How did it get here?  Thinking back to the note you just found, you worry less about the sword's origin and find comfort in the protection of a weapon.

The wind is blowing through the mists.  Moving still deeper into the woods you hear a flapping sound.  You follow it to find a small blue notebook in the grass, pages fluttering like leaves in the wind.  You pick it up and take a look at the cover, which reads "AGS."  Is that a monogram, or maybe initials from the title?  Archibald Geneva Sarsaparilla?  Artemis Goes South?  Nothing is making any sense.

The wind starts to die down, and you hear it again, that shuffling sound!  Determined to discover it's source, you press on.


These are some great entries, thanks for participating!

Pax Animo, I'd agree with Cassiebsg's assessments.  It was a really cool piece of art, but more fitting a Background Blitz.  Definitely enter one of those, too!  And you've still got time to come up with a sprite for this competition!

Royal Graphics Studio

Amazing description, thank you so much @dactylopus. I hope we can see a lot more entries for this jam. :) I am interested to see what everyone else is working on.
Trying to become a game dev...

dactylopus

Quote from: Royal Graphics Studio on Mon 01/11/2021 08:45:40
Amazing description, thank you so much @dactylopus. I hope we can see a lot more entries for this jam. :) I am interested to see what everyone else is working on.
Thanks, I hope we see more too!

There's still one week left to participate.  Did I make this one too long?  Maybe.  Or maybe we'll get some great sprites in the 11th hour!

Cassiebsg

There are those who believe that life here began out there...

dactylopus

You think you hear a murmur behind the bushes and follow the sound.  As you come around to the other side you can clearly see that you've interrupted some sort of intimate encounter between woodland creatures.  The deer just stares at you as if caught in headlights, and you realize you've been pointing your flashlight at its face.  Lowering the light, you think you hear the rabbit make a snide remark under his breath.

You want to respond, but you've already been rude by intruding on them.  And there's that shuffling sound again!  It sounded like it was back towards your camp.

Two things have become obvious to you here.  First, these creatures do not appear to be the source of the sound that brought you out into the night.  Second, you've overstayed your welcome.  You step back around the bushes and try to retrace your steps through the misty night to the tent.


Nice entry, Cassiebsg!  So sorry to interrupt!

Sinitrena

[imgzoom]https://bilderupload.org/image/719691042-talkingtree.png[/imgzoom]

"What did you expect to find here in a forest called the Mysterious Woods? Of course there's a Talking Tree here." the tree said with a large amount of idignation in his booming voice.

dactylopus

Moving through the woods back to camp, you begin to feel weary.  You long to return to the tent, and the comfort of your sleeping bag.  Just the thought of it warms you.  But then you are startled by a loud, resonant voice.  Whipping around, you see nobody.

Before you can process the words, you set off in a sprint through the mists, but you are tripped up a few steps later by the root of a large tree.  Did it move?  Yes, you think.  It had to have moved.  With growing panic, you quickly pick yourself up and stumble off towards your camp, looking over your shoulder to make sure the tree isn't following you.  It's not, but does look like it's waving goodbye.


Thanks for the entry, Sinitrena!  So much fun!

dactylopus

Today is the final day!  If you are working on a sprite for the contest, please post it today.  The competition closes and voting begins tomorrow!

Honza

[imgzoom]https://i.ibb.co/X21Mg9z/treeman.png[/imgzoom]

Not sure who or what this guy is, but seems woodlandy enough :)

dactylopus

You're confused, disoriented.  Your mind is playing tricks on you, and you realize that you desperately need sleep.  You rub your bleary eyes, and look around to get a sense of your surroundings.  You think you can see your camp ahead of you through the fog.  The embers of the fire are still glowing orange, a faint smoke drifting through the moonlight.  Yes, there it is.

But then you hear something like a cross between a hoot and a clucking sound.  You ignore it as another auditory hallucination, convincing yourself it has to be.  But you hear a shuffling and that sound again behind you, sending shivers down your spine.  You think it must be a wild turkey, and slowly turn to look.  Some sort of bipedal wooden stump hops towards you and repeats its call.  You take a few steps back and rub your eyes again.  The creature is staring at you with glowing yellow eyes as if waiting for some sort of response.  You don't feel threatened by this wooden creature, it seems friendly.  It looks to your feet, and you realize what it's really after.  You're standing next to a particularly nice stick.

As you bend down to pick up the stick, the creature's eyes follow you intently, becoming more excited as you lift it from the ground.  Clearly this beast is interested in the stick.  You hold the piece of wood over your head and the creature starts hopping in place, eyes fixed on the stick.  Quickly, you launch the fallen branch deep into the woods and head in the opposite direction towards the glowing remains of your campfire.


Nice sprite, Honza!  Thanks for participating!

dactylopus

OK, it's voting time!  Choose the sprite that you feel best represents the Mysterious Woods.

This will be a weighted vote.  There are 6 total entries, select your top 3.  Points will be assigned by your ranking.

Mandle:


Royal Graphics Studio (A):


Royal Graphics Studio (B):


Cassiebsg:


Sinitrena:


Honza:


Thanks to the participants, everyone did a fantastic job.  Good luck to all of you!

Voting will continue until Nov 20, Winner announced on Nov 21.

cat


SMF spam blocked by CleanTalk