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I think it would benefit from having...something else there. I'm not sure what, but as-is it's pretty bland. Also there's a really noticeable white outline around Fatman that detracts from the overall feel of it.

Actually, I just created this wall paper for my own desktop, not really as much of a promotional item. I liked it so much though that I figured I’d share it. Anyhow, the white outline was hand pixeled after I exported the flash drawing of Fatman. I added that in to mimic the comics when drawings are placed on all black paper to allow it to stand out. I suppose it might look better if the white outline was anti-aliased but I really can’t be bothered, haha. I didn’t put anything else in the background because I need lots of room for all my desktop icons.

Hey Ionias, I like the wallpaper... I'm still yet to play Fatman 1... I'm a bit of a tight-arse, . But maybe I'll get around to buying it one day soon.
One thing is that your signature in the bottom-right corner is blocked by the taskbar.

You’ll be hard pressed to find a copy you can buy since I’m too broke and too lazy to update/pay for my website, haha. You can thank AGA that it’s even still up and running. Just go download it somewhere and play it for free, you might be glad you did. Also, I did that with the taskbar, obscuring my signature that is, on purpose. It’s a feature not a bug, heh.

So what's the story with Fatman 2, man?  I went to the website expecting an update but saw nothing.

The story with Fatman 2 is I’ve been going through a rather messy divorce and the game is horrendously off schedule but since I’m such a perfectionist I refuse to compromise on its quality. So the game will get done, someday, somehow. I’ve been considering breaking it up into episodes like Sam & Max did. I’m not sure if I want to do that, if I self publish again I’ll go that route but if I lock down someone else to publish it then I’ll want it all as one solid game. Anyhow I refuse to start a production thread or post any updates on my now defunct website because I’d rather focus what free time I have on the actual game creation. Slow and steady wins the race, heh.

...man I wish I completed Time Out...

… and I wish I never made ROTN 2 ½ Fowl Play, haha.

Hey, wasn’t really sure where I should post this but I just finished up a promotional wall paper for Fatman 2 and wanted to share it. Enjoy…

In my opinion the only problem with this image/background stems not from the vanishing points but from the size variation in your objects. For example the road is much too narrow for the car to drive on and the doors and building size are out of proportion with the dumpster. I think if you downsize the dumpster, modify the road and zoom in a touch on the camera you’ll be where you need to be.

Excellent, IMO. Shows both feminine and tom-boy.

Thanks, and might I just add, finally.

I'm glad my raw image helped, even if only a tiny bit.

Thanks, and your image helped a lot. Being able to see my character’s skeleton flaws pointed out visually was very helpful. I’ve read the 6 ½ heads rule(s) and such but I must admit I’ve never paid much heed to them, ha-ha. Well, I’ll certainly try and take them into account more in the future.

Niptick: The white pixels on the AA of the lines...
they'll probably pop up against darker backgrounds?

I’m not sure why when I export as a .gif from Photoshop that my transparency gets a little screwed up. In the game when I import it as .png it all looks fabulous and all those AA pixels with their accompanying alpha channel all blend into any color background with perfection. I must give props to CJ for that alpha channel.

Anyway, "The Adventures of Fatman" was the very first AGS game I played back in the day so I'm really eager to see more/play this one.

“Back in the day...” eh? Wow, I really do need to finish another game one of these days, maybe even this one, ha-ha.

I think it's improved nicely, Ionais.  About the only issue I see is she still suffers from the manly shoulder effect. Think of female shoulders as being concave rather than convex from the neck to the upper arm and you should have no problem  8) .

Thanks for the feedback ProgZ, here are some samples of where I tried to incorporate your suggestion. However, with the new shoulders, she seemed to lose my style so I made a compromise with the “final” version of her. But you tell me which version of her you prefer?



… and thanks for the visual. I’ve no idea why visuals sink in so easily and descriptions don’t. I guess it’s why I prefer comic books to the “real” thing, ha-ha.

Well it’s certainly true that a picture is worth a thousand words as your sketch proves Stefano. Thank you so much for taking the time to draw out what everyone has been trying to get thru my thick skull. It’s so easy to see my problems with the side by side comparison.

Anyways, here is where all this work and C&C ended me at. Here are the final pencils and ink/color:




What do you guys think? Myself, I think its nicely improved.

... and in case you’re curious here is the final rendering of her sprite as she’ll appear imported into AGS in-game.

x1 x2

Ok, it took me longer to get back to this than I expected. Here are my final pencils on her, and unless anyone sees any glaring suggestions I’ll commence the inking. A lot can be done in the inking process and any final ideas will be taken into consideration.

Have you tried using reference images? 

When I’m trying to create an original character I’m entirely opposed to the idea of reference images. That’s just me. Whenever I draw from a reference work whatever the final out come makes up in anatomical correctness it seems to lack in creativity.

A couple of things to pay attention to would be the torso length (yours is too long), the leg length, and the sloping of the shoulders.  Correcting these will help you establish a more feminine form.

Heh, if you look closely at the above sketch you can see my notes to shorten the torso. I will definitely be playing around with the shoulders and leg length like you mentioned though, thanks for the ideas.

Go look at some naked women. =P 

My problem doesn’t stem from not understanding female anatomy or being unable to draw it. I think the problem lies in my being unable to draw the female form without the exaggerated anatomy that you always find in the comics. This is my first proper attempt at drawing anything but your typical big breasted “hottie” … but perhaps I bit off more than I can chew by going in the exact opposite direction.

Because then it's not a walking dead and more like an ordinary Sierra game (ie. 'ordinary' death traps everywhere )

Hmm, you have an excellent point and I take back my previous post. I do enjoy a good death scene. But I don’t really consider a puzzle that involves you getting killed by performing the wrong action a “walking-dead” … especially since you’re usually killed rather close to the time that you made the mistake. A true “walking-dead” in which there is no entertainment value and is there only to lengthen the game and frustrate the player is not only a bad design but lame.

Hope this is useful (to somebody)...

Yes, Misj’ your (double) post is useful. I did try to change her stance to that thumbnail you posted. However, this brought her right back into “super-hero” territory again. Here is another attempt at it that I tried after that attempt. I’m not happy with it so I didn’t bother to ink it but it shows where I’m headed, and I think it shows how I tried to incorporate everyone’s ideas.



I’m not sure I like the new shoes. I’m going to lose the bell bottoms they make her look to cliché’ and I’m going to give her a pony tail. I think the pony tail would be more in line with her character. I’m going to try and keep the new hips. I think I can get by with even less breasts than what she’s got at the moment, at least that’s my goal. Anyways, I’m sort of rambling here but if anyone wanted to give me some last minute ideas before I do her final version and ink it, now would be a great time. I got a pretty busy weekend ahead of me but I’d really like to get this under my belt.

Actually, I was going for a slightly tom boyish 16 year old girl who has a bit of an attitude problem. But looking at some of the edits and reading all the advice, I can see I made her much too manly. I was afraid of this in the first place, thus why I posted it here to confirm it.

Anyways, I’m going to have another crack at her taking into account everyone’s suggestions. I will say that my style does lend to sharp lines and exaggerated features and I’m finding it very hard to tone it down and still get my point and style across.

I’m looking forward to redrawing her especially with the new stance that you suggested Misj’ I think that will go a long ways in helping to identify her as a female, haha. I don’t want to giver her breasts though only because I wanted a taller, skinny, do it herself kind of character. I’m not saying she should be ugly, I’d like her to be cute mind you but not attractive in the typical girlish way … if that makes any sense. I think I’ll bump up the curves and try and tone down the hands. With any luck and some free time I’ll post the outcome.

[hate]

I hate the "walking-dead" puzzle in a game. I have no problems with any other puzzle styles or even killing my character at the drop of a hat for no reason. Just please don't use the "walking-dead" puzzle.

Ugh. This is exactly what I’m talking about. I’m trying to move away from this:



/sigh, I'm just no good at drawing a normal girl.

All I have to say is, create Ace Quest ... again ... so I can ...

Play ace Quest!1!! ... again.

Ok, I’ve got a character I’ve designed and drawn and I’m not very good at drawing just ordinary people. They all seem to turn out very “super-heroish” so I was wondering what your first impressions of this are:



Boy or Girl?

Spoiler

Girl.

[close]

Mood?

Spoiler

A tad grumpy.

[close]

Age?

Spoiler

16.

[close]

Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Like I said already I’m not that good at not drawing a normal character so I’m wondering what your first impressions are.

Overall it’s a nice piece of artwork. Since you asked on ways to improve it I’ll make some suggestions:

•   The depth and detail of say the chair and computer monitor are not matched by the door and bed head-board. You need to add some depth to them so they don’t just appear as line art but appear more 3D in nature.

•   The sizes of the objects are not matching up. Example the shirts on the bed are much smaller than the bed and the chair seems to large in comparison to the bed.

Throw in a few more items to make the room less empty and some shading and it will be well on it’s way.

Awesome, simply awesome.

Dave you’ve simply outdone yourself, again. Give yourself a pat on the back for me. Looks beautiful and I can’t wait to head to my local Game Stop and touch it.

I know Space Quest 6 had this exact “log” of your previous conversations. It is rather annoying to have to cruise back through your dialog options to find that one you’ve inadvertently skipped. I’m not sure how this could be implemented into AGS as standard though, because it’s also rather annoying to not be able to skip the dialogs.

... Milla Jovovich (who I can't stand) ...

Sir, you have gone too far, Milla Jovovich is a goddess on screen and can do no wrong. And yes, I realize that it’s because of eye candy consumers like me that turds like “Max Payne” are churned out by Hollywood. I’ve always been of the opinion if you wanted substance to read a book, movies should be visual, but I digress. Sorry to interrupt this thread with a mindless rant on how hot Milla Jovovich is… by all means continue…

PS. I think Mark Walberg is a good actor too. Egads, I think just realized I’m every thing that’s wrong with our modern cinematography.