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Not bad, at least as a template to start from. It depends on what you want to do with those rendered graphics. Right now there's not much detail, but if you want to scale the characters down and use them at a lower resolution (for walkcycles etc.), this could work very well. But for a close-up portrait it doesn't look detailed enough and lacks "personality".

It still looks somewhat stiff and artificial. I think with some tweaking it could look really nice, but then optimising these modular animations might take just as much time as drawing them frame by frame.

[digital EP]

We've released a digital EP with music from Conspirocracy as a free download! It features 5 of the 22 tracks and should give you a good idea of what the game will sound like.

The full soundtrack will be available to all backers at or above $15.

They don't look too bad. But i think they would work better on less detailed characters with simple shading. With your characters, I would expect that the shading on the arms and legs changes with every frame - it looks unnatural if it doesn't.
But I think the main problem with these animations is that the legs and arms are the only things that are animated. The torso and head are too stiff. Though I guess the movement of the head would have to be hand-painted to look acceptable.

I'd like to add that even this calculation is quite optimistic. Production of the physical rewards and shipping may easily cost more than we expect. I don't know about the taxes, but that might also be something to consider. And after all you'll get the physical copy in a box for as little as 40$, of which 20$ will be for charity. There won't be much money left.
Not to mention that many of us have worked for free, otherwise this game would have never happened. We're definitely not in it for the money.

It works better with the black frame. His legs are fading out in the first one, which looks strange, so I'd prefer the second poster.
The poster looks great overall, and it really captures the feeling of the game. I have to disagree with tzachs here - I love his determined expression. I think that's a wonderful contrast that even emphasizes the weirdness of this scene.

I'm also very excited to be a part of this.
It's great to finally see everything come together, resulting in such a unique game. Now everyone go and support the campaign, donate for a good cause and get a copy of this cool game!

Wow, you're working fast. This looks absolutely fantastic, what a great style! Can't wait to play it.

Oh yes, crashing effect plugins can be a pain. I suggest to do a lot of test runs with as many plugins as possible to find out which plugins work reliably for you, and then stick to them. This will save you a lot of frustration later on.

That's a very joyful, relaxed tune and it sounds good overall. The mix is okay, but the reverb is very inconsistent. The piano sounds as if it was recorded in a very big hall with lots of echo, while other instruments (e.g. the background strings) sound too dry. The lead instruments like the flute sound good. So I'd suggest a little more reverb on the strings and much less reverb on the piano, so it doesn't sound as if the instruments were played in different rooms.
About the length, that depends on the purpose of the music. As a background music for a large area in a game it's too short and will get repetitive, but for a small scene it could work very well.

[janleht]

Thanks guys, this was awesome!
With four strong entries we had a very good month for the tune contest. Hopefully we can keep this level up during the next months.

janleht - This is a very creative approach, just what I hoped for. You've created quite a unique sound, well done! It could be shorter though, because it gets somewhat repetitive after a while.

dactylopus - What i liked about your tune was that you started with a simple pattern and slowly developed it into something more complex with nice variations. You managed to keep the track interesting.

Pinback - Circuit bending! Now that's a brilliant idea for this contest. This is an extremely well-executed live performance, and surprisingly pleasant to listen to, considering what you did to that poor drum track.

Diamond16 - This is excellent as usual. The melody is catchy but still has a few twists and never gets repetitive. You really know what you're doing.

It's great that all of you went for a challenge this month - no one took the easy route. This is why it's really hard for me to pick a winner.
But I think this time it's Pinback, because his entry managed to surprise me the most. Congratulations! 

Clean #2 doesn't have a handsome pixel guy on it 

Oh, and apart from that Clean #2 has one major fault: the cup is white!

Interesting. Clean #2 was one of my least favourites, I found it somewhat bland with the small cup and so much plain-coloured space around it. But basically all of the suggested splash screens look good enough to me.

Three entries, very nice And there's still one day left.

@dactylopus: For the tune contest the host picks a winner, and the winner will host the next contest. So tomorrow I will listen to the entries, comment on each one and pick the winner.

Thanks, janleht! 

Only two days left. Come on, give this man some competition!

5 days left. Come on guys, this should be easy enough. No complex arrangements, just a nice melody for one instrument. It's a great opportunity if you have never composed music before.

I think Khris is right. Your idea could be a nice theme for a single MAGS competition, but for a seasonal event it will wear off too quickly.

[a piece for solo instrument]

For this tune contest I want you to compose a piece for solo instrument. Just choose one instrument and compose a tune for it, with no additional instruments or sounds. The most obvious choice would be a polyphonic instrument like piano, organ, guitar etc. But you could also compose a monophonic tune, e.g. a piece for solo trumpet. Or maybe a drum solo? It's up to you.

The rules in detail:

• Compose a piece for just one instrument.
• It should be possible for one person to perform (no four-hands piano or something like that).
• Polyphony is fine, if your chosen instrument allows it.
• A drum set counts as one instrument, as do paired instruments like bongos.
• A synthesizer counts as one instrument, but don't use more than one sound. No auto-accompaniment, no switching between presets.
• The most important rule: If there aren't at least two entries, I'll be very upset!

You have two weeks, so the deadline is July 24th. I'll announce a winner on July 25th or shortly after.

Happy composing!

Just wanted to say that I'm totally imprwessed by the quality of these entries. It's amazing what everyone has achieved in just one week. Some of those games could easily have been MAGS winners. It will be very hard to vote.

It seems as if Adam H has forgotten about this contest. Since no one else entered, should I start the next tune contest?