The last week I have been working on some initial marketing stuff for Armored Empire, our next app project at Thor media. If you want to learn more about the game, and take a look at the wordpress site I put together for it, check out the official website.
This is another Blender and Gimp project, with audio done in Audacity. The one thing of any real note it the imitation of an old CRT monitor. This was the challenging part of this little project. I wanted to simulate a zoomed in shot, so using things like the scan-lines and dust on the glass seemed to pull off the effect well. The flickering of the text and the diagonal line that passes by make it feel old and worn a bit.
Overall I think that everything about this small teaser fits well with each other, thanks to some initial story boarding. The visuals and audio fit really well and help make the view curious. The doors closing are a good surprise, and just about everyone that has viewed the teaser liked the feeling that it makes.
My brothers and I really like video games, and we are trying to get to the point where we can bring our creative visions to life. The process of learning, building, and refining has been great for us, and it’s not as easy as some may think.
The project “Josh the Whale” started soon after trying to land another app project for another children’s story book and not getting it. We thought that kids books might be the way to get the attention of local children’s book illustrators and writers, and so we began the search for a story. We wanted a project that we could use, not only to attract clients, but to also use as a template for future projects. We also wanted it to be something that we really cared about in order to motivate ourselves to create a good finished product.
This is really the reason that we chose Josh the Whale. Originally a short illustrated story that our older brother, Aaron Thorup, wrote when he was in the third grade, we thought that it wasn’t just a good story about self-worth and perseverance, but it also had a good selling point. Whales and underwater stuff seem to go well with children, so, not only were we planning on entering the kids entertainment market, but we also had an attractive theme that should sell.
So we started. The first step was to get a solid script, based on the original story, written to base all the programming and visual aspects of the game on. The rewritten story, and the script, came together pretty fast, and with Aaron’s approval, I was able to begin on visual concept, and Bryce was able to start working with Shiva 3D (our 3D engine).
Mainly because of a lack of experience on my part, we planned to have a finished product by December. Basically, we did not take into account the learning curve Bryce would have with Shiva 3D. Bryce was picking up the new API, which was quite a bit different from what we were using for our live wallpapers. So, it turned into 6 months instead. We also had other video projects mixed into that schedule, but overall it was just the amount of learning needed that extended the schedule.
Concept work began, assets were being built, and Bryce began building code to use those assets with. Some specifics of that work can be viewed in previous posts HERE and HERE. Though progress was slow, it was steady, and from the beginning to the end of the project, there were no real stressful moments in the production. Just allot of trial and error in figuring out workflows in relation to the programming and asset creation.
Only minor changes were made to script and the original sequence of the game during production. In fact, only one scene was taken out of the game for programming reasons. Here is a really basic concept image of that scene. It had to do with the whales jumping out of the water at night, and the player helps Josh jump high enough to touch the moon.
Recording the narration was fun. Bryce and I decided that we wanted to have Aaron do the voice acting for the narration. This was a great choice because Aaron’s voice seemed to fit right inside Josh’s world, and complements the whole feeling of the book very well. This also made the project feel allot more personal to me, turning it into a family project. Jacob helped us out with the recording in a quite room over at my Grandma’s and Grandpa’s home. We used Audacity for the audio, and it all came out beautifully.
A little side note about the audio recording, most of the interactive moments of the game were conceptualized when I was preparing a script for lines that needed to be rerecorded or new lines, our second recording session. I felt that the game wasn’t quite balanced enough between the strictly narrative moments and the interactive moments of the game.
The music was done by April Thorup. She is not a professional composer, but she did a wonderful job on the music. Her playful styling fit into Josh’s world so well, and keeps the app interesting for kids. When we first started to drop the music into the app itself, the feeling of Josh’s world completely changed. Suddenly this small lonely whale had a story to tell, not only by the narrator, but by the music as well.
When it came to testing the app during the project, we usually just had one of our nieces or nephews take a peek at what we had, and payed attention to their reactions. Because of this “bug testing” we knew from the start that children responded well to the visual style and game play. And, towards the end of the project, we had an official bug testing session, that also brought back good results from children, and assured that we had a solid app structurally.
The app icon and other graphics were interesting to put together. The original thought was to stick to the same icon template and banner styles that we had used for our previous live wallpapers. As you can see from the images below, they weren’t the most impressive images to look at. But, after sifting through Google’s and Apple’s quality guide lines, we decided to redo all of the graphics for the app, creating a simpler style for the icon and banners.
For the final steps of the project, like marketing, I was put in charge. Gathering information on review websites that tailor to the audience we wanted to reach was important, and putting together a trailer and other material to show the app in action was done as well. This moment was probably the most educational for us as a company, mainly because I had never really done any marketing before, and because we have learned that hiring someone to handle the marketing is probably the best way to make sure that it is executed effectively.
One of the huge pluses to this whole project though, was the cost. I believe that the cost for a Shiva 3D license was $200, which covered porting the game to bother Android and iOS. Marketing was about $1000, but besides that there was no additional cost to the project besides our time. We used open source software for all asset creation and editing. This includes Blender, Gimp, Audacity, and Inkscape. Software that we have allot of experience with, and are all great programs.
We have only just released this app, and we have had a really good responses from reviewers, family, friends, and strangers, so far. We are proud of Josh the Whale, and so thankful for everyone that helped make it a reality. It represents our commitment to making products that we can be proud off and that others can enjoy. It represents our first step into the game development realm. And most of all, it shows that even a small whale can do great things, our goal for the future.
Thor Media is coming up on the release of there latest project Josh the Whale. And during the last few days, I have been working on the official trailer for the app. Here it is.
It has been fun getting the last touches together for this app. One thing that has been especially interesting for me is the music. We have my sister in law putting together the music for the app, and even though she doesn’t compose professionally, she has done a fantastic job so far. Her music fits the moods that we are trying to get across in the app very well. The trailer itself came together really easy.
Most of the assets were already prepared. All the underwater scenery was practically done, because we used it in the initial concepts for the game. I had to do another animation for Josh, and do some simple compositing in the Blender video sequence editor. The only part that I had to put allot of time into was the beginning. I struggled with compositing distant water, before discovering how easy it is to add it in by using the z-buffer to create a fade between the distant water and the foreground water. Everything else was a cinch.
If you want to check out some beta screen shots of the app in action, head over to the official page HERE. We should be releasing the app in a few weeks or so, on both Android and iOS.
Josh the Whale is moving along nicely. Bryce is figuring out the new engine and we have already put together some proof of concept work. While he’s figuring out how to get this all put together in an application, I am trudging forward, getting other areas of the game designed and finished.
This is a time lapse video of the cave entrance where a few pages if the book will take place. This video is especially long because all the interface movement would be too distracting if I compressed it down to 4 minutes. So, if you don’t want to spend 20 minutes watching this video, watch for about 1 minute and then skip ahead 5 minutes, this will give you a good feel for the whole process.
As you can see, the difference between the concept art and the finished result is dramatic. And I predict that there will be more changes in the future, as we test on different platforms. This is partly because of my lack of planning, but also because plans change as you continue to consider your market and what ideas you wish to express visually within the story.
And there are also limits with polygon count amount other things. I try to avoid thinking that way when doing this kind of work, because even with restrictions you can usually get what you want out of it, if not stubble upon a few good things you wouldn’t have seen without the restrictions.
The processes that I go through to hash out these designs are simple:
Brainstorm and Sketches (What colors, what environments, visual style)
Concept art (Hardest part, because you are trying to develop a visual style and language that best fits the idea)
3D’ize the Ideas (Modeling, Texturing, Rigging, Animating, and other asset creation)
Troubleshooting (testing to make sure that the colors are sending the right visually messages, the main character sticks out enough, etc. Often the longest part of the job)
It’s allot of work, and can be very daunting when you first approach it. But as the artwork comes, the assets get animated, and those assets are placed into an interactive state, it can be very exciting and encouraging.
I will continue posting about this app, since it looks like we are still a good month away from a final product. But I do have other things lined up.
I am currently putting together a personal project video series, that should carry on for a few months. I got a few ideas in mind on things I might be able to contribute from my limited experience. And placing some of that experience into a fun video series will help keep me motivated in my work, and hopefully motivate some of you as well.
Thor Media has just released their latest app. Flowering Vine live wallpaper. This one has be a long time in the making, but it has been worth the effort and time. There truly isn’t anything on the market like this.
Let me give you some of the details.
The big thing that really sets this live wallpaper apart is the random vine generator. The vines are completely random. In fact, the only structure that the vines have is the way the branches grow, and sprout flowers. We decided that we wanted them to do a curling shape, which adds to how attractive it is. An artistic choice. Other than that, the vines are free to roam your device’s screen.
The other huge thing that sets this live wallpaper apart from others of its kind, is the way that the options are set up. The end user can modify just about any aspect of it. All the colors and opacity of the vines, butterflies, and flowers can all be changed. There are a slew of background textures along with the ability to change the background color. Not to mention a vignette option that you can adjust the color and opacity of. There are a few more options that I won’t mention here, because I want you to find out for your self.But because there are so many things that can be manipulated in this wallpaper, we ran into a problem. Live wallpapers are kind of a novelty and people like to look at them, not mess around with a bunch of options. So, me, Bryce, and Eric discussed the possibility of having a theme option. At the top of the options list there is a “Theme” select option, which lists 40 plus predefined themes to choose from. It guarantees a good look. I want to thank Julie, Jacob, Eric and Kathleen, for helping us get those themes together. They really do look great.
In the future, we hope to add the ability to save your own themes to the list, along with a bunch of other options in relation to how the vines look and grow.
We have high hopes for Flowering Vine live wallpaper, and I encourage you, if you have an Android device, to download and try it out. There isn’t a free version this time. But remember, if you don’t like it, for whatever reason, you can get a full refund within 15 minutes of the purchase. Try the full version out for a few minutes then decide, I know you will like it. And don’t forget to rate and review the app in the store, every review/rating makes a huge difference in how our app sells. Thank you!
My involvement included art direction, asset creation, and graphic design. Bryce was our programmer behind this, and he did an amazing job. Check out his site to see what he says about our work.
Like usual, I give my apologies for not posting for a while. But there are good reasons for that.
Thor Media has been working hard to get one of our apps advertised. Since we are a new and small company, and very much lacking in experience, we have been going through some tough learning processes. Lots of discussions, arguments, tweaking, frustration, and success.
I posted about our new Solar Power Live Wallpaper a few weeks ago, and since then we have been working on a new live wallpaper, starting production on a new game, and figuring out how to advertise our apps. We are just starting to see some success, and we are pulling in revenue with Solar Power Live Wallpaper. We are thankful for everyone’s support and the good reviews, it all goes along way for your benefit, and ours.
We started developing apps around May, and it is just starting to bare fruit. Glad to see that all the hard work isn’t going to waste.
But, about that new live wallpaper that we are working on. Here are a few screenshots of what we have so far. (Sorry no video yet).
Bryce was able to program a random vine generator. Add a few assets that look like water color, and then some color control, and you have developed a very interesting to watch, and a visually appealing live wallpaper.
We are really excited about this one because there is nothing like it on the market right now. Stay tuned for more details on that.
That game I mentioned. I did so just to get you excited. I won’t post any details this time around, but when we finish up the script, and I start churning out some concept art, I will post more about it then. This project has been our main goal since we started developing apps and I will make sure to keep you all well informed.
A final note. I am participating in another CGHub.com competition. The theme is Zelda Redux. I already have a decent idea and some sketches put together. I am also planning on recording my process for this painting as well and posting that.
