Right now, I am preparing for an event at NYU called Practice; I’m attending it as a student of the NYU Game Center. So far, this semester at NYU has been an interesting experience. I can summarize it as a series of game jams laid back-to-back and overlapping. Physical games, digital games, board games, etc. just cranking out new things all the time. It’s been giving me a ton of new ideas for Against the Wall, in terms of goals, set pieces, and art.
Art in particular has been by current focus for the game. This past Summer, I spent too long on optimizations and basic functionality. This was a task that could have potentially gone on forever, there is always something that can be improved. It is much better to get things to a working state, then moving on to other tasks.. As a result, I have not been touching code outside of bug-fixes and tweaking the game’s feel. I’ve been experimenting with and churning out art assets, then testing them as level elements on the Wall.
My current strain of thought is to continue embracing minimalism and using my limited talents in the area of modeling and texturing as a constraint, rather than as an obstacle. The art style of the game will be guided by what I am capable of using the tools and skills I have, rather than stress out over not looking like an Unreal engine game. I’m making the art according to a set minimalism theme, then moving on before I become obsessed with details.
I’ll post some screenshots later. Right now, the event has already started and I should go out there and mingle a bit.
