Art Post: The First

Welcome to my first Art Update! I can not guarantee that these will always be about FIST CHAMPION, but I will promise to deliver drawings every Wednesday.

This week, however, is all FC related. I did some other sketches, but maybe I'll just share those some other time.

As I said before: it was time to start thinking about the UI. I have the parts in place, but it's pretty nasty looking. Raw number outputs and whatnot. What i finally liked was a combo of the counters from the bottom frame, and the timer from the top frame.

More detailed illustrations. Thinking about what I wanted to accomplish. This was also really good for me, because I don't usually get to play with colored pencils. I am actually pretty afraid of drawing in color. It turns out that I'm not actually the worst ever; so that was nice. Top left is the counter style I want to emulate, and top middle is the timer.

Here are some thumbs planning out what the carnival stage is going to look like. Most locations are going to be pretty unique looking, and this one is no exception. The round is going to take place on a Merry-Go-Round, with the background panning in a cycle the entire time the match is going on. I didn't illustrate any cheering onlookers, because I wanted to spend some time thinking about the setting itself. The crowds will come soon.

That's all I have for my first Art Post! I would really like to know what people think. Would you like to see more of these? I'm kind of feeling my way in the dark without feedback, so anything constructive is welcome.

Until Next Time...

Sketchy Times and Planning

Wow, it's been a quick minute. What have I been doing since the release of FIST CHAMPION First Playable? Inside Unity: very little. It was time to go back to the design document and clarify a few things, and also time for some more drawing. This move was largely inspired by some wonderful feedback I received from Brandt Andrist, Sam Raymer, Terrana Cliff, Nicholas Rubatino, and Adam Chandler. (All of them awesome people worth checking out if you have a spare moment.)

So, let's break it down what has happened.

 - Cut some characters from Ver. 1.0 for the time being.

 - Revised a few characters

 - Picked the initial 10 characters for Ver. 1.0

 - Selected 10 stages to compliment the 10 characters for Ver. 1.0

 - Began outlining the way a power-up system could work with my game

 - Outlined powerups for all characters

 - Began sketching new environments

 - Completely neglected my blog for a week

 - Will make it up to you some how

If you are like me and like making lists (yeah I'm weird, whatever) then this roster for Ver. 1.0 should tickle your fancy and excite:

1. Old Man of The Sea - The Ocean
2. The Pugilist - Carnival Merry-Go-Round
3. ????
4. Top Gunner - Fighter Jet
5. Valkyrie - Valhalla
6. Rosie The Riveter - Shipyard
7. Arcade Machine - 80’s Arcade
8. Prototype Super Robot - Secret Underground Lab
9. ????
10. ????

Okay... It is most of the roster. Sorry, but I don't want to spoil the whole thing. I can promise you that there are some really cool things to look forward to. It would also be a good idea to say that this list is not final and may be subject to changes before release.

Make sure you check back in with my blog later this week. I'm going to try to do an art update so you can see a little more of what I am actively working on. I am also open to answering any questions related to my game or games in general. Just know I might use any questions as fodder for future updates.

Until next time...

FIST CHAMPION: Champions of The Fist - FIRST PLAYABLE

This is it! I wanted to do more, but I didn't want to wait any longer. Here's the first playable of FIST CHAMPION!!!

Download for Windows
Download for Mac

I was originally going to utilize the Unity web player for this, but early on I used some GUI text that doesn't play nicely with positioning on the web player. I will fix that for later releases, definitely.

Speaking of fixes... Let's talk about this release a bit, shall we?

What Works:
 - Title screen is wicked awesome.
 - Character select allows you to choose between three players
 - Gameplay is functional
 - Everything that you see and doesn't break is working.

What's Limping:
 - The opening story sequence is all storyboarded out, but there's not a lot going on. Eventually, I want to animate it in the style of a 90's era arcade game.
 - The character roster is only three crudely drawn characters, needs more characters. And better art.
 - In-Game animations (Shimmy-shams) are rudimentary at best, and the characters themselves are not animating at all.
 - In-Game Elements (HUD, effects, magic) is non-existent or ugly

What's MIA:
 - Stage select screen is just a mockup
 - GUI Art In-Game
 - Animations
 - More Levels
 - More Characters
 - More... MORE

So, while I really wanted to get his puppy out and let people check it out: I know it's a busted fella with no completed features. That being said: feel free to comment here or contact me otherwise if you want to talk about my game and/or give me feedback. I am definitely all ears.

Thanks for coming along with me on this journey so far. Let's see where this goes. Until Next Week!

EDIT: Also, apparently 1P Strength Domination is kinda broken. Sorry. You can hit "esc" in any match to drop back into the title screen.

Big Day Today

This is it. Today's the day. I'm going to bite the bullet and push my game out for all of you fine people to look at and criticize... Later today. I'm just putting together a few last minute things, and hiding some of the more nasty warts. I assure you though, that later today you'll be able to look at my game and laugh, cry, and maybe even enjoy what I've been working on.

See you soon.