April 24 - May 1

Finished
This was THE final week before showcasing our game at the EAE game expo. My last touch to the game was adding in a cutscene at the beginning to explain the storyline. Leif drew the images and I animated them and put in text using After Effects. For quick but eye catching animations, I used still images but moved them across the screen to add movement. This emulates the animation style of the cutscenes of the game Vampire Smiles. I also used an "ink painting on paper canvas" look that was originally going to be used for the style of our entire game but changed over time. I'm pleased with how the cut scene turned out and the game finally feels complete to me.

Expo
I also went to the EAE game expo, which was a blast. I loved seeing our game displayed honorably in the front where people could play it. The other game from our class, Heroes of Hats, was displayed next to ours. Apparently we made it on the news again (I'm in a quick shot looking at one of the other games) and our class is now doubly famous! Whoot!

It was awesome seeing the poster for our game (which turned out amazing!) on the wall with all of the EAE games from the past. We are now part of the school's legacy!

I was disappointed that the level designs didn't become what I'd hoped for. Also, our game lacked polish towards the end. With a couple more weeks, I think we could have a achieved polished up our game and had it looking much better. Nonetheless, I was happy to have the game mostly completed in time for the EAE expo. Perhaps I can convince some of the programmers to keep working on the game after the semester... 

April 17 - 24

Assignment
This was the final sprint! I resized all of the buildings to the proper size and starting working on a cut scene video for the game. The cut scene will certainly go into finals week. 


Quality
Excellent. The buildings are now the right size to go into the game. Some of them had to change in design a little to accommodate the new size. Now I have seven originally designed buildings that we can finally use.

April 10 - 17

Assignment
The end of the semester is nearing and things are crazy on team Curse of Shadows.

We need something to signify the end of the level so I made half a dozen sprite sheets of pure awesome firework displays to put in the game. I used the same firework method from earlier on in the semester but put three of them together and changed the colors. I also made single firework sprite sheets in various colors to add to the game in case the programmers needed them.


Russel asked for a banner to advertise our game at the end of the trial mode and Leif and I worked on this as well. It turned out cute and professional looking. The banner's purpose is to convince the player that they MUST buy the game. What do you think, is it working?

Quality
Great. The fireworks made it into the game and work perfectly for their purpose. The banner looks professional when it appears at the end of the game trial.

Next week: finalize houses.

April 3 - 10

Assignment
I'm working on house designs and more shadow monsters. I've been asked to add more details to the houses so I'm reworking them. I developed some new palace style designs with a cool flame pattern. The new monsters are the tiger and dragon.

Quality
 Great. The buildings are improving every week. When I began designing the houses, the process was arduous and difficult. Now I have more experience using illustrator and my creative juices are flowing, resulting in better work in terms of both quality and quantity. I like the style of buildings a lot; they're adorable and fun.

Next week: finalize art

Mar 27 - April 10

Assignment
I've been continuing to work on the house designs and also creating shadow monster designs. My new monsters include the pray mantis and boar. If I have time to animate it, the pray mantis will attack with blades at the end of its arms. The boar is smaller and less threatening. I'm also adding more details to the houses to make them more interesting to look at.

Quality
Great. I'm working hard to keep the style consistent. Russel, the team lead, seems happy that my work keeps improving each week. I'm excited to see my new houses get in the game.

next week: (you guessed it) finalize art

Mar 20 - 27

Assignment:
This week my focus was remaking the houses with more detail. I looked up various concepts online and even looked in library books about ancient Japan for inspiration. It was difficult for me because I was continually frustrated with illustrator and started over several times, but I finally came up with an original style for the houses.

Quality
The process was slow and arduous, but I finally came up with a style that I love! I tried several color schemes and finally decided on this one. I want to hug and squeeze this house:

Next Week: finalize art

Mar 13 - 20

Assignment
This week was a continuation of creating art for the village level. I changed the design of the bridges to better accommodate the programmers, fixed the cherry blossom tree that Drew made so that it would fit the style of the game better, and made a new Zen Tower.

Quality
I was super impressed with how well the cherry blossom tree turned out! I kept Drew's design but made the coloring style vibrant and fun. I also added some details like wood lines and a heart shaped hole. The Zen Tower also looks fantastic.

Next week: finalizing art