Kawaiik trailer storyboard

I read something about Doom 4 and got in the mood to draw something new for my Kawaiik project, so I drew a storyboard for a trailer which hopefully is effective at conveying the general idea of the setting. 

Only minor changes to the old Kawaiik project page.

Space Dragon

If I had the dough I'd do a pinball machine. I love the clean look of the 70's and 80's boards (Dolly Parton, Captain Fantastic, Lost World), but the machines in the 90's had more interesting features perhaps. Retro EM chimes here and there would be snazzy, along with some steppers. I think pinball loses its charm when it becomes too... unmechanical. I haven't seen a board with manga style art so that would be interesting. Music, something along the lines of TX Sector and Elvira and the Party Monster.

Space Dragon!

Phantasy Star

I never owned a SEGA Master System, but I fondly remember some of its games which I played at a friend's place. The SMS hardware was pretty good so it's a shame that the system has such a small library and never go to realize its potential in the way the NES did.

One of the best games for the system was, almost without question, Phantasy Star, an RPG released in 1987. It's similar to the forerunner Ultima in its presentation, with the first person dungeons and a mixing of fantasy and sci-fi. Of course, Phantasy Star's graphical presentation has more meat to it than Ultima's, but I think it also bests its contemporaries, Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. Makes me wonder how Toriyama's excellent Dragon Quest designs would've looked if DQ had been released on the SMS...

Anyways, Phantasy Star project page in the works.

Space Orc sculpt

I've been scratch sculpting! Work log over at: Cool Mini Or Not

Tangent: I've generally liked GWs sculpts and how their sculpts are very direct, use simple shapes, leave space for labels and user funz, have a clearly established language and suggest function for many components. I've seen other companies who just appears to be stacking "cool" shapes, without much rhyme.

Well, that's what I used to think, anyways. Then I saw this skaven guy which will serve to illustrate what has been bothering me for a while about GWs current style. Zig-Zag hair, like how a child draws it. There's no clustering or tip curves. And that robe (and rat leg) is made out of unstructured angular flakes, an element which is present in many of their other sculpts as well. What's more, their indents are these... soft valleys (shrink wrapped?), which leads to a sort of pillow shading, which is made worth by the lifeless smooth painting (washing?) style.

Again with the skinsack shapes: Ogres , and the zig zag and angular patches return. Those lifeless monocolor pants. These Ogryns are a different thing from a different era. Haphazard, yes, but with a certain... illustrated storybook feel to them, with plenty for the eye to explore.

And their Orks are all teeth and plasticard now. I miss the "clowny" Bonner orks with their more rounded forms. Well, mostly the art that is. The sculpts were so-so. I guess I could buy some old EPIC Ork vehicles though.

...Whuuuaaaaat$

Star Maidens!

If you're into 70's TV sci-fi, do check out Star Maidens. Orange, Brown, Olive, Duck egg!  The "Storm Troopers" are the best. Even if there were sci-fi stuff on TV nowadays, I doubt we'd see something like these colorful concoctions from the past.

I've blogged about UFO earlier, but I hadn't seen much of the spiritual sequel, Space 1999, until recently. I actually haven't much liked what I've seen from Space 1999 so far. The plot is so obviously at the whims of the writer, oftentimes plowing down a morally deficient (or just oblivious) line of thought without much regards to scientific literacy or plot integrity. I can accept a flawed plot if it's fun and there are cheesy guys in 70's outfits, but Space 1999 is so damn beige (the characters in particular), both literally and metaphorically.

Superficially, it tries to set a serious tone, but underneath its all... fantasy writing. Moral dilemmas carry weight because we can relate to them, because they are realistic, even if the setting is not. In fantasy writing, there's often just an emotional appeal, then a Deus Ex Machina to prove it right (against the odds), delivering an unjustified, empty moral lesson.

That said, I really enjoyed Space 1999's s1x08 Dragon's Domain.

Colorful monsters

I've made a Pokémon page. I've been trying to draw Pokémon since the first game came out, but I've found that it's really difficult. Aside from my own numerous attempts, I've seen so many clones (games) or fan designs... fall short.

Also, I made a little page for a 16 color retro palette.

Kid Icarus Uprising impressions

I've updated my Kid Icarus page with my thoughts on the new game. Also, I found some scans of the original Kid Icarus manual art: GBA and NES . The new art can be found at creative uncut. Here's an interview with the guys who made the NES game.