Before I lose my mind in the long process of creating the art for a video game, I want to have a plan for how it should look and further, how I can simplify it for myself. I made this little animation as a test. I am experimenting a bit with the look of the game, especially the dialogue and controls. If I can pare the art down to the essentials, I might actually get somewhere with it instead of quitting as I usually do. 

The dialogue box I am happy with, but not so much the text. I rushed it and it looks hammy. Definitely too much panache there. Not only is it too dramatic, but it is also quite large. I hand-lettered it, but in the future I intend to make a font for the game. I have done this once before using a website called calligraphr, which is free to use, although a few features require a subscription. None of the paid features are that important though, so have at it. 

Once I make the text smaller and more consistent, hopefully it will be easier to look at. I have a similar issue with the ‘press A to interact’ button. It is meant to boil like that, but I would like to tone that down a touch as well since it is drawing so much attention. 

The character, Patty, is also rushed. I didn’t want to stress myself out trying to make the perfect illustration for the test, since I know I am going to want to redo it later anyway. A few things I would like to keep in mind for when I inevitably redraw her are the line width, the level of detail, and adding more texture. The line width is a bit thick on this one, and I think it is distracting. I also want to add more detail to it to make it more interesting, and texture for that same purpose. I would like to add something to show off her personality more, but I am not sure what that will be yet, given that she is in her work uniform. I want to add animation to the characters during the dialogue sections of the game, so maybe I will have to channel her personality through that aspect. 

Honestly, I am not in the mood to make art this summer. I got a job, and I have so many other hobbies that I would rather be doing—I had to battle myself to start working on this. Despite that, I am enjoying this project when I am in the act, so if I can force myself to work on this again then I will have more to share in my next post. Thank you for reading!