Improving the graphics

On a very artsy Thursday we decided to create all of our sprites ourselves, even though none of us had quite that much experience with drawing. Lots of ideas have been shared and many drawing tools were considered, each one more sophisticated than the last. So which programs did we think were able to capture our imagination vividly enough? Why, Paint and PowerPoint, of course! Making use of PowerPoint's many shapes, textures and special effects, we were able to create some decent sprites relatively easily. Next to those programs we also used GIMP, but then again, we merely used that to convert the lot to .PNG files. Very artsy indeed, is it not?



We started off with the main character. Due to the lack of a proper name, the little guy is currently called Spacedude. It goes without saying that every semi-professional Spacedude needs an awesome uniform; he cannot be all space-y in a birthday suit. We were kind enough to get him a spacesuit and a somewhat fancy one at that. You see, it has a shiny helmet and two colored buttons, of which we have no clue as to what their function is. That is what makes it so fancy. Not to mention, the jetpack on his back. Because everything is better when it has a jetpack attached to it. The boost of the jetpack is currently represented by a blue triangle. The plan is to depict it using particles.

 

Spacedude Idle

Spacedude Reaching

As for the background, it exists of steel plates and pins to give it a futuristic feel. The eventual background of the game will be composed of small sprites that can be repeated smoothly, combined with windows that have starry views and mysterious doors that no one dare ever open. Sprites of the latter are still in the making. Stay tuned!