Running Just To Stand Still
Added 2021-03-08 15:55:59 +0000 UTCDear Insane Children,
It's Monday here in Shanghai... heading into another "Live Stream Week" - there will be a livestream at the usual time this week - with TONS going on.
The Asylum Team continues their work on design, art, and story for Alice: Asylum. I'm working with Alex on the narrative; the Art Team is creating illustrations of the story; Alex is cramming all of that into the Design Bible; and we've got some interesting Biz Dev work happening on the rights... Cross your fingers for that last bit. It could be the key to everything!
The Plushie Dreadfuls line over at Mysterious is going Bonkers. Hard to say exactly what happened but excitement for our Rabbits has recently exploded. We can hardly breed them fast enough to keep up with demand. That means we now have a small team (Yan and Jen) working on branding, planning, and other aspects of managing and growing that brand. That's another win for Crowd Design, our Insane Children, and Patreon in general. Yay!
And we're busy prepping materials for more Oz: Adventures meetings. With [REDACTED], we have a big meeting scheduled for the middle of this month (March 2020). Plus the TV/Film meetings being run by Radar are just starting to ramp up. Alex is building a new PPT, I'm planning our meeting strategy, etc, etc.
So... busy but good.
Animated Alice
Omri sent over the main image above where we see Alice fleeing/fighting through a battle in front of the Queen's Castle.
Of this image, he says, "I'm coloring it in but I'm not sure on the coloring style.
we had this in Madness- this half flat kinda animation feel world but I can push this towards realism. any ideas what's best?"
So let him know in the comments below what YOU think. Any ideas about the style to go with here? Animated? Realistic? What appeals most to you?
Raawwr The Jab Lab!
The Jab Lab sounds like the place where they are concocting the vaccine for the pandemic. But it's actually where Hatter is retrofitting the Jabberwock to save Wonderland. I think I've not yet shared this image here on Patreon... If I have, I apologize.
This is a work in progress from Adam. It depicts the scene when Alice finally comes face to face with "The Champion." She's been told this is what will save Wonderland from The Chaos.
The idea is to create an area where Alice can see The Champion is being built - but where she can't actually see The Champion... until it's too late.
I said of this on Monday:
This is fantastic. I really like the idea that the Jabberwock is hidden behind some sort of symbol-covered vault door before he emerges from the process. Partly because it's like a butterfly from its cocoon and is unexpected for the same reason - from a tiny cocoon is born this creature many times larger than imagined.
This gives us a chance to really build up the idea that what's contained inside is noble, graceful, and looks like what everyone expects a "hero" to look like... but The Dragon emerges instead. It's also a good metaphor for Alice aligning herself with The Dark Side in order to move forward in her transformation.
Very excited to see this illustration fully rendered. I've also had some thoughts recently on the manner of the 'twist' in the reveal of this character and this scene in general. Will share those via the narrative soon.
Ok, I'm going to continue my running... but will be back later this week with more updates. And a Live Stream!
Art Print Update
Oh, and Font Lord asked me to tell everyone who might still be waiting on Art Prints: They are on the way! And I'll add to that - Yes, there is a backlog (especially for the 3-for-35 folks). And that backlog is entirely my fault. Despite the fact that I start work at 8 am every day and work into the evenings... I am still struggling to find time to sign, pack, and ship all the Art Prints. This is especially true with the ones that require me to hand-pick and sign one-by-one... the monthly "bulk" prints are easier because they can be done in one big batch. The ones you manually select with the 3-for-35... harder because they require individual handling.
I apologize. And ask that you please be patient. Lots of juggling going on around here... And some days I just don't have the time (or energy) to tackle that task. Rest assured, it is very important to me and I am chipping away at it as quickly as I can. Your understanding is really appreciated.
With Busy Legs from Shanghai,
-American
Comments
Super late but as far as the colors for the animation I liked what we had in madness. It was very dark fairy tales like story while still being deceitfully innocent when applied in the right environment. Cut-scenes or animation sequences themselves though, I say go cut-out like in madness returns for little girl Alice past memories. It felt right to me because it shows how she sees her world like innocent storybook while being able to showcase the dark reality to the players. As for the present time in Wonderland (like the image) and out of, definitely animated in-game or 3-d render. That way the player won't be taken out of the experience of what they are doing as they push forward. Claymation maybe? I don't know if I'm answering your question properly. If I'm not well then let's go realism. Or at least lean towards it more, like 3/4th more. Too much animation will kill the magic of the land and area making it feel flat. Go too real though and it will feel just as flat. I would say meet in the middle but with more of a lean towards realism. The Jabberwocky pieces look amazing. I like these lab ideas floating around.
2021-03-10 23:49:33 +0000 UTCAh at long last, the origins of The Jabberwock's cyborg form.
Death of Ink
2021-03-10 00:46:21 +0000 UTCI think it should be more realistic in regards to the fight scene that Omri is working on. I think that might keep the player more invested in the fight instead of a disconnected cartoon feel. I also LOVE The Jab Lab!
Stephanie Groth
2021-03-09 10:40:08 +0000 UTCLove the images and the idea that the jab is hidden!!
Sarah McKeegan
2021-03-08 19:19:01 +0000 UTClove the Jab images - B is my fav. I could see the Jab popping up and out, even clawing and snapping without being fully free
2021-03-08 17:47:19 +0000 UTCI know a lot of people really liked the paper cutout cutscenes, but they only existed for time and budgetary reasons, and that's how they always came off to me. There’s no reason to have them this time. I would prefer all cutscenes to be in-game or 3D rendered.
Lucky Dragon ‘She.They’
2021-03-08 17:21:50 +0000 UTC"Any ideas about the style to go with here? Animated? Realistic?" I really enjoyed the animation in "Madness". It was my favourite game and these scenes bewitched me to them because of their simple idea. So I think no matter how it will look - animated or realistic, but it could be good in any style with true forms.
2021-03-08 17:06:09 +0000 UTCI’m not sure which way to go on Omri’s piece, but I will say that keeping the Jabberwock hidden to provide some chance for imagination as to how “spectacular,” or “glorious” The Champion will be before it is revealed.
Nicholas Brokaw
2021-03-08 17:00:00 +0000 UTCI LOVE this two images! Especially the Jabberwock ones, since he is one of my favorit characters!
2021-03-08 16:17:42 +0000 UTCI quite liked the flat paper style animation sequences in Madness. It was different from the rest of the animation during game play and added a nice visual intermission. Pushing it more toward realism could be cool too though.
Kieran
2021-03-08 16:03:01 +0000 UTC
