I'm not even sure where to begin but the second place winner is officially our title font. This is what we're going with for the remainder of our game's direction going forward. We have our hero header and ... I dig it.

SUMMARY

• WINNING HEADER: Due to unforseen licensing issues, we went with the runner up. The hunt for a subtitle type begins but we have our title.
• ART DIRECTION & DESIGN GUIDE: Forming an identity, we need a body font, footer, and so on. Colors, textures, shapes, and rhythms all being deciphered and pilfered into one doc (see below for example.)
• PRESSURE TO MOVE ON: The more time spent on art, the less there is on gameplay. The sooner we knock this out, the quicker we can focus all our energy on it.
• VIDEO NEXT WEEK: We'll integrate everything together into the game for show and tell. Getting all of this sorted out now means not worrying about it later. But given how hard it is to say no, it was either now or never.

Last week, we ran into a licensing issue I hoped could be resolved. Long story short, I chose the path of least resistance. The agreement terms were a bit too much and it felt as though the extreme ease as well as close win of the second place winner was a sign. So, we're going with it.

Even if we don't end up with a great game, perhaps we'll instead have an interesting story. Let this be a cautionary tale for all of you out there. Don't be like me. Do your research.

The way our runner up looked in submenus was really the telltale. With a group of artist friends I showed this to, there was unanimous agreement it workred ... uh worked. Maybe it's the IKEA effect? Sometimes you'll like something even if it's subpar simply because you were invovled. But I've decided to trust everyone, the audience, friends, and family. There's an intution invovled. In the end, I think everyone was right. Never understimate the power of a Jungian collective unconscious.

The title header was created by legendary designer Vernon Adams, repsonsible for many classics such as: Monoton, Bangers, Holtwood, Stardos, Mako, Francois, Nobile, Norican, Amatic, Damion, Michroma, Bowlby, Pacifico and more! You can find all his works on Google fonts. If you'd like to show support for his legacy (and family), you can do so here: https://sansoxygen.com/product/vernon-adams-classic-fonts-t/

FORMING AN IDENTITY: LET'S TALK ABOUT GUIDES

Creating a design guide for an indie game is priceless in helping to achieve a polished, cohesive, and professional final look across all platforms and publications:

• Not necessary, but REALLY nice to have.
• Avoid sameness sydrome: Don't just use the assets you purchase out of the box, modify them! A lot of games plauged by visual monotony are because indies don't follow a well thought-out self-governing rule. This is especially true if you rely heavily on asset store purchases.
• Establishes a unique visual identity and brand, which is important for standing out from the endless sea of content everywhere.
• It helps to establish consistency throughout a game, which leads to an immersive experience for players.
• Saving time and resources, it also allows faster and more efficient production.
• Reference for future expansion, such as new characters, levels, or features, ensuring that new elements are consistent with current and legacy (old) ones.

Below you'll see the pages created so far. I promised myself afterward most of our focus would be on game development. I realized we had spent weeks on art when we should be focusing on mechanics. So, I'm going to try and keep this to a minimum.

I admit it feels like this shouldn't take long. But old habits are hard to break. As a former artist on AAA titles, I grew accustomed to a different priority. At the factory floor of the companies I worked at, awards littered the lobby time after time. Polish was our goal and we never stopped until each pixel was perfect. Bleed till we succeed was our motto.

CROSSROADS: ART VERSUS GAMEPLAY

Ideal development is one where you get the bare minimum accomplished and throw it out to the world. You get feedback, iterate, and repeat. I wrote Task Tracker Pro as a means to help achieve this. And yet with Can You Dig It, there's an obsession with polish.

This is a different beast. We're indie, not AAA, and too much of my instincts are caught in aesthetics.  But rightfully so since it's what we've been conditioned to during the last decade. It's hard to let go yet there's a need to allow good enough to be good enough. For hours on a large team you're accustomed to one thing as your primary focus. But here, we're doing everything. Losing focus can mean losing time and ultimatately the game.

It takes a breaking of old habits to form new ones. In sharing progress, I realize we need to move on as soon as possible. I'm promising myself once we get past the design phase (fingers crossed), all will be figured out, have direction, and then we can move on to playtesting without worry. I hope it's the case, the sooner, the better.

ART VOMIT: HERE'S THE REST OF IT...

And more to come...

BACK IN THE DAY (WHEN I WAS YOUNG I'M NOT A KID ANYMORE)

A few years back a document was made for unpublished graphic novel Goodnight, Tiger. It was in essence my own version of Cowboy Bebop mixed with Chronicles of Riddick. Like many projects, it got shelved due to time and budget constraints but the design guide remained. On rare occasions, I look at it inspired to someday resume. It's a fun example of another layout paradigm and wanted to carry on in this tradition.

MORE TO COME, STAY TUNED

The demo continues to come along. The core is being refactored to make sure it's bug free. When is it rolling out? Not sure but soon (hopefully). More ideas keep piling up. For details, check out our task tracker list.

Task Tacker Pro | Progress 49% Count(82/166) : https://tasktrackerpro.app/public-tracker.php?editmode=false&bugid=&usid=67616265406d6f6e6172636867616d65732e6e6574_33&project=Can_You_Dig_It

More to talk about but until then, to be continued...

gabearts305