Sketchwhales

Winter stroll

2012-02-14T22:30:00.002+01:00

Doubutsu 7 & 8

2012-02-11T16:23:00.000+01:00

Look! Two pages this weekend! Amazing!

Doubutsu 6

2012-02-04T18:35:00.000+01:00

And the reason it's up on a saturday, is because google's delayed publication always screws me over somehow, so if it's done before sunday, I just upload :)

No update this sunday.

2012-01-26T14:35:00.002+01:00

I'm away from my tablet and a scanner so... But I'll return with a vengeance! or something.

Doubutsu 5

2012-01-21T21:47:00.000+01:00

Doubutsu 4

2012-01-15T05:00:00.004+01:00

Doubutsu 3

2012-01-09T00:04:00.002+01:00

Heh... so much for sticking to a schedule. But alright, it was christmas/new years/exams. What the fuck do you want :) ? All that out of the way, here's page 3, RIGHT after midnight.... damnit. Okay, this sunday, I'll try the schedule thing again.

久しぶりよ！

2012-01-08T01:36:00.002+01:00

It's Tetra watering flowers while it's raining. She's so silly.

Happy New Years!

Doubutsu 2

2011-12-18T08:00:00.001+01:00

Page 2 :)

On Game Design (again-again)

2011-12-14T00:53:00.000+01:00

Thinking about the making of games is something that almost never ceases for me.
Why are graphics important to so many? Where does story fit in Game Design? Why would you place a line between games and play?
It comes down to an understanding of the most basic definition for me. What is game design? Out of that question, subjects arise, such as, is that term even correct, or, how do we discuss art and business in this context.
First of all, the making of a game exists, basically, in a place separated from concepts such as art and money. There is only the crafting. I say that because I have come to understand game design in these three statements:

Game Design is the arrangement of a persons play in a work.
The means can be sound, image, narrative, space, culture, language and rules.
The goal is for that person to achieve a personal experience.

From here, naturally, "game" is an inadequate word, but I still don't think it necessary to use another one. In time, perhaps the meaning of "game" will change.

Business and money are also separate from these statements, but also not excluded. Business simply happens elsewhere, and fits more around the world in which the game is made and released. It's sometimes necessary.

The statements are for me personally to use. If someone agrees, that is good. But I can only argue for the value of the statements, since I have not personally given them a thorough try.

Doubutsu 1

2011-12-08T23:45:00.001+01:00

So. This is the like... fifth page 1. But now I show it. Next... page 2...

2011-11-23T18:46:00.000+01:00

Onsen

2011-11-21T10:57:00.001+01:00

Thank god the knights of skyloft have their own hotspring.

Puffy.

2011-11-14T00:18:00.000+01:00

It had color and dialogue. Now it's just series of pictures with a puffy cat.

折り紙！

2011-11-06T12:45:00.000+01:00

In Search of lost... SHHH!

2011-10-25T14:33:00.001+02:00

Sacre Cæur

2011-10-15T21:56:00.001+02:00

In this church in Paris, the custodian was constantly shushing the poor tourist. It was silly and hilarious.

Ungratefulness

2011-10-09T12:19:00.000+02:00

Okay, be positive Jacob: You like the line art, especially the first and third frame. And you like the action in the third frame. And actually the colour too. For the rest... the colour sort of ruins it. But you did finish a single-page comic, which you've wanted for a long time, so that's cool.

Progress

2011-10-08T16:51:00.001+02:00

The title is sarcastic...

Smokey

2011-10-04T08:10:00.001+02:00

"Do not take me for some conjurer of cheap tricks!"

2011-09-28T09:36:00.001+02:00

2011-09-24T02:43:00.001+02:00

I returned from a night a of drinking, boiled some noodles and put on Whisper of the Heart. Suddenly I felt an extreme longing for that far of country...

Rainy Morning

2011-09-18T10:45:00.001+02:00

Little Elephant

2011-09-17T10:52:00.001+02:00

Wino

2011-09-16T08:38:00.001+02:00

Regardless

2011-09-13T15:11:00.001+02:00

How much is taking on too much?
I think know my limits. But I still try to push them regardless. I guess I hope borders can be moved. Or maybe I don't really consider it.

Getting up

2011-09-11T15:57:00.001+02:00

I once took a little animation course, from which I learned very little. But I did get to watch one of Disney's old masters, teach students at CalArt (look it up). He was amazing. The speed and precision at which he could draw a man getting up was mind blowing.

Sunday morning

2011-09-11T12:11:00.001+02:00

I waste a lot of time, looking for news and interesting stuff online. I'm sure almost everyone does. It's so easy. Internet is always available, so checking just one more time is no problem. If only I had the selfrestraint to NOT do this. But then think of all the useless news I would be missing out on. And don't forget japanese videos of cats, trapped in tissue boxes.

Play All These Games

2011-09-09T15:04:00.001+02:00

2011-08-30T18:02:00.000+02:00

My girlfriend kickstarted me into sketching Doubutsu again. Which is now going to be one page long.

2011-08-28T14:30:00.000+02:00

Wuuu~~ I'm back!

Deer

2011-07-23T21:23:00.000+02:00

I hate feeling art-blocked. But that's how it is. I managed to do this, which, is not exactly a good piece of art, but is a good example of how I finally figured out to do watercolors in photoshop. So that's cool.

The Mail

2011-06-08T15:58:00.003+02:00

Bet'cha you don't see much Dickens fanart, huh?

In a friggin' bathtub!

2011-06-01T06:44:00.000+02:00

This is for a story idea. To say that I am getting ahead of myself is not unfair.

'nother page

2011-05-26T18:02:00.000+02:00

It's going... swimmingly!

Script, DONE!

2011-05-22T17:33:00.000+02:00

This is nice. I know, in detail, where my story is going, but the script is casual enough to let me sketch-draw each frame to my liking.

Here is page 4 as it is for now, without frames or text bubbles, and still missing some drawings.

Crazy guy

2011-05-05T12:18:00.000+02:00

He's nude and insane!

Tetra

2011-05-01T07:06:00.000+02:00

I don't remember where I finally got the name Tetra from. It wasn't the pirate from Zelda though... Never mind Characters (and everything else for that matter) always get far more tangible when you catch the right name. The main character for Doubutsu is qutie tangible, but I still don't know his name.

Cat!

2011-04-26T11:59:00.001+02:00

He can't catch it!

2011-04-25T10:22:00.000+02:00

So I took a bath and had the whole "writer's epiphany" where all scenes just sort of clicked. Which of course meant that I knew had to cast away almost all I'd actually made, draw some new sketches and rewrite the script completely. But at least the story is less shit. Oh look, pictures. With... a cat murderer? And a huge finger?

2011-04-24T07:07:00.000+02:00

Doubutsu changed a lot yesterday. The page 4 I posted is gone and these scenes are either changed or gone.

Doubutsu Page 4

2011-04-15T15:03:00.000+02:00

The sketching/layout of Doubutsu is proceeding.

Another Sketch-to-Sprite

2011-04-05T07:22:00.000+02:00

The transition is quite amusing. Like in the old Final Fantasy art. So much was lost back then :D

A little whale

2011-04-04T16:55:00.001+02:00

Moomin

2011-04-03T17:59:00.000+02:00

Look, he grew a beard.

First page, sketch

2011-04-01T13:17:00.000+02:00

First page, looks good, doesn't it?

Doubutsu

2011-03-30T11:37:00.000+02:00

Hey, sketches from my new comic, Doubutsu. I just purchased an intuos4, so I can draw it while in Japan. I dig this thing here.

I'm also working on the script. After a few short comics over the last two years, I think I have a good sense of where to start, on a comic. Let's hope it results in a better comic overall.

meanwhile, in Japan...

2011-03-07T13:41:00.000+01:00

So apparently, Nintendo once made a console that was beautiful O_o

And although I've seen a lot of cool stuff in Japan, this thing here deserves a little update.

Bad iOS game: Ash

2011-01-30T23:05:00.000+01:00

I like to think: "Either say something right, or don't say it at all."

But writing like this, is so stupid, that it creates a barrier around it, making it impossible to find a place to start, when you want to explain why it makes the video game community a worse place to have an interest.

So in this is, I'd rather express myself poorly, than not say anything at all:

Ash, a game for the iOS devices, is a bad game. It's controls are fundamentally lacking, the writing is just thrown out, and the fact that it uses turn based battles, which are initiated randomly, is not a plus point, which is simply acceptable because lazy japanese game designers did it in the early nineties and continue to do so to this day. It's just bad game design.

And to rub a little salt in, the graphics are simply taken from RPG Maker VX. That's simply insulting to any person who purchases this miserable game, especially if they do so because of IGN's endorsement.

The app store is filled with bad games. Ash is one of them. An alternative, if you absolutely crave japanese game design, is Chaos Rings. I like to end on a positive note.

Cow Cosplay - Finished!

2011-01-27T15:01:00.000+01:00

Here it is:

Stop Accepting Ineptitude

2011-01-26T14:04:00.000+01:00

It shouldn’t be neccesary to explain this, but bad controls equals bad games. You can’t get to say “despite its’ bad controls, it’s still a very good game.” You can praise other parts, but it’s still broken nonetheless.

But even seasoned game pundits seem to accept touch screen games for being naturally inferior and then simply continue to praise them to the heavens, for just the effort.

I bought N.O.V.A for the iPhone and I tried the demoes of Modern Combat and Modern Combat 2. I even paid for Battlefield 2. There is no reason to try and sugarcoat this. The controls are bad. Unresponsive and not the least bit tactile.

All reviews note this. And praise them nonetheless. “Oh it’s so amazing to see something like this on a cellphone!” they say. No. No it’s not. The iPhone is a technical beast and less than the iPhone is also capable of 3D shooters.

But when the Nintendo DS and Wii had poorly designed games released, the hammer dropped. Why? Because these were stated game systems.

Well guess what? When a game is released for a device, it’s a game system. And a broken game that only costs a dollar is still broken game.

Two days ago, Dead Space was released for the iOS devices. Unanimously, the controls are criticized. Well obviously. It’s the same controls as Battlefield 2 featured. But the overall game is still praised. At least it tried.

It’s not about criticizing just to be critical. It’s about demanding developers to do the effort that is required of them. I know it can be hard to put words to game design. We aren’t as trained in enunciation what, how and why a game works, as we are when it comes to films. But never before have games been as big a part of our lives.

We owe it to ourselves to understand when we aren’t being respected by the designers, whose creations we invest our time in.

it has a cold

2011-01-03T17:23:00.000+01:00

I just drew this on the train.

I like the idea of humanoid interfaces.

Tools are proxies for what we want to do. The less developed we are, the more abstract the proxy is. A humanoid interface seems quite tangible compared to PC with a mouse and keyboard.

Abuse & Play on the Touchscreen

2011-01-03T01:49:00.000+01:00

I don’t want for games to be a science. So it doesn’t seem like I should call for correct or specific terms. We get enough of that with the insane hunt for correct naming of genres and other inane nerdy banter like that.

But commonly defined and understood terms can be a great help to describe and understand the new and misused.

The title says it all.

We are all, no matter which touch-screen device we use, quite blessed by the extreme functionality on display while using the iPhone.

It doesn’t dictate, but exemplifies what is the most tactile, pleasant and beneficial way of playing on a touchscreen.

We press the home or sleep button, and then we slide to unlock. On the homescreen and all the proceeding menus we swipe around to navigate and when we find something interesting we point it out and enjoy. Slide. Swipe. Point.

The other ways of inputting all comes from these three.

Slide is finite (in both space and time). Precise and restless (I’ll get to that). Unlock, volume and playtime. Swipe is fast, inertial and tactile. Point is decisive and responsive.

Of course Apple’s marketing chose to call it all fun but we can’t all think alike.

So as a general touchscreen-only interface (compared to the Nintendo DS and its’ phystical buttons), Apple is the vanguard, concerning how this should be used.

Behind these three moves is a less obvious but absolutely equally important point:

Only one hand is used for input. Being less obvious, more explanation is needed.

The small screens of the iPhone and Nintendo DS are a good but lacking explanation as to why only one input device should be used. For each input device, screen real estate is lost. But counter-examples such as the most excellent game Reckless Racing serves to show that this isn’t dogma. Adhere to it nonetheless. It will serve you well.

The single input device concept is bound to the three touch screen input methods and their optimal implementations.

While not a genre by themselves, the Legend of Zelda games are quite distinguishable. The two games of the series released for the Nintendo DS too, but in their own way. They are the perfect examples of how to re-imaging classic game concepts to a new platform. The success of this is not just lossless, but even an improvement. On a scale determining whether a touch screen game has an intelligent input design, Zelda is the good end.

Since I don’t like to point out ineptitude, I should resign to simply make the other end of the scale dual stick emulating controls. Plenty of games land in this category. I don’t need to rub it in on a single game.

I’m saying that there are four core features to take heed of in touch screen design. Not just game touch screen design.

Without a template game from Apple, iOS developers have instead resorted to often recreating the thumb stick featuring controllers of modern video game systems.

When simulating a thumb stick on a touch device, a three hundred and sixty degree slide-able point is presented. Hold and drag this point in a direction, and then hold this direction for continuous movement, camera navigation or weapon fire.

This goes completely against what has been so carefully exemplified as functional on a touchscreen. While not infinite, non-finite is a fine term to describe the amount of time the slided area is to be held with this setup. This makes input feedback impossible. How far has the user’s finger slid? For how long? Worse still, there’s no physical barrier to stop the sliding.

In other words, using slide in this way, is non-finite and patience demanding.

Using two of these thumb stick simulators is even worse, because then two thumbs are eating away at screen real estate, while performing unresponsive and intangible inputs.

Before I get to the Zelda games, I would like to point out that Epic Games created a tech demo for their Infinity Blade game, called Epic Citadel. While not a game, it is play. And it absolutely is the best example of functional first person controls on a touch-only device yet.

Controls consist of the user pointing to a point they wish to go to and swiping to navigate the camera. This is done with a single finger. A first person shooter could benefit from gun control consisting solely of pointing to the desired area to shoot. Strafing could be enabled by widening the field of vision with around 20-30 degrees.

As for Zelda, this Japanese commercial should be sufficient exposition:

A single input device has successfully replaced a digital pad or thumb stick, and combined non-intrusive interactive HUD elements, function buttons are replaced. The input methods don’t go against the descriptions I outlined in the introduction and very little screen space is obscured in the process.

Only subpar games are time wasters. Games should give us experiences, fun, inspiration, understanding and relaxation. As developer you will be glad that you changed you game to benefit from a touch screen instead working against it, trying to turn it into what it definitely is not. As a player, accepting poorly designed games just to satiate your thirst for something that exists on another platform, will only make you thirstier.

And just to make sure that you don’t think I only believe the two Zelda games are imbued with thoughtful and effective touch screen controls, here are some other examples of games that fall into place with my ideas:

Zenbound 2

Kosmo Spin

Soul Bubbles

ChuChu Rocket

Edge

Perfect Cell

Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!

Cut the Rope

Meteos

Game Design

2010-12-16T23:21:00.000+01:00

Hey look. I designed a level.

If a game designer stumbles upon this blog, do you do like this too?

Fruits expanded

2010-12-08T17:51:00.000+01:00

I want to base a movie on my fruits drawing.

Think Chocolat, but with fruits. Jim Carrey plays the new person in town, who warms the hearts of the stark fishermen and disillusioned housewifes, with his southern charms and easygoing attitude to sex and children.

Fruits

2010-12-08T00:01:00.000+01:00

The joke behind this picture doesn't translate into neither writing nor English...

"We don't take kindly to your kinda type around here."

iOS gaming 2: Kosmospin Again

2010-12-04T14:19:00.000+01:00

You can hardly say that I communte a lot, so it isn't there I get to experience my iOS games. Still, I do find the time.

Kosmospin's characters and world are growing on me. Sure the characters are stereotypes (french person, british military man and so on). But they're cute and lively. Acquinting them in the actual levels and not just the menus though would definitely make them more alive.

And now we're at it, could they please eat some of all those dang treats I rescued? It seems like they just like hogging them from Ufo.

"Why won't you eat them, damnit!"

The meat of Kosmospin, the quests (or levels as we'd normally say) is not of a huge amount, but the difficulty, which is quite engaging and rewarding does make it last a while. Some of the objectives though, are a little cheap (gather 1000 points...!).

Perhaps the various levels could use some balancing. Often the constant bombardement of Ufo makes completing a task neigh impossible and quite frustrating. In those cases, there's nothing to do but make for failure, since there's still no restart button. It ends of meaning that the possibility of completeing a level is based solely on which random balls (and amount of them) that Ufo ends up hurling at the planet.

I don't know if I'll have more to say about Kosmospin, but I might. If not, there are still plenty of good iOS games to discuss.

iOS gaming 1: Kosmospin

2010-12-03T10:48:00.000+01:00

Seeing as I've always loved my mobile games and never had any issues with engaging in a story on a small screen, I do ever so hope that iOS gaming will eventually be more than cheap 5 minute thrills. Until then, Kosmospin falls neatly in-between the two.

The newest addition to my iOS games, is Kosmospin, by, if I'm not mistaken, Swedish developer Simogo (Simon + Gordon?).

Spin the planet to control Nod, the little character on the planet, to collect treats and deflect incoming balls from the menacing Ufo.

Lovely music and breathing visuals with a bit of written humour. I just hope they create a new icon. This one is just to plain to do the game justice.

Besides an endless mode, there are also a bunch of small objective based levels, with more to come.

Bounce various spheres back to Ufo

Importance

What is important about this game, is that Kosmospin, besides being a good game overall, is a very fine example of a touchscreen game. The little spin move that the game consists of, and the sliding-of-finger motion that the player performs is as natural and unintrusive as the core iOS systems normally are.

Before iOS gaming can become truly great, as few games do even today, a common understanding and acceptance of what works for input and play is needed. Kosmospin definitely has this and I hope Simogo's next game, on a yet unrevealed platform, will continue their touchscreen success.

2010-09-20T22:35:00.000+02:00

Here are the first five frames (3 fs?) from Cow Cosplay.

Totally doing comics. No lies.

2010-09-19T00:21:00.000+02:00

I'm drawing and inking directly into my sketchbook. Totally a lazy way, but hey, frames are getting done and I like the looks.

I'm thinking of putting together 3 pages or so and then going back into hiding...

Started a new deviantart

2010-06-20T21:07:00.000+02:00

I started thinking that I needed to show my comics in a little more effective way. I couldn't really figure out which forum would be good, so I started a deviant art instead.

sketchwhale.deviantart.com

And speaking of which, here is a concept drawing for my next comic, Cow Cosplay:

Dog House - Done!

2010-05-24T17:19:00.000+02:00

Wow. I'm like WAY slower than I thought....

But anyway. Here it is. Enjoy.

hmmm hmmm... much... hmmm

2010-03-31T21:13:00.000+02:00

Let's see... Doghouse is soon done, I should think. I drew the frames for page 21 today (out of 27). Just need the clean-up and so on after that.

After that, more comics should be made^^ and faster. But I know that's not gonna happen. I'm slow and lazy.

Cruel Endings

2010-03-14T12:42:00.000+01:00

I really wonder how many people decided not to have children after reading "A Farewell to Arms".

( ;´ __ `; )*sniff*

I also saw Summer Wars. It was really impressive that they managed to mix so many themes and still make a decent, if not good, movie. I liked both the romantic comedy elements and the action elements, but the action still was very awkward because it was such a bad case of Hollywood Hacking.

So if you liked this, then you'll like Summer Wars too. Still don't know why everybody so desperately needs to compare it to Miyazaki. The only similarity is that they are good Japanese auteurs ~~~ -y(´ o ` ),..

Hello and Welcome

2010-03-13T16:22:00.000+01:00

Uhhh, this is exciting. I've been messing around with different sorts of blogs like Wordpress, LiveJournal and Tumblr, but this here, this is nice. I'm gonna stay here.

My name is Jacob. I study Japanese at the University of Århus and I draw. So, how about we start of with a drawing?

それで、じゃ　また。