#and the few cartoony ones were very specifically stylized

[rolandkaros]

born to draw cartoons forced to agonize over realism

[silasopossum]

just got the notification that my base is officially in transit to the USA, so im gonna discuss my plans for him rq :]

so basically, all my fursonas have historically been feline (once i got over my horse art phase. i was never really connected to my horse sona anyways). i WOULD have gotten a feline headbase, but the problem with that is very few makers specifically sell a BOBCAT base, it's usually a canadian lynx or domestic cat or lion or something. cool, but i love focusing on small details in species differences so it would bug me forever if i put my bobcat fursona on a canadian lynx base. the other issue is that if i DID make a fursuit for my bobcat sona, i would 100% want a realistic base, since her cartoony design changes so often. plenty of makers sell realistic 3d printed or resin bases, however i am NOT confident in my ability to transfer a realistic design onto a base myself (especially since most realism fursuits involve airbrushing. i dont think i could do that well in an ideal environment, much less my 115 square foot bedroom which is my only workspace). i just dont feel i would be able to do her justice... and i wouldnt really want a toony styled head for my actual fursona.

and making a base myself isn't an option because 1. i cant even sculpt clay symmetrically, it'd drive me crazy if i tried it and 2. aforementioned tiny apartment problems. im not dealing with foam going everywhere... OR learning how to 3d model and print or resin pour or whatever else people use to make fursuits.

so i was looking through makers just for funsies and then i found the opossum base by ligris cybernetics / ligrisprints. and idk why but every ounce of my impulsive body decided "YES. OPOSSUM FURSUIT. NOW." ive never even had an opossum fursona before so i have no idea why i was suddenly so sure about it. but i was! so i decided to just make a new character specifically for this project.

i decided on the name silas (at the URL implies) and i designed a quick character on the fly, based entirely off of photos of real opossums instead of already having an idea. this was interesting for me, since i didnt realize how common the white spots on opossum ears are? i always thought they were only black, but most photos i found showed a little bit of pink/white so i added it to the design

(quick sketch, drawn over the sale image on ligris cybernetics' website. i also loosely based this off of the stylization of my one other opossum character's design. the black bits under the eyes are going to be eyelashes, cut out of felt. the grey will PROBABLY be fur markings, but i might change that to black felt too)

opossums are also fairly easy to design, since they are typically recognizable with only two fur colors (white and grey), and their faces are usually mostly white. it'll be easier for me if i only have to buy two fur colors.

another thing i'm planning on is having handpaws- this will be easy since opossums always have naked fingers... so i'm planning on just buying a pair of fingerless gloves and adding fur to the glove part and leaving my fingers out. will be much easier to wear too

one thing im unsure of is how to fur a moving jaw... ill need to look up some tutorials for this. because i think if i dont add at least a little fur around the hinge, the mouth will look way too wide...

another small issue is that this maker tells tpu ears for basically any species EXCEPT opossums. so my plan is to buy some fosshape plastic and make ears out of that? ill also add minky fur OR felt to them to add the color patterns. i havent decided between the two yet, but i think painting the ears would look strange? even if it's technically more accurate for the real animal.

i also got some fur color swatches a few weeks ago. getting swatches from fursuitsupplies, i tried out baby pink monster, silver lux fox, super short white, silver beaver, and silver lux shag. i like the color of the silver lux fox best, but the texture of the lux shag seems better for an opossum character, so i'm unsure. the beaver feels nice but is too short for what i want the longer bits of fur to be. the super short is nice, but i will still probably get the fur all in one length and just shave it. the monster fur feels gross to touch so i'm definitely not using that. i already know what minky fabric is like so i didn't bother getting samples for that (but i probably will order samples when i decide concretely on what fur to get once the base comes in, just to be sure of the color before i spend money on it).

i'm thinking of covering the nose of the base with pink minky OR pink felt, but i'm not sure if that would work with the base, so i'll decide that once i actually get my hands on it. otherwise, i will be painting it. i also think i'm gonna make a tongue with minky fabric

tail will also be a thing. since opossum tails are prehensile, i want to make it posable... i thought about using plastic ball joints / doll spines, but i know from my longfurby adventures that those are kind of heavy, so i think i will use wire instead.

not gonna bother with a bodysuit, those sound hellish to walk around in. i'm just gonna wear long sleeves and long pants

another thing i an excited / nervous about is adding hair... i want silas to have hair. SPECIFICALLY revenge era gerard way hair

and i know a lot of fursuit makers create hair by putting together pulled-out yarn OR brushing out fur both ways... but i don't like how that looks. since if were meant to believe that a plush in the case of a fursuit tail is flesh, and fur is their actual skin/fur... then it's just like... amorphous globosus... or a gigantic skin tag / tumor... TO ME... many fursuits make this look amazing don't get me wrong but i just couldnt get it out of my head if it was on my own suit. so i decided that i'm going to try and weft the hair, like in this tutorial? https://www.tiktok.com/@chaoticreations/video/7334668616350092577 (sorry for tiktok link, i know this creator uploads to youtube but i couldn't find the short) and this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo4FCmT1DP8 i'm thinking that depending on how i'm able to fur the head, i might be able to make a kind of wig thing that magnets on? i don't want to add the hair directly onto the head in case it looks like shit and i get tired of it, so i want it easily removable. might use velcro instead... also want it really long in the back.

i also got the eye mesh pre-installed on the head by the maker. which will be easy for me if i like it... however i DID request slit pupils and i'm second guessing that decision right now. i'm also unsure if i shouldve made them green instead of grey... but i guess i'll see it once it arrives :]

i also was JUST barely in the sizing for a "small" size head according to this maker, but just to be safe i ordered a "medium" size head instead. if it's to big (which it probably will be), i'm going to add foam inside, which will probably make it more comfortable anyways. iirc you can also use foam to hide the hinges in moving jaws? so i can just use the foam for that too. not sure yet.

and i already have sandpaper and stuff for sanding down the 3d print. just gotta wait for it to arrive... probably a month since it's gonna go from poland to the usa... if it gets lost in shipping i WILL cry (since mail people love to just not deliver to my apartment complex. because apartments are haaaaaaaard to deliver to (even though all the doors are easily accessible from the street with no key necessary)...)

[2ofswords]

Ooof, the main Pathologic tag is having an interesting time right now! And I feel like giving my two cents (and I absolutely feel NOT like main tagging this, but why not talk here on my blog, where few people can see)

Short story about what is happening (at least from my perspective): Some new person in the fandom drew a comic, that depicted Artemy with a very big body and tiny head next to a teeny-tiny Daniil. Another person, who saw that and found issues with it, talked about it on their own blog (and maybe main tagged it? I'm not sure about that but who cares) and explaned how it plays into bad depictions and stereotypes. That person was pretty clear in the description of it being bad but also very very clearly states, that they dont want other people to be harassed here. They clearly use it as an example for racist behavior in the fandom. Flash foward to the main tag complaining about people policing other creators' art and saying that this one "isnt really that bad."

Like... okay. I have seen the artwork and what I think is the original criticism of it. And I think, my opinion on the general matter is pretty obvious if you look at the way I describe what happened here: In my opinion the original author is pretty spot on. The criticism is also strict but not unkind and explains at length what the problem with the art ist. The artwork is indeed both stylized and relatively tame. However, I think the original point of the criticism is, that even well-meaning and stylized cartoony art (or sometimes even espacially that one) can fall into bad stereotypes. The original post also goes out of its way to explain, that drawing Artemy as a big and tough and/or fat man is completely alright, but that the way the "huge build small head" - stereotype is bad and the unrealistic comparison between Artemy and Daniil in the depiction of an interracial couple is a problem. Which... come on, that is a pretty normal take! And again, this was criticism and not harrassment, even if you would disagree with this! On the other hand, yes, there is no reason to harass the person, who made the comic or even bring it up further. The comic wasn't made to specifically depict a stereotype or be harmfull, even if it sure framed things in a way that is... quite unfortunate. The point was made, the criticism is very vissible. Point taken. Either the person will improve or you have a magnificent reason to blog and move on. No need to bring it up multiple times, at least to this one person specifically. I honestly dont know, if that person received hate afterwards, but I will state loud and clear: If they did, that is both not okay and (in my opinion) thoroughly unnecessary! There is obviously a discussion that people can be had here and that one is about general fandom culture and not this one person making art! It is super disingenuous to take what happend and only frame it as "harrassment", since the original discussion is not about that but about genuine fandom depictions of characters! And one can and should have this discussion without literally harassing anyone! Which - again - is how this started! So please, can we like... not mix these two up? Because that does nothing but muddy the water and make talking about the important stuff really difficult. Most of the time I saw criticisms of the people getting harassed I always saw "this comic isnt even that bad, there were worse ones" and like... that is not better? Dont we want to talk about that?? Like... come on, guys! Criticism =/= Harassment! If you want to say you do not find the picture bad, just do that! I do not agree with you but I am sure that you can make your argument! (And I think a lot of people just got upset because they like that kind of art and felt attacked by the criticism... even if it attacked no one) If you wanna talk against harassement you can do that without being against the original argument! But of course, this is only about which side one is on for the people in the main tag. It is fucking "anti vs proship" all over again. And that frustrates me to no end.

[olderthannetfic]

Underage rpf is fine, but what about underage rp art?

--

I'd tend to interpret "rp art" as "roleplaying art", but since I assume you mean art of real people... Hmm...

Legally, that art might be on thin ice. It would depend on the exact wording of laws in your area and the style of the art and the exact thing depicted. Obviously, I'm not a lawyer, but photoshopping underage actor heads onto porn could potentially get you into legal trouble, AFAIK.

Morally/ethically... That's a personal call. My view is that cartoony art that doesn't look that much like the actor is fine. Really photorealistic art can be awkward, and photoshopping heads onto porn is often squicky as well as frequently just being artistically dreadful.

But also... are we talking well known actors who got famous as teens and are still famous as middle aged adults? Is it obvious what age they were in a pic that inspired the art, or could they have been any age around late teens through twenties? Does this look like photorealistic porn of 11-year-olds or what?

I've seen plenty of people get their panties in a bunch over not at all photorealistic drawings of Harry Potter characters that are obviously trying to go with book descriptions over actors. I've also seen art that looks like it's the actors circa the first movie. And those actors are now adults. Specifics matter here for how squicky it is and in which ways.

Like with stories, I prefer to see fans being clear about who this content is for and keeping it in fandom spaces where it belongs rather than shoving it under actors' noses. The more it looks like a specific actor, the more it should be kept away from them.

I guess I don't often see fan art that is intended to be of actors as opposed to characters they play. I do see lots of kpop fan art, but the pornographic stuff is often visibly AU and most of the art is pretty cartoony. Sure, it might be in a variety of elegant manhwa-ish styles—I don't mean "cartoony" as one specific cartoon style only—but it's stylized illustrations, not an attempt to look like it's a photograph. I think that element helps set a clear boundary that nobody is claiming this is real and actually relevant to the people depicted. I mean, nobody is going to think that one super hot art piece of the evil Daechwita king using his sword hilt on the rebel is about Yoongi, you know? (No, I can't link to it. I think they deleted. Fucking twitter.)

Porn sites have plenty of fake celebrity nudes. (Yes, if you look, you can find Namjoon's head photoshopped onto some dude with many abs and a giant dick or whatever.) I think those are kind of tacky, but we're never going to rid the internet of the massive number of really horrendous photoshopped pics of female celebs. The fact that there are a few dude pics in there is no surprise. This tends to be less of a fandom thing and more of a porn site thing. You don't see this as often for underage celebs because it's super illegal many places, and porn sites don't want to get taken down. Ethically, my line is similar to that for fandom: set a clear boundary that this is fantasy material that has nothing to do with reality and that should be kept away from the person depicted.

The big thing that distinguishes art from textual stories is just that the use of a real face, especially in photomanips, makes that boundary between fantasy and saying it's really about the real person blurrier. So the more you're doing that, the more you want to establish very clear boundaries some other way.

Ultimately, you can't stop people from fantasizing, and most people get that it's not real.

[mysticsparklewings]

ToonMe

Yeah, yeah, look at me super-late to the latest popular Art Challenge as usual. :P In my defense, this challenge came at like the worst possible time, just after the whole drawing tablet fiasco, and so at first that combined with me not liking posting pictures of myself that often because I am uber paranoid about turning into a True Crime documentary subject, I was pretty convinced I wasn't going to hop on this particular bandwagon. But I kept seeing other people posting there's, and I noticed that quite a few used a few tricks to hide or almost disguise the photo/face part. And after a little while, though still mildly frustrating, I did get more accustomed to the new set up I have for digital art, and well...after more time spent trying to get just the right photo of myself than I care to admit, here we are. The #ToonMe challenge is unique in that it challenged me to find the right balance between my usual style and something more realistic. My proportions are usually very cartoony, borrowing heavy inspiration from Winx Club and Anime. Sometimes my coloring is softer and slightly more realistic, and sometimes I go for hard, cartoony cell-shading. And this isn't the first time I've been challenged with drawing myself, either. The main things I wanted to do/accomplish with my take on the challenge included: • A seamless, almost hard to notice transition between the Toon Side and the Real Side (as I'd seen on others' and taken a liking to) • Capture my physical, real-world style but also not over-complicate what I'd have to draw • Capture my drawing style accurately but without compromising too much of the look of the photo • Make it unique to me. Naturally, a lot of how this process was going to go relied pretty heavily on me getting the base photo just right. I tried a few other looks and some different angles before finally getting the photo I used here out of the mix. And yes, I could've just used a photo I already had on hand like I'm sure many other artists did without hesitation, but I wanted this to be fun and just in general when I take photos of myself I like them to be just so. It's very rare that I take photos of myself, let alone ones where I'm not prepared for the world to see me. I wanted to do this right. Once I finally had a photo I was happy with, then came the real challenge of toon-ifying half of it. (Well, probably more than half, but you get the idea.) Naturally, my used-to-be-bangs didn't want to cooperate with me when I took the photo, so my solution to that was to use my hair part/line as part of the dividing point. This also works out because I feel like dividing the hair more towards the center would've made the overall diving line more obvious. Using the part as a base makes the two halves blend together better when viewed from far away/as a thumbnail. Other than that, I kept it pretty half-and-half, including leaving one cat ear on the photo side and one on the toon side. (And ironically the cat ear and the shirt are the two most realistic things on the toon side.) I found the easiest way to do the toon-ifying was to start by just tracing the real lines for the toon parts, then going back and stylizing/adjusting them as necessary. The biggest adjustments I made were the very noticeable stylization of the eye and bringing my neck and shoulder in to more closely match my usual drawing proportions. And, technically the hair, but as I said I knew going in I was going to have to deviate from the photo to get the look I wanted, stylization aside. (My hair does cooperate and look like this sometimes, it's just when I was taking photos for this it decided not to and I couldn't be bothered to put off taking photos until a day where it chose to behave. If I didn't think it was authentic to me, I wouldn't have done it.) I do wish I had reconsidered my jewelry choices because it was only after I started working on it that I realized the extra challenge I had added for myself in choosing the necklace that I did. Likewise, I know very well the chain is not super realistic, but I could not be bothered to draw all the individual little chain circles by hand. So I took a short cut in drawing two lines, one relatively straight (following the non-existent curve of the necklace in the photo), one wavy, and then erasing the second one as necessary to create the illusion of a chain instead. Also, I specifically wore those earrings because I thought they would be cute and relatively simple to draw. And while I'm very sure I could've made much more complicated choices, I was still a little overly optimistic in just how easy these would be. One of the trickier parts of the lines was actually the lips. A lot of the time I skip drawing lines for the lips, because I normally do full-body drawings where the face is relatively small and it's hard to get the lines to look right on such a small scale, but if I wanted the seamless look from toon to photo, it was necessary here. I must've re-drawn both the top and bottom lines like ten times each before finally getting something I could live with. Additionally, while I could've gone back and added weight to the lines in some places, it seemed more natural here to leave them pretty much as-is. Anyway. With the lines done, I could move on to coloring and shading. And I was actually surprised by how relatively smoothly that process went. It did take a few layers and some back-and-forth, but it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be to get the semi-realistic soft shading I needed so the two halves would blend together nicely.   Sidenote: You can hopefully see here that I try my best to be fairly accurate with my color choices when I draw myself these days, right down to the grayish-blue of my eyes. The main things with coloring turned out to be 1. getting the shadows in the right places and 2. getting the line art to be dark enough you could tell it was there without it being too obnoxious. And while I don't normally do this, I found the best way to balance out the lines was to use an airbrush to make the lines lighter in some places and darker in others. I actually had the .png file saved twice, thinking I was finished, only to end up going back and making small alterations to the shadows (mostly on the face) and the lines later. Which, it's kind of a good thing I had to do that because it wasn't until the second time I was doing revisions that I noticed I'd totally forgotten the shadow the necklace was supposed to be casting on the skin. It's very subtle even in the photo, but it would've driven me crazy had I noticed it only after it had been uploaded/posted. I also made a very conscious decision to have the eyelash/brow semi-visible through the hair. The eye is a large part of my stylization, and even though in a normal drawing I would've covered it up, it didn't seem right to just cover it up here. But it also seemed very wrong to leave it at full-color, too. So this was my compromise. Speaking of which, the eyebrow I wasn't really sure what to do with, since normally I either just do thick lines for eyebrows or if I do fully outline them, like the lips, they're usually far away and pretty small, so there's usually not a lot to do with them. Hence why that is easily the biggest and most obvious giveaway on the toon side. I was equally surprised at how easy it was to do sunglasses. I was expecting them to be trickier, being a reflective surface and all with a few notable tiny areas to worry about. But I think in the end they were one of the easiest things to color and shade. And that was pretty much all I was absolutely required to do for the ToonMe challenge. Me being me, though, I wasn't quite satisfied with just that. From fairly early on I had converted the background for the toon side into a digital flat color of my usual "mystic hue," which in reality is what the wall behind me looks like even though it shows as more of a baby blue in the photo. One of the first additions beyond that that I made was a few carefully placed sparkles for a little extra pizzazz, but that wasn't quite enough. I cycled through a few different ideas; making the whole thing into a Polaroid or setting it into a phone frame, etc. Just something to make it a little more special. Still, I ended up coming back around to one of my initial ideas: Wings. I am, after all, MysticSparkleWings. I do have a digital pair of wings closer to the shape/style I tend to use for my signature, but those aren't quite high enough quality for something like this. So I defaulted to the same pair of wings I used to make my icon/avatar ages ago, which were originally made based on a pair of costume wings I actually have in real life. And had I thought this whole thing through a little more, I could have worn them and had one real wing, one digital one. But alas, I didn't plan that far ahead and by the time I had this realization, it was very too late to backtrack it. It's funny. I made that other digital pair from my signature, hoping to make a new Eclipse-friendly icon with them, but they're too high quality (300 pixels) for that (Eclipse icons are 100 pixels, where the old dA icons are 50) and yet too low-quality for stuff like this. They're just not very good for anything, are they?   Even after I added the wings and a few extra sparkles, I toyed with the idea of doing more, but I really couldn't think of anything else that I felt really confident would enhance the art rather than take away from it. So, I stuck my signature on the glasses lens (that seemed like the best non-intrusive place for it), and left it at that. I'm sure it's not as spectacular as it could be, but I think considering I originally wasn't even going to attempt the challenge that it's more than enough. I just wish this challenge has cropped up at a better time. Somehow all the super popular art challenges seem to appear when it's the least convenient for me and thus if I want to join in I end up doing so usually after everyone else has moved on. Ah well. Maybe next time. This one's done and I think it turned out okay. Back to my regularly scheduled non-challenge related art. ____ Artwork © me, MysticSparkleWings ____ Where to find me & my artwork: My Website | Commission Info + Prices | Ko-Fi | dA Print Shop | RedBubble |   Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram

[wormwood-mothman]

Flowers For You (Nedden Week Day 2)

A day late and a lot longer than I planned it to be, but I hope this is still enjoyable!

Lars hummed softly while placing the key in the lock and turning, getting ready for the day. He ran a florist shop in a shopping center in downtown, though most people thought other wise at first glance. He was always wearing black or some other dark colored clothes, and on warm days when he wore tank tops his countless tattoos were visible, and had a few piercings in his ears and one on his lip. Most people thought he looked 'too tough' to be in the florist business, but he didn't care. He always loved gardening, and being able to arrange what he grew beautifully for others was just an added perk in his opinion.

He immediately started work on an arrangement he wanted to get ready for the new shop across from him. He was surprised when the sign went up on the soft-colored building, announcing it as a tattoo shop. Most usually appeared very edgy, but who was he to judge? He finished it off with a handwritten note welcoming the shop owner to the center. He looked up when he heard the bell on the front door ring.

"What can I help you with?" He asked, putting finishing touches on the arrangement before setting it aside.

"Hey! I just opened up shop across the way, so I figured I'd introduce myself," the stranger said. Lars was taken aback completely. He was not expecting that. This guy was the new tattoo shop owner? He was wearing a flower crown! And dressed in very soft colors to match his shop! And was that glitter on his face on top of some faint freckles? He knew that the new tattoo shop would be unorthodox, but this? This was unheard of. But, he couldn't deny--the guy had looks. His eyes were a beautiful blue and bright with enthusiasm, and his whole demeanor seemed to radiate happiness and comfort. He was slightly shorter than Lars, and looked to be well-toned.

"Oh, you must be the owner of that new tattoo shop. I'm Lars," he held out his hand for the other to shake, walking out from behind the counter.

"Mathias," the stranger-- Mathias-- said while shaking his hand. "I, um, hate to be rude, but you aren't exactly what I'd expect a florist to look like." Lars shrugged while grabbing the arrangement of peach roses with baby's breath and light pink anemones.

"I'm not surprised, I get that a lot. I was about to drop these off for you as a welcome gift, but since you're here I can give them to you in person." If it was even possible, Mathias seemed to grow even more excited upon seeing the bouquet.

"Oh, thank you! These are so lovely! And they match the place well, don't 'cha think?" He held the flowers up to his face with a huge grin. "I wish I brought something for you," he chuckled. Lars waved his hand dismissively.

"Don't worry about it, it's a welcome present." Mathias smiled at Lars, running a hand through his messy blond locks, careful not to knock his flower crown askew.

"Well, I still feel bad. Come by anytime you want, and I'll design a tattoo for you. I have a few ideas for one that would look good right... there," he poked at a small spot across Lar's elbow that was still bare. "I'd love to add to your collection!" Lars smiled softly.

"That sounds really good. Is there a specific time that's good for you?" Mathias shrugged.

"I'm good with pretty much any day. Just come in after seven so it's not during hours." Lars nodded.

"Okay. I'll be by, then." Mathias smiled waving with one hand while the other held the flowers close to him.

"Okay, I'll be expecting you!" He shouted while walking out and across to his shop. Once he was sure Mathias was out of earshot, Lars hid his face against the counter and groaned while smiling. Damn Mathias, and his adorably happy personality! It was infectious! But he was just so cute! He took a deep breath and pulled himself together and started working on different orders he had to have ready.

Later that morning, Antonio-- the owner of a café a few shops down, came in with a cup of Lars' favorite coffee, a flat white. Lars looked over thankfully while drinking as much as he could without burning his mouth. Antonio chuckled while leaning against the counter.

"Rough morning?" Lars shrugged.

"I guess. Have you seen the new shop?" Lars pointed across to Mathias' tattoo shop. Antonio lit up.

"Oh! That must be where the new guy is! I haven't been in, but Lovi brought him a call-in order this morning. He said he was too happy." Lars chuckled. He had known the two who owned the coffee shop for a few years. Lovi, or Lovino, was polar opposite to the happy man Antonio was. They seemed different in so many ways, but still worked together very well, both in business and as boyfriends.

"He is very happy. You should've seen the way he smiled when I handed him his welcome gift. It was like I had just handed him his most favorite thing in the world!" Antonio chuckled.

"Well, look at his store! It looks very soft. Flowers would look great over there!" Lars smiled.

"You think so? He really seemed to like them..." Antonio smiled while poking Lars.

"Ooh, I think you have a crush!" Lars swatted his hand away.

"I just met the guy, I can't have a crush on him already. Only time will tell with that. But he is cute. He has that kind of energy that you just can't help but smile along with." He smiled, thinking back to his encounter with Mathias. He looked over to see Antonio grinning.

"Mm-hm. Does he, now?" Lars rolled his eyes while taking another sip from his coffee.

"Don't you have a café to run? Or someone else to bother?" Antonio held his hands up in surrender while walking back to the door.

"Alright, alright. I know when I'm not wanted. But I also know what it looks like when someone's in love!" He left quickly before Lars could retort. He didn't have a crush! Sure, he thought Mathias was cute, but it wasn't like that. He just thought he was adorably energetic, and just had an air of being cute. He couldn't explain it but he just seemed so cute, and way too precious for the world.

A few days had passed since Lars had met Mathias without much contact between the two of them, but that changed when Lars decided to visit his shop after closing his up for the night. He brought another bouquet with him, this one of light red carnations and yellow roses. Lars was always careful choosing the right flowers for an occasion, and took care making the colors something that might appeal to Mathias. He walked across into his shop around seven. He set the flowers down and watched while he heard the buzz of a needle working. Mathias was completely fixated on the tattoo he was inking, his tongue poking out of his lips while his brows furrowed with intense focus. He utilized his flower crown now as a headband to keep his mess of hair out of his way. Lars smiled softly while sitting in the front area.

"I'll be with you in just a moment!" Mathias shouted once the needle stopped. Lars waited patiently for him to finish cleaning up and as the customer paid before leaving. Once finished, Mathias came running over, practically throwing his plastic gloves off anywhere.

"You came!" Lars chuckled, handing the bouquet.

"And I come bearing gifts." Mathias gasped softly while taking the flowers.

"Wow, these are really pretty! Thank you, Lars! I'll put them with the others!" He walked back to the counter and carefully placed the new bouquet next to the old one in the same vase.

"So, you said you had a few ideas?" Lars asked, sitting across from Mathias at a small desk with varying drawing supplies spread out across it.

"Oh, yeah! It all depends on what you're looking for. A lot of your tattoos are grayscale, so I've been sticking to that. It works out good, too. They fade slower, so it's less touch-up work." Lars nodded.

"Yeah, that part I really like." He looked over as Mathias flipped through some different designs he came up with for Lars. Most of them were very similar to his other tattoos, badass almost tribal looking designs that were mostly black with some areas of gray.

"So what do you think? You got a favorite?" Lars grabbed the sketchbook carefully and flipped to the back page it was resting on when Mathias started showing him his art, a stylized sketch of the bouquet he received the other day from Lars colored brightly.

"I really like this one. Do you think it'll fit?" He asked, looking at the empty spot from the crook of his elbow to the side of his bicep. Mathias chuckled.

"In size, yes. But in design? It's very different, are you sure?" Lars nodded.

"Yeah. You said you wanted to add to the collection, so I want a tattoo that reflects your style." Mathias smiled.

"Oh. Well, thanks. I take that as a compliment," he said while flipping to a blank page. "Well, at least let me make it something personalized to you, okay?" He pulled his knees to his chest and rested the sketchbook on his thighs, leaning over to peer closely at Lars.

"Personalized, how?" Lars said, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Mathias grinned before backing away.

"I'll make your tattoo special. Even if it's something in my style, it should be something you can identify with. Something that means something to you." Lars nodded.

"So, how do you go about that?" Mathias shrugged.

"Getting to know you. Figure out your likes, your dislikes, your personality... that kind of stuff, y'know?" He said without looking up from his sketchbook.

"So, what are you doing, now?" Lars peeked over. Mathias showed him the page, a detailed but cartoony sketch of Lars at the center and some different doodles along the side.

"Brainstorming. So, tell me some stuff about you."

"Like what?" Lars chuckled.

"Anything, really. Hmm," he hummed, pressing his pencil to his mouth. "Favorite color?"

"Black, probably." Mathias laughed softly.

"Black is a shade. Pick a color!"

"Why are you so particular? I don't know, blue probably."

"Nice! It's very calming, isn't it? Okay! Coffee, tea, or cocoa?"

"Coffee. What's with all the questions?"

"I'm getting to know you! What kind of coffee?" Lars shrugged.

"Flat white, usually." Mathias smiled, but with a slight grimace.

"Ooh, I can't really stand coffee like that. It's perfect just on it's own. But I usually go with hot cocoa more often. Anyways... favorite season?" Lars was still stuck on what Mathias said before. The hot cocoa didn't surprise him, but Mathias drinking coffee black definitely did. He didn't really seem like the type to like strong coffee.

"Probably spring." Mathias grinned.

"Should've seen that one coming, with all the flowers blooming at that time of year."

"Okay, well what about you? You're asking me all these questions, but I hardly know anything about you." Mathias looked over his sketchbook curiously before setting it aside.

"Do you want me to answer? Okay! My favorite color's red-- the color of passion, though I do like a nice light green too. I like black coffee, but prefer hot cocoa best, with sprinkles! And my favorite season's fall. I like getting to wear really big sweaters, and seeing all the colors from the leaves changing." He grinned at Lars. Lars smiled back softly.

"Sprinkles, huh?"

"Yeah! Especially rainbow sprinkles! It makes it look really cute. Can I go on asking you stuff?" Lars nodded.

"Okay. But you have to answer them too."

"No problem! Cats, or dogs?"

"Cats, probably. But I actually like bunnies better." He smiled while Mathias lit up.

"Aw, I love bunnies! They're so cute! Hmm, out of cats and dogs, I like dogs best. They have such a playful spirit! Favorite artist?"

"I like a lot of Van Gogh's work, he was really talented."

"Yeah he was! I like Van Gogh too!" Mathias continued to scribble in his sketchbook before continuing.

"What's your favorite kind of flower?" Lars laughed while groaning.

"You're making me choose? Ugh, hmm... tulips?" He said almost as a question.

"Are you sure?" Mathias asked while laughing.

"I guess. What about you?" Lars grinned. Mathias seemed to light up when he looked over at Lars.

"I like any, really. But if I have to choose, uhm, I like roses. Call me traditional," he shrugged. "Favorite app or social media?"

"Instagram, probably. I like being able to take and see pictures. It's good advertisement too, sometimes." Mathias nodded.

"I like Instagram, but I'm torn between that and Tumblr." He set the sketchbook aside after and continued smiling at Lars, not breaking his stare. Lars looked over his shoulder before back at Mathias, trying to figure out what he was looking at.

"Why are you staring?" Mathias shrugged.

"Jus' studying ya. Gotta know the canvas, y'know?" He leaned over closer, resting his hands on his knees. Lars backed away slightly, trying too hard not to stare at Mathias. After a few moments though, he gave up and looked over at Mathias. He didn't have any glitter on his cheeks today, but his faint freckles were still prominent against his pale but warm-toned skin. His eyes seemed like a deeper blue than before, but still bright with happiness and scrunched slightly with a smile. Mathias' smile grew.

"You know you're staring, right?"

"Well, so are you," Lars said, trying not to sound too defensive.

"But I'm doing it for a reason. Do you have a reason, too?" Mathias grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. Lars scoffed.

"Trying not to feel uncomfortable? Does that work for you?" He smiled slightly, trying to show he wasn't mad though he might've sounded it. Mathias held his hands and moved away from Lars.

"Okay, okay. Point taken. I think I got all I need to know for now to design your tattoo. For now. Would you be alright coming by again, so I can show you some more designs?" Lars nodded.

"Yeah, I don't mind." Mathias' always present smile grew.

"Cool! I'm closing up for the night, so I don't mean to kick you out, but I gotta get home sometime." Lars smiled.

"No, it's alright. Do you want me to help with anything?" Mathias shook his head while grabbing his things from the back.

"Nah, everything's all good for the night." He lead the way out, flicking the lights off before closing the door behind the two of them and locking up. "I appreciate the thought though. And the company, thanks for coming by! When are you coming in again?"

"How does Monday work? That gives you some time to work on different designs, and then if you want to take the weekend off." Mathias nodded.

"Yeah, that's perfect! I'll see you then!" Mathias said before leaving with a wave in Lars' direction. Lars waved back, smiling the whole time he walked towards his car. Mathias might have some odd behaviors, but he was definitely fun to be around, Lars decided.

The next morning, Lovino greeted Lars with his usual cup of coffee while Lars was busy at work. Lovino placed the cup on the counter after announcing his arrival, looking at it almost scrutinizing it.

"'Morning," Lars said, his eyes going wide in surprise as he took a sip. Lovino smiled softly with a laugh.

"I figured that was something you wouldn't order. When Antonio said you wanted a hot cocoa, I was surprised!" Lars swallowed the hot liquid with a surprise.

"I'm surprised, too. Did he say anything about why?" Lovino shrugged, putting his hand out to stop Lars pulling money out.

"It's been paid for already. I think it has something to do with the note that Antonio said the guy requested when he called it in." Lars looked at the writing on the side and laughed softly.

"Mathias did this, didn't he?" Lovino raised his eyebrow.

"Are you two dating or something?"

"What? No," Lars said defensively. "I'm sure friends can buy each other coffee with nice notes on it." Lovino scoffed.

"Sure they can. They can also stay at each other's stores for no reason until late." He smiled knowingly. "That's how it always starts..." Lars rolled his eyes.

"You two are being so nosy. How come?"

"We got a bet," Lovino replied.

"A bet?" Lars asked unimpressed.

"Yeah. That's all I can say though. 'Tonio and I decided if we were to tell either of you what it was about, it wouldn't work as well." Lars huffed.

"Well, that's great. As long as you two don't start meddling too much, I don't care. Does Mathias know?" Lovino grinned.

"Why do you wanna know?"

"Because I'm curious."

"Well, I'm not sure. Antonio might've told him, but I didn't." Lars nodded, taking another sip now expecting it to be hot cocoa.

"I got one question for you though-- why? He's so happy, and he just seems so different from you." Lovino asked. Lars shrugged.

"Why'd you choose Antonio?"

"Because he wouldn't leave me the hell alone," Lovino grumbled before smiling. "But in all honesty, it's because he was persistent, and just so friendly. He makes me feel special." Lars nodded.

"Well, that's the same with Mathias. You've talked to him before, so you know how friendly he is." Lovino nodded.

"Yeah. He's got way too much energy, though. He's like a kid on too much sugar. Except the kid is six-foot-something and dressed like a soft aesthetic blog." Lars shrugged.

"I think it's cute that he's so energetic. He's like if a puppy became a person. A really happy and energetic puppy-man."

"Of course you'd think that, you have a crush on him!" Lovino said. "Anyways, I should head back. Let us know when you two finally get together!" Lovino called out while leaving. Lars flipped him off casually while taking a sip from his drink.

Lars was busy cleaning up for the weekend, making sure all the flowers had water and that they would be over the weekend when the phone went off.

"Hello, Lars' floral. How can I help?" He answered the phone. There was some muttered whispers before it sounded like the phone was passed along to someone.

"Hello, I'd like to order a bouquet," the voice on the other line said. Lars grabbed a pen and notepad from by the register.

"Alright, no problem. What arrangement would you like?" More whispering came before a reply.

"Can you do a dozen English roses? It's not really for any kind of occasion, so anything goes." Lars started writing.

"Any specific color? And what's the delivery address?" Even more whispering, this time Lars could make out the words 'No, don't you dare!'

"Not really. It's for someone special, so how would you make it? If it was for someone you cared about?" The voice followed with the address, which Lars scribbled. When thinking about the question, Lars looked over at the colorful shop across from him.

"For someone I like? I'd go with something colorful, but not too bright. Pinks and reds are a good choice for color, since they can show different feelings like love and passion. Anything soft, really. You don't wanna go too overboard, y'know?"

"That sounds perfect! When's the soonest you can bring it by?"

"I'm about to close for the weekend, so probably Monday at the soonest. If it's for someone really special though, I'm sure we can work something out." There was a rustling sound as the phone was passed again.

"That, uh, that won't be necessary! Monday works well!" The new voice said cheerfully.

"Okay, so Monday. I'll make sure it's one of the first to go out, so around ten in the morning?"

"That sounds perfect!" Lars confirmed the information and ran the caller's card before hanging up. He sighed before starting to work on the arrangement-- deciding on a mixture of burgundy and purple. Sure, it was late, but it sounded really important to whoever those two were. And the third person in the background, they sounded like they were too nervous to call. He smiled softly. It's not like he knew them, so why was that third person so worked up over a phone call? Love sure is weird, he thought. Maybe he was in love. It was really soon to be in love with Mathias already, but there's different kinds of love. Not to mention that Mathias was just so likable. Maybe a little annoying with how happy he always seemed to be, but it was endearing. He made the bouquet as he would if it was for Mathias, like the caller asked, and put it with his other deliveries before closing up for the weekend and going home late.

Lars stopped by Antonio and Lovino's café first thing Monday morning before starting deliveries. He was honestly a little excited to see the reaction from the call he got Friday night, so he went as quickly ad he could to get to deliver that one. He made it to the address, a small apartment not far from his shop. He knocked on the door and waited until it was opened.

"I've got a delivery for--" he cut himself off in surprise when he saw a very disheveled Mathias.

"Lars? Hey!" Lars was frozen because oh dear, he was hot. Mathias had on a pair of fluffy blue pajama pants and no shirt on, leaving his muscular chest exposed.

"Hey," he finally replied with a smile. "I got these for you. If I had known this address was yours, I might've waited instead of waking you up." Mathias waved his hand dismissively before grabbing the flowers.

"Nah, it's fine. They're beautiful, thanks! Who ordered them?" Lars shrugged.

"There was two people that called." Mathias immediately looked annoyed, but still smiling somehow.

"Did one of them sound like he'd be really scary, and the other really happy?" Lars shrugged.

"I wouldn't say scary about the first one, but the other guy was definitely happy." Mathias chuckled.

"Of course they did..." he muttered. "I know who called it in. I'll get them for this, don't worry!" Lars chuckled.

"Get them for what?" Mathias shrugged, but the look in his eyes and blush on his cheeks showed he knew.

"I dunno. Hey, help me come up with a plan to get back at them later tonight!" Lars nodded.

"Sounds good to me." Mathias grinned while Lars turned to leave, pulling him on a tight hug before waving and shutting the door. Lars stood in front of his door for a few moments, trying to get his heart to calm down. It was beating so fast, and he really didn't want to chase after it. As he walked back to his car, he knew right then he was done in for-- he definitely liked him. Mathias was so adorable and happy, but he was also hot! There was no way he could get over this any time soon. And if what he saw was right, he wouldn't have to. He might have a chance.

Lars showed up to Mathias' shop later after seven, so he had time to clean up before. Mathias smiled when he saw Lars before playfully pouting when he saw he was empty-handed.

"What, no flowers?" Lars laughed softly.

"I gave you some this morning! Besides, if I keep giving you flowers, they'll take over your whole shop." Mathias smiled.

"But that would be cool! I like flowers!" Lars laughed.

"It really means that much?"

"Yeah!" Mathias replied eagerly, running across the shop and running back with his sketchbook. "I got a whole bunch of new things to show you," he said while flipping through to what he was looking for. Lars leaned over and looked at the drawings Mathias showed him. Some were very rough, but as Mathias explained them, Lars could see where he was going with the ideas.

"What do you think? Which is your favorite?" Lars smiled.

"I like them all. You're a very talented artist, but, uh... what about you? Which is your favorite?" Mathias looked surprised.

"Mine? Uhm... I think this one," he flipped a few pages to show a drawing covering the full page of the roses Lars gave him that morning in an almost abstract style. The outlines were dark, and the coloring was very similar to Van Gogh's paintings, with different areas looking like they were splattered with paint over the edges of the flowers. The drawing took Lars' breath away.

"I... wow," Lars chuckled. "That's the one. That's what I want to have you tattoo on me. It's beautiful." Mathias smiled while blushing.

"You think so?" Lars nodded, smiling back.

"Oh yeah. It's really good. When do you wanna start inking it on me?" Mathias shrugged.

"Why not now? I can trace it onto some transfer paper real quick, and then start the outline and some other line work now." Lars smiled.

"I got a better idea. It's getting kind of late, so how about you just start with the transfer, and then we can go out to get something to eat. You haven't had dinner yet, have you?" Mathias shook his head.

"Not yet. I was about to, though! Right after I got started with your tattoo..." Lars scoffed.

"That would take a while. Come on, let's get something to eat. My treat." Lars stood up and started heading towards the door.

"But, the tattoo..." Mathias started, looking towards Mathias confused. "Isn't that what you want?" Lars shrugged.

"I mean, yeah, it looks cool. It'll come out great. But, you've been in here all day, and I've been driving around all day doing deliveries. I wanna make sure we're both taking care of ourselves. C'mon," Lars walked backed towards Mathias and placed his hand on his shoulder. Mathias smiled dreamily at Lars, placing his hand on top of Lars' while standing.

"Alright, alright. Only because you asked so nicely." Lars smiled back and lead the way out. On the way over to Lars' car (they decided to take his since it was closer, though not by much), he saw Antonio and Lovino sitting at one of their tables talking. They both waved to them, but was Lars was the only one to notice the thumbs-up and excited smile Antonio gave him and the less-excited smile Lovino had while they waved back. He rolled his eyes while moving closer to Mathias as they reached his car.

They ate together at a small restaurant down the road Mathias swore by. At first glance, Lars could understand why he was so enamored with the place. Most of the decoration was a variety of plants and flowers, and a lot of the light was string lights that somehow seemed dim, but with enough kept the place well lit.

"This place seems a lot like you," Lars commented before taking a sip from his water. Mathias looked up curiously while playing with the swizzle stick in his lemonade.

"What do you mean?"

"The whole, eh, aesthetic of the place. It's soft, and comfortable. You give off a similar vibe." Mathias smiled.

"Aw, you think I'm soft?"

"Well, yeah," Lars replied with a soft smile. "You dress in soft colors, you just look really soft and adorable... it's hard to explain, but you just are." He chuckled. Mathias' smile grew.

"I'm so glad. Sometimes, people really don't think I'm nice or anything, that I just dress it. 'Guess it's cause I look kinda tough without the flowers and stuff." He shrugged.

"I don't see anything wrong with you looking tough, or soft, or however you wanna look. It doesn't take away from how nice you are."

"You know what, Lars? You're a nice guy, too. I like being around you," Mathias grinned, "You're not judgemental, or anything. You're way friendlier than you let off, too." Lars tilted his head before Mathias continued after taking a sip from his drink.

"It's all the black. And the piercings. You look kinda like you'd be in a mosh pit instead of a garden. But, I like it. It defies stereotypes." Lars smiled.

"We both kinda crush stereotypes, don't we?" Mathias smiled back.

"Yeah we do! And it's awesome! We're a couple of oddballs, making our way in a world full of generalizations!" Mathias said eagerly, his eyes bright enough from excitement and happiness to light all around them for at least a block away. Lars couldn't help but smile along. Their orders were brought out shortly after. Once they were finished, Lars paid for the meal and walked back with Mathias to his car. Mathias walked closely beside Lars, latching on to Lars' hand after his brushed it a few times. Lars squeezed Mathias' hand in his to say it was alright without breaking the comfortable silence between the two of them. Lars looked over at Mathias, who was smiling up at him. Lars stopped walking, still staring at Mathias. Under the streetlights, his confused eyes seem to radiate more than usual, and the warmth of his rosy cheeks brought his freckles out even more.

"Can I kiss you?" Lars asked without thinking. Mathias blushed even more, laughing nervously.

"I...uh-- sure? You don't... You don't have to ask, y'know. I like you enough to be okay with kissing you, I'm holding your hand, after all." He held up his hand joined with Lars' to demonstrate his point. Lars smiled.

"Yeah, but I still think it's polite to ask." He leaned over and kissed Mathias' cheek softly before continuing towards his car. Mathias laughed softly, his free hand brushing against his cheek.

"You could've kissed me on the lips..." he sounded slightly disappointed, Lars noticed. When they reached his car, Lars moved closer and kissed Mathias' lips, pulling him closer gently by his hands, one on Mathias' neck and the other around his waist. Mathias hummed softly and wrapped his arms around Lars, moving closer. Lars pulled away and smiled softly. Mathias smiled back as he got into Lars' car, his smile so large the corners of his eyes were squished together into a squint.

"Go out with me?" Mathias asked. Lars pecked his lips and smiled.

"Yeah."

A few weeks passed after their first date, but both of them kept their relationship fairly quiet. That was, until Antonio came into Lars' shop that morning with his coffee.

"Hey, Lars?" Antonio asked, handing him his coffee.

"Hmm?" He asked while taking a sip. Antonio looked at his elbow and smiled.

"Is that new?" Lars hummed in response and nodded.

"Yeah. 't's cool, isn't it?" He smiled fondly at the colorful tattoo.

"It is! You must like it a whole lot, to be wearing something with short sleeves in the fall." Lars shrugged, avoiding eye contact.

"Money for the coffee is over there," he pointed towards the other side of the counter, close to the door. Mathias walked in as Antonio went to collect the money. He greeted Antonio before walking behind the counter and pecking Lars' cheek.

"'Morning, dear. Ooh, what's that?" He asked while carefully picking up the arrangement.

"One of the deliveries. I got the one you wanted for your friends all loaded up." He smiled.

"Thanks. I really want them to know how much appreciate that small thing they did, having you deliver to my apartment." He kept one arm wrapped around Lars. Antonio was smiling as if he was about to explode from happiness.

"Ooh, I knew you two would get together! You should've seen him after he first met you, oh my god!" Mathias laughed while looking over at Lars, who was glaring a hole through Antonio.

"What was he like?" Mathias asked excitedly. Lars sighed.

"I might've... buried my face against the counter and screamed a little? You're just so adorable, I can't help it." He said while blushing slightly. Antonio laughed.

"I wasn't going to say that, but that's even better! That proves what I told you, you are in love!" Mathias' smile grew.

"Aw, that is adorable! You're such an adorable guy, Lars!" He poked Lars' cheek. Lars swatted his hand away playfully.

"I'm gonna have to go make deliveries soon, you two realize, right?" Lars asked while his face flushed. Antonio smiled while heading for the door.

"Alright, alright. I'll let you two say goodbyes. And collect my money from Lovi!" He said before leaving with a wave. Mathias giggled.

"I can't believe they bet on us." Lars shrugged, giving Mathias a hug.

"Me either." He kissed Mathias once, twice, lingering a third time. Mathias pulled away and gently grabbed Lars' arm.

"Is it healing alright?" He surveyed the sight of his new tattoo. Lars laughed softly while pulling his arm away.

"It's fine. You should get back to your shop." Mathias nodded, kissing Lars one last time before walking back across the way. He blew him a kiss before entering his shop. Lars caught it and smiled before locking the front door and going around the back to his car and loading up deliveries for the day.

A/N: each bouquet listed had a specific meaning, so here's what the meant based off what I found on google! -peach roses: appreciation, enthusiasm; anemones(couldn't find a meaning specific to color): good look -light red carnations: admiration; yellow roses: friendship -burgundy roses: unrealized love; purple roses: enchantment, love at first sight

[onlyryan]

ARDN - reflection

DTB has been a great learning experience as I have taken on the role of a 3D modeler and level designer. Despite it being a Studio, it is essentially my 15 point paper, hence the majority of my contribution has been shown through the artifact. Looking back over the project I can see that I have made some positive progression in my design judgement and practical skill set. I have also found an efficient work flow in a group environment. I feel like Sujay has led the team very well, and this has helped my learning because he has encouraged explicit communication between each member. He set out a Trello board that entailed all the specific tasks for each member to help clarify these processes to keep everyone on the same page.

Due to this paper being 45 points for him, he has had the largest influence over the project and he took the responsibility to express the concept and what he would like (drawing out rough designs even). 

I looked at similar fighter games that our project was inspired by such as  Shrek SuperSlam(7 Studios & Shaba Games, 2005), Gang Beast(Boneloaf, 2014) and Super Smash Bros(Bandai Namco & Sora Ltd., 2014). Although we were looking at these games for their mechanics at first, I had a look into their aesthetic design as it made sense that both came hand in hand with one another. All of these games have cartoony, fantasy world designs and that is why we decided to go for this aesthetic opposed to a realistic textured game. 

After looking at Ultra Realism vs Stylization it was made very clear that there was a preference towards stylization with 88% of votes, 

“ Stylized. Always. A realistic look never really jumps out at me unless the graphics are really, really good or there's some impressive animations. ”

“ Stylized, since it's usually easier to justify things there than it is with realism. ”

“ Whichever style fits in coherently with the game's direction. ” (Seppli, Justin258, StarFoxA, & King, 2013)

While it may have been technically original to have a hyper realistic fighter 3D fighter game in this peculiar genre, I do not feel that there are the resources (time and skills) to develop the necessities of that project. We wanted to communicate the theme and it would be easier to achieve this through a stylistic aesthetic approach. 

I found this enhanced my work pace because he has led confidently, without being entirely overpowering. I still had the space to make my own design decisions on the specific aesthetics of the project, but it was nice to have a holistic perspective. This meant that the theme and concept wasn’t incredibly vague leaving it so broad where I have to make up content on my own. 

Sitting down for SCRUM meetings and planning out the next phase of attack was particularly useful. This allowed us as a group to implement the necessary changes whether it be discussion over bugs, changes in mechanics (adding/subtracting from the project), likewise with the aesthetics. In addition we could talk about the development of the project and make a collective decision for the transition of changes into the next sprint. This tied in well with the timing of Game Developer Meetups as we could showcase our work on the 3-4 week basis and gather some feedback from the gaming community. 

Here is a primary example of the workflow for the map design

I was then able to use the above reference from Sujay to form a list of the objects we wanted to have in the game. I was also able to use this as a rough reference for level design. Even though Sujay apologized for his drawing skills, the importance was that it communicated the ideas he envisioned.

At this point I had practically added all the assets and this map was technically at the first phase and suitable for testing (given that we made adjustments to the collision for the models). I started modelling some of the content plain and simply with some details. At this point we hadn’t decided on an actual accurate scale as we wanted to test it.

I was then able to implement these changes after we tested the prior map. The map above had a change in scale and few more assets added to the environment. We removed the over hanging fabric because it affected the visibility for players.

At this point I was able to add texturing to the environment. We changed the tables because we wanted to have a ‘rounder’ feeling for the environment (hence the logo is designed on a circular wooden surface).

I could then go onto areas such as optimization through poly-count (Silverman, 2013). This essentially meant focusing on the slightly more complex matters and going back through the work to make the project a  ‘usable product.’

Testing with a variety of audiences for feedback was also very useful as our game may be played very willingly by a diversity of people. Testing with the game community meant getting feedback from people who are engaged in the gaming community whether it be playing/making/both and may provide some deeper and more relevant feedback to the production of the project. Testing with the general audience meant seeing how suitable and friendly it is to casual people who may (if the game went commercial) play the game as it was aimed for (not just avid gamers, everyone). This meant aspects such as the control scheme which may be picked up easier by gamers, may have been different for the general audience of people who do not interact with 3D fighters or digital games at all. While understanding my individual job as a 3D modeler was important it also emphasized the importance of designing and understanding the audience behind the game too.

The project overall went pretty smoothly and this was due to good teamwork, communication and work ethic. I would say that in future it would be a good opportunity to strengthen our practical skills and also give new tools ago whether this be software or project management. We are still quite early in our career to simply stick to one particular set of equipment and I think with the right amount of time we may find smarter alternatives. I would like to move away from messenger and slack to try something new, and as suggested Hack’n’Plan is a recommended tool for game development because it allows for specific time allocation in addition to visual progression both as individuals and as a group. This may be particularly useful if we are working on a larger project (with more people potentially) in future and want to address a specific problem that is causing a choke hold in the development.

References: 

Seppli, Justin258, StarFoxA, & King, V. G. (2013, April 20). Ultra Realism VS Stylized Art Design in Games - Your Preference? Retrieved from giantbomb: https://www.giantbomb.com/forums/general-discussion-30/ultra-realism-vs-stylized-art-design-in-games-your-1429781/?page=1

Silverman, D. (2013, March 5). 3D Primer for Game Developers: An Overview of 3D Modeling in Games. Retrieved from gamedevelopmenttutsplus: https://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/articles/3d-primer-for-game-developers-an-overview-of-3d-modeling-in-games--gamedev-5704

[raven-blood-13]

after going thru your inspiration tag for a bit are there any specific artist, tumblr artist or otherwise that you look to?

Sorry I’m so late to this, I had to really give it a hard think since my influences are pretty scattered.  

As far as my inking style, and over how I draw characters, was pretty influenced originally by Jamie Hewlett when he worked on Tank Girl.  Of course Gorillaz too, but Tank Girl really stuck with me as something I wanted to learn from.  Since it was stylized and fun, but still had a huge amount of realism to the illustrations. I also in general love how Hewlett draws hands and clothes.

For painting, I was super inspired by Stjepan Sejic’s works. I found him through The Darkness level’s comics and immediately was amazed by the level of detail he could create with digital painting while also doing things very quickly.  If you watch his youtube vids, you can see how he just knows the shortcuts needed to make something look right.  He also still manages to keep so much life in his painting’s, it really pushed me to try to learn how to paint digitally.  Seeing his work made me realize rendering wasn’t some impossible feat. 

I don’t know exactly when I found this next artist, but their videos and paintings gave me a new perspective and ideas about how I wanted my painting style to head. 

kawayoo’s art specifically their youtube channel inahoaota was just sorta eye opening to me with how fun a process could be, and how if you’re not happy with something, just straight up change it. It also made me realize I didn’t need to make everything perfect, mess helped make things feel organic to me.

 I still like to watch their videos when I need some inspiration.  I really enjoy trying to study their works and learn from them.

There are plenty of Tumblr artists I absolutely love though.  I wanted to save this for last since there’s quite a few artists I know that inspire me.  But I also don’t really want to go showing their works on here without permission so I’ll just give a list.

@bwubwuart has art I’m currently super enamored by.  I absolutely love their body horror designs and execution of ideas. Just beautiful work. 

@turbofanatic Does amazing line work and comes up with just fantastic monster designs.

@extra-vertebrae Been super inspired by their works since they were active on DA. Their knowledge of anatomy and just wonderful execution of horrific designs always grabs my attention. Their passion for their projects always makes for exciting reading material as well. 

@feverworm Is another painter who’s style I absolutely love, I really look up to how they texture pieces and render them. I love the sometimes surreal use of colors. 

@foorubbish or @zerogiblets Has just wonderful stylized works and characters.  I love sharp designs and simplification and they got that down amazingly.  I just love any time they upload a new piece, I just feel there’s so much to gather from how they create pieces. 

@o11 Has both an amazing drawing style and painting style. I really love how he manipulates line weights and pushes proportions, keeping things realistic but still beautifully stylized.  

@cosmoshop has amazing variation to his work and his designs are always exciting. he doesn’t upload a whole lot, but any time he does it’s fuckin wonderful. he can bounce between realistic rendering to a beautiful cartoony style. 

@veitstanz Has just lovely designs and characters, and gosh I just love their flowing traditional inking style and experimentation with different mediums. 

On FA raesheris was one of my first big art influences when I was on DA.  They aren’t as active now, but they had a huge influence on my interest in monster designs and learning traditional art.  They got me really into wanting to learn proper anatomy. 

tbh there’s a lot of artists I look up to, and I’m always trying to find more, so this is a pretty short list. I don’t want to @ a million people hah.  There’s of course a lot of various other media that does a god damn good job of inspiring me. Like Silent Hill and Resident Evil designs always tend to give me a good amount of ideas. 

[turbomun]

I love your insight about cartoons and wondered, how do you feel about CG Disney animation? I am no expert at all but in previous films such as Pocahontas, Mulan, Lilo & Stitch I enjoyed their particular styles, drawings, lines, background... there was something beyond the generic Disney look. Is it me or Moana, Wreck it Ralph, Big Hero 6, Frozen... all seem to display the same combination of super realistic backgrounds and cartoony characters? I must be missing something... Thank you in advance

You’re partially right! CG tends to be more stylistically limited than 2D, but it doesn’t have to be…although the stylization is going to be different. Allow me to explain.

For a very, very long time, the whole point of CG was to make graphics as close to reality as possible. That’s still the emphasis in the special effects industry, and most animation studios have gotten used to doing it. You have to remember that when CG films first started coming out, we had never seen a completely realistic animation style before. Something like Toy Story was absolutely mind-boggling back when it was first released. And as new films started coming out, especially from Pixar, their rendering of various environments and characters were stunning: Finding Nemo’s undersea setting, The Incredibles and its human animation complete with hair and clothing, Monsters, Inc. and the system they created for animating Sully’s fur. These were all brand new innovations that were visually incredible…at least, they were back then.

Nowadays, though, studios have pretty much nailed realistic graphics, and audiences are used to seeing it in every single animated film. There are of course various methods of character design, but when you model them in the computer and start slapping textures on to them, they do start looking a little similar to the untrained eye (by “untrained” I mean people who haven’t been working in the industry or at least taken a bunch of classes and read a bunch of books on character design). Now, Disney does sort of have a style of character design, which you can see even in their 2D animation; they mix it up from time to time, but certain traits carry across almost every film. There are exceptions – Wreck-It Ralph desgined the characters from each game in a different way – but when you get to Moana and Frozen, yeah, all the characters look like they could exist in the same world.

You mentioned cartoony characters on a hyper-realistic background, and I’ll tell you why that specific thing happens. Like I said, studios have realistic graphics down pat, but right now it’s basically impossible to animate a human being that is indistinguishable from reality: not because of graphics or unskilled animators, but because humans have spent millions of years evolving to read the tiniest signals in each others’ bodies and faces, and we can spot an imitation right away. But because cartoon characters don’t try to exactly mimic reality, we give them a lot more leeway, allowing animators to freely practice their craft without the audience feeling like something is off. Studios still want to show off their graphical prowess, so they use it for the graphics and textures while still applying design principals to the characters themselves.

But it’s totally possible to make a CG movie that looks stylistically different than the norm! It’s never going to be the same as 2D, because they’re two completely different mediums, each with its own way to vary the style. In 2D, you can use line quality, influence from various art styles, and differently painted backgrounds (like the watercolors in Lilo and Stitch.) In CG, there are no lines, no paint, and while some art styles can lend their influence, others simply don’t make the transition from 2D to 3D very well. But you can use different interesting methods of 3D modeling, appy unrealistic textures, and do crazy things with motion that are very hard to draw. A good recent example is Dreamworks’ new Captain Underpants, which I highly recommend if you’re looking for a different art style (and also it’s an absolutely adorable movie in general).

One thing you’re completely right about is that Disney hasn’t really deviated from their CG style. Neither has Pixar. There have been a few small steps in the right direction; ever notice how in the Fix-It Felix Jr. game in Wreck-It Ralph, absolutely everything, including liquid splatters and dust clouds, is shaped like a cube? Or how the Nicelanders all move in a jerky way typical of 1980s game characters? Of course, they’ve also taken some giant stylistic steps backwards (*coughcoughFrozencoughcough*). They also interestingly combined 2D and 3D animation in their shorts Paperman and Feast. Inner Workings also attempted a drastic style shift, which…didn’t quite work out. But I’m still waiting for them to make an inventive-looking CG movie.

[gamelyplanet-blog]

The Mark of a Classic: an Argument for playing "The Witcher" over "The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings"

I decided to get through the two expansions of The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, which I had neglected to do after I finished the base game shortly after it was released. As a completionist, I wanted to get through both the main campaign of The Wild Hunt, but also through The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. I skipped the first game, because not only have I already completed it five times, but also because it's the game that resembles the other two games in absolutely nothing.

But consistency be damned, what I discovered after two attempts to play through The Witcher 2 again, was that I just didn't want to. In the first attempt, I gave up after the prologue. In the second try, I gave up when the game made me explore the pitch-dark tunnels in the city of Vergen and find a key for the Dwarven catacombs, as part of the main quest; tunnels I had *just* walked out of, again as part of the main quest and a key that was on a dead body; a dead body I found during my first time down there, but which I couldn't loot, because that phase of the quest hadn't triggered yet. Padding is common in games and I'm at peace with it. The problem was that I came to one astounding realization:

I wasn't having fun.

It's a good game and it's a game I've finished twice before. It marked the time when CD Projekt RED, the developer of The Witcher games, set the foundations for their epic third installment in the series. It was when the series got "serious" with high production value and the story became sort-of-canon for the Witcher series as a proper continuation of the books. It's a hard game to return to, however, because its successor surpassed it in every conceivable way. Why would one bother with (comparatively) subpar visuals and mechanics for a story not really worth telling, when there is such a better, more complete, more fulfilling alternative available?

The strangest thing is that none of the above holds true for the first game; yes, that original game, that first entry into the series that bordered on indie, from a then-unknown developer from Poland, is still very playable. The reason is simple: The Witcher, the original game, is unique.

It has nothing to do with its sequels. The mechanics are completely different, the story is barely touched upon in the other games (and when it is, it's in the form of nostalgic references only), the sound and the music differ in style and even artistically, the visuals make the game stand out among both the rest of the games in the series, as well as its competition. It's glitchier than the other games, it's more peculiar, it's harder to play and there are far too many oddities in it to ignore; but all of that give it a certain charm that a game like The Witcher 2 lacks entirely.

See, the first Witcher came about after seven years of development. It went through a variety of phases and designs, one of them being a standard isometric cRPG in the Witcher universe, but otherwise unrelated to the books. Eventually they decided to pick up from where the books left off. They leased Bioware's Aurora engine, the engine that succeeded the famous Infinity engine and which was used for the two Neverwinter Nights games. They, reportedly, rewrote about 80% of it; the tweaking pushed its abilities and added new features (the amazing skyboxes and real-time day/night cycle, as well as weather effects being among them) that were missing from the original version, but it also caused some technical and optimization issues.

With an old engine came restrictions and this was apparent during combat. The Witcher books had established early on that the titular Witchers are unparalleled swords-fighters with extensive knowledge of human anatomy; they are mutants, they are fast, their reflexes unmatched and they know where to strike for a quick kill. But with the Aurora engine, the action combat system seen in the other two games (which were made in CDPR's own RED engine) would be impossible to adopt. So, the first Witcher plays like a traditional cRPG; the game determines damage given and taken based on stats and status effects affect the outcome of the battle in a far greater degree than in W2 or W3. Ultimately, the combat is mostly automatic, except for an added timing mechanic that gives the illusion of real-time action.

Even that, however, shows a certain degree of artistry. The timing mechanic doesn't amount to much for the experience and often feels tacked on and a bother, but switching between Strong, Fast and Group combat styles requires the player to be engaged actively in combat; so do the various Witcher Signs that can be cast on a whim (as long as Geralt has enough Stamina for them). Where the Aurora Engine put up walls, the established tropes of the Witcher universe tore them down; nowhere is this more obvious than in the various Witcher potions.

Alchemy has had an interesting journey throughout the series and, arguably, CDPR never managed to implement the system properly in their games (though they came pretty close in The Wild Hunt). Every game in the series is, by design, unbeatable without the extensive use of alchemy (except in the really low difficulty levels). Potions exist in every RPG, but Witcher brews operate on a different level; they are mostly preparatory than they are reactive. This changes the dynamic of the games, as winning an encounter requires knowledge of the lore, of the various enemies and their strengths and weakness and gives the player wiggle-room to decide how they choose to approach combat. Because of the lack of control present in the first Witcher game during combat, alchemy becomes invaluable. Potions aren't just auxiliary as they are in most RPGs; they're the player's main tool to ensure victory and though the standard health and mana/stamina potions are always useful, they're the least valuable in comparison.

It works! It amazingly, unexpectedly, works! This system of limited control that sounds like too much bother, too much work, too much micromanaging and padding looking for ingredients makes combat in the first game very absorbing and rewarding, as it requires the player to put some real work into ensuring victory. The combat in W2 is good, but somewhat clunky, because CDPR was still testing out the new mechanics. The combat in W3 is fun as all-hell, but combat in W1 stands out as its own thing. Sure, if you look deep enough into it, you can see the seams where it was all stitched together; you can see how much mechanics resemble every other cRPG that came before. But this particular style was and still is something that's both unique within the Witcher series and the RPG genre as a whole.

That's not the only thing that's unique to the first Witcher game. The visuals and the art direction are also one-of-a-kind. The Witcher series always wore the hat of "dark fantasy" and the games have played that aspect up even more than the books (to a fault, sometimes), but what "dark fantasy" actually entails differs from material to material. Dragon Age: Origins, for example, is "dark fantasy"  in terms of  the color palette and the gore displayed on-screen, which puts it at odds with the more vanilla Lord of the Rings and the more stylized Dungeons & Dragons or the cartoony World of Warcraft. Most RPGs and fantasy settings are heavily inspired from one of the above. For the Witcher books, which draws inspirations from medieval Polish history and mythology, "dark fantasy" means a straight-forward political approach to a made-up world, where kings are more dangerous than dragons, using language that teeters between sardonic and jaded.

In W2, the "darkness" comes specifically from the quality of the characters; everybody is a terrible person that takes advantage of everyone and everything for their own ends. In W3 there is a complete reversal; the characters all start walking a grey line, but the "darkness" comes from the situations around them; war, famine, crime; it is a lot closer to the books in this regard.

The first Witcher is closer to the second game; most NPCs are all sorts of terrible. If they aren't outwardly evil, they are self-serving and capricious at the very least. The first chapter of the game takes place in a village where every single one of the seven sins is represented in abundance in literally every single one of the inhabitants. The Witcher, in general, has never been big on subtlety, at least until the third game; but the original also features visuals and sound to match the tone, which is not the case with the far more colorful second game. It's isn't brown or too bloody; what it is is moody, bustling with atmosphere.

There is no place in the game that's idyllic. The accursed swamp outside Vizima is representative of that; it's a place you spend a lot of time in, especially if you do Witcher contracts and side-quests and it's a place that's simply exhausting. The terrain is confusing, the safe zones are very few and the place is crawling with monsters that start off extremely dangerous and end up unbelievably annoying. But the wide swamp forest, the muted green colors and the sky that's often covered in mist, clouds or leaves and branches create a fittingly claustrophobic atmosphere.

The Temple Quarter in Vizima looks dirty and built like the crappiest London neighborhood in the Victorian Era. The fishing village of Murky Waters is the only part that clashes with the rest of the game (in more ways than one), but all its apparent beauty hides intrigue, family feuds, clashes with alien civilizations, gods and evil spirits. The game, visually, avoids the mix of realism and fantasy that its successors excel at and instead looks and feels like it takes place in a depressing, almost horror-like setting.

The music is slow and exotic and even the voice acting, which ranges from passable to outright terrible, gives the game the charm of a b-movie. The aesthetics of the game are different to those of the other games; but they make for a very immersing experience. More importantly, they are representative of the humble origins of the Witcher franchise. It shows what a company with a lot of care and love for the art of game making can do with an old engine and a new IP (in terms of worldwide appeal), if they have a clear vision about what they want to offer their audience. The Witcher is distinct, it's unique and it feels like the product of a foreign studio that gives its own spin, from their own point of view and based on their own culture to a large, bloated genre.

I left the story for last, because it's fascinating, especially for those that are familiar with the Witcher books. The Witcher 2 is when the series really starts tying directly to Andrzej Sapkowski's original works, in terms of mechanics, visuals and story. The Witcher 3 outright seeks to conclude the story, especially the bits that the writer had left open-ended or outright forgot about.

See, the Witcher series started off as a series of short stories. These were later collected and actual novels followed; right now, the entire series amounts to 8 books, seven of them revolving around the story we're familiar with and the last one being a prequel of sorts. Like with all series, some books are better than others; the one that stands out though, to me, is the last book in Geralt's story, called Lady of the Lake. The book starts off well-enough and it's pretty solid.

In the first half, that is. I don't know if this is indeed the case, but based on my reading it seems like Sapkowski got tired of the series and decided to end it a bit too abruptly. Or maybe Lady of the Lake was supposed to conclude the series from the start, but he ran out of time, or space or ideas. Whatever the case, the latter half of that seventh book fast-forwards through events and finds easy solutions that are a bit off-putting.

(spoilers if you have yet to read the books)

For example, the second war with Niflgaard that had been waged throughout all the books ends with the Battle of Brenna. The Northern Realms had been steadily losing the war and up until about half of the last book, they were almost crushed. Then, the Battle of Brenna happens and all of a sudden, Nilfgaard retreats back to the south and the war ends.

Another example, which The Witcher 3 sets out to resolve, is the Wild Hunt itself. The Wild Hunt shows up maybe twice in the whole series. In the last book, Ciri spends a lot of time in the world of the Aen Elle (the race from which the Wild Hunt hails) and is instructed by Avalac'h to try and bear a successor for the King of that race. This fails and she eventually finds her way back into her own world to save Yennefer and Geralt, but the Aen Elle never follow her there. The Wild Hunt disappears entirely after that point and they haven't done much until that point in the series either. They are entirely forgotten about.

One more that stands out is Emhyr Var Emreis, the Emperor of Nilfgaard himself. The character is shrouded in mystery for almost the entire series; he barely appears, he speaks little, his motivations are entirely kept in the dark; he's looking for Ciri, even puts a pretender in a tower for show, but he never reveals why. Then, in literally the span of a few paragraphs toward the end of Lady of the Lake, he meets Geralt and dumps a load of information on the reader; that he's Duny, the Knight-Errand Geralt  rescued in one of the short stories now collected in the first, introductory book; that he's Ciri's father; that he's looking for her, so he can sleep with her and take advantage of her Elder Blood. All of this is information that had never been even hinted at before. Maybe it was planned, but if so, it was badly paced. It felt more like a quick resolution, the same way "The Patriots are the cast of Metal Gear Solid 3" was a quick resolution that was clearly not planned ahead of that last game.

(end of book spoilers, carry on)

The books are interesting in how they relate to the first game, because of how many things CDPR had to shy away from at the time. Their biggest problem was that they had to resurrect Geralt and later Yennefer. The way Lady of the Lake ends is peculiar; Sapkowski ties the book to Arthurian legends, by having Ciri take Geralt and Yennefer to the Isle of Avalon. The problem is that all this is narrated by Ciri, to a third party and it is presented as it being her fantasy ending more than the reality. On the other hand, Sapkowski reportedly told CDPR that Geralt and Yennefer had survived; all that without even accounting for Season of Storms, the final book that's mostly unconnected to the main series, but which makes ambiguous references to the fate of Geralt. In reality, all Sapkowski wanted to do was communicate that Geralt and Yennefer are legends and that their fate matters little, as they are incorruptible and undying throughout the ages. This, however, is useless for the writers of the games that need to restructure the entire story and continue it, less as metaphor and more as fact.

So, CDPR looked at the end of Lady of the Lake and decided to take Ciri's word on the fate of her adoptive father and mother. What Sapkowski let ambiguous and poetic, they had to interpret literally. Then, they built the story, added the Wild Hunt for good measure and started building their own epic.

But all this didn't really happen until the second game. In the first game, Geralt has amnesia; he has to have amnesia, because the Witcher books weren't widely known outside Poland at the time (and at the time they weren't even all translated in English) and the game is a role-playing title; CDPR needed to walk a fine line between adapting an existing character and at the same time allowing players to build the main character the way they want. This amnesia was useful, in that it gave CDPR the chance to pick and choose what they wanted to use from the books.

So, possibly in fear of angering the fanbase and alienating newcommers, they decided to come up with an original story, make vague references to the books that could only be picked up by Polish fans and at the same time, heavily condense the story of the series into one game. Because of this, the first game doesn't fit with the other two and it doesn't fit with the books canon either. With a Geralt whose personality relies on the player's whim, with no mention of Ciri or Yennefer, with the complete absence of Nilfgaard and with entirely original characters that serve as the supporting cast and the villains, the entirety of the first game is the odd one out in the entire Witcher franchise.

More so, when one really starts drawing comparisons between the game and the books; The Witcher is largely relied on Ithiline's prophecy; the danger of the White Frost. It's also the story of Geralt, who has to choose between one of two love interests and adopt a child of the Elder Blood with his chosen partner. As mentioned, the White Frost, like the Wild Hunt, never came to pass in the books; but it feels like the books ended abruptly and just never got to that point. Also important is the fact that even though Geralt is the hero of the books, the story is Ciri's; she's the main character, from the moment she joins Geralt at the end of The Sword of Destiny up until the end in Lady of the Lake. She's the character that matters, the character that grows, the character that experiences; Geralt spends his time trying to find her. The first game draws these ideas from the books, but tries to do so without contradicting anything and furthermore shifting the story from Ciri to Geralt himself.

This is extremely obvious with the two love interests; Triss and Shani. It should be apparent even to people who never read the books, but these two ladies in the first game are characterized completely differently than they are in the other games:

Shani is sweet. She's simple, she's idealistic, she lives for helping people and finding "the one". She's shy and collected, smart, but quiet.

Triss is the conniving sorceress; she's shady, she has an attitude and an agenda. She wears that ridiculous dress that goes all the way down to her butt-crack, she's provocative and likes shiny things.

Shani is a bit character in the books and makes an appearance in Hearts of Stone (the first Witcher 3 DLC), but if you're not familiar with her, she's none of the above. She's idealistic, but she's also assertive and she's promiscuous. She's young and it shows in her personality; both when she fucks Geralt an hour after she meets him in the books and, reportedly, in Hearts of Stone. She's a likeable character, but she is not the character we see in the first Witcher game.

Triss is, as we know, the sweet one. She's strong, she's brave, she's in love with Geralt; she hates politics, she doesn't like the Lodge of Sorceresses and she lives to be romanced by the right person and live a quiet life where she can put her skills to good use without being tangled in political intrigue and the back-stabbings that go with it.

Essentially, what CDPR did, was give Yennefer's role in the story to Triss, because she was the sorceress in that game. They didn't, presumably, want to overextend their welcome in the franchise with their first outing. Maybe they hadn't come up with the specifics of Geralt's "resurrection" yet. Maybe they didn't know if they'd be able to make a second one and they didn't want to open that can of worms until they knew they could really plan ahead. They picked Shani for the other role, because... well, in their defense, Geralt has an affinity for sorceresses and Shani might've been the only non-magically-talented person Geralt knew in the biblical sense of the word, who made a proper appearance in the books. Whatever the reason, the roles are switched and the characters are extremely inconsistent between the first and the other two games, as well as the books.

We delved into the story so extensively, because mechanics are certainly the focus of any game, but in a RPG, story matters; in a series, especially, story matters a lot. The Assassins of Kings suffers from lacking a coherent plot with a clear resolution and being used as the launching point for The Wild Hunt; setting up everything that will transpire in the third game and explaining things that came before. Most of the plot of that game exists to tie the games to the books, which the original game didn't do sufficiently. The Witcher 3 is a lot more enjoyable with prior knowledge of the books, but it's not too obtuse for the newcommer; The Witcher 2, on the other hand, has no hope of standing on its own without being confusing at best or tiresome and forgettable at worst. It works only in tandem with either books or the third game, but not as a standalone RPG.

Because of this 2007's "The Witcher" is actually a lot more coherent, it's self-contained and it's still replayable in ways The Witcher 2 isn't. It's really very detached from the books, there aren't enough references to drag the story down and many of the characters come and go in this game only, making the narrative more complete than the one in either of the sequels. It's not the best adaptation of the books, but it works as its own thing, without really needing to piggy-back on the franchise's literature roots, but being its own unique experience, in terms of storytelling, mechanics and aesthetic.

October 26, 2017 marks the 10-year-anniversary of the first Witcher and the entry of the series into the world of videogames. The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt and its expansions remain the pinnacle of AAA gaming and the jewel of the series (occasionally surpassing even its source material); but even now, ten years since release, that first game remains a good, memorable experience. It's not without its problems; there are crashes and bugs, the controls are clunky, the story stops dead in its tracks in the fourth chapter and breaks flow, the writing and the voice acting are sometimes laugh-out-laughter-inducing and sometimes the game can be frustrating.

Still, it's a testament to what beating overwhelming odds looks like; it's a reminder of the time when a small Polish studio that was a complete unknown, an outsider in a massive industry that tends to absorb and assimilate talent and creativity in all the wrong ways (especially back then when PC gaming was dying and every game was a Gears of War or Halo clone), proved this multi-billion dollars industry what hard work, talented minds and a good business sense can yield. Play The Witcher again; not because it's part of a celebrated series, but because it's one of its kind.

Notes:

- Did you know that series favourite dwarf, Zoltan Chivay, isn't very prominent in the books? Geralt's dwarf buddy for most of the series was Yarpen Zigrin, who makes an appearance in Iorveth's path in The Witcher 2, in the city of Vergen.

- If you're replaying The Witcher, it is advisable you install the Rise of the White Wolf mod, which changes and improves the game's UI, as well as adds fixes and improvements on the game's visuals.