#boxhead games

[jackhasfallenx2]

Also my switch just started acting up so i couldnt continue for now even if i tried :(

[cake-bread]

Long ask because I just woke up and i feel like it RAHHHH

I saw the other asks about the lamposts and prisons and stuff BUT NOT ENOUGH PEOPLE TALK ABOUT THE CHARACTER DESIGNS IN CODAS GAMES AURKFKXOCI

Like it’s so simple yet I??? Can’t get over them??? Idk if it’s weird but I just can’t get over the box head people eheehehe

Okay that’s all :P

Finally, thank you! I haven't mentioned it much in the game, but I adore them too. They're simple and memorable - I think people would call them object heads but they work very well in the game.

If he left them as pure mannequins with transparent texture, they'd just be another mannequin you'd forget in a moment. If they had normsl details, they'd take away from the abstract nature of the games.

But I've never seen something like the Boxheads before his games. It feels like a natural progression from the Notes. Once just left out ideas and thoughts received a body. And by stripping them away from the individuality for the labels we tend to give others, I feel they're a great commentary on how we perceive others.

Coda's answer:

Thanks. I've put a lot of thoughts designing them.

[shad0wvisi0n]

Honestly im glad to see you both are doing somewhat fine after what happened...also if i could i would punch boxhead...because why would you tell someone about a dangerous pit if that someone is helping your other star in some way?! also if you could go into any game or movie or work of fiction what would it be?

I rather not think about it when it comes to him.

Uh heh so the movie i would love to be in is Shrek since its my favorite movie!

What about you SV4?

*Thinks about resident evil 4* uh er i don't know to many good picks lets go to the next ask.

[shinakazami1]

Shina's TBG ramble time: Boxheads and the circles of themes

So I've been thinking about all the Boxheads and how there is an overall scheme, both to the words they use and to the colour palette

So, the first time they show up, there are two listen and speak sides. This is the first category of box heads -

1. VERBS.

These show up a few more times but mostly, they're all the most saturated coloured boxheads in the game. They're all also glowing,

Green is often said to be a colour of nature, creativity, hope, calmness but also, of immaturity, greed, possessiveness.

These Boxheads show up near the half of the game. Chapter 7, Down, features the first instance of these folks and they seem hopeful about getting out of the prison and with the way they talk, they do seem a bit childish when you tell them you don't know the exact way thst they could leave.

The next instance of the green head is in Chapter 10, House. Davey the character said that during that period of time Coda seemed the most happy. The character seems a bit shy with their thoughts but overall, there seems to be calmness and peace in that routine.

So, both instances of green show kinda that calm vibe from someone telling us to do a thing - either a house chore or answer their question but overall, I do feel calmness meaning works the best for these. These are games Coda made when he already met Davey and was pre-'depression'. They are bith commands and actions but even if you don't have a choice, you don't exactly feel forced to do anything.

Green will show up once again later in the game.

Yellow (tumblr doesn't have yellow, pls just pretend) often symbolises hope, intellect, but also deceit and faithlessness. It's also supposed to grab attention. Opposite to it is purple, to which Magenta can be seen as subcolour (or just colour close enough on the spectrum jshsu) . It can mean emotional balance but also can mean despair.

These beautifully fit with the theme of Chapter 11 Lecture. The student wants to listen to the professor/coach and feel better about themselves, get motivated to do anything. In the meantime, the teacher seems smart with everything they're saying until you get to see the other greyed out options they have. And due to the informality of coaching and one sided nature of it, 'talk' fits way more than 'speak', though that could be debated since speeches are typically also said to a crowd. But they're more often formal - and since we as a Player can control the coach, we can get very personal with all the little confessions of his mind.

As I said though, green will make a return. Not as a verb, however - but as an empty space, surrounded by the

2. ADJECTIVES

The previous category was quite consistent with he word class they used. The next two will mix a bit in one level but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

The theme of depression and isolations starts in Chapter 12, Theatre. This is the most unique Boxhead as each side has different words, beside one which is empty green.

Blue symbolises freedom, trust, confidence, reflection, honesty but also passiveness, coldness, depression. The narrator from this chapter wants to relive a moment with this possible idol of theirs. Each side seems to be a positively charged adjective (wise, successful, focused. happy) . However, instead of talking to them, we keep hearing comments of how we just don't act correctly. Mixing this with greens from earlier, the possessiveness for nostalgia of this exact moment, the childishness of the narrator throwing a tantrum when we don't even know the script and the bars at the end of the chapter all kinda show why Davey might have interpreted this as a shout for help.

3. NOUNS (and other shenanigans)

Chapter 13, Mobius.

There are different messages on these Boxheads - Blind, Captain, Research and Truth. All of these, expect for Blind can count as a noun. However, blind doesn't have to only be an adjective - it can also be a verb, together with Research.

Red can mean desire, confidence, determination but also danger, rage, impulsiveness. Pink has similar enough meanings to Magenta so I'll skip repeating myself.

While social anxiety and nostalgia were quite a strong theme in the prev chapter, this one, as Davey said himself is not as much of a denial like the last one, but acceptance of the state Coda seems to be in. Somehow, the obsession of creation that shows up as the Puzzle Door coming at us, the lammpost stands near us, just like the truth, witnessing the fall of a creator. The rage of not being able to feel passion anymore is stopped the moment we choose the response Truth wants from us. There is a desire hidden in there, a self reflection but it's not as strong as the previous Magenta usage.

You also can see an interesting phenomenon - the first characters you meet are full Blinds, so, adjectives, then you meet Captain and Research that show the first usage of noun and then you meet Truth.

It's as if there was a progressions... Haha what if the next ones would be also nouns,, nah that can't be the -

So the next Boxheads you meet are in Chapter 15, Machine.

We return to the Yellows but before that, we see a Guard who's the only case of White text. But, I'd also like to point that yellows were used in the beginning for the coach which was in the verbs group. But if you think about it - both guard and press can serve as both nouns and verbs.

Grey can mean neutrality, compromise, stability but also coldness, depression, predictability. Together with the Yellow, the cold attitude of the reporter who goes to the Machine, starts to give their own meaning to its silence, getting the press against it and causing destruction.

4. OK but... What's the point of all this?

It is rather interesting thst in the end, we returned to verbs and yellows. This is ofc just an oversimplification but let me show you the colour wheel based on the usage of colour for the Boxhead

We go full circle.

In TBG, repetition and reoccurring themes are constantly visible. Some sort of a prison, the puzzle games, even the lamppost but also, isolation, self doubts, fight as a creator. And this repetition shows through npcs, too. You could count Notes chap 8 as that too and revert first in the circle but overall, things seem to stay overall the same.

For the word class - we go from action to description to a role. Davey first describes what Coda used to do, then focuses a lot on telling us insights on how Coda was at the time of making certain games and then starts becoming not only a Friend but a Saviour. And Coda, from acting, sees he becomes an object to adore and talk about and then, to serve Davey a role of getting appreciation and acceptance for Coda's work. But in the end, Davey decides to publish game in the end. Even with the self reflection, even if he leaves us, the game still exists. And while Davey the character and the real Davey are diff people, Davey the char did say that he uploaded it.

The themes in this linear game keep on repeating, showing up, again and again, creating a closed off cycles. But neither Coda nor Davey the char are present in the end.

You, however, are.

Just like you are here, witnessing me doing a Davey with my interpretation on this jauahahau

[unlikelywrestlingfan]

(youre the one person i trust with this lmao) kip sabian. be honest 💜💜

I am truly honored by that, my friend 💛.

Kip Sabian. His dedication to character work is fantastic - I love commitment to the bit and to character. His aesthetic is so pretty - his hair always looks lovely, and the man's suit game is lovely. Also, we love a Wife Guy. I enjoy the range he has with character work - superbad, boxhead, sex idol - all very different concepts, but still all strung together by his personality, like they're all different, but all still feel legit and fitting, if that makes sense. His gear is very fun and fashionable, which is fitting for him. I enjoy the way he cuts Riddler-esque promos. His voice is very pretty. The Sex Idol gimmick is not for me personally, but I still admire the commitment. He needs more matches immediately. Show me the boy and let me watch him work, TK. I feel like if I had started watching AEW during his Superbad era, I probably would have fallen for him, but I don't think it will happen now. I am also always going to have a bias towards him because guy whos plays him is always so freaking sweet to you.

When Pac returns, can they try to kill each other? That brief all atlantic title feud wasn't enough.

For more on Kip: "#mr boxman box me a man"

[sojrner-fishsticcc]

truesona model! (+ life update!)

yeahg!!!! im finally back!!!!

i havent touched modeling in like 6 weeks and i still have a few comms that i really need to work on since theyre as far back as like... six weeks ago lol. and i picked them up right before a bunch of things that meant i couldnt work on them like finals n other school stuff. so i totally forgor how to model. lmao. so this was a fun exercise to reteach myself! i made my truesona, thats meant to be me but with the boxhead i mentioned i while ago (WHICH I FINISHED!!! LIKE ITS DONE!!! I NEED TO POST IT THO) with a cute lil outfit! she has a variant thats compatible with vanilla, but the ears look really flat n sad :( but this version works! i might try to port her to figura too, since figura allows bolting parts onto skins instead of totally replacing the vanilla model, which removes a lot of jank.

so ya! back now, gonna try to FINALLY do all those commissions and then open up another wave. also while i was gone i saw spamalot, the monty python play and like. hgoly shit. its so good. oh and you guys really liked that shimp texture i made! like wow you really liked that. that was a lil one off joke for a class im taking on mc modding so... shimp might be in game soon. but thats all for tonight.

goodnight weird people :3

[farcillesbian]

4, 25 (+ music recs if u wanna!), and 28 for the ask game!

4. mythical creature you think/believe is real?

low-key believe faeries could be real tbh on like a minute scale. I've always liked to think of "small magic" being real, explaining away little things that don't quite make sense? also I like to think that mermaids and other mythical sea creatures could exist in the unexplored depths of the ocean... not quite in the way we depict them tho because of the extreme environment

25. would you say you have good taste in music?

yes I have the best and coolest taste in music (jokes) but well I do think I have a pretty interesting varied taste in music that I'm proud of! getting lost in interesting songs and singing along to my favourite songs are some of my favourite ways to stim lol. I'm a big fan of complex guitar melodies and synth sounds & some recommendations I have are:

the entire peripheral vision album by turnover (indie rock/dream pop with pop punk roots?)

pile! no pile! pile! by brave little abacus (midwest emo genre with sorta screamy vocals)

a girl is a knife by boxcutter (always gotta shout out boxxy, the first time I listened to their album sorta blew my mind. great lil emo band with a super fantastic guitarist. I'm a boxhead. vocals are screamy)

all these things by benton falls (more midwest emo but less harsh vocals)

trust me by sincere engineer (I love her she's so good. this is my favourite of her stuff but it's all great. she's like emo pop punk esque singer songwriter)

speeding up the octaves by hawthorne heights (classic emo rock. I love the entire silence in black and white album it's hard to pick just one song but. if u enjoy this I'd recommend checking out the whole album)

untitled #6 by girlfriends (just. so much fun. very math rocky sound. I love this song & this whole album is also great)

and now for some goth rock:

mondlicht by xmal deutschland

Судно (Борис Рижий) by molchat doma

wax and wane by cocteau twins

I coldly stare out by pink turns blue

dot in the sky by drab majesty

fantasmas by twin tribes

esfumados sueños by euroshima

silaluk by shadow age

28. last meal on earth?

THIS IS HARD. something with fun textures... like risotto. with a side of raw beef dish (carpaccio or tartare). and a beef kafta wrap from the Syrian restaurant near me...

[fmpfmpfmpfmpfmp]

Research: Top down cameras

Boxhead

I like this style as the camera follows the player, so all the sprites still look big while still having a bigger map.

Pac-Man

This fixed top-down camera allows you to see the whole map at once. preventing annoying deaths from happening to things off screen. However, it limits your map size as a bigger map would make the characters look small.

I'm going to experiment with both types before deciding on what to use in my game.

[tandemcanon-blog]

ReallyGoodBattle Early Access Giveaway!

Hello fam!

We have 4 FREE Early Access keys to give away for Boxhead Games’ upcoming release of ReallyGoodBattle on February 15th!

ReallyGoodBattle is an Atari-influenced platform-fighter with single player, co-op, and multiplayer versus modes, omnidirectional gameplay, and is accessible to everyone regardless of skill level. We first demoed this game at South Campus Anime and Gaming Expo in 2017 and had a blast, so we highly recommend trying this out! You can watch the trailer for ReallyGoodBattle here.

To win one of the keys,  you just need to do the following:

1. Listen to Ep. 46 (Quit Playing Games With My Heart) on iTunes or Buzzsprout.

2. Tell us which relationship from our list is your biggest tragedy or travesty!

All the keys are first-come, first served, so go do the thing!

[msaw]

grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[amethystsoda]

It's hard to explain why I like Yuppie Psycho so much, but these are a good start ❤️💚

[jackhasfallenx2]

I swear ive heard that “I am thou, thou art i” or whatever thing a billion times now…

[cake-bread]

Silly little questions because i feel like it

1. Mitski. Thoughts?

Okay serious question/rant /pos

2. I feel like all of Coda’s games in general have so much symbolism, even the simple ones like the entering/exiting games but the ones with the boxheads have SO much packed into them that i could talk about it for HOURRSSS.

The lecture game is just??? Idk how tf to explain it but it really gets me thinking, same with the house cleaning.

With the lecture one, I wonder just… *why*? It’s so simple yet complex at the same time, I personally view it as a piece on perspective and biases but I also think there are a lot of other things to it.

(Anyways to the actual question instead of me just ranting lol) With the house cleaning game, it also has a lot of questions (at least from the player side, some of these would probably be easier with the full game)

What was the point of having the doors and exit at the end if it kept looping? I feel like it’s just confusing to me, to have a game with the purpose of being unbeatable still have an ending, the same one that repeats through almost every game, beatable or not.

(This took me way too long to write lol)

1. I admire song writers - I could never be one. While I do think about pacing and rhytm to my work, I don't think I'd do well having to think about it with relation to music.

I've decided to check the lyrics of Mitski's songs. It seems that from a commentary on social roles, existentialism, the focus shifted into even more private aspects of her life, with he focus on love. And I can sort of relate to that. I too, left myself vulnerable many of times in my works, giving them a part of myself I never thought would be as exposed.

There were many parts that stuck out to me. But I think I'd like to give a honorable mention to opening of There's Nothing Left For You.

There's nothing left for you, nothing in this room

Try and go outside, nothing waits for you

You had it once before, not anymore

So go on to that sweetheart's door

And find a new you

It's nice to think about moving on.

2. I agree. Coda's games are short but each part of them was crafted for a specific purpose. The lenght let's you replay so you can admire every detail he puts in his work.

I think the House, even cut, shows everything you need to see. And I asked the same question you did. I wondered and just couldn't wrap my head around it.

My theory is that in the black void between the doors, you have the choice. You can open both doors or stay in there. Many, as Notes show, probably wouldn't figure the puzzle out, making them stuck.

I think that was the thought that got Coda to make the game. In the moment of boredom and desperation, when your senses seem to be consumed by the darkness, you try to give yourself something to think about. A place that would calm you in the prison you put yourself in and refuse to get out from. It's a fake sense of warmth. Because at some point, you would get frustrated and just get out of the puzzle.

The game, just like the hour long wait one, is supposed to be infrustrating and have anti player. That frustration is supposed to lead to the true ending.

And that freedom hides behind an X. You just have to figure that out.

Because there won't always be a Curator to tell you what to do.

Cakebread, out!

[shad0wvisi0n]

oh and SV4 why not just ask SV3 for batteries instead of rummaging trough his stuff and ruining the outfit he had made? i admit puzzles was way in the wrong for telling SV3 about the hole but...you shouldn't have done that either. and maybe just maybe you are a little at fault...also honestly you deserve to be more annoyed BOXHEAD!. after what you did you are lucky we still like the content~angry anon

Look, i admit i fucked up its why i did what i could to make up for it. I was just upset at SV3 and wanted to get lost in gaming, no one really thinks when their emotional.

AND TRUST ME I AM BEYOND PISSED AT THAT ASSHOLE!

*sighs* Thank you for enjoying our content if anyone deserves the love its my partner SV3, man worked hard for it.

[qadmonster]

Blockhead

[eyndr-art]

So I've been making this game through a site called Twine and this is the only art I’ve done lately. On your QUEST the first character you encounter is BOX HEAD, and I was trying to figure out how to plug images into my game so I sketched this to see if it would work (it didn’t, and I’ll have to figure out images lllllater).

Anyhoo, thought someone might enjoy this sketch. If you’re curious, under the box is a smaller box.