FA+
Shop
Happy New (Snake) Year 2025!
10 months ago
General
It’s that time of year again. The beginning. But more importantly, time for my first update of the year.
Not much in the way of health or work changes, so I’ll gloss over them to get to the “big” announcements.
Health
Not too shabby. No real hand trouble as of late, so the stretches are still working.
Work
Work is work. A little slow as I’ve been obsessing over my personal projects, but not much of a change there.
YouTube
Hoping to make some more YouTube content this year. At the moment, the SonicXDeadSpace piece is the only thing up.
Been sitting on a couple more for a while now. Going to try and finish them.
Ko-fi
I might be opening a Ko-fi later this year to help with funding between commissions. Something to make it more viable for me to take breaks to work on my own things.
And, on that note…
My Project Queue
On to the big news.
So while I’ve been working on QooH I’ve had a couple other original ideas rolling around in my head that are smaller in scale that I could feasibly complete much sooner. Less characters, simpler stories, settings more in my wheelhouse.
I’ve been debating on whether I should re-order my workflow to match this and, honestly, last year convinced me. I made a lot more progress on those other two projects despite only really picking them up later in the year (though I’ve had one of them in mind for a year and the other since roughly the start of QooH.)
Overall this should work better. Focusing on the smaller, simpler projects first to work my way up to the bigger scale ones. Plus the more fantastical nature of the other two projects are a bit more in my wheel house. So it does help with the writing.
So, what are the projects on my queue? Well, here’s a quick summary of each in order of biggest to smallest.
Project 03 – QooH
The main project I’ve been working on in one form or another for the past… 5 years? First few I was just the character designer, last couple I’ve been the sole designer working a little here and there on it (between commissions). Mostly model art/coding as I want to get a lot of mileage out of the character sprites. Poses, expressions, outfits, etc. Some scattered writing here and there.
Scale wise this is the BIG one with a large cast of characters, alternate costumes, seasonal events, puzzles, even some “dlc” in mind. Hence why it's 3rd on my queue.
You can find more “in-depth” info HERE as well as concept art.
Project 02 – Avatar the Last Bastion
A goofy working title based on the origin of the idea.
I first had this idea either 2023 or early 2024. A CYOA RPG set in a very Fallout/TLOU world (a middle ground between over the top and super serious). You’re a random survivor of the apocalypse who finds a settlement that needs your help.
Main gameplay would be screen-to-screen/turn based, with you roaming the wastes and ruins of “City X”; fighting zombies/robots/mutants and gathering resources for the settlement to prepare for a big end-game event. And of course, running character specific missions to build your relationship with them and gain their loyalty, love, or resentment.
Roughly half the main-cast compared to QooH, the more fantastical setting and gameplay premise made writing the intro for this flow exceptionally well. Which, as mainly an artist, is where these things typically slow down.
Despite that, I thought it’d be best served 2nd on this queue because of the amount of branching story paths and actual gameplay/systems involved. Best to dip my toes into something a liiiiiiiiiittle simpler first.
Project 01 – Project Summer Camp
You might remember this idea from a post back in 2019 (around the same time as QooH.) Check it out HERE.
It originally started out as a “boner comedy” set in college. Kind of a Harry and the Hendersons story about a group of college freshman who bring a monster back from summer camp and have wacky/sexy shenanigans trying to hide him from the dean and other students. Dressing him up in tourist clothes, pretending he’s the new mascot, monster roams around campus sleeping with everyone. That sort of stuff.
Very short lived as I really latched into the summer camp prequel premise. Kind of a Meatballs meets The Shape of Water story. Having finally sat down with it after 5 years, it’s shaping up to be less of a boner comedy and more of a fun mystery adventure a-la Gravity Falls. Monsters, magic, mystery, skinny dipping. Summer fun.
The basic premise is still “group of campers find a mysterious creature while at summer camp.” But with that creature no longer being the only thing living in the woods. Very Monster of the Week with an overarching mystery throughout the story.
Gameplay wise this would be the simplest. A straightforward visual novel with no variations in dialogue or story paths. 6-ish main characters (+Creature). Possibly some simple point and click puzzle action. Bonus; backgrounds would all be trees, rocks, streams. Great way to ease myself into background work compared to the other more angular perspective-heavy settings. Hence why it’s 1st on my queue.
I’ll likely make a dedicated journal post like I did for QooH to link things back to, but that’s the gist of it for now.
Wish me Luck
As stated, I’m trying to focus on story above other aspects to help move these along. Taking my own advice and just getting ideas out on paper. Writing slop, seeing where it goes, re-writing it to bet less bad. Very much like how I treat drawing.
It seems to be working. I’m pumping out ideas and notes for the “summer camp story.” As of now, a “rough draft” of the intro is done which would be the cut-off point for the demo.
I will hopefully be able to pull myself away from these projects to handle some housekeeping over the next couple months: clearing commissions, working on my price sheets, prepping the Ko-fi, etc. Things I’ve been neglecting
Here's hoping the year of the snake follows through for yours truly.
Not much in the way of health or work changes, so I’ll gloss over them to get to the “big” announcements.
Health
Not too shabby. No real hand trouble as of late, so the stretches are still working.
Work
Work is work. A little slow as I’ve been obsessing over my personal projects, but not much of a change there.
YouTube
Hoping to make some more YouTube content this year. At the moment, the SonicXDeadSpace piece is the only thing up.
Been sitting on a couple more for a while now. Going to try and finish them.
Ko-fi
I might be opening a Ko-fi later this year to help with funding between commissions. Something to make it more viable for me to take breaks to work on my own things.
And, on that note…
My Project Queue
On to the big news.
So while I’ve been working on QooH I’ve had a couple other original ideas rolling around in my head that are smaller in scale that I could feasibly complete much sooner. Less characters, simpler stories, settings more in my wheelhouse.
I’ve been debating on whether I should re-order my workflow to match this and, honestly, last year convinced me. I made a lot more progress on those other two projects despite only really picking them up later in the year (though I’ve had one of them in mind for a year and the other since roughly the start of QooH.)
Overall this should work better. Focusing on the smaller, simpler projects first to work my way up to the bigger scale ones. Plus the more fantastical nature of the other two projects are a bit more in my wheel house. So it does help with the writing.
So, what are the projects on my queue? Well, here’s a quick summary of each in order of biggest to smallest.
Project 03 – QooH
The main project I’ve been working on in one form or another for the past… 5 years? First few I was just the character designer, last couple I’ve been the sole designer working a little here and there on it (between commissions). Mostly model art/coding as I want to get a lot of mileage out of the character sprites. Poses, expressions, outfits, etc. Some scattered writing here and there.
Scale wise this is the BIG one with a large cast of characters, alternate costumes, seasonal events, puzzles, even some “dlc” in mind. Hence why it's 3rd on my queue.
You can find more “in-depth” info HERE as well as concept art.
Project 02 – Avatar the Last Bastion
A goofy working title based on the origin of the idea.
I first had this idea either 2023 or early 2024. A CYOA RPG set in a very Fallout/TLOU world (a middle ground between over the top and super serious). You’re a random survivor of the apocalypse who finds a settlement that needs your help.
Main gameplay would be screen-to-screen/turn based, with you roaming the wastes and ruins of “City X”; fighting zombies/robots/mutants and gathering resources for the settlement to prepare for a big end-game event. And of course, running character specific missions to build your relationship with them and gain their loyalty, love, or resentment.
Roughly half the main-cast compared to QooH, the more fantastical setting and gameplay premise made writing the intro for this flow exceptionally well. Which, as mainly an artist, is where these things typically slow down.
Despite that, I thought it’d be best served 2nd on this queue because of the amount of branching story paths and actual gameplay/systems involved. Best to dip my toes into something a liiiiiiiiiittle simpler first.
Project 01 – Project Summer Camp
You might remember this idea from a post back in 2019 (around the same time as QooH.) Check it out HERE.
It originally started out as a “boner comedy” set in college. Kind of a Harry and the Hendersons story about a group of college freshman who bring a monster back from summer camp and have wacky/sexy shenanigans trying to hide him from the dean and other students. Dressing him up in tourist clothes, pretending he’s the new mascot, monster roams around campus sleeping with everyone. That sort of stuff.
Very short lived as I really latched into the summer camp prequel premise. Kind of a Meatballs meets The Shape of Water story. Having finally sat down with it after 5 years, it’s shaping up to be less of a boner comedy and more of a fun mystery adventure a-la Gravity Falls. Monsters, magic, mystery, skinny dipping. Summer fun.
The basic premise is still “group of campers find a mysterious creature while at summer camp.” But with that creature no longer being the only thing living in the woods. Very Monster of the Week with an overarching mystery throughout the story.
Gameplay wise this would be the simplest. A straightforward visual novel with no variations in dialogue or story paths. 6-ish main characters (+Creature). Possibly some simple point and click puzzle action. Bonus; backgrounds would all be trees, rocks, streams. Great way to ease myself into background work compared to the other more angular perspective-heavy settings. Hence why it’s 1st on my queue.
I’ll likely make a dedicated journal post like I did for QooH to link things back to, but that’s the gist of it for now.
Wish me Luck
As stated, I’m trying to focus on story above other aspects to help move these along. Taking my own advice and just getting ideas out on paper. Writing slop, seeing where it goes, re-writing it to bet less bad. Very much like how I treat drawing.
It seems to be working. I’m pumping out ideas and notes for the “summer camp story.” As of now, a “rough draft” of the intro is done which would be the cut-off point for the demo.
I will hopefully be able to pull myself away from these projects to handle some housekeeping over the next couple months: clearing commissions, working on my price sheets, prepping the Ko-fi, etc. Things I’ve been neglecting
Here's hoping the year of the snake follows through for yours truly.
