From May through July I was working on a game project that was my baby, -the first game that was going to have my fingerprints and art design all over it and an ambitious visual presentation that would merit attention at trade shows. I'd learned a lot in the process about the use of After Effects and the technical aspects of configuring the art assets into a package that could be read by the game engine (a new hat for me to wear professionally) and as of about a week ago the game had gotten all the programming bugs fixed and was set to enter formal testing in order to be commercially released in September.

This weekend however two of the higher-ups at the corporate office spent time testing the game and decided that it needed a lot of changes in the art style. The reason being is that my game differed too much from the original game it was based off of. Unfortunately nobody ever gave any art direction that it was *supposed* to have visual callbacks. Throughout the weeks of feedback sessions by the main studio folks in Reno the dialogue was approving and focused on making the art look as best as it could within the direction that I was taking. Needless to say this sudden change in direction is pretty astonishing and has me scratching my head, mainly because the formal deadline for delivery had already passed due to programming bugs, hardware configurations, and various other testing issues that had to be ironed out. So now at the 13th hour the art design needs to be changed? I accept that such a decision wasn't made idly and the rationale for it is above my pay grade, but ehhhh... if it's THAT important I wish it had been communicated before all the effort had been put forth to make something different in the first place. At least I have the satisfaction of knowing that all the people over in Reno were supportive of the art direction and they're caught off guard by this as well and extended their apologies.

It's not the first time I've had to go through this, but it is the first time where nearly all of the art development and direction was a result of my vision and not someone else's.

]:/