Hey farmers, This will be the final dev log before launch of Everafter Falls an it has been amazing to work alongside Ou with these dev logs and just as exciting to get the game into your hands. And with that, I leave the rest of the final Everafter Falls dev log before launch to Ou where he talks about the artistic evolution of Everafter Falls. [b][h2]A Look Back: The Artistic Evolution of Everafter Falls[/h2][/b] The launch date has been set for June for Everafter Falls! I could not have gotten here without the amazing support of the community, and the valuable contributions of the Alpha and Beta testers. I cannot thank everyone enough, I know countless hours have been spent trying to break the game and diligently reporting the results. Their efforts have undoubtedly made the game that much better. I’d also like to thank everyone who has been waiting patiently through all these years. I do hope you enjoy playing Everafter Falls as much as I had creating it. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to reflect on the differences between the early development and the current state of the game. In this post, I will focus on the art and discuss its evolution throughout the development process. To start, a bit about my background in art: I have never received formal training in art, nor had I practiced extensively before embarking on the creation of Everafter Falls. While I did enjoy sketching and doodling occasionally and was often told I had a talent for drawing, the bulk of my skills have significantly developed over the course of this project. Nearly all the art you see in the final game went through numerous iterations. The final look and feel were not established until quite late in development, requiring a considerable amount of experimentation before settling on a particular style. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38713278/3fda4c7fc97cba70c8f5e56b4c3914fabbdb082a.png[/img] I eventually settled on a style that blended some elements of pixel art and low resolution textures, with a hand drawn, cartoony look. The final result was achieved using vector art in Adobe Illustrator, but it did take me some time to get satisfactory results. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38713278/83b67c0f6e5dce5e3a2b1cbb97ca517aae333a9f.png[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38713278/83273f1a6bb3bad6b980e673d30c437ed3c93198.png[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38713278/2cf3a94b127afbc1f85973c5da6dab2d691aa1e6.png[/img] The decision to incorporate pixel art was partly due to technical considerations. Using pixel art allowed me to load the entire sprite atlases used in the game into memory all at once,, simplifying the process. For example, in the image below, the BEFORE scene uses high-resolution textures for everything, while the AFTER scene uses pixel art for the house borders, wallpaper, and flooring. The sprite atlas size in early development was over four times larger than the final version. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38713278/a2afc548a95e072918c23d173adccc8d81f282ac.png[/img] The color palette also evolved over time. The final game is vibrant and colorful, which might surprise some given the restraint exercised during development. In fact, due to feedback that the colors could be overwhelming, a "toned down" color option is available in the settings. Below are some changes made to the Everberry and Yummyberry bushes, which are common throughout the game. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38713278/340573596eb383bf2761f7abfdccdb3061b0180d.png[/img] Later into development, once I had the style figured out, I found it useful to design and layout scenes using a graphics program (in this case Illustrator), before creating it in the game. This gave me a rough preview of how things might end up looking before committing to it. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38713278/d72d41a36bb940c1072763f3a99d97de4d06e292.png[/img] With the artstyle decided on, it still took a fair amount of iterations before I got the result I wanted. Some iterations were due to technical challenges—such as deciding against animating characters with arms due to the added complexity—and others because I needed more practice to reach a satisfactory level of skill. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38713278/14050023ca007eefd45a82bb6a049e3928f7d197.png[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38713278/f1e9aefbe23b46ed6a62b45c5a9d5475d9d9667e.png[/img] For the UI, I found this to be the most difficult and time consuming part of development, but also the most rewarding. Keeping things as simple as possible, and prioritizing functionality and legibility is something that needs to be considered from the get-go. Of course, experimenting is a great way to get a feel for what works and what doesn’t. This was another area in which I transitioned from high-resolution textured graphics to pixel art, which not only reduced the image sizes, but also allowed for scaling the UI and maintaining clarity. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38713278/322c0e63c42088ae722ff34b18596985b7f187c7.png[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38713278/7403e7d0bba60a6bfc23ef6f92b894d6b80495c2.png[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38713278/5924c43c889530b97dfdde40e91e5defd63f96b6.png[/img] Reflecting on this journey brings back many fond memories. It is amazing to see how far the game has come, and it feels surreal that the release date is just around the corner. To anyone else on a game development journey, I wish you the best. Remember, it is an iterative process, so don’t give up! [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38713278/4302ac3c7d11167407ced3371dc191b316ed7c38.png[/img]