COMMISSIONS

This segment would showcase various commission work. It's always a learning and fun experience doing these kinds of things.

SAVE THE DAY!

Save the Day is a mobile simulation game created by me and Sheryl Lim for RKI Creatives. This is a free application for the iOS and Android devices. This teaches kids and kids at heart on what to do in various situations and emergencies. This game mainly focuses on disaster awareness and disaster risk reduction. It was fun animating and making the characters and props of this game. It was also fun conceptualizing the levels and characters of the game alongside RKI Creatives. 

Here are some screenshots of Save the Day!:

(Click Me!) To get the app from Google Play [Android users]!

<Coming soon: Save the Day! app in the App Store [iOS users]>

Note: Please do check the requirements first before downloading the app! It's free! Do take time in giving feedback by rating and commenting!

(Click Me!) If you enjoyed the game, give it a like in the FB page to show your awesome support!

(Click Me!) Feel free to follow RKI Creatives' Save the Day! on Twitter!

Save the Day! was made by the following:

Paul Arvin Andrada = Sound designer

Lorianne Halago = 2D artist

Sheryl Lim = 2D artist and programmer

Erin Isobelle Yap = Sound designer

Save the Day! belongs to RKI Creatives.

THESIS TIME!

This segment of my blog would showcase my theses for Game Design and Development. During these moments, also known as CAPSTN1 and CAPSTN2, we're placed into groups in order to create a game within the time limit of one term (which is around 3 1/2 months).

For CAPSTN1, my team, Team Fight for Five, made Limbones.

For CAPSTN2, Team Hexadactyl created Hexscape.

I'm proud to say that these two got Best Thesis during the Incendium event; which is a termly event that showcases various works created by GDD students. Limbones also got Public's Choice as well as got showcased to various conventions like Toycon 2014 and the Philippine Game Festival.

Incendium I poster created by one of my professors. It's a termly event that showcases
various works created by GDD students.

 CAPSTN1: LIMBONES

Limbones is a 2D puzzle platformer game that revolves around the journey of Skelly into the vast abyss of limbo! The player's goal is to escape from limbo while avoiding various obstacles. The cool part about this game is that you not only control Skelly as a whole skeleton but, you can control him by PARTS! Yes, that's right! You can assemble and disassemble him in order to solve various puzzles. You'll also find various skull-like orbs in the game, which happen to be some of Skelly's memories on how he died. :)

Here's a trailer of Limbones:

Here are some screenshots of Limbones:

DO TAKE NOTE: You need to have a Windows computer for this game to work.

OPTIONAL: Use can actually use an XBox360 controller for this one, though the keyboard works for it, too. 

CONTROLS: 

=======

MAIN MENU:
= WASD (or arrow keys): Navigate
= Enter: Select

GAME:
= A and D (or the left and right arrow keys): move left and right, respectively
= SPACE BAR: Jump
= U and O: switch between body parts
= E: Use the switch/lever
= K: Reattach parts
= I: Detach head
= J: Detach arm(s)
= L: Detach leg(s)
= P: Pause

(Click Me!) Download Limbones here and try it out for yourself! :)

Just click on the exe file and you're all set!

Thankies for trying out the game, if you did. :)

Creating this game was a blast, really. :) I recall creating the main idea of the game as well as designing how Skelly looked like. It was fun making the main menu screen,  some obstacles of the game and of course, the main character! All of us worked with each other very well and I learned so much from this experience. I also realized how important documentation is when it comes to making games. It helps you keep track on what you have so far and to create a progress report, in case that this is needed for future use.

Team Fight for Five consists of the following:

Lorianne Halago = 2D artist

Sheryl Lim = 2D artist

Anna Gelicia Navarro = Programmer and Skelly's animator

Cristjan Lazar = Programmer

Erin Isobelle Yap = Sound designer

Dr. Beatrice Lapa = Thesis adviser

CAPSTN2: HEXSCAPE

Hexscape is a 2D puzzle-platformer game that revolves around princess Princess and her escape from the manor. She got tired of waiting for her prince charming and decided that she can get out all by herself. Along the way, she meets Bio Organic Ball or B.O.B., a droid that offers assistance in helping her escape the various obstacles. These two go together on a quest in fleeing with switching properties' mechanics as your main mechanic. This core feature, one wherein you switch the properties between two objects, is called 'hexing' or 'hex'; which is why the title is called as such.

Here are some screenshots of Hexscape:

DO TAKE NOTE: You need to have a Windows computer for this game to work and that the Xbox360 controller is REQUIRED.

(Click Me!) Download Hexscape here and try it out for yourself! :)

Just click on the exe file and you're all set!

Thankies for playing the game, if you did play it. :D

Hexscape was pretty challenging for me and my team, since the mechanic was rather hard to break down into easier steps for others to learn it fast. Despite that, I had a lot of fun and really learned a lot, as well. Since our programmer isn't going to animate the main character like last time, this session made me enhance my animation skills. Making the spritesheets for Princess, creating concept arts for the two characters, designing the poster, main menu and the CD cover, and voicing the princess was honestly awesome. Just like Limbones, Hexscape's document was tedious yet, fun to make. I learned that making documents helps you become more organized and improves your skills in explaining and writing things.

Team Hexadactyl consists of the following:

Jamaica Balbin = Programmer and GUI artist

Lorianne Halago = 2D artist

Sheryl Lim = 2D artist

Anna Gelicia Navarro = Programmer and Skelly's animator

Cristjan Lazar = Programmer

Erin Isobelle Yap = Sound designer

Dr. Beatrice Lapa = Thesis adviser

The experiences I had here are truly memorable. Working with these people helps me realize that it's all about teamwork when getting things done in thesis. Not only do my groupmates help me out in tasks, they also help me out in becoming a better person. The quality time we spent together helped me become understanding in knowing more about them. 

Limbones and Hexscape taught me so many things in so many aspects; developer-wise and person-wise.

SDA WORKS (3DBASIC)

During the 6th term, we had our 3DBASIC or The Basics of 3 Dimension class. This was honestly one of the subjects that I was excited about during that time because I always wanted to learn how artists and animators do those things and those details. I know I'm excited in doing 2D art but, I was also excited in learning 3D! The professor in this class worked on famous animated films like Rango. He was very thorough in giving instructions and his tasks were really challenging. Good thing he gave those challenges in a gradual process. He would always ask us if ever we understood everything before proceeding to the next topic.

 This is a screenshot of my group's finals in the making. We were assigned to create a futuristic bar. This is the second floor, in which there's a dance floor and lights and follow the beat of the music.

 This is more progress to it.

I was playing around with the materials and textures of this one to create a glass like effect. Since it was futuristic, we decided to add neon lights to it.

This would be the final result of my group's work!

During finals week, our task was to create an interior or exterior of anything to our liking. We were asked to work in groups of 4. Me and my groupmates decided to do a futuristic looking bar. We divided our tasks into 2 parts: two people would work on the first floor (which consists of the tables, chairs, restrooms, doors, and the bar itself) while the other two were assigned to create the second floor (which consists of the dance floor). I was one of the people who did the second floor. It was a really fun experience, really. I also helped with the others when it comes to how the objects would look like as well as what textures we can do for the tables and chairs. It was a wonderful experience working with them and we got a pretty good grade because of our teamwork.

I learned a lot from this class, really. I realized that like 2D art, 3D art is a very tedious task and it takes a long time to master all the processes in creating an object (well, I think it's like this in almost anything that we want to learn and master). I think that I should take some time in learning this again and improve myself because who knows...I might be creating 3D objects for games. I shouldn't give up just yet! I have a long way to go but, hopefully, I'm still fighting. 

SDA WORKS (2DBASIC)

Greetings and salutations, everyone! It really has been a long while since I've updated this blog but, it's better late than never, right? The past few terms have been a rollercoaster of a ride. A lot of good things happened as well as bad ones, really. This was the time that I got sick quite a lot and that I wasn't really that enthusiastic as I used to be. Despite all that, I've really learned a lot and I hope to practice what I've learned and be better than I used to be.

This time, I'll be tackling my works in 2DBASIC or The BASICS of 2D. This basically teaches us all about how to do two dimensional art as well as how to animate them. I really had fun with this subject because I like to draw and this basically helped me realize how tedious it is to animate scenes. The professor was also very kind and passionate with his work so, he gave us lectures and activities that're easy to understand.

This is the concept art for Little Miss Muffet.

I recall having long periods of rest when creating the concept art for the main character. I had to stare at my sketchpad for a long time in order to come up with a good idea. Seeing the various hairstyles, I think that having her with short hair suits her more than long hair. It was fun doing potential ideas for her and the spider.

Note: Music does not belong to me nor does the rhyme belong to me.It belongs to their respective owners.

Most of the time, we had discussions so, I'll just be posting my finals work. Our professor said that we will create a short video of a famous nursery rhyme. The one I chose was 'Little Miss Muffet'. The reason why I chose this is because it is a nursery rhyme quite forgotten and I wanted to try drawing spiders.

Creating this short animation was really challenging. What made it really challenging was the fact that I had to do this frame by frame. My hands were really tired after creating all the frames digitally, checking every detail if ever it's accurate or out of place. I need to be careful when it comes to animating things because I don't want anything to look off or weird. Despite all the challenging tasks in doing this, I had fun creating this short video and it was a good learning experience for me.

CONTEST ENTRIES

This segment of my blog would showcase the various entries that my groups have entered for contests like Unity Game Jam 2012, Game On - Master class, as well as Global Game Jam.

Now, on to the entries!

Global Game Jam 2014: Ploop!

Ploop! is a 2D puzzle game that my team, Team Fight for Five made as an entry for Global Game Jam 2014. This event actually gave us an opportunity to try out how our group dynamics work for our incoming CAPSTN/thesis.

Global Game Jam is a yearly event that lets people create a game based on a given theme within 48 hours. The theme for 2014's GGJ was a quote which had a complex meaning. We didn't win any awards for this but it was a very heartfelt experience. My team realized that we can work well together and each of us knows our strengths and weaknesses. It was really fun creating the various art assets like the different objects.

(Click me!) To download a copy of Ploop! and play :D

Note: You need click the exe file and you're good to go! This game can only be played in Windows PCs.

Here are some screenshots of the game Ploop!

Team Fight for Five consists of the following members:
Lorianne Halago = 2D artist
Cristjan Lazar = Programmer
Sheryl Lim = 2D artist and level designer
Anna Gelicia Navarro = Programmer
Erin Isobelle Yap = Sound designer and level designer

Game On-Master Class 2013: The Land of Dreams

The Land of Dreams is a 2D tower defense game that focuses on various pieces of candies fighting to protect their kingdom. The theme of 'kingdom' made my team, Team HBLA, think for a while on what can be a good concept. We decided to go out of the box and not really go with the medieval feel. It was fun creating the various animations and concept designs of the candies.

(Click me!) To download The Land of Dreams and play!

Note: Just click on the exe file and you're ready to play! This game is applicable to Windows PCs.

Here are some screenshots of The Land Of Dreams:

Team HBLA consists of the following members:
Paul Arvin Andrada = Programmer and sound designer
Mark Antolin = Game designer and producer
Jamaica Balbin = Programmer and artist
Lorianne Halago = Artist
Sheryl Lim = Artist

Unity Game Jam 2012: Silhouettes

Silhouettes is 2D, on rail, side-scrolling game created by my team, Team BL-ED (BLack-rED). Silhouettes throws in more questions than answers as you progress through the game. Being primitive not only means the prehistoric era, it also means lack of complex knowledge. The game makes you rely on your instincts to acquire your necessities and avoid the unknown dangers to survive through the harsh world of silhouettes. It was really a fun experience to create the concept of this game as well as make the various designs for the characters and obstacles as well as create some of the level designs.

The theme for this game was PRIMITIVE LIFE. When we first heard that, we thought of something prehistoric. Eventually, it led to the topic of INSTINCT hence, this was born. We tried making it simple yet, mysterious and addictive. The only thing you can depend on would be your 5 senses.

Truth be told, we didn't really expect to win the contest but, we actually did! It took us nearly a week for the fact to sink in on us and we were really happy that people liked our game!

(Click me!) Here's the web version of Silhouettes! If you wanna play again or if you died, press 'r'!

Note: Please download the web player first before playing the game itself. It's fast and easy!

(Click me!) If you loved the game, show your support by liking our page in Facebook!

Here are some screenshots of Silhouettes:

Team BL-ED consists of the following members:

Lorianne Halago = Artist and level designer

Dylius Jov Ouano = Programmer

Cherish Princess Socro = Artist and designer

Game On-Master Class 2012: Noypi Nota

Noypi Nota is a rhythm game that was inspired by a 3DS game called 'Rhythm Thief' as well as other rhythm games like 'DJ Max Technika' and 'Osu!'. The sophomores of our school (our batch) were required to participate in this competition in groups. It's another day for Team BL-ED to make another game. There was a catch when we entered Master Class: it should be based on a theme and it shouldn't exceed more than 5MB. 

The theme for this category was Philippine Heroes. Truth be told, we had a hard time conceptualizing the game, at first. We had a lot of brilliant ideas in mind until someone mentioned "rhythm game". Since then, everyone started pouring in more ideas about it hence, creating this game. 

Now, how was the game related to the theme?

"When you say hero, you don't have to die for your country, nor do a sacrificial deed. 

Anyone can be a hero in their own way. 

All you need is the push to start a change."

What we were trying to say is that when someone says hero, it doesn't have to be someone famous or you have to do something really big just for you to be called as such. Truth is, anyone can be a hero in the little good deeds that they do. We just need the initiative to do so.

We didn't really mind if ever we wouldn't win the contest but, we were again shocked that we got in the top 3 teams! When we got to the awarding ceremony, it was very overwhelming. We were with other students who competed as well as professionals. It was a wonderful experience, really.

It was such an honor to win the contest, too. All that hard work and constant headaches and breakdowns were really worth it. I'm very glad that I get to work with such wonderful people in my team and may we continue to do our best in achieving our dreams! It was a blast working with these people again and it was fun creating the various character designs and props and even voiced some of the characters!

(Click me!) Try playing Noypi Nota! It's very addicting and challenging!

Note: Please install the web player first for you to enjoy the game. It's fast and easy!

Here are some screenshots of Noypi Nota:

Team BL-ED consists of the following members:
Lorianne Halago = Artist
Dylius Jov Ouano = Programmer
Cherish Princess Socro = Artist
Erin Isobelle Yap = Sound designer

I believe that these games are milestones in my life when it comes to creating games. It's truly an honor to receive such awards and to represent our school in doing so. To those who participated in those contests, congratulations to us all because we did our best and we did a wonderful job! It's also an honor to have gained these experiences and camaraderie along the way.

Let's do our best next time, alright? Now, on to more adventure!

MISCELLANEOUS (Doodles, Sketches and Whatnot)

This segment would technically show all the other things that I've done that's not really related to anything academic. These include my random doodles. 

 RANDOM DOODLES:

This was drawn because I felt that people were depressed lately during this time. I know, it's not really that pleasing to look at compared to my other works but hey, it is a doodle. It doesn't have to be super pretty. I just wanted to convey the message that someone out there loves you when you feel like you're all alone in this world. This was a practice to digital arts.

Another practice on digital art. It's supposed to be a random image of me if ever I was in anime form. It looks very different from me, actually. It's also a practice on drawing in a semi-realistic style. I'm almost there!

This is a very old doodle. This is supposed to be a shirt design for my organization in school. It's a game design team and this is located at the back of the shirt. The front of the shirt was never really finished because I didn't have a good concept for it (it should show the game this team was going to create as well as various characters). This was traditionally made, by the way.

This is again, another random traditional doodle. I wanted to practice on drawing something that's not chibi (simplified/adorable form). I wanted to practice how to ink properly, as well.

This one is probably a practice on poses and male anatomy. I had a hard time drawing this one since poses aren't really my specialty.

This one's a request from a friend of mine. He wanted me to draw his character (which he drew on the left). The one I made is the one on the right. I'm proud on this one because I got to do the anatomy and posing well. It may be in its chibi form but, hey! It's some improvement, right? I also get to learn how to shade properly. This was traditionally made.

This would be the colored version. I'm really proud of this one because I realized that I still have my traditional art skills in tact! I'm also happy that a lot of people like this work and that they thought this was printed! I'm shocked that they said that, honestly. My friend loved this very much and I'm glad he did! I'm glad people appreciated this work. I used markers for the base colors and colored pencils for the shading.

This would be a cutscene or a random fanart of the proposed game we made, "BATTLECRY". I was amazed when this was finished because I was surprised that I can actually do backgrounds. Drawing backgrounds is considered as a challenge to me because I haven't really tried to make those yet. Again, I'm glad a lot of people appreciate this!

This one is really, really old. I made this chibi using markers and colored pencils. I'm pretty much happy with how this turned out. Whenever I look at this, it makes me smile.

This was the phase in my life where I was completely or somewhat new to digital art. I didn't know how to use Adobe Photoshop that much. This was an art trade for a friend of mine. Digital art and dragons are two topics that're hard to master but in the end, I conquered it! I'm happy with the result.

This was one of the doodles that I'm quite proud of. This was made a long time ago, to be honest. The reason why I'm proud of this was is because I only used the small set of colored pencils to color this one. I used the limited colors to create something like this. It made me realize that you don't need the fanciest of materials to get great art; it's how you use them!

This one was part of those phases in my life wherein I was new to digital art. This was supposed to be a logo for a friend of mine for one of the organizations we're about to have in school. The logo in the middle was not made by me. I'm happy how this came out, honestly. Simple yet, effective.

This one's a fanart of BBC Sherlock (a TV series that started back in 2010). I loved the series so much that I've decided to make art for it! Originally, the lineart was traditionally made (you can tell by the white spots seen around the characters). I didn't know how to make linearts/scanned pictures look digitally made hence, it kind of looked like this. Still, I'm proud of this work.

I know that these may not be much but, I really do hope that I can see some progress in my art (as well as my programming skills) as I journey further in the world of GDD.