Fifth Meeting

Not much happened this week. I consider it a mini break, but such periods of calm are common before storms. With all the research done, the only thing left is to go into full production on the storyline. Everything rests on my shoulders now. It'll be hard, but a complete intro should be done by next Friday. In three weeks, the entire project should be done in rough draft form. After that, we'll do revisions.

Time to hunker down and focus.

Artwork: Sora and Naminé

Sora and Naminé chilling together.

This picture was a right pain in the ass. Anything that has to do with color always is. I couldn't get my shading with the black brush to look right, so I decided to use color for depth. I forgot how much work it is to actually use color. The thing that annoys me most is when I finish everything, it's too late to make dramatic changes. There's something off about the picture that I can't put my finger on. Naminé's face is weird, and Sora's arms are out of whack. I definitely gotta practice more. Maybe I should start using the pen tool for later pictures.

Fourth Meeting

It's hard to believe that it's been a month since I first started this project. Back then, all I had was an idea, but now, we have a fully working prototype. It's lacking in content, but it has all the basic functionality I need to make a good visual novel.

It took me way too long just to make a placeholder character.

Uncharted 3

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is a stellar experience. It's a culmination of Naughty Dog's work in marrying game design and Hollywood spectacle in one package. It’s the perfect blockbuster, packed to the brim with thrills, death-defying stunts, and amazing set pieces. Unfortunately, the substance that made Uncharted 2 such a fantastic game has been replaced with empty flash.

JomattoStyle: Descriptions

Most stories I read are driven primarily by dialogue -- but that's probably the case for most modern works. My memories are colored by school-assigned literature that's seemingly dominated by pages upon pages of description.

For fanfiction though, most writers have settled on a dialogue-heavy formula. I consider it a byproduct of the more popular forms of media: TV, movies, etc. We grew up watching this stuff, so it only makes sense that we borrow from it when we imagine our own stories. This has led many fanfic authors to write something akin to scripts rather than novels. Remove all the keyframe action and all you have is talk. It's not necessarily a bad thing. We all watch TV, so it's a familiar format for us. The problem is that it doesn't take advantage of the writing medium.

Artwork: Sora and Kairi

I usually draw on paper first for my rough drafts, but this time, I decided to do everything in Photoshop. From conception to final production, everything was done on the computer.

Third Meeting

I'm late on my meeting notes, but that's more of a reflection of the meeting content than my ability to quickly write up a summary. There's not much to say. We're working diligently to reach our "milestones." A lot of it really depends on me.

JomattoStyle: Introductions

It's called an introduction. It's an opportunity to make a great first impression--perhaps the only opportunity. There's really no excuse to flounder on such a fundamental aspect of writing a story. How many times do our English teachers have to throw out the word "hook" until our mouths got the gashes to prove it? I see far too many writers go for the most boring introductions ever. Every time I see it happen, it's a lost opportunity.

Artwork: Sora, Xion, and Moogle (Hotel Hearts)

This photo is rather simple compared to the amount of time I put into it. This took me over an hour to complete. I had some trouble because I forgot how to line stroke the pen tool. I felt like an idiot when I realized all I had to do was change the pen tool setting.

VN Prototype 2

[play music]

Where am I?

What is this place?

I'm looking around but...

Chapter Previews

All Chapter Previews are Organized Under Here.

Love Sick
Chapter 19  

Hotel Hearts
Initial Concept
Chapter 10
Chapter 11

Sora's Epic Journey
Initial Concept

Artwork
Sora (Love Sick)

Video Game Review Index

An index of all the games I've played and reviewed.

999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
Assassin's Creed 2
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Battlefield 3
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Battlefield Bad Company 2: Vietnam
Bioshock 2
Bulletstorm
Call of Duty: Black Ops 
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 
Dead Space 2
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
Final Fantasy XIII
Gears of War 3
God of War III
God of War: Ghost of Sparta
Halo Anniversary
Halo Reach
Heavy Rain
Homefront 
Killzone 3
Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep
LA Noire
Mass Effect 3
Medal of Honor
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
Portal
Prey
Psychonauts
Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time
Resistance 3
Shadows of the Damned
Silent Hill
Uncharted 3
Vanquish
Yakuza 3

Second Meeting

It was another productive meeting. There's nothing like coming together to share thoughts and ideas.  It really makes me feel that this project is truly a collaborative effort.