Flash drawing with substance...

Dan Paladin (what a sweet name, eh?) is an amazing illustrator and animator for that matter and I can't wait for Castle Crasher's to release. In the meantime here's some great workflow vid from him.


Comic-Con 2008 Flag Design from The Behemoth on Vimeo.

Pixar and Snipers!

• Not sure how long this one will last on the net, so enjoy it while you can. Fantastic animation there - the texture of the swift against the still is magical. Can't wait to see the whole thing!
  
  
  
• Here comes the sniper - yet another fantastic little shot into the life of a character of the insanely popular Team Fortress by Valve.
  
  

Some Great Video Game Cinemas...

One of my favorite series of games is the Oddworld series. Fantastic art, comedic, good gameplay. The last outing in the series, Stranger's Wrath, had some particularly beautiful cinemas. I wouldn't mind playing through it again but I don't have my original Xbox anymore and its sadly not on the backwards compatibility list for the 360. You lose a little context just watching them back to back but you can surely appreciate the cinematography and design seeing them. Don't watch them if you might get a chance to play through it as you don't wanna ruin the surprise.



I hear they're working on a game again and I can't wait to see what they brew up. The First 10 Years Art of book has a special place in my collection.

Today in Animation goodness

Who wouldn't love this??

• I am inspired - This guy is absolutely amazing. Pocoyo is one of my favoritily (yes that is now a word) animated children's shows. I know I've posted it before. It's my blog and I'll do it again if I please;)
  
• Yet another cool film from across the pond - Jungle Jail - I dig some of the cinematography choices. Watch it here
  
• I have finished Mass Effect - I shall be animating again. No more games for a while. On the game in particular, the combat takes a while to get used to. I had many hours in it before really understanding how best to use my abilities. The other party members aren't that great at combat, so bear in mind that playing as a mainly support class wouldn't be such a grand plan. Some elements get a little repetitive at times (i.e. the planet scouring game design). However, the story was fantastic and the world better realized that I thought it would be from early observations during the game's development. The auto generated facial runs the gamut from pretty good to just bad in sections. However, the idea of trying to hand key that much facial animation is laughable. That last hour and a half of it was one of the best gaming experiences I've had in a while. I salute their efforts and eagerly look forward to what they have in store for the next chapter.
  

Minor updates and more lessons in the life of Josh....

• Life Lessons - "That don't wash" - This morning I threw my laundry in the wash as I was heading out the door for work. Went home for lunch to throw them in the dryer and noticed something resting in the bottom of the wash as I was transferring the clothes. Apparently, cell phones don't like to be submerged in water. Who knew!? No, letting it dry didn't work. So I ordered a new phone (cheaper than the store - the guy at the store even told me as such. 2 points for honesty) but it won't be here till Monday or so. So, if I know you and you try calling, that's why I don't answer.
  
• An actual site update! - Yeah, I finally got around to updating my age and location, and adding some stuff on my most recent "published" game project at work - Blacksite: Area 51. It ships next week and a new demo will be on live in a couple of weeks. Check it out:)
• Started working on a new project - I'm very excited to be working on another of my good friend David Bokser's Personal Film Project. Looking forward to seeing it continue to take form. I first read the script a long time back and I'm pumped he's in production. AND it means I get to do some full body hand key animation. YAY!
• Recent games -
  
• Jade Empire - Fantastic ride. Great story, fun combat, though I'd have preferred a few more styles. Ready for some Mass Effect now!
  
• Halo 3 - Ton of fun playing with my cousins, brother and friends online. Team based combat is just a ton of fun. Discovered I have an odd propensity to finish people off with a melee attack rather than shooting them. Seriously, it's my highest killing weapon - at one point doubling any other weapon. Who needs guns?
  
• Orange Box - Portal is one of the best games I've played. Period. Episode one and Two were good, Two was better than One but they were both great. Team Fortress 2 has some of the best character animation and design I've seen in a game. However, I think I'd prefer to play it on the PC.
  

More game animation goodness...

And if you can't wait for this to launch on the 360 next month. You could always get in on the beta...:)

I'm going to try to be strong...

Another Round of TF Goodness!

I can't wait to see this game when it's done! If the animation carries over in game play as well as it does in the cut scenes it's going to be phenomenal. Great stuff!

Some more sweet flash animation...(this time with swords!)

I ran across these three videos today. They comprise the pre-story behind Heavenly Sword (a game coming out for the PS3 soon). There may be more of them coming, I'm not sure. I have to say the art direction of the actual game looks run-of-the-mill compared to this. Maybe I'm just tired of "realistic" representation. How amazing would a game with this look be?

Awesome indeed.

At least it would be amazing looking...:)

Stranglehold Demo is up on XBox Live!

(Dislaimer - VERY violent video, lots of blood and stuff, if you're squimish...move along)

So, the Stranglehold demo released last night on XBOX live. IGN did a quick write up on it and the comments I've been seeing for the most part show people enjoying it. If you're into shooting stuff up, give it a look.

I hadn't really seen the multiplayer in a very long time. Prolly a year ago. It's actually looking pretty fun.

Some fantastic game animation...

Ah....yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaah....

More Castle Crashers footage!

This game makes me want to pluck down $300 smackers for a console to play a downloadable game...however, my over zealous frugal side will prolly win the battle. :(

This is one sweet looking game...

This game looks awesome!

Love the design, love the nostalgia of old co-op coin-ups, great flash animation. Win, win.....win!

Ode to a Mocha Coconut Frappuccino...

Saturday has come again and I have no idea where last week went. I think that Time's brakes are loosening up a bit- need to get that checked. Wonder who you see about that...

It's been a pretty good week all in all. We have a almost daily game ritual at lunch at work of squeezing in a few minutes of Guitar Hero in. My buddy Mike is the greatest hero of our sorry bunch but I successfully completed my first song on expert on Friday - so yeah, I'm pretty much guitar soloist material here as long as you give me a guitar with 5 buttons that is preprogrammed with the songs we'll be jammin too.

Maybe I should stick to my day job.

I've discovered my new favorite cereal - Yogurt Burst Cheerios. I got Strawberry and they're mighty tasty. Of course that means that they'll discontinue them once I get to rely on them. Sorry, I stopped by Starbucks today to get a Frappuccino and was reminded again why I don't go there. They used to make the epitome of drinks that was the Mocha Coconut Frappuccino. This delectable beverage was a mocha frappuccino with a shot of Coconut Syrup and delicious toasted coconut shavings mixed in. However, they pulled the drink off their menu a few years ago. For a time they still had the syrup and would make a regular Mocha one with some coconut syrup but when their on hand syrup supply was gone, they ordered no more and my love affair with Starbucks came to a rapid halt.

Today I walked in, looked at the menu and saw nothing that sounded appetizing. I looked at the geek chic cashier and asked if they had any coconut syrup and he gave me a glassy eyed look and shook his head and asked his manager if he remembered a time when they stocked it.

I remember.

Every six months or so, I stick my head in to check. Maybe this summer the time will be ripe for a reprise of that special summer drink I know and love.



Eh...at least it gave me something frivolous to ramble about for a bit:)

Psychonauts!

So I grew up loving LucasArts games- Full Throttle, Sam and Max, Day of the Tentacle, Grim Fandango. So Tim Schafer, the guy behind many of those games, left LucasArts at some point and either started a little company called Double Fine Productions.

I went and picked up my copy of Psychonauts last night and as soon as I got home, I threw it in the old XBox. The game just oozes style and I found my self laughing out loud more than once (every few minutes). I played for a few hours and thoroughly enjoyed it. The animating is actually very good for a game and the characters are all unique and entertaining just to look at. Raz especially has some nice little animation moments. A couple of times I just sat there in game listening to some of the characters yammer. Some of them would keep conversations going for a few minutes and were hysterical.

One of the main premises of the game is that you go into other people's brains metaphysically. I've been in 3 so far and each was completely different both play mechanic wise and look wise. Right before calling it quits I got my ability to start fires. Being somewhat of a childhood pyro myself, I felt that was a good place to stop- before too much destruction ensued.

If you're looking for a laugh and some funk in a game, check it out.