Snowland (Kaizei) Art
Posted: 25 Aug 2010, 12:42
This is **not** a priority at the moment, but many have voiced a desire to get the snowland back. People working on the Graveyard **priority** should remain on this project to speed its release, because that is the next thing to be released. Many of these ideas are coming from TMW-UFB and I thank arikel and his team for their hard work to make it an enjoyable area to play in on their server. I am also a developer for TMW-UFB, but my duties on the official game have sapped my time, so I hope to correspond many things done in the snowland with what has been done there.
a lot of pixel art - monster sprites - We will use some of the existing snowland monsters, the lizard (inside a lava cave) and the moggun. We may use a few tmw-ufb monsters, like the winter fluffy. We may also use the large yeti. However, we need new monster sprites to make snowland unique. Ideas to choose from (or make something else that would fit):
Moose-like (not a mouboo, though it can be looked to for inspiration)
Polar Bear-like
Evil Blue Dwarf (Evil Blue Dwarf: Zombie & Skeleton after it is done)
Winter Wolf-like
Klingons with space ship to kill Kirk and Spock (not really)
Snow Cat-like creature
Ice Mole-like creature (ice caves)
Snow Owl-like creature
Snow ferret-like
Small white Dragon-like
Small white Dragonspawn
Flying winter insect
animated npcs - something like with the graveyard NPCs: simple waving, clothing adjustments, pacing, taking something out of their pocket, looking at it and then putting it back in their pocket...just as examples. Women are needed more than men, both are good. Children and fat people are a big bonus.
armor, weapons, clothing - anything that isn't a hat is difficult to make. I'd prefer we just use existing stuff, maybe with some touch ups to give a winter look because the playerset is currently a higher priority and good efforts here would have to be redone for the playerset. It all comes down to if people want a better playerset for tA or more equipment. It is either one or the other until the playerset is expanded and all existing equipment that is wanted, is fixed for it.
tilesets - we will only use arikel's snowland tilesets and ice tilesets from tmw-ufb. Making these better would be nice, but is not a priority and I'd prefer arikel organize this since he's done such a great job so far.
mapping - We are using arikel's snowland tilesets for tmw-ufb to make new maps. The town of "Avalon" won't necessarily be used for the official server, so this map will need replaced by another map and some of the other stuff for tmw-ufb that make it unique will be changed to give the official server snowland map unique characteristics. A valley area that connects several towns through a series of caves is needed. Castle Frosthorn also needs to be made.
xml - All NPCs, equipment, items, monsters, etc. need xml support to get into the game.
npc scripting (quests and interesting dialog) - The backstory for Kaizei is similar to Argaes...Tulimshar imperialism is imposing itself in the area, so Castle Frosthorn serves as the base of operations for Tulimshar influence in the area. NPCs are about the firerock trade (dropped by lizards in the lava caves) and fur trade. The Order of Ice Wizards are a native force that is resisting Tulimshar influence, while the Sages of Kaizei (Santa being one) are experts in Astral magic and hold the area together with a warp system that needs characters to go to the areas as they are unlocked to establish connections. Caves are the primary method of travel until these areas are unlocked by individual characters.
some pixel art (items, icons, static npcs, hats) - Monster drops, like body parts and items are needed. They should be commodity items like spell components or used for making equipment. New goods, like snow plums, would be great too, since native plants need to exist. Hats are great in some ways for new equipment since they can help give a unique feel with less frames than regular equipment should the playerset expand. i'd recommend hoods that fit clothing and animal hats after the animal-monster exists for it. Static npcs, like the animated kind, should fit new concepts and body types, but we can support a large variety of static npcs on a single sheet while animated ones need a separate one...I'd like a 60-40 split on static to animated npcs.
This is all just some ideas and can be changed as we go continue to get passed the graveyard inn priority. A wizard's tower priority is also coming up and I'm not sure which should win out, but I'll let the artists make one or the other the next big thing.
a lot of pixel art - monster sprites - We will use some of the existing snowland monsters, the lizard (inside a lava cave) and the moggun. We may use a few tmw-ufb monsters, like the winter fluffy. We may also use the large yeti. However, we need new monster sprites to make snowland unique. Ideas to choose from (or make something else that would fit):
Moose-like (not a mouboo, though it can be looked to for inspiration)
Polar Bear-like
Evil Blue Dwarf (Evil Blue Dwarf: Zombie & Skeleton after it is done)
Winter Wolf-like
Klingons with space ship to kill Kirk and Spock (not really)
Snow Cat-like creature
Ice Mole-like creature (ice caves)
Snow Owl-like creature
Snow ferret-like
Small white Dragon-like
Small white Dragonspawn
Flying winter insect
animated npcs - something like with the graveyard NPCs: simple waving, clothing adjustments, pacing, taking something out of their pocket, looking at it and then putting it back in their pocket...just as examples. Women are needed more than men, both are good. Children and fat people are a big bonus.
armor, weapons, clothing - anything that isn't a hat is difficult to make. I'd prefer we just use existing stuff, maybe with some touch ups to give a winter look because the playerset is currently a higher priority and good efforts here would have to be redone for the playerset. It all comes down to if people want a better playerset for tA or more equipment. It is either one or the other until the playerset is expanded and all existing equipment that is wanted, is fixed for it.
tilesets - we will only use arikel's snowland tilesets and ice tilesets from tmw-ufb. Making these better would be nice, but is not a priority and I'd prefer arikel organize this since he's done such a great job so far.
mapping - We are using arikel's snowland tilesets for tmw-ufb to make new maps. The town of "Avalon" won't necessarily be used for the official server, so this map will need replaced by another map and some of the other stuff for tmw-ufb that make it unique will be changed to give the official server snowland map unique characteristics. A valley area that connects several towns through a series of caves is needed. Castle Frosthorn also needs to be made.
xml - All NPCs, equipment, items, monsters, etc. need xml support to get into the game.
npc scripting (quests and interesting dialog) - The backstory for Kaizei is similar to Argaes...Tulimshar imperialism is imposing itself in the area, so Castle Frosthorn serves as the base of operations for Tulimshar influence in the area. NPCs are about the firerock trade (dropped by lizards in the lava caves) and fur trade. The Order of Ice Wizards are a native force that is resisting Tulimshar influence, while the Sages of Kaizei (Santa being one) are experts in Astral magic and hold the area together with a warp system that needs characters to go to the areas as they are unlocked to establish connections. Caves are the primary method of travel until these areas are unlocked by individual characters.
some pixel art (items, icons, static npcs, hats) - Monster drops, like body parts and items are needed. They should be commodity items like spell components or used for making equipment. New goods, like snow plums, would be great too, since native plants need to exist. Hats are great in some ways for new equipment since they can help give a unique feel with less frames than regular equipment should the playerset expand. i'd recommend hoods that fit clothing and animal hats after the animal-monster exists for it. Static npcs, like the animated kind, should fit new concepts and body types, but we can support a large variety of static npcs on a single sheet while animated ones need a separate one...I'd like a 60-40 split on static to animated npcs.
This is all just some ideas and can be changed as we go continue to get passed the graveyard inn priority. A wizard's tower priority is also coming up and I'm not sure which should win out, but I'll let the artists make one or the other the next big thing.
