Starting with a Sketch #7

I showed off one of my new levels at a few expos recently and everybody loved it! I’d sketched the idea out a while back but was a little unsure if it would fit well within the game. Here’s my original sketch below.

Start Small But Think Big

The very best games start off as fairly small and focused ideas, which are then scaled-up as new ideas and concepts are added. That is why I decided to start small but think big when developing Dare the Monkey. So what do I mean by this?

Starting with a Sketch #6

Yup, it’s time for another one of my twenty second sketches followed by the final visual. This time we have a broken bridge situated in a dense jungle.

Adding Variety to Your Platform Slices

Each of my game’s levels are built mostly using bitmap slices. They’re basically vertical slices that can be stitched together to create a surface area for our little monkey hero to run along. The image below shows a single platform slice being used repeatedly to create the ground from my Jungle levels.

Starting with a Sketch #5

If you’ve been following this blog then you’ll already know that Dare the Monkey is heavily inspired by 90s arcade machines and console games from the golden 16-bit era. Those who’ve played early demos of it have mentioned that the visual style and gameplay elements remind them of classics such as Sonic the Hedgehog and […]

The Right Tools for the Job: Sculpting

I’ve learned to use a huge number of software packages over the years but by far my favourite has to be Pixologic’s ZBrush. In fact, it’s an integral part of my art pipeline. Not only is it a stunning piece of software but it’s also priced fairly competitively when compared to the likes of Autodesk’s […]

Make It Snappy

Here’s one of the baddies for your viewing pleasure. With many of the levels being based around both land and water I thought a crocodile would work well. On land the player needs to jump over our cool croc to prevent getting eaten, while on water they can jump onto the croc’s back to keep […]

Run Animations

Just thought I would share a couple Maya playblasts of Dare’s various run animations. For the most part our little hero runs on two legs to show his more human qualities but on occasions he reverts back to his more primal roots and runs on all fours.

Starting with a Sketch #4

It’s important that there’s variety across each of your game’s levels. A change in scenery acts as a reward for many players. Also, knowing that there’s something new just around the corner can keep a player chipping away at their current level just that little bit longer. If you think about it, along with high […]

The Right Tools for the Job: 3D Modelling

For most of my modelling needs during the development of Dare the Monkey I’ve been using Autodesk’s Maya. It’s an incredible piece of software but it’s also extortionate! Of course, there are plenty of cheaper 3D modelling packages out. For example, there’s Newtek’s Lightwave, which is half the price of Maya.