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First of all, I would like to give a huge shout-out to all of the members of the Christian Game Developers Conference team for working together with me to make this beautiful game possible!
And if games are your passion, too, and you wish to dip your toes in the world of game art and design? You're in for a treat!
The creation of Space Beastz was a major success! But not without the hard work of our CGDC team! I can’t wait to create more masterpieces! I love being an artist! #GameArt #EDM 😃
So, what is Space Beastz?
Short Description:
Space Beastz is a cooperative multiplayer music and rhythm game. On a music-playing spaceship, players must time their actions just right to keep multiple instruments running and make the most amazing music the galaxy has ever heard!
Long Description:
In Space Beastz, a player joins the crew of David, an intergalactic music composer on a mission to bring the gift of life-changing music to the galaxy.
The spaceship has a collection of out-of-this-world instruments built-in, but they are prone to breaking down at just the wrong moment. They need human players to keep the beasts flowing.
A player can attempt the challenge alone or enlist the help of up to three friends in local or online multiplayer modes. The more players get in on the action, the more instruments will malfunction, and frantic action will ensue as players race from one station to the next, trying not to miss a beat!
Each world the players play for has unique problems and preferred music style, and the difficulty ratchets up as the team plays gigs for increasingly powerful planetary rulers. If they succeed in pleasing the hardest of all audiences, they may be able to bring peace to a troubled galaxy.
A fun-filled way to experience the Bible, Space Beatz shares the story of David and how the music he played had a positive impact on the world around him.
Male and Female playable characters
The first character I created, of course; was the male character. He was originally created to match David, but I decided to make him the playable character. And with the headband and hairstyle that looks oh so 80s, why not? So I have a few screenshots of these characters and their creation processes.
First I used the references given to me on Codecks, and I imported them into Zbrush. I sculpt the body and the head separately since we know that the head will be interchangeable and be used for multiple characters! I begin to sculpt the hair piece by piece. I also added a headband.
Here is the process as I sculpted different pieces together. Once done, I import them into Maya for further work!
Once I import them into Maya I reduce the polys. But since the poly count was not going to matter, since we were going to render the character into 2D anyway; I decided to put my primary focus on the shape of the body, the head, the hairstyles, and to UV map them correctly in Maya. It turned out to be a blast. I made sure I added that special touch with the headband, and anime eye textures.
Below we see the raw body and head already sculpted and imported into Maya 3D!
Since the head and the body are interchangeable, we can use the same body and head for multiple characters including the male playable character, Samuel, and David. We will also be using the head for the female face once we get into creating her!
So I sent him in for the costume to be made by one of my artists. I had it both modeled and textured and it came out looking very 80s and very space-ship uniform-like; which is what we were going for!
Below shows the UV mapping of the hair in Maya 3D. Now for the fun part, I'll be adding the textures for the hair and face while they work on the character costume!
Now that the costume is done, and my hair is textured, I'll be doing further edits of the face.
We just got to recolor the outfit to match the theme!
The female character has quite a different build. I had to re-sculpt the body to make it female. Also, she has a completely different hairstyle!
I figured we need a Ken Laszlo style hairdo. After all, it's the 80s, so why not? I even had my hair cut that way as a kid. And it was awesome! So here we go back into ZBrush. And I will show you the process of her creation.
Now for UV mapping in Maya for texturing!
She's absolutely cute with her new face texture. What I had to do was use the male costume and refit it on the female body by scaling it right. But I did the re-texturing of her body and costume because it was much different than the males. You know how that goes.
The hairstyle looks totally 80s. Now what we need to do is UV map the thing. This might take a bit. Her hair was a little bit more complicated than the male character's hair. And again, you know how that goes, especially for female long hairstyles. I love having long-haired characters. I always choose long hair on customizable characters. And this time... I'm making my own! It's great being a game artist because you can do anything you want!
And that is a nothing short of a dream come true for me!
And now the hair texturing begins. Now at first, she looks like she has brown hair with an auburn hint to it. But just wait until I add the highlights!
Texturing the hair was a long process. And to make it look real broke a sweat... just a little. It took me about 3 days to complete. But I did it in a timely manner!
I added the textures via hyper-shade in Maya! This is going to look great rendered in 2D! And this is what her up close Avatar looks like in the game. Not bad. Saturating the textures turns the hair bright red, but hey! It looks fantastic!
Red-haired green-eyed people rock! Especially in the 80s!
And likewise, the male character looked the same way after rendering him into the 2D game platform!
And now that we've covered the creation of the master characters, or the PCs, let's take a look at the features!
Here is a glimpse of this masterpiece and its features!
Main features:
Frenetic multiplayer fun, great for parties.
Epic music with a retro 80s digital vibe. Each song is a brand-new creation from several unique and talented composers.
Difficulty levels are set individually by each player, from casual to Beast Mode, so players of all skill levels can have fun playing together.
High replayability: Every song can be replayed in the quest for a new top score.
Family-friendly story, so even small children can join the fun.
Completely free, with no ads or other monetization to spoil your peaceful intergalactic vibes.
So, let's delve into this subject of what a Game producer is.
What is a game producer?
The video game producer’s role is as owner of a project or a major part of a project. He or she has the responsibility of assembling and managing a team of engineers, designers, and artists; outlining, scheduling, and tracking tasks; and making sure the project is headed in the right direction.
The simplest way to describe what a game producer does is that he or she gets stuff done; they are the people who are responsible for making sure that a product gets made.
And as the art producer, I was responsible for leading the art team, scheduling the meetings, and communicating the tasks. I was also responsible for getting everything done in a timely manner because as game developers, we have deadlines.
Every week all the producers meet together on either Discord or Zoom. We report to the leadership team the outlines that had been done for that week! We find out whether or not we are heading in the right direction. And it is communicated what needs to be done for the following week.
What does a Video Game Producer do?
In-game development, there are many clear-cut roles: a programmer programs code; an artist creates art; an animator animates characters and objects; and a game tester tests games. A producer’s role, however, is not so well-defined. Duties will differ between studios and the video game producer’s expertise.
Video game producers are a little like book editors, a little bit like film producers, and a lot like product managers. They manage the production schedule, budget, development team, licensors, and outsourcing parties. They also work with public relations and the media, quality assurance teams, and are an integral part in getting a project green-lit. It’s also the producer’s job to help guide the project toward meeting a shelf date. If the date is missed, it’s the video game producer’s job to work with public relations to release a reasonable excuse for the delay.
A producer must be proficient in both speech and the written word. Video game producers interact with various departments and the people within them, each department having its own way of communicating with the video game producer. Producers must be able to speak everyone’s language and translate between departments when needed.
Producers must also be comfortable speaking in front of groups and a camera. In this role, it is necessary to stand in front of industry executives and sell them on whatever it is the producer needs approval on. This means being enthusiastic, well-spoken, understandable, witty, and, most of all, confident.
As an art producer, because we did not have an animation team, I was responsible for the animations for the characters. And, of course; as our team grows we will be able to have an animation team. We also had what we called cross teams. As an art producer, I was responsible for organizing which artist would be on each team: The UI cross-team, level-design cross-team, and narrative cross-team.
Are you suitable to be a game producer?
As an art producer, I had to fix what was needed in the game creation process. For example, the trash cans in the above scene were in the wrong perspective. So it was my job, as the art producer; to make sure the corrections were done as needed to produce a professional-looking game. And as a game producer, it is your job to make sure the fine details are worked out in your division of work, and to carry out the instructions needed to the artists you are leading!
Video game producers have distinct personalities. They tend to be artistic individuals, which means they’re creative, intuitive, sensitive, articulate, and expressive. They are unstructured, original, nonconforming, and innovative. Some of them are also enterprising, meaning they’re adventurous, ambitious, assertive, extroverted, energetic, enthusiastic, confident, and optimistic.
So, does this sound like something you'd want to do for a career? It's work. And it's worth it if you have a passion for games!
And as a game artist topping the art production management process, it can be a lot of work to manage a team and do character art and design at the same time. So I would recommend you do what you can handle responsibility-wise!
I added the faces and expressions to all the characters to make them come to life!
I accredit the animal and non-human 3D models and body textures to BountyHunterStorm and Iceland_Boy on Discord!
These faces are shown in the UI on Space Beastz!
What is the workplace of a Video Game Producer like?
Video game producers often attend industry yearly conventions like E3 and GDC, and go on press tours and meet all the editors from the major media outlets. They also need to attend many business meetings to keep abreast of what is going on. Producers have their fair share of overtime; they're constantly putting out fires; and feel obligated to keep an eye on things even when they're not working.
I, as a producer; am looking forward to furthering my endeavors in this career goal! And I hope to make a positive difference in the world through gaming!
What is the workplace like as a volunteer Game Art Producer? What have you learned about problem-solving?
It's like leading a team. I'm responsible for communicating the tasks to the art team as needed. I can also choose to help with the art if I wish. And my game art specialty came in handy. It was my idea to create the anime chibi-style characters as it really shines in retro-style space games with synthwave music!
Now... I will say that this will give you some experience in management. In this I have learned that you have to keep your communication up to date with all team members to make sure that everyone is on the same page. Otherwise, it can result in confusion and misunderstandings.
I have also learned that, while some people are easy to manage; some people are not. So getting to know how to deal with difficult people is a must in any industry, especially if you are a manager or a leader. Sometimes you have to move forward to accomplish your vision and what you are trying to create. It may not always satisfy everyone. You might encounter someone from the programming team (for example) who may have a different perspective than you about art. But you have to remember, as an art producer; you are the one who makes the decisions. You are the one who sees through what is needed or not needed, the style, the color pallet, the perspective, the mood, the characters, and so on.
Yeah, I've experienced people from other departments trying to give my artists advice. This is why it is very important that you communicate with your artists that they need to report to you if they have their doubts about something. It is the job of the art leaders to make sure that the vision and style are clearly communicated to the artists you are leading. It is also important that you communicate with the other game producers who are leading other teams. We must all be on the same page of understanding as to which direction we are headed to avoid confusion. Good communication is a must!
If you love the 80s, and you love retro gaming, this game is a must. Check it out!
Also, check out the official "Space Beastz" OST on Soundcloud!
If you are thinking about joining the Christian Game Developers Community, all are welcome who want to make a positive impact in the game industry!
Do you like... 🦄 All things Retro? 🌈 Judeo-Christian culture? 🎮 Game Development? 🎶 Electronic Music creation? 🏰 English Victorian?
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