Which download?

[eggnog]

You have different downloads for The Apprentice at
http://herculeaneffort.adventuredeve.../app1.html#top

Download Apprentice Deluxe (25.8 megs)
Download Apprentice Updated Version (6.2 megs)

Is the Download Apprentice Updated Version (6.2 megs) like a patch for the 25.8 meg version?
Or is the Download Apprentice Deluxe (25.8 megs) newer than the Updated Version?

[geoffkhan]

Apprentice Deluxe is newer.

The patch patches Apprentice 1 to Apprentice 1.1, so if you have the really old version of Apprentice you can patch it to fix some bugs.

[big brother]

Gregor, we might want to put something about that on the site (like by the downloads).

It's hard to motivate ourselves as far as changing the site goes, as the whole thing will pretty much be replaced anyhow.

[geoffkhan]

Yeah changing the website isn't too much of a hassle... but with the new website we'll be able to log in and change it without even loading up the FTP browser or an HTML editor!

Which means you'll get more frequent updates on the website from both Ian and I.

[shae]

Definitely a good idea indicating what's what. (And using version numbers instead of "update"). :)

I'm afriad I don't have much to add -- I just found out about Herculean Effort (download in progress from, uh, somewhere. That lfnetwork.com doesn't work right now).

BTW: Why 320x200 and not higher? Is it because it's more effort or because you like the oldschoolness of it?

[big brother]

A little of both. Mostly because high res is pain when you're the only artist and you're doing everything by hand. But I think I've got a new method figured out, so I want App3 to be very high res.

[shae]

A few gfx questions:

* Is all the graphics scanned and redone in GIMP?
* Are you using a tablet?
* How is the animation done?
* How long does it take to finish one screen?

[big brother]

The answers to these questions depend on what game you're talking about?

Can you give me a hint?

[shae]

So I see the technique has evolved... In that case; all of them. :) The refinement of the methods is interesting too.

[big brother]

All of them. So demanding.

Let me see what I remember offhand.

I don't own a tablet, although I like using them and will probably cave in soon.

App1:

I played with concept sketches of the background until I found a composition that I found reasonable. Then, without scanning, I used the GIMP to make the basic lines with bezier curves. I then filled in the spaces with color. Excessive dodge and burn and smooth. Very different from pixel work.

App2:

Basically the same as above, but I skipped the bezier curve step. I found the confidence to make most of the curves manually. I did more pixelling for the details, although I still used the tools I had before, mainly to keep the look consistent with the previous game.

SJM:

All indexed pixel work, all by hand, all in the computer.

Secret Collab Project (screenie in Welcome post):

All indexed work, also. Hand pixelled, though without the stringent color limit.

App3 (to be)

Sketches, scanned and colorized. Think Curse of Monkey Island.

As far as the animation goes, I've done it frame by frame using Imageforge (a free program that's a little like Pro Motion, though not as good). It does the job.

How long a screen can take to draw varies. With SJM, it usually took me about one or two days per background. The other secret project took me longer, perhaps around a week per background, which is pretty much the same amount of time I spent on the App backgrounds.

Let me know if I didn't go into enough detail for you.

[shae]

All of them. So demanding. :)

Well... that comes with the territory. :)

Splines with no on-screen references! That had to be tedious? (but clean).

Pixel work: I guess once you get the hang of it it's the easiest method?

How do you clean up the scans before coloring? Vectorizing them for a cleaner look, or do you aim for a hand-drawn feel? Or perhaps they're not used at all in the final picture?

And a week/background sounds... time consuming.

[big brother]

Oh my, time consuming is the name of the game. I consider pixel art my specialty, since it's exacting at the finest granularity (with digital art I can often find pixels or bunches of pixels I don't like, since they weren't placed individually).

Scanning images? Well, there are two methods I would consider. One would involve having the sketch on a layer below my color, and actually coloring over the lines, so the final version looks like a painting (no indication of the original sketch). For the other way, I would tweak the contrast and erase the smudges and excess lines, then color under the sketch lines. The end result of this method would look more like CMI. The final step of either method involves shrinking the image down a little. I'm just getting used to bigger canvases (2000+ by 2000+ pixels).