Deep Time: Making it look (actually) good
The following is an official communication from the Deep Time Institute.
Attention Staff and Interns,
The Institute is pleased to announce that our visual department (consisting of one dinosaur with a very small paintbrush) has completed the first phase of the ‘Aesthetic Rejuvenation’ project.
The previous ‘abstract’ representation of our museum — while certainly minimalist — was deemed ‘confusing’ and ‘sad’ by several focus groups. We have since updated our rendering protocols to better reflect the majesty of our excavations.
Please ensure your safety goggles are clean. The world is now considerably sharper.
— Dr. T. Rexford, Director, Deep Time Institute
I’ve been told that “programmer art” is a legitimate style. And I’m sure it is. I’m just not very good at it I guess. I was thinking “minimalist” because that felt easy, but it wasn’t quite… right?
At the start of the development of Deep Time, everything was a bunch of ColorRects and lines and default buttons. But functional. You could click them, they changed numbers, things happened. It was a game! Kind of. But it looked like it was being played on a calculator from 1994. But not like the cool calculators that can play Doom. Like a lame one.
Anyway I got my Steam page — I don’t think I’ve mentioned that yet? — not like published but I signed up to Steam, paid my $100, sent off tax documentation and I’ve now got a beta page. So cool! So I was putting the page together, adding screenshots, and… ah. They don’t look good.
So this week has been… making them look good? At least better!
The Transformation
Here’s a quick look at how the dig site started versus where it’s at now.
And the museum itself too:
I think it looks a lot better now. I don’t know if it’s like… good? I like it. But it’s fairly quickly slapped together so could probably do with some refinement. But maybe that’s part of the charm?
Anyway, I’m going to be working on more mechanics next but I’ll make them look good / kind of ok from the start this time so I don’t have to go back. Or maybe I will. I don’t know.
See you next time.