[DevLog] NINDASH - Play a ninja that must defeat a horde of skeletons!

Hi TouchArcade,
Presentation:

my name is Sephy (@artofSephy), I'm a French illustrator and 2D game artist at ANKAMA (the studio which created Dofus/Wakfu franchises & Tactile Wars, King Tongue for mobile) since more than 10 years. If you want to discover my work, I invite you to follow my portfolio. Thank you!

Project:

I started a few weeks ago a new mobile video game project with 2 workmates, entitled « NINDASH ». I heard that TouchArcade is a big reference for mobile games and feedbacks seem good... So I would like to create a [DevLog] topic about our game. I'll post some of my artworks and various work-in-progress and making-of. I apologize for my simple and not always very good English.



Soft launch BE/CA

If you are from Belgium and/or Canada, you may slash skulls and break bones today!
Nindash is in Soft Launch in these countries.

Click on the links below to access to your respective store:

BE- https://itunes.apple.com/be/app/nindash-skull-valley/id1279210863
CA- https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/nindash-skull-valley/id1279210863









Informations:

• TITLE : « NINDASH: Skull Valley ».
• PRODUCTION: 3-4 months, not more.
• CORE-TEAM: 3
- Adrien Bariau (game designer),
- Thomas Baron (developer),
- Romain «Sephy» Pergod (artist)
We also have the support of:
- Sylvain Guerrero (FXs),
- Grégory Desmurs (Sound-design),
- Pierre-Jean Baudouin (Music),
- François Houssin (Logotype),
• SOFTWARES: Unity, Adobe Flash, Adobe Photoshop.
• GRAPHICS: Stylized 2D.
• GAMEPLAY: Simple, lively and efficient one-button gameplay.
• RELEASE: iOS, end of the year if everything goes well!


My contact if you need more information (press kit for reviews, etc):

>> sephyka[at]gmail.com <<


DevLog archive:
• DevLog 1: Background patterns.
• DevLog 2: Backgrounds - The Light & Dark Meadows.
• DevLog 3: Main characters are NINJA!! [in-game Sprites - Flash].
• DevLog 4: Mysterious Door [Animation/FX - Unity].
• DevLog 5: Introduction illustration [Digital-painting - Photoshop].
• DevLog 6: Gameplay Loop.
• DevLog 7: Soft launch BE/CA.
• DevLog 8: 2 Game previews.
• DevLog 9: Characters animated illustration.






End of transmission.

@artofSephy

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Last edited by artofsephy; 12-11-2017 at 02:53 PM.

DevLog 1
→ Background patterns.

I'm starting by a first teasing. As I'm totally free about artistic part: I want to create a stylized and efficient art direction, because I'm alone to design all game assets: characters, creatures, animations, backgrounds, user interface, illustrations, exports, etc. I started by researches for various grounds. I need 6+ different moods at least. What do you think about it?


https://www.instagram.com/p/BXLDGjdgcjU

I'll post a new artwork tomorrow.

@artofSephy

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Last edited by artofsephy; 11-30-2017 at 04:53 AM.

DevLog 2
→ Backgrounds: The Light & Dark Meadows.

Let's start with my first update, yipee!
Second step after previous ground designs: I drew some background assets like plants, trees, walls or other video game basics, etc. Graphics are colorful and stylized. For a first mobile game experience, I want to create a world easily accessible to everybody! I let you discover the first environment: the « LIGHT MEADOWS » theme.


https://www.instagram.com/p/BXQtiiJA9Xm

I need between 15 to 20 assets for each mood! At the moment, we planified 6 different atmospheres for the entire game. There will be more than one hundred assets for the only background part (!!). Then, inspired by the first one, the second environment will be: the « DARK MEADOWS ».


https://www.instagram.com/p/BXVD7E3guNi

Do you see Zelda's influence ?! I'm in love with 'A Link to the Past' and 'The Minish Cap ' art direction!!

Next artwork soon!

@artofSephy

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Last edited by artofsephy; 11-30-2017 at 03:34 AM.

DevLog 3
→ Main characters are NINJA!! (in-game Sprites)

May I present you a first work-in-progress preview of the two main playable character sprites of my next game project. They are ninja as you can see! I'll reveal their abilitie later.


https://www.instagram.com/p/BXcoxOTguRz

On a side note, it was very important for me to have both male and female characters, even if it won't really affect the story, which is very succincte for this kind of game.

@artofSephy

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Last edited by artofsephy; 08-14-2017 at 04:28 AM.

Looks awesome! Will this game be ftp? Love ninja games! Im a mobile game reviewer!

@Patthegymnast Thank you Pat. I love ninja too! Yes, we plan for a free-to-play game. I'll try to make this game as fun as possible. I'll share it with you a bit before the end of the production.

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Last edited by artofsephy; 08-13-2017 at 02:11 PM.

Np! And cool thanks! Do you want my email so we can talk more?

Well I'm intrigued. Looks very nice art wise; if you hadn't mentioned your work on Tactile Wars I certainly would have said it was a major inspiration.
It's nice to have a style, especially as it's a damn good one.

I am looking forward to seeing how your new project progresses. And don't worry about Ninja Dash being taken as a name; you can do better than that, I'm sure.

@Patthegymnast Of course! My personal mail if you want: sephyka[at]gmail.com (I'm not always very reactive because I have a lot of work and I often need a lot of time to write properly my English).

@MetaGonzo Thank you for your feedbacks and interest. I didn't work on Tactile Wars but the guy who did the art direction of this super project was my mentor when I began to work at Ankama, I learned a lot from him! About "Ninja Dash", yeah, you're right. We can (must) do better, it sucks! What a pity, the most game names on stores are always very close to popular ones (war of, clash of, age of, etc.). We must find an efficient name, original enough but not too much!

DevLog 4
→ Mysterious Door: Animation/FXs (Unity)

Let's begin the week-end with a new .gif teasing for our next game: a more "badass" stuff after my first japanese enchanting backgrounds... What the hell is it?!


https://www.instagram.com/p/BX7TjACgsOX

@artofSephy

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Last edited by artofsephy; 08-25-2017 at 08:39 AM.