HEY YOUSE GUYS

We're still chugging along! Summertime is always a little hectic, but we've all been chipping away at the stuff that's left to be done. As far as story goes, it's been an easy one to write for so far; the main challenge is keeping it short. As much as I think you could have hours and hours of fun with this thing, I also know most people don't really settle in for long-form media on NG all that often. The good thing is, if you like it, it's not too hard to expand on stuff, at least from a writing perspective. I've gotten my hands on our level editor, and from what I can tell, it wouldn't be too hard to gradually add gameplay content as well.

Environments are getting fleshed out; I tend to spend too long on this type of thing, but I like doing it.

You're gonna have to play to figure out how she gets from there to here:

SO ROBOT DAY IS HAPPENING

and it's something we've loosely had in mind from the onset, saying that it'd be cool if we could release during the event if we could. That was before we knew for sure if and when Robot Day would be this year, since it bounces around. Thankfully, it's scheduled for late August, which makes getting this thing done by then a realistic goal. Am I making any promises? I am not. But if we can get it out by then, hoo boy, that'd be something. I'll at least confirm that I'm shooting for it. We're definitely bringing enough robots. Here, have a sneak peek at another one:

Wowza, I bet that's a pretty cool one. Guess we'll see!

Much love, talk soon~

Been a while, my lovelies. Did you miss me?

Last time I said I'd share some game assets, and I guess now that Waha's moveset is fully animated and integrated, I can share a few of them. Have some poorly looped screengrabs - hey, it's not a Patreon benefit, I gotta keep quality low so I can undersell and overdeliver. That's clearly my reasoning and not a lame excuse.

That's right, Waha has those arms up because she's going to be picking stuff up again! Not the same stuff, not the same way, but picking stuff up she will most certainly do. Now that's a certified Skoops Guarantee™! Fantastic news for Picking Stuff Up fans.

We've also got some robots. Right now there are 4 variants, which feels like a good amount for now. I'm trying to keep things simple because, between you and me, there's probably gonna be a lot of these lil fellas on screen at certain points.

Environments are underway, and I've started at the furthest back and working my way forward. Doing it in layers so we can get parallax scrolling, baybeeeee~

If you can't tell, this one's gonna be a little further from home than Waha's garden this time. What's up with that color scheme? Feels familiar for some reason...

There's more to show, but I'm gonna sit on it for now. I hope next time I can talk more about gameplay, show some of it in action, that kind of thing. We're getting there bit by bit. My goal is to have 90% of the art done before moving on to the dialogue, which is a personal favorite part of the process for me. You're just gonna have to play the game to experience that bit, though!

Much love, talk soon!

Heyooo~

Still chugging along on character art before proper production swings into full gear. Waha's dialogue portraits are essentially done, though I made more than I originally planned because she's fun to draw. Maybe I'll do even more! I might just do it!

You know what else is fun to draw? NEW CHARACTER. Sound the New Character Alarm! WEEWOOWEEWOO.

Last time I teased this character, though now she's got a fresh coat of paint and is ready for a proper introduction. This is W4-H4, Waha's counterpart from an alternate dimension where everything is robots. Her portraits are still works in progress, but I consider her design locked-in at this point.

That's right, we are doing another "visitor from another dimension" story, though this time she's not evil. SOMETHING will be evil, eventually, but that's not important yet. Stay tuned for that.

Speaking of tunes, I'm happy to say we've got our original composer @maldivirdragonwitch back on board for making some more of that music that gave so much life to our last game. I'm pumped.

Next update will likely see some actual gameplay assets. Did I say that last time? Oh good, I didn't. So far, I haven't broken any promises. I'm gonna keep track, so you don't have to! Please don't keep track, is what I'm trying to say.

Take care, much love, talk soon!

HELLO, MY LOVELIES

I'm about 70% done with Waha's new dialogue portraits, and I've been designing some new characters and adapting one that you guys might recognize when the thing does the thing and is out and you play it and you finally tell me you love me and I tell you I like you as a friend and that makes things kinda difficult to navigate socially.

I wanted to share my linework process I've been using on this project so far because it's been standardized and I'm honestly really liking how it's working out so far. I've always done something midway between western and anime style; maybe I'm still doing that! But my goal is to reference more prominent and historically relevant Newgrounds artists so I have something that really belongs here and feels like a product of this community in particular. Because it is! Waha wouldn't exist if it wasn't for this site. This is my home on the internet! Say it's not, I'll fight you!

Ah yeah, the linework. So I've been using a 3000x3000 canvas in CSP (I typically reduce assets to fit a 1080p screen after completion) and for brushes, I use Marc Brunet's MB Cubebrush (Legendary) for everything line related (It's a free download.)

For my initial pass, I use a 15pt weight on everything. I put a bit of color into the outline, and the brush I use is good for making lines that are sharp but low opacity, so they also take on some of the color of whatever they're outlining.

When the first pass is done I go along the outer edges and major overlapping forms with a 25pt version of the same brush. This works good to pop important stuff forward and let secondary and tertiary details fall back a bit.

While getting into the groove of this process, I've practiced with a few different ideas and subjects. One of these will be in the game; I wonder which~

Ok, back to it. Hopefully I've got more properly finished stuff to share next week or so.

Much love, talk soon.

HEY GUESS WHAT

Ever since making Panpukin Panic for @Stepford 's Mobile Game Jam last year, @Rickropes and I kept kicking around the idea of bringing back Waha for another game. I guess at this point we can say production has begun, as I'll be making assets and periodically sharing updates on the art side of development from now until whenever it's ready. I'm working in a much more relaxed timeframe, so that gives me more room to polish the visuals as best I can.

Here's a peek at the kind of changes to expect in the art direction:

The only thing I'll say about the game itself at this point is that the vibes are probably going to be similar, but we're planning something pretty different from Panpukin in terms of gameplay. A lot of that is not my department, so I'm not gonna tell tales out of school. Patience!

Talk soon. Love ya,

-Skoops

Oh me oh my, what's this?

Youse guys done did it! Hachi machi, ay carumba! Now that's what I call SIZEABLE. Thanks many times, at least 800 times. I am a big happy boy. I will continue to try to make youse guys happy too, maybe a More Sizeable Nine Hundo of them!?!?

Heyooo, looking for even more stuff to draw throughout the month of December? I've got you covered. I put this challenge together just to give me something to do, but I share it with youse guys so we can all draw some monsters and demons together, if you'd like. Could be fun. Only 15 prompts because it takes me two days to make something that looks finished.

If you want to join in, there's a thread for it on the Art Forum where you can share yours and see everyone else's.

Oh yeah, and I'm also doing Secret Santa and helping out with the Naughty List again this year, so there's a lot on my plate. Expect good things.

HEY GUESS WHAT.

There's a big stream going on today, featuring a lot of artists that kick my ass. If you're reading this, there's a chance it's happening RIGHT NOW (maybe). Also, I'll be there for some of it!

That's right, you'll be able to hear my mumbling goblin voice and probably my cats screaming in the background as I goof around and doodle at 8PM EST, November 17 (that's 9AM November 18 in Taiwan time).

Watch it at: https://www.twitch.tv/xinxinix

More details: https://xinxinix.newgrounds.com/news/post/1317017

Please give me lots of attention please please please! Thanks gorgeous, love ya.

Welly welly well well well. Looks like the Even Bigger Seven Hundo came quite quickly, perhaps as a consequence of October being a month where, unlike most months, I actually made drawings to share with youse guys. I am very happy about this, especially as other avenues for spreading my work around like Eel On Muck's Dying Bird Platform appear to be in a pretty wacky situation. Newgrounds has been my focus over the last few years, and it will continue to be. I look forward to the next time I'm able to post a lot of stuff and get even more folks to say "Hey I don't hate this." I thrive on your lack of hatred for me.

Onwards to the Sizeable Eight Hundo! Can I get there before 2023? Probably not. Will I try nonetheless? Probably not. Wouldn't it be cool if it happened though? I mean it's just a number, but I like making these milestone posts.

Wowwie. Wowwie zowwie. The Bigger Six Hundo happened while I was in my in my little bed, dreaming my little dreams. Not only that, but I'm already on the way to the coveted Even Bigger Seven Hundo, or "Biggybiggy Sevsev" as it's called in the biz. I am very thankful to all of my Bigger Six Hundo team. I said my Big Five Hundo was swell, but now it's even more swell. It's sweller. It's swollen. Thank you.