Damn Vampirestats

  Let's all take the time away from work and our personal problems to celebrate vampirestats, whose spam bots have dominated my blog views as well as the views of many other bloggers. So thank you vampirestats, thank you for being a pain in the behind and reminding us bloggers that real humans aren't actually viewing our blogs.

Celebrate their hard work. Celebrate and rejoice!

You can read more about their glorious work here.

GIMP 2

   GIMP or GNU Image Manipulation Program is an image editing software that is distributed with no prices. According to their site, GIMP is 'expandable and extensible', designed for any sort of plug in or add ons to be implemented. However, GIMP still manages to hold off on the more simpler things such as photo retouching, cut and crop, etc. An open sourced program, GIMP manages to hold firm and still compete with better known softwares such as the Adobe Series [9].

Figure 3.4 : Interface of GIMP 2

    GIMP has many functions. It's capabilities include image format conversion, an online batch processing system, rendering mass production of images, advanced image manipulation, as well as being utilized as a simple paint program. With so many abilities and features to give, GIMP offers great potential and promise for those who take the time to master it.

   Despite the name, GNU Image Manipulation Program, GIMP supports Linux as well as Windows. GIMP has tons of updates since it's creation and it's current version is GIMP 2.8.10. A free alternative to expensive software such as Photoshop, GIMP is a wonderful image editing software especially for those who strive to learn all of GIMP's tricks and secrets.

MyPaint

   MyPaint is an opensourced drawing software available for anyone interested in creating or drawing their own digital art. Unlike photoshop, MyPaint does not allow photo manipulation and focuses primarily on creating an image from scratch. MyPaint offers a variety of brushes such as charchoal and ink, and is wonderful for any aspiring digital artist as it requires no purchase of any sort.

Figure 3.1 : *Anime style picture drawn using MyPaint

Figure 3.2 : Concept art drawn using MyPaint

Figure 3.3 : Illustration drawn using MyPaint

   A unique trait MyPaint posesses is the ability to hide the interface with a click of a button. MyPaint also boasts on it's minimilistic and intuitive user interface as well as it's capabilities for extensive brush creation and configuration options. As time passes by and the open sourced software grows, MyPaint will only develop more and more components to it's already extensive features.

  MyPaint supports Windows and GNU or Linux. It is able to utilize the use of graphics tablets or drawing tablets, and as stated before, MyPaint is entirely free. In short, MyPaint is a great drawing program especially for those with a tight budget.


*All drawings were taken from their official site. I did not draw any of those pictures.

Walk Cycle

Apparently I animated some kind of weirdo. Anyway, this was done using Autodesk Maya.

Changing the Lightbulb - Storyboard

   Changing the lightbulb is me and my buddy's project for the Computer Animation course. It's a 3D animation subject utilizing Autodesk Maya and student's are expected to come up with a movie that's at least two minutes in length. Like the tittle implies, this is the storyboard for that short movie.

Note : Click to enlarge.

Bouncing Ball

The 'bouncing ball' is the animator's equivalent of the programmer's 'hello world'. If you take any animation class or tutorial, this is the first thing you would do. I decided to share my newbness on my blog because why not. It's my blog, and I'll talk about balls if I want to, I'll talk about balls if I want to.

My Cyber Unicorn Proposal

Tittle : My Cyber Unicorn

Description :

     My Cyber Unicorn will be a platform/puzzle flash game played on the PC. The game is set in the modern world, more specifically the working office environment. However, the game really begins once players delve into the psychology of several distinct individuals. The main character, controlled by the players will become 'trapped' inside a 'dream' and traverse the dreamscape of his fellow co-workers, until he can find a way out. Along the way, he will encounter challenges specific to that certain co-worker based on their personality or behavior, the cause of it all, and perhaps a solution if their behavior is negative or destructive.

Some Preliminary Sketches (click to enlarge):

Objectives and Scope :

     The objective of the game is to complete a level and go to the next level. As mentioned earlier, this will be a platformer and puzzle game. There will be jumping and running, challenging mind games, as well as a scoring system.

     There will be four main levels that will branch into sub-levels. The amount of sub-levels per level is to be decided. Bonus levels will be considered if the available resources and constraints are adequate.

     Another focus of the game is the story line. It is one of the key aspect that will hopefully set this game apart and make it 'unique'.

Outcome of the Project :

     The outcome of the project will be a working 2D flash game playable on this blog, or as a flash movie (.exe). Submission to flash portals such as Newgrounds and Kongregate will be considered as well.

The Killer Bard

Anyway this is more of a prototype than a real game. TIP : The wolves and treants have two lives.

Instructions

Press the corresponding key that appears on the enemy's head.

First Project

   Well, for my Game Designing course, I have to create a flash game with a few other guys. What better way to experiment with stencyl. We haven't come up with a tittle yet but I think it'll be an alright game. It won't be awesome of course, it's only our first game after all.

One of the cut scenes I drew.

Stencyl

    Stencyl is a game creating software that showcases less on the programming or codes, and more into the workflow. According to their site, it is not only aesthetically pleasing, but intuitive in it's design. Their focus is to allow developers to work on their game without necessarily knowing a lot of the advanced game mechanics configurations such as in-game physics. It is essentially a good tool to learn from and excellent for beginners [10].

Figure 3.5 : The logic flow in Stencyl

Figure 3.6 : Designing the scene or level

Figure 3.7 : Assigning 'actors' to be placed in scenes

Figure 3.8 : Predefined behaviors or scripts for actors or scenes

   A unique feature that Stencyl has is the StencylForge. StencylForge is an in-built directory featuring numerous downloadable resources created mostly by the users themselves. These resources include graphics, sound effects, music, behaviors, as well as example games. StencylForge is a useful tool allowing for quick study of how materials work and accelerate the integration of resources.

Figure 3.9 : StencylForge

  Stencyl caters to both Mac and Windows and can create games for the web and mobile devices. However, the latter requires the purchase of a 1 year license. In short, Stencyl is an intuitive and beginner friendly game creation software able to create flash games for free.

To see a game created through Stencyl, click here.

About

   

    Hi, I'm Ahmad Ikhwan. I'm a university student studying in Uniten taking the Information Technology - Graphics and Multimedia course. This blog is basically where I store all the things I've done and to show of my skillz, a portfolio I suppose. If you're wondering about the strange name 'Lumicakery', it's the username I use for online purposes such as online games and forums . I also have a Newgrounds account where I mix some music here, and a Deviantart account over here.

  Below is a part assignment, part self promotion digital resume. It's a simple project just to show the surface of what I'm able to do. And yes, this is the only picture of me.