Disclamer: This post will have some affiliate links. You can read more about them here.

Hey all! Today I wanted to do something different today, and since it's my Birthday Month, I wanted to give you guys some of the stuff I use! This will cover hardware and software, beside my Laptop, which I need to replace for reasons I can't disclose. I'll also recommend a book that I use for game design.So Let's Begin!

Headset - EasySMX A55 HeadSet

This thing is awesome! I use it mostly for talking with friends or just playing games, the sound quality is loud, I've little to no audio peaks during my call sesstion with friends, and I found that the headset itself is both very flexable and sturdy. However, it only comes in one colour, orange.The headset costs £10 so snag it if you fancy one from Amazon.

Controller: IFYOO ZD-V+ Wired GamePad

This controller is also awesome! I have dropped mine on a few occasions, but it works pretty well!  The controller feel comfortable in my hands, and even with intensive play, I don't get hand cramps. The controller is also in 1 colour scheme: Blue and Back and has the XBOX Face buttons with a PS4 Styled D-Pad. It's £16, so if you fancy one, grab it from Amazon. 

Game Making Software:Unity 3D

Unity has been my Game making software of choice, because it's so easy to use with holding your hand. I believe a good program(at least for me anyways), should have ease of access, but should at least teach you the basics of a generalised workflow. Blueprints is fine, I just don't see the need for it because I'm trying to learn everything that I can. Unity is free, although be warned, they do put out updates VERY frequently, so be warned on that fact if you decide to download it.

3D Software: Blender 3D

If you going to do any sort of free course, get Blender. Maya and 3DS are VERY expensive, and even with the free student edition, after that runs out, you can't use it unless you have an absurd amount of money that you can pay yearly. Blender, on the other hand, is free, open source, adaptable and has just gotten an update that streamslines to make it closer to Maya. I'll talk about that more next week. If you want to get started, download Blender here.

​GFX/Photo Editing Software: GIMP

GIMP is admittly a very flawed program, but I honestly still use it when I want to do photo editing, and with a few work arounds, it's not so bad to use.Like Blender, the program is open source, so you can add some add-on if you want to make the experience more like Photoshop. Again, GIMP is free, so download it here.

Book: The Art of Game Design

I'm not sure if this book is need for students studing game design, but I think it's a great book regardless. It gives multiple perspectives on game design for stories, gameplay and characters. I would recommend getting the first edition or looking on Ebay if you are tight on money, but if you can, get the second editionfrom Amazon.

And that's it! Thanks for reading, and I'll see you guys next time!

Written By Nana Marfo

For Michael Tudor 1965-2019

Hey all! Sorry that these have been absent, but I have been busy, if you can't tell. However's that's not an excuse to slack off! I've been hard at work in the world of 3D, working on things such as new artworks, weapons, and also animation though that last one is mostly becaue I have started for another game.

Recently I've been using Blender 2.8, which I do think is better than 2.79, but the new interface is a bit simpler, and very hard to get use to(and seriously, who decided to change Blender to LEFT CLICK DEFALT? That screwed me over in the first few days). I'll do a more direct comparison at somepoint, but I feel that Blender 2.8 is much easier, to use, esphally since Eevee(the new engine), runs in real time. That is awesome. I will probably continue to use slowly transition to Blender 2.8 soon enough.

The second thing is I've become more confident in my abilities to make 3D models! My mentor wants me to keep start practice sculpting, so I'll see what I can come up with! I have used the techniques for sculpting in one of my pieces so far, a piece I made based on Ghost Of The Sea:

Here the rock which Kairi is standing is all sculpted. I did this because I wanted the rock to look a bit more natural. I'm going to keep working on these skills, so stay tuned!

Finally, I'M WORKING ON A NEW GAME! Though this one will be kept secret, so stay tuned... 

Oh and IDK when Unity Chan Dash will have it's next update. I want to fix a lot of things first.

But for now, thanks as always for reading, and I will catch you guys next time

Written By Nana Marfo
Kasumi from Shubaruu on DeviantArt, ported from DOA5
Chun-Li from Chrissy-Tee on DeviantArt, ported from SFV
Water Palace from deexie on DeviantArt
Branch Dagger created and designed by me
Iris Torso created by me, original Character design by Keiji Inafune

Hey all! It's time for another deep dive! Sorry it's been a while since the last one, but ideas for these were running low, and I wanted to commit to one properly. But this one should be interesting, as we look at the meaning of "creativity"! Well, at least in my eyes.

Unlike most of my deep dives, this was spurred by nothing in particular, just the fact that I really wanted to look at what I think this word means. First, I want to go into the official meaning of creativity:

I can mostly support this definition, as it is the basis for most pieces of art, games and music. But what about when something takes inspiration from something else? What about things like fan art and fan games?

I guess you could say that it does count for a few reasons; fan art bulids on ideas that are set within the universe the characters are in, and based upon that, they can be placed in different situations. It can also be used to tell the artists interpretation of that story. A good example of this is shipping. While ships are a very controversial thing, it really depends on the way a person views the story. For example, I personally ship Sora and Kairi from Kingdom Hearts. Some people will ship Sora and Riku, but I see Riku as a lone wolf who wants to be there for his friends. 

Stories can have many different interpretations depending on what the player is feeling and experiencing at that time. One of my general RE teachers, who is very interested in the study of Philosophy(it comes under the same course at my school), told us about his life experiences, and always talks about how he relates his study of Philosophy to his life, which got me thinking: Don't we relate games and other creative mediums to our own lives? Can't we relate to certain characters experiences, even though the circumstances may be very different? We all want to fall in love, have close friends, go on adventures. I know I'm going off topic here, but think about it. We play games to experience these experiences.

And then some of us want to create these experiences for others. These can be experiences of our own lives, of a trama that we don't people to live through, or experiences of an entirely new world, where you fight a demon overlord in order to save the world. The problem for many creators of these experences comes in the word "Originality". What is the meaning of this word?

And that is where I believe every creator gets stuck. What I have learned is that no idea is completely original, there is always a basis for something that has been done before, and no idea is going to be more or less original that the other in my eyes. This is why I do not believe that creativity is the use of just original ideas and imaginations to create, but it can also be buliding upon what has already established, and putting your own personal spin on it. YOUR idea. YOUR viewpoint. How YOU see a certain world or character.

For people with OC, it becomes even greater. It's about how you can fit your chatrater in certain sitculations. Can your fight with your friend? Can you save everyone? How do you interact with others? It's about taking the rules that are given to you and breaking them, but still making it believable.

For example, look at the image above. This was texture mod of an already existing Kairi model, that I coloured the hair and eyes to fit more with my friend PrincessRose. I have a lot of ideas on how she would fit into the world of Kingdom Hearts.

Another example is this interaction between Lightning Farron and Sarah from Terra Wars, using the Final Fantasy XV model for Sarah. I thought about how the 2 would be like to each other if they interacted.

I don't think there should be any limits to creativity(besides obscene things such as chlid rape), because that lets ideas shine, and can give us some amazing stories to tell. One of the reasons that I love Japanese media so much is because they are able to take the stupidest ideas and make them into moving stories(such as Kamen Rider Gaim) or just make it funny and charming(such as Aho Girl). And I hope going into the next decade, Japanese creators and other creators do not lose sight of this limitless creativity.

Thanks to everyone that read this! On the week this goes up, I am going to do the last 5 hours of my 15 hour exam(it's graphics, don't worry, it's normal), so I don't think there will be a blog post next week.

But for now, thanks for reading, and I will catch you guys next time.

Written By Nana Marfo
All Images used are made by Nana Marfo, character models and certain environments were taken from DeviantArt

Whew. So I finally Managed to finish Unity Chan Dash Update 1.1, and I wanted to take you through some of the main features of this update.
​New and Improved Controls

Most of this is documented in the video above, but one thing I didn't like in the original release was how the controls felt. They were very stiff and it while it was acceptable, it lead to a lot of start and stop within the animations. This has now been tweaked to so it feels more natural. I still want to do some more refinement, but I think it's good.

2 new levels
Like I said in one of my devlogs a while back, the game's scale has gone down severaly from what I wanted it to be. This is so I can put more effort into other areas of the game without rushing anything entirely. This first area doesn't really have a theme to it, but I hope you guys can enjoy the music and graphics of this area!
VA and New fonts
A big thing about games for me is that it's a way to express personality through things such as animation. However, here I'm limited by the fact that this is a pre animated asset pack. Thanks so much to Amanda Fredette for voicing her, you did a great job!

I also want to thank castpixel for the free fonts that I used within this game!

And that's it! Thanks to everyone that has supported the development of the game up to this point! I will not only keep working on this game, but other games that I have ideas for.

But for now, thanks as always and I will catch you guys later!

Written and Game Made by Nana Marfo
Unity Chan(C)Unity Technologies Japan
Unity Chan Dash(C) Nana Marfo

Editor's note: Sorry for some of the Image formats! The scanned one came out that way, and my printer/scanner's capabilities are limited.Either way, Enjoy this one!

Hey all! One of things that I mentioned in the Final Fantasy XIII review is that I lack confidence(and Lightning gave me some), and be honestly, that varies from time to time. Sometimes I feel no one can touch me, but recently I been feeling like the worst, with little to no confidence in what I can do, and sometimes feeling dumb in School compared to my peers. To circumvent this, I have been working on things that I can't do, but want to do. One of these things is 3D modeling. To learn this, I descided to make Zero's Z-Saber.

This was pretty easy to model to be honest, the biggest problem being the handle's bevelled sections and painting textures onto the handle. The Z-Saber it's self is more based on the Zero Series Z-Saber, and the look in drawings by one of my favorite artists, Toru Nakayama.

I think this went well, so I descded to make a Tomohawk Axe. The orignal plan was to have the piece just be generic Axe for general use. Well, Fang needs a weapon to replace her staff, and she's a Final Fantasy charater. Regular is not going to cut it here. So, let's make the weapon!

Moving on to Designing the look of the Blade. Drawing is also not one of my Strong points, but lately I have really been feeling the flow of drawing, despite being not very good at it. 

Yea, I really like Xuan Yuan at the moment. IT'S SO GOOD! Anyways, I use a Light box for when I'm tracing stuff, but with the weapons sketches, I was just drawing from my head, like I did with my idea for the design of Fang's Tomohawk:

Yea,not only can I not draw, I can't write either. Basicly I'm going for a mix between a dragon and the look of the Bladed Lance from Final Fantasy XIII.

The cutting Edge is black because of the fact the edges of the Bladed Lance are black, so it simulates that in this aspect.

There are some small details on this lance I wanted to create,but with my modeling and UV painting abilties being very low at the moment, I knew it was best to skip it. I just stuck to creating the Stylised Grips in the texture...and even then they were pretty bad

Either Way, I think I over did it in some places, and in others,I just need to work on my skills, but this was still really fun to do.

Time to go into some general updates!

I am currently slightly re-writing Different Spirits to make it a bit more of an action-comedy. I want this story to be fun, so why not make it easy for people? However I am have trouble with Clare's character, as I want to write her to be a "kind badass". Ever heard those words next to each other? No? Thought so. If you have any suggestions, please let me know in the comments!

The Stealth Game is going well. If you saw on Twitter, I have been making many enemy animations, and it's been fun! I've been to may my movements less stiff.

But beside that, nothing much have been going on with Unity-Chan Dash... expect for the fact I want to make her a bit more like Neputne from Neptunia.

She's basically an anime girl version of Deadpool from what I can tell(I really need to play those games) and honoestly, what's wrong with that? I would love to write a character like her, so making Unity-Chan like this seems like a step in the right direction.

Before I go, I am happy to say I am now a writer for Game Savvy! Thanks to everyone there for this chance. I started by writing an artical on Square Enix, and the Development Hell(s) they have been going through for the last decade or so. Read it here.

That's it for now! Thanks for reading, have a great day/night, share if you enjoyed it and take care.

Written By Nana Marfo
The character Oerba Yun Fang and Final Fantasy(C) Square Enix
The character Neptune and Neptunia(C)Idea Factory/Compile Heart

Hey all! Sorry for no gameworks post last month, but October was a bit intence with some school issues...and my computer crashed... and then GameMaker MeetUp... and then triple header... but we are BACK!

Let's start off by saying that Different Spirits script is going well. During one of my University open days talks I heard about a program that allows people to get funding to create a studio. This is some I will consider down the line, but that's for when I get a team of people along side me.

I might try and model this sometime... I need to learn a lot about 3D modelling, so this may take some time. I also am working on a character design project, which will involve me doing everything needed for a character to come to life in a game. This has also given me the chance to hone my drawing skills, of which, I have none.

I don't think I can make full out drawings like someone like Hellyon could(you should also check her out by the way), but as long as I can make conspect drawings, at least it fills a gap in my knowledge. 

But moving on! Unity Chan Dash is going well, and I'm working on the 3rd Level at the moment! 

As I have said multiple times on twitter, I have planned to make this level a bit more challenging. This has lead to me having some issues with the controls, but I'll be honest, at this point, the controls are one of the easier things to fix(considering how many problems I have had with the first one controller). Still, at this rate, hopefully I can get this out soon!

The big thing here is the Stealth Project, which I nearly lost because of the crash. The big thing I'm learning Enemy AI! So far it's in early stages, but once I get something animated, I will show a video of the project off!

Finally, I did mention that I went to Unofficial GameMaker Meetup at London SouthBank University! Thanks to both of the speakers, I really enjoyed going there. I don't have any pictures(hence why I didn't review the event), but it was fun and I met Jupiter Hadley! Awesome!

Either way, that's it for now! Thanks for reading, have a great day/night, share if you enjoyed it and take care.

Written By Nana Marfo
All content used(C)Their respective owners.

Hey all! So in between starting my last year of school, finishing MHA Season 2, Playing Final Fantasy XIII and the 2 game Jams I realised that I haven't shown my stealth prototype.

It's very early on in becoming a character controller that can transform into a stealth charater, but we have a CROUCH WALK! No joke, this was one of the things I was excited to do the most in this, because 1. I haven't tried it, and 2. I really wanted to see how I could Incorporated this in this game.

The stealth game it's self is more based upon Tomb Raider rather than Metal Gear Solid. Personally, while I do get that sneaking around is better for some situations, I would honesty rather go gun-ho, something which I do like that MGS4 and MGS5 offer. Although I do need to play these games. 

Anyways, the idea behind this prototype came from my playthrough of Tomb Raider, which I think is a great game, so go play it! And play the new one as well!

There's not much else that I want to say on my prototype, so let's move on to some general updates.

Hard at work with the next Unity-Chan Dash update! I have talked about this on twitter, but I am a big fan of Sayuri-Seneci, the solo girl who is working on the Glass Wing games. The new area introduced there will be heavily be inspired Glass Wing Retold's first level! Also if this gets around to Sayuri, Hi(I LOVE YOU) your are so amazing! Keep going!

The Different Spirits post is coming soon! A MASSIVE thanks in advance to my friend Jennifer for helping me with this! If you want some art done by her, email her at:jeniviiart@gmail.com and ask for her prices.
And again, THANK YOU SO MUCH! 

Either way, that's it for now! Thanks for reading, have a great day/night, share if you enjoyed it and take care.

Written By Nana Marfo

All Image and work used(C)Respective Owners

Hey all! This is another deep dive post. This may seem a little bottom of the Barrel, but I have wanted to do a post based another From Soy Sauce video for a while.

So, as the title suggests, I have been heavenly inspired by Japan.  This is going to get a bit personal, so I make you cry, sorry? 

Anyways, as most of you know, my favourite franchise is Sonic the Hedgehog, a series of games created by SEGA. A common sterotype of Sonic fan is that they are autistic... which in my case is semi-true.  While with me, you might not be able to tell at first, sometime it kicks in randomly, and I hate that(also hence why I say semi-true). Because of this(and the fact that I take things to heart a lot), I became an easy target for bullies. This honestly continued up until I was 14, but I began to play games more and more, and now, as I have just turned 17, I realised now that Japan has influenced me more than I thought. Now I don't think I'm a full weeb... yet, but every game series and game that I hold close to my heart I can think of that is not a Indie game has Japanese links to it. Even Life is Strange and the Tomb Raider Series, games that seemly has no ties to Japan, are published by Square Enix, a Japanese company. 

A lot of you probably know that I am a black man living in London. However, the only real European things I think define me are cycling and Formula 1, and even then they are becoming more are more global, plus the only things I can take from them are designs. However, if you recall my first games works post, I only had Glass Wing Retold as a non Japanese developed game. 

This is not to say I am fully out of touch with my culture. I love playing music that is "from my motherland" as my parents say, and London has a lot great architecture I want to reflect in my games. However, instead of playing Call of Duty on a PS4 and watching The Flash, I would play Sonic Lost World on my Wii U, and watch a show called Kamen Rider.

For those of you that don't know(which I assume is everyone) Kamen Rider is a Henshin(Transforming) Heroes show that revolves the concept of a single(well, usually with one or two other) fighting an evil force. This is what gave me the idea for Different Spirits, among other game ideas I have to talk about. 

It only got worse as I grew up. Towards the end of secondary school, I began to get into anime, and it one of the reasons I made this blog, as well as wanted to share my game ideas. Even then, I watched Pokemon when I was younger, and I didn't know that was anime. Man, I hate how dumb I can be some times.

So, why the comforted part? Well, I don't have many people that I can talk to this about, combined with the fact that I am not really good at talking to people and making friends... yea I think you get the idea. While I am getting better, this is why I the people I meet online are so important to me. Just being to share my thoughts with people are important. That's something I have to cherish. 

Also, and I know this is REALLY stupid and cheesy,but sometimes it's good to imagine myself in that world and think about the hardships they face, it helps take my mind off the real world.

​I think you guys get the idea by this point. Japan has changed my life, but I feel the most I have show for it is Unity-Chan Dash, and anyone could make that game if they knew Unity well enough. I understand there is still a lot I have to learn about this country, and yes I know off all the bad things that Japan did in the war,and the country has a lot of problems, but in the end, their art has inspired me, and sometimes, isn't that all that matters? As such, I'll end with a quote from Sayuri-Sensei:

Thanks for reading, have a great day/night, share if you enjoyed it and take care.

Written by Nana Marfo

Tomb Raider/Life is Strange/Kingdom Hearts(C)Square Enix
Full Metal Alacamist(C) Aniplex/Square Enix
Aho Girl(C)Kodansha Comics
Kamen Rider(C) TOEI

Hey all, it's been a while since I did a game jam, and to be honest, I have been neverous about doing one since the my first one.  But after my work experience Failbetter Games. 

Since I only had around 48 hours to create a game, the key was once again to create a simple game, but which was based around the theme Awesome Per Minunit.

I'll be honest: THIS WAS THE HARDEST THING THAT I HAVE EVER DONE.

Not even because of the game itself. The mindset needed to create games in 48 hours requires an iron mind. Still, I personally found OK, since I came up with a simple idea that was based around the words "injection of pace", which I felt suited the theme. The game it's self is called "Ball Chaser".

The game is very simple, collect blue spinners and get to the end. This was fun to make but even though I was able to split the hours over 3 hours, this was mentally draining, as I made everything(besides the ball(Unity Standard Assets) and the font), and like I said before, this is the hardest thing I have ever done. I feel like I could have done better in some parts, but for my first 4 hour game jam, I think I did well. 

Anyways, you can download the game here.

That's it for now! Next time, I'm going to do something a little different with a certain anime...

Thanks for reading, have a great day/night, share if you enjoyed and take care.

Written By Nana Marfo

Hey all! We Have A LOT TO COVER today, so let's just dive into it!

It seems recently I am able to take ideas from controversial subjects, and turn the negatives into positive. I can see this as a good thing, but I can also this is bad as I can do it with sensitive subjects.  

But that's besides the point. Anyways the idea came from the divided reaction over the She-Ra redesign. I knew nothing of She-Ra till this, but I find it interesting that women are going off at men (in general) that people that are mad the the design isn't sexy, saying that.. I'll just link to a tweet here(sorry if it's a bit TMI).

Anyways, let me get to the point. I thought about 2 options. 

The first was giving Clare(my female lead from Different Spirits) a lean body bulid, and I have thought about giving Clare muscles(or as Eriquack calls it, making a Character swole), just to highlight the fact she is not weak.

Credit to gravitureboxing on DeviantArt for this image. This is just stuff I think would be a good reference for anatomy. Speaking of, I am trying to rewrite Clare, but I have got nothing thus far. I am also writing a blog on the idea behind Different Spirits, but that may be a long way off.

The other idea would to have a game with a Character that looks like She-Ra(anatomy wise), but at same time, is very quirky and different to how you would think she would act. A good thing about this is that the story would not have to be SUPER DEEP which is what I feel I am doing with Different Spirits,as that is more a love story based on teen love and whatnot. It just needs to have the message: look at emotions, not just looks.

That's all I have on it for now, but let's go into progress on Unity-Chan's Dash! The Big thing is the Character Controller is ready! It is still a bit slippy, but I believe it is better that what we had before. However, to accommodate this, some level design has been adjusted.

I am also happy to say that she has a voice! The Amazingly talented Amanda Fredette agreed to help me out on this! Thanks so much for voicing my character! 

Besides that, I am working hard on a demo reel which I am calling "Nana's Fighting Street". Hopefully there will be a lot to show soon!

That's all for now!  I want to wish everyone competing in the Blogger Blitz 2 good luck! But, as we always do on here, thanks for reading, have a great day/night, share if your enjoyed it, and take care.

Written By Nana Marfo.
​
All content(C) There Respective Owners
She-Ra(C)Mattel

Hey all! I wanted to another deep dive into a topic, and one that I kept seeing around, but I know this one is dancing on firecrackers. Either way, let's get into it. Just as quick not, I will be using Final Fantasy XIII and the Kingdom Hearts games as examples to prove my points, and I do have some bias towards these games.

Now with the self promo out of the way, what happened that promoted this? Scarlet Johansson, some I know for playing Black Widow in the Avengers and Major in a film I still need to see, Ghost in the Shell, was announced to be play a transgender man. Now, I don't not want to turn this into LGBT people need to play LGBT people. I am not a person to put movement into my artform and never will be. But hear my argument out: can't we relate to these characters emotionally, instead of looking at them from face value or gender?

What I mean by this if we look at a character, and take what they look like away from them, do we have similar thought. Do we feel the same feelings towards something or someone? I know this is flawed, but to be honest that is what I did for most of my childhood. I have 2 examples to give here, one from me and one from a friend:

How I emotionally relate to Ventus from Kingdom Hearts

As you can see, this kid looks nothing like me. However, his stories in Birth By Sleep really hit me in the feelings. He really want to make some new friends and has a lot of issues trusting his current friends. I am bit anti-social myself, and do tend to get anxious(which does prevent me from making friends), but like Ventus, I really do want to make some friends. I am slowing getting better , but Ven here has helped me find someone to relate to. Also, is it weird I tend to relate more to video game characters than real people? I don't know, and frankly, I don't care at this point. I am too deep in the video game rabbit hole.

How LightningEllen relates to Lightning

Ellen was another motivator for me to write this. In her article for AmbiGaming, she writes:

Read the full article for more context, but I can see Ellen that has a very deep connection with Lightning. I can also imagine her as my big sister.... but wait till the Final Fantasy XIII review(Hopefully soon). I want to my characters in Different Spirits (Partially Ethan and Clare) in this way so people can connect to these characters in the same way I do.

Anyways, that's it for now! Before I go, I do want to stress that I do have a donation page, and I use everything for this website. If you enjoy this content, want a free wallpaper, or just want to help out, please donate via Buy Me A Coffee.

Thanks for reading, have great day, share if you enjoyed it, and take care.

Written by Nana Marfo

​Extract taken from The Importance of Imaginary Role Models written by LightningEllen for AmbiGaming

​Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts(C)Square Enix

Disclamer,: I have signed an NDA with the company FailBetter Games, therefore I will NOT be talking anything to do with Sunless Skies. This is purely to do with what I did at the company.

For all of you that don't know, FailBetter Games are a studio based in London, who have created the games Fallen London and Sunless Sea. They are currently working on Sunless Skies, but probably due to copyright and NDA reasons, I was told to make my own game TO SHOW OFF IN FRONT OF THE TEAM. OK, now I'm somewhat scared and happy!

I used the week to learn a lot about the studio. The company is very much focused on telling stories using games. The vibe is very chilled, and this means that they are able to focused on art of making games. I asked around on what everyone does from marketing, to narrative designers to programmers.  I really enjoyed this experience, I just wish more companies would do it. 

Anyways, back to what I did. I had a lot of time on my own to make a game, and I think it came out well. The game is a 2.5D platform where you can run and jump. I wanted to add a slide mechanic but it failed. The control is JANK, because I used 2 different scripts for animation and movement. However, for a game made in a week, and my second game completed,this was not half bad. The company 

I made everything besides the textures, the models, the animations and the font. It was a great experience, and if you want to play the game, you can... now! I do plan to add more levels and fix the JANK controls(Just stating that so I don't a million complaints about how crappy the controls are), so please look forward to it! The Level right now should not take you more than 3-5 mins to complete. Also, I have as pay what you want, but you don't need to, and personally, till the game gets more updates, I don't think you should, I just could really use the money.

Anyways, that's it for now! Thanks again to the people a FailBetter Games for a great week! And to all of you, thanks for reading, have a great day/night, share if it's not to much trouble for you and take care.

Written By Nana Marfo

Unity-Chan(C)Unity Technology Japan

So, we have reached 10 Gameworks. Fitting since I started blogging about a year ago.  I want to thank everyone who has read my blog, liked it, shared it, made their friends read it anything of the sort.I also want to thank you all of helping me reaching 130+ view in a day on Sunday.

Anyways, on to the usual.

Project Table Ball is proceeding smoothly. So far I have been learning how to use ProBulider instead of Blender Designed levels.What you see below is a very rushed ProBulider test level.

Also the thing that you see there that the ball is going to collect? It's a USB! The game will be themed around "Things you would find around the table". Since I live a house with a lot of computers(How do you think I got into games and tech so much) I decided to do that.

Different Spirits is kinda on my backlog ATM. I have been taking a course that is helping my game story writing skills, in order to improve my script. Besides that, I am now starting a quick summer hobby project(unpaid, sorry), to render a still from this project, and I am now hiring! I am looking for a:

-Character Modeller
-Environment Designer 

If you have any experience at all in these fields, please email me at marfo343@gmail.com.

I have started working on a quiz game(because of the fact I need learn it for my computing coursework). I have also be learn Mechaim in Unity, and I am refining my Axl Character Controller(might use it for a game prototype)

But That's it for now! Going to level with you all, June is going to be a crazy month. Open Days, exams and of course, E3. Don't worry. I'll get through it. I always do.

Either way, thanks for reading, have a great day/night, share if you liked it and take care.

​Written By Nana Marfo

Hey everyone! I planned for this a bit different of a devlog, but I had some thoughts. I honestly don't I will finish Box Movers. The game was fun to work on, but after a while, became a chore, and I don't want to release a sub-par project because I have to. I also had second thoughts because of the fact it  was not an idea I had come up with on my own. I thought about this quote from Shigeru Miyamoto:

This is also why I have been hesitant of doing game jams recently, but after exams are over, I plan on going back to them.

However, I didn't not work on the game. I have music for it! And you can listen to it on my Soundcloud! Not only that, but I have been working on a new game!

The game is a platformer/arcade type game.A big inspriation behind the game will be old-school Sonic games. That's all I can really say for now.

That's all for now! Yea, I know very short, but this is my last blog before my exams(hence why I have been inactive), but I am going to do a lot more when I get back.

Either Way, thanks for reading, have a great day/night and take care.

Written By Nana Marfo

So, I did really expect to be writing this today(at the time I started writing this), but I reallise as a game dev, I might need to answer questions like things that are in the title. It was mostly inspired by watching these 2 videos by one of my biggest inspirations,  From Soy Sauce(which came out September last year):

I do recommend you watch both videos for some insight.(And play the Glass Wing Retold demo because it's REALLY GOOD). But it got me thinking: is "Oversexualised" character and character designs a problem in the games industry? Personally I don't think so. While some characters are often made for pure fan service(Looking at you Luoca) I honestly don't mind "oversexualised" characters are ok as long as they are written and portrayed well. 

As for designing characters in that way... I honestly don't mind. Games are not real, and I see the worlds of games having their own rules. Basically, real world not equal to a game's world(I know there will always be exceptions to the rule for me, e.g. Life Is Strange(besides the time travel)) and as such I really don't think that world apply our rules.

However, I want to do what Sayuri did, in order to widen my horizon. I am going to look up the word "Oversexualised video game characters" and see what I get. Because I do my blog at school sometimes, this is why I am searching up "Oversexualised video game characters". Also this part might be NSFW, and haven't played all of the games the characters are from. So, let's start.

Lara Croft? This is not even old Lara(Considering her... top half(the most non NSFW way I can put it)it would at least make sense), this is Survivor timeline Lara. How and why? Is it because of the Top? She IS a hunter, and in the context of the survivor timeline, was left on an island.

I believe these are alt costumes for Juliet Starling from Lollipop Chainsaw.  She is a cheerleader right? She would be a more confident(or from what I've seen, she just doesn't care) in wearing a lot these costumes. 

I had a feeling you would show up. For anyone that doesn't know who this is, this Ivy from Soul Calibur. I know this sounds very, VERY shallow, but I like design because it looks cool. I don't play Soul Calibur, so that might be a reason for the shallowness. However, this brings me to another point. Sometime the best route to make things look cool is the easiest. Making characters "Oversexualised" can make the character look badass.

Bayo was going to come up at some point to. I have see a lot of both Bayonetta Games, and I'm pretty sure she doesn't give a damn either way. Also she is portrayed a bit like a hooker, right?

But enough of that. So, from this, I have learned that "Oversexualised" is:
-Skintight Latex(Bayo/Lara/Juliet)
-Bondage Gear(Ivy)
-Hyperexarrated Boobs and/or Butt(Ivy/Bayo)

But honestly, I don't mind either way. I understand the points of feminists and saying that characters like this are made for the male gaze, but honestly, I don't care. Context is very important when it comes to some situation in games. And if not, you may find a character attractive for the right/wrong reasons.

Anyways that's it! Next Gameworks will be back to the usual. Let me know what you think of this! Should I do more?

Thanks for reading, have a great day/night, share if you enjoyed, and take care.

Written By Nana Marfo

Video by From Soy Sauce: https://www.facebook.com/fromsoysauce/ 
https://twitter.com/FromSoySauceLLC
https://www.youtube.com/user/FromSoySauce/videos
Sayuri, good luck with Glass Wing Capstone.

All Images(C) There respective Owners 
Lara Croft(C) Square Enix
Jullet Starling/Lolipop Chansaw(C) Suda51/Grasshopper Manufacture
Soul Calibur(C)BANDAI NAMCO
Bayonetta(C)Platinum Games
Lightning Reterns: Final Fantasy XIII(C)Square Enix

Hey Everyone! Today I wanted you guys to to know how I make my Demo Reels/ShowReels. This is not going to do into too much detail, but I do expect you too know a few keythings such as what renders are, what in engine footage is and, so on.

The first(and in my opinion, always first) thing you should do, is choose the music. This is key to me because it sets the tone for what you are going to be showing. The first 2 I have done(Check out my YouTube Channel if you want to see them), were more about showing off my first small projects, and first game in terms of the second one. 

I chose Lightning's Theme's to give a more gracious vibe to this demo reel. The main thing I wanted to show off was my updated character controller(using rigidbody physics instead of the Unity Character Controller) as well as some rigging setups and hair physics. 

I like my content to flow with the music, in order to make up for not have any special effects in my video edits. 

Because I tend to use a lot the same models, it is easy to show improvement, and I also have some projects that are exactly the same.

This time, I also added some footage of me working, to show the process of how I use node setups, lighting setup, and so on. This is a big thing for this demo reel in particular, because of the fact that there a lot of work required is unseen, and I wanted to show it off in this case. Because of all of this, I can say this is the most stress inducing thing I have ever done.

Anyways, it's here for you all to watch! Please give me some feedback, I would love to improve.

Furthermore, I have started using character creation programs to create characters! I am currently using Manual Bastoni and MakeHuman. which both have their problems. Manual Bastoni doesn't allow me to use characters that under 18(not good for me, I want to work with 15-16 year old characters), and MakeHuman takes a while to figure out. I haven't made anything in Manual Bastoni, but It took me a day to make something even quarter decent in MakeHuman.(Warning:Pictures below maybe not safe for work).

I want to apologise the lack of content recently. School has kept me busy, as well as life. I also haven't been watching anime due to the busyness, so there's that. It should be over by June, so I will be more consistent in the summer!

Thanks for reading, have a great day/night, share if it's not too much trouble for you and take care.

Written by Nana Marfo

Models are created in the video descripition

Manual Bastoni is an addon for Blender 2.79

MakeHuman(C)AGPL

Unity(C)Unity Technologies

Blender(C)Blender Foundations

Hey everybody! So I was going to do the Fig Jam, but I have a lot going on at the moment, and I couldn't think of anything to go with the theme. School has also kept me busy, but I managed to start work on new learning project. I am calling it the extended project, which will help learn how to make combat systems that don't involve guns or FPS movement and HUD and UI features, as well as learning the Unity partical system. Keep an eye on my twitter for updates.

In terms of my art work, I am slowly experimenting with different lighting set ups, in order to create better looking renders. I am really enjoying it so far, but I have to say, it is the hardest part of making renders, because god damn, it's hard.

I am also slowing learning 3D modelling! Something I never though I could do. It's nice to get it out of the way, and the project I am doing it for is really helping me to learn how work in a team.

Finally, I will say the script writing is going well, and ideas are flowing fast. I even have ideas on the charaters will wear. Next time, I will take you through my demo reel process, and test my VA skills.

Thanks for reading, have a great day/night, share if it's not too much trouble for you, and take care.

Written by Nana Marfo
Models from:
Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts II
Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep

Kingdom Hearts(C)Square Enix.

So... I have some explaining to do. As most of you know, I am 16, in my first year of collage. I honestly want to study Game Development at University, rather than Computer Science, because I do have the skills, I do not see myself in that sort of environment, and it's easier to work for yourself as an artist making games, rather than a computer scientist making games. However, my are very much against this choice(they want me to study Computer Science), to the point where they will not sign any needed papers for me(and I was born very late in the school year, so by the time I turn 18, it will be WAY too late), and will not allow to take a gap year at all(despite them confusing me on what else to do).

So I need to start saving, and making my name known. All of the work I do is for free, and until I say otherwise, will be always free. However, I will be taking tips if you like my work. I want to start saving for Uni, as well as begin to take this more seriously. I don't want this to be just a hobby. I want this to be my life. So, if you want to, and if you can, please give me a tip via digital tip jar.

I can tips via Cards(I can't get PayPal or anything like this for the matter), and you don't have to donate, but even if you share any of my art, I do appreciate it.

Sorry for the short and sombre post today, but I have something good for you all tomorrow. Thanks for reading, have a good night/day and take care.

Written by Nana Marfo(from the heart).

Hey everyone! Sorry for a lack of updates/reviews, but one has been stressing me for the longest time: The fighting game project. ONE.SMALL.BUG. That it is all that is in my way. It floats up when I don't want it to. That is the only thing. But still, I learned more about Mechiam in Unity. That what matters the most.

In other news, I made a video for game works! This was really fun to make, as I wanted to do this for the longest time, and show off how I rig and animate!

However, I have also been working on a game script based on an idea I have had for months. I won't say anything else. I also want to improve my photoshop skills, so I am going to be doing twitter banners for friends, and people I am huge fans of.

Not a lot today, but due to a graphics project, there will be a lot of film reviews. So prepare for yourself! First up, Animal Farm.

Either Way, thanks for reading, have a great day/night, share if it's not to much trouble for you, and take care.

Written By Nana Marfo

Kingdom Hearts/Final Fantasy(C)Square Enix

So, I have been testing renders with HDR lighting. I did 2 this past week, one of a Custom Tifa Model:

(I copied a pose by Katuya Moonfox). This one I was not too happy with, as the lighting sort of failed in what it was suppose st to do, which was make a realistic setting. The light is over-exposed(though that may be because I had to move the HDR plane behind the focus, meaning it had to show), taking away from the model in focus. The Rig wasn't great either. I forgot to do the thumbs. That is someting you should never, ever do. 

Anyway, my big question is what is the best set-up for HDR lighting in Blender? My current setup is this:

I have also been testing some ideas for a fighting game prototypes. I have been using a model of Yuffie from KH1(KH2 models don't like to work with my rigs for some odd reason).

So far a few animation and technical scripting has been done, but it is no where ready to show to you guys yet. 

Anyways, that is it for now! I have exams at the start of the month next month, so I will be a little less active for a few days from then! 

Either way, thanks for reading, have yourselves a great day/night, share if it's not to much trouble for you, and take care.

Written by Nana Marfo

Models used from Games:
Lightning Reterns :Final Fantasy XIII
Kingdom Hearts 
​
Cosplayer Credits:
Katyuska Moonfox(She also does game design, check out her other twitter for that)

*This is a wordpress repost*

​Hey everyone! Today I wanted to start off my game develops talking about some of my inspirations for wanting to become a game dev. So let's just jump in this time!

​The blue blur has entertained me on TV since the mid-2000s, as well as plenty of fan games. However, I played Sonic Colors and loved it . Sonic has been a huge part of my life growing up, and I love the games for the speed in his spin dash/boost, and his always cool attitude.  Want to start somewhere? Play the advance games or Colours and Generations.  I love them, some of my favourite games to date. Also buy Forces and Mania.

​The series that single-handily got me into anime. Year 10 and onwards was when I have made me love this series for gameplay, story and characters. Chain of Memories was my first game, and honestly, I love it. In fact, I love all of the of the ones I have played, which is One, Two, GBA Chain Of Memories and Birth By Sleep. However, I know the stories of all of them, and it not as confusing as everyone says it is. If you want to try it, play I.5+II.5 and II.8 on the PS4 preparation for Kingdom Hearts 3 in 2018. Also Nomura's art is amazing.

Capcom, bring him back! I love this game, and I will play the other 3 games(after I finish X6...UGH) but I do think you should get this. I love the weapon system, and the mission system is nice. and the story is heartwarming. I love the action style of the game.
​
Before my last Feature, Let me say this: In terms of US games, I begin and end with the indie movement. Japanese games are more of my preference. With that, the last game:

Addictive is the only word I have to describe this game. From Soy Sauce(or Sayuri-Sensei) has made a game that is more relaxing, but hard, I don't know how to describe it. Play it, if you have not already. And on the off chance this gets to Sayuri-Sensei, Hi! I think you are awesome!
That is it for now! I will try and make these as much as I can, but school has started and running this and YouTube devlogs will be hard!
Thank you for reading, have a fantastic night, and take care.
Written by Nana Marfo
Sonic The Hedgehog (C) SEGA
Kingdom Hearts(C) Square Enix/Disney
Megaman (C) Capcom
Glass Wing Retold(C) From Soy Sauce