Retrospective blabber

It's kind of weird, but dates don't lie - year 2006 was .plan free for me. And I wasn't "out of the loop" either, GG site is an integral part of my daily routine. It's just that there was no time to sit down and actually write anything. Which probably means you can't accuse me of being an attention whore :P

Anyway, last year was really important for me. There were quite some changes in my personal life, I relocated back to my home country, I got to work on various really cool projects, I became a full time freelancer with all its pros and cons and finally, when all is said'n done - I have become a tiny bit of a better artist too. So, when I look back, on the whole, I think last year was a good one.

Relocating and going full time freelancing have opened a whole new world for me. Before, I was in a bit of a peculiar position in that I could do whatever I wanted and didnt have to worry about such insignificant details like "money".
Last year that changed and, boy, did it change the pace of my life. Which I'm really glad about. I wouldnt have had chance to work on all those cool things if I wasnt so much more alert and on-the-lookout now when freelancing is THE source of my income.
Well, living in Latvia tones down the urgency somewhat. Its equivalent of living in Mexico, I guess. Stuff is just so much cheaper here that I can live comfortably while charging indy prices.
Wouldnt work if I had stayed in Switzerland, a complete opposite price-wise.
Plus, I get proper beer now :)



Last year also marked completion of "simple casual game". It was thought that I'll spend around month on it. Instead, it was full year. Of course, I didnt work on it all the time, but still. I'm talking about MGT's "Kachinko"
and it could well be the game that educated me about gamedev better than long studies in some fancy-pants university would. I'll do post-mortem on the art side of things somewhen soon, it was truly a great learning experience for me.



As was working with GG's Joe Maruschak on "Rack 'em Up Road Trip". I worked only on some assets (tables and cues) but communication with Joe is so educational that in the end you almost feel like you should be paying GG for chance of working with him, not the other way around.

Another cool thing has been an ongoing project, a promotional comic for Max Gaming Technologies game in making "Tankerz". Its a weird post-apocalyptic action game with wacky characters and..well, its just weird in a cool way, alright? I have been given complete freedom with the comic and I had an idea that perhaps the main characters in the comic are not the ones player plays with in-game, just couple of dudes who happen to meet all the key characters and visit the key locations but who dont play any integral part in the game-plot. Thus the Sarge and the Private were born, two ex-military guys who wander around the nuclear wasteland, trying to understand this brave new world, where everything has changed. Its been taken more time than I thought it would, not because of the art, but because of the writing, its such a laconic format.



There have been quite a lot of other stuff too, some I cant talk about yet, some, I'm unsure whether I can talk about or not, some just hasnt made that milestone where you can sit back and say: "here, this is how much the game has improved and I did this and that".
However, one cool thing I think I can talk about is "Galaxy Rage", an open-ended shooter with sureal visuals, intriguing plot and really REALLY interesting world. I was asked to provide concepts for locations/planets and they had to be unusual and sureal (there's a reason for those worlds looking so strange). Screens on their website show build with placeholder art, pre-my-concepts so, you know, it'll look even cooler :)


Player's space ship which is also a sentient jellyfish and also a good friend of main hero. I'm not even intoxicated while writing this.



Player's hazard suit. Its not manufactured, in fact, its alive and has been grown on player.


A neurotic ocean


A cold and dangerous place.



Dejobaan are aiming for Galaxy Rage release this summer and I really hope they make it, its so interesting and unusual project. And I hope I'll be so lucky and keep on getting chances of working with cool people on cool schtuff. Cause I love it :)
There, that was my mandatory Retrospective Blog :P