Per • so • na

First art for 2013. Values study, more or less. Used as...

Sun, 12 May 2013 23:25:12 +0800

First art for 2013. Values study, more or less. Used as reference this: http://fav.me/da2tgw

theartofanimation: Resona-Raille Stuff dreams (and nightmares)...

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 10:18:08 +0800

theartofanimation:

Resona-Raille

Stuff dreams (and nightmares) are made of.

The last of my Turtle Redesign project, with Michelangelo. Glad...

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 18:46:20 +0800

The last of my Turtle Redesign project, with Michelangelo. Glad that I managed to finish it before the year ends.

99 Life Hacks to make your life easier!

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 10:12:42 +0800

shialabeowulf:

Read More

maiji: fancysomedisneymagic: Disney Songs in their “Home”...

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 07:05:00 +0800

maiji:

fancysomedisneymagic:

Disney Songs in their “Home” Language (click to listen)

Fabulous. I’d actually never heard the Mandarin versions of the Mulan songs before. So much cognitive dissonance right now haha

Having just seen the Aladdin musical a couple of days ago, this is awesome.

neil-gaiman: “Advice to Aspiring Artists”. This is very short....

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 12:07:37 +0800

neil-gaiman:

“Advice to Aspiring Artists”.

This is very short. But if you only ever watch or reblog one YouTube video with me in it, make it this one. I mean it. This is important.

“Nobody gets to be you, except you. Nobody has your point of view, except you. Nobody gets to bring to the world the things that you uniquely bring to the world except you. So saying there are enough writers out there, enough directors out

there, there are enough people with points of view, well yeah there are, but none of them you. And none of these people are going to make the art that you will make, none of them will change people and change the world in a way that you could change it. So if you believe somebody who says ‘No no, we’ve got enough of those’ then all it means is you’re giving up the chance to change the world in the way that only you can change it.”

Perspective

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 10:10:00 +0800

Perspective:

This is an interactive 3D visualization of our immediate stellar neighborhood, with over 100,000 stars.

When you look at this, you’ll realize just how insignificant we really are — all our wars and bigotry and human fallibility and foibles, all our histories and stories and dreams. And then we act as if we are the center of everything.

We need a little perspective now and then.

theartofanimation: David Despau

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 11:52:24 +0800

theartofanimation:

David Despau

Milky Way Over Piton De l’Eau By Luc Perrot

Sun, 30 Sep 2012 12:54:58 +0800

Milky Way Over Piton De l’Eau By Luc Perrot

‘A painting of a woman holding something yellow and...

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 16:03:36 +0800

‘A painting of a woman holding something yellow and blue.’

—-

A fanart I made for the indie game ‘To The Moon’. It’s inspired from the painting that you can see at John’s house.

“Holy human bomb, Batman!”

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 10:55:00 +0800

“Holy human bomb, Batman!”

Better hope you have good lawyers, Square-Enix!

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 11:09:59 +0800

Better hope you have good lawyers, Square-Enix!

Of moonwishers and paper rabbits...

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 18:55:00 +0800

Every once in a few while, perhaps every couple of years or so, a video game comes along that makes you think. About life, about love, and whether the medium can be considered as an art form given its nature. Like most arguments, what is art is subjective but if art is considered to be anything that can evoke an especially strong emotional response from the viewer, then To The Moon has just pushed the medium one step closer to arthood.

The story is reminiscent of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and indeed, the creator mentioned that it was one of the influences when he created the game. You might also see a bit of Inception and perhaps some shades of Memento, all of which should give you an idea of how ambitious the story of this game is as compared to most titles out there today.

You play the role of Drs. Eva Rosalene and Neil Watts, employees of the Sigmund Corporation who gives out a particularly curious service: they allow a person to travel back to the past, in their minds, and help them fulfill a wish. To do this, they will implant a new memory deep in the person’s past memories but there is a caveat: this new memory will have repercussions up to the newest one, essentially rewriting how that person believes they have lived their life. Since this will obviously cause a crisis of existence the moment the person wakes up, this is only given to the person on their deathbed so they can die believing they have accomplished their dreams. I don’t even want to touch on the moral dilemma this service poses but it is not the core of the game and I leave it up to the player to debate the ethics of the method.

John Wyles is an old man in a coma who, before he fell to his illness, contracted the Sigmund Corporation to give him his final wish: to go to the moon. The only problem is he doesn’t know why he has such a wish and thus begins a quest to unravel the mystery behind John’s odd request. Along the way, we get to learn about John’s relationship with his wife River, her strange obsession with paper rabbits and lighthouses, and finally, the past that John has locked away deep in his memory.

The gameplay is lacking, very much so; it is mostly a point-and-click affair and it doesn’t even make you think. Aside from a very simple puzzle that you do in order to unlock the path to the next ‘memory’, there is nothing remarkable to the mechanics. The graphics, for the most part, are in retro 16-bit style made primarily with RPG Maker. You would think that such a package does not merit the $9.99 price (or the $12.99 for the CE) it has on Steam. And you would be flat-out wrong.

Where To the Moon excels is that aspect of gaming which modern video games seem to have taken for granted today: story, music and heart. This game has it in spades. Pick a review, any decent review, and you will notice a pattern emerging: how this game has made them cry, how this game has made them think about the story long after the game has ended, and how it evokes a deep emotional response to something deep within themselves, whether it is a personal memory or that very human nature of reflection and empathy. This game does not shy away in touching a very mature theme that is often given a wide berth by other games: that of mental disorders and people’s capacity to understand and to love in spite of them. It deals with heavy issues about death and loss, but what’s remarkable is that the game is not being preachy about it. It does this in a manner it should be done: in a normal, deeply personal level that makes you empathize with the characters. Do not be surprised if, long after you’ve finished the game, a 16-bit sprite leaves an impression on you that a CG character done in the latest state-of-the-art computer graphics software has never had before.

The way the story is told is not novel; the trick of telling the story in backwards fashion has already been done better by Christopher Nolan in Memento for example, but here, it is used in a way that adds more meaning in subtle ways as only a visual medium can. On your successive replays, you will see things in a new light, having already learned what has happened. River’s obsession with the origami rabbits and her constant requests to John on describing them to her might seem annoying at first play, but will then get a very deep meaning on a second play; a certain scene with a doctor will give a different light on John’s personality earlier; and even his liking of pickled olives suddenly provides a sad realization. This is a story that has many layers, if you are keen in engrossing yourself with it.

The music is one of the main reasons that makes this story treatment work. With a score composed mostly of piano pieces, the melodies complement the story so perfectly that you may find yourself getting misty-eyed when hearing of certain tunes long after having played the game. The only video game music that has made this kind of an impact with me are the works of Nobuo Uematsu and Yasunori Mitsuda for the older Final Fantasies and the Chrono series, respectively. These are songs you can loop in your MP3 player over and over and not get tired; these are the songs that you play when you want to be in a reflective mood; these are the songs that you carry with you as you grow older. The vocal song ‘Everything’s Alright’, in particular, takes on a very deep meaning especially when you imagine River singing it. It makes for a very powerful and evocative piece on a game that is already heavy enough with emotions as it is.

It is sad to think that in this day and age of modern video gaming, a low-budget indie title made on a very inferior software can have more heart and emotion than all the AAA titles combined. It seems that all video game publishers care right now is whether a game has great graphics and twitchy instant gratification gameplay that they’ve forgotten that what makes a game great. Consider, for example, the newer versions of Final Fantasies, in particular, Final Fantasy XIII. It has what is, in it’s core, a mediocre turd of a game wrapped in shiny CG models and graphics and frenetic gameplay. Did it sell well? Yes it did; the brand name still carries a strong following in the industry after all. But you only need to look at how polarized the fans are with it to know that something is wrong with the title, compared to how the Final Fantasy titles were held in the 80s and 90s.

Meanwhile, we have here a game that lacks the visual presentation and polish of an AAA title made by a developer that is, at best, 30-man strong. And yet almost everyone that have played it are unanimous on the fact that this is an experience that is profoundly personal and gratifying. In this industry that is predominantly controlled by suits and money, it is very refreshing to see an honest work done by people who truly love the medium.

Just like a great book, it doesn’t matter if it’s read in paper form or in Kindle. What matters, in the end, is the story because that is what stays with you long after you’ve put the book down. So it is with video games as well; we go on after living our lives, but it’s the impact the story has left in our emotions and thoughts that stay with us long after the best graphics today are just laughably outdated visuals in the future. That is why we still we remember Celes’ opera performance, why we still hold on to Kid’s promise of meeting Serge somewhere, and why Aerith’s death is still one of the most powerful images in video games 15 years later. Because those are stories we remember and those are characters we care about.

In this day and age of video games, maybe what we need are more people who wish to go to the moon, and paper rabbits dressed in yellow and blue.

theartofanimation: Dusan Djukaric

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 14:57:49 +0800

theartofanimation:

Dusan Djukaric

Yep, still a better love story than Twilight.

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 17:29:28 +0800

Yep, still a better love story than Twilight.

nemicon: shadowhive: sc1zor: this me etc etc That is so me....

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 10:29:26 +0800

nemicon:

shadowhive:

sc1zor:

this me etc etc

That is so me. I think my time on Skyrim is a perfect example of that

Doubly relevant since I just beat DQIV less than an hour ago

Hivemind.

Stoya™: Hysterical Literature

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 13:23:03 +0800

Stoya™: Hysterical Literature:

stoya:

There’s a video involved. I leave it up to you whether you read or watch first.

I’ve never understood vibrators. I’ve gone on record numerous times saying various versions of “I dislike them all except for Lelo’s Nea which I really only appreciate aesthetically.” I think it’s the buzzing…

Better than porn.

fyeahout-of-contextcomics: Spider-Man aka FANBOY I...

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 19:45:23 +0800

fyeahout-of-contextcomics:

Spider-Man aka FANBOY

I wouldn’t really be surprised if Peter has a scrapbook full of Captain America photos.

theartofanimation: Gia Nguyen Hoang I love works that show...

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 01:54:27 +0800

theartofanimation:

Gia Nguyen Hoang

I love works that show scale.

theartofanimation: Dan Cooper

Sun, 05 Aug 2012 11:56:46 +0800

theartofanimation:

Dan Cooper