I use a free digital painting software called Krita and a Wacom Drawing Tablet!

The Beginner's Manga by vicdoan2 Play in your browser

"The Beginner's Manga" is officially out on Itch.io! Explore the different visual elements that go into making the black and white, still images of manga vibrant and dynamic, complete with original artwork!

You can play it here! vicdoan2.itch.io/the-beginner...

#SmallGameStudio

YouTube video by Victor Doan The Beginner's Manga - Release Trailer

A release trailer for "The Beginner's Manga" has been posted on Youtube outlining what to expect from the game, including the gameplay and art teasers. Check it out with the link below!
youtu.be/0MW6yhWshXE

#SmallGameStudio

Just finished polishing up the game for the time being (hoping the Game Show will bring more feedback). I added some visual guides to the beginning to help players navigate the right to left scroll experience as well as balancing the feeling of the jumps for going backward #SmallGameStudio

Very nice! It'll be interesting to see how the puzzle comes together, especially with the mirroring mechanic. I can also see a lot of great opportunities to drop in story elements into these puzzle areas, as well as game secrets!

Another step toward quality of life changes: we have working main menus and pause menus that let the player stop the game, adjust the game resolution and quite the application! I'm happy with the menus, but if I have time I'll go back to add delays/animations #SmallGameStudio

After finishing the playtests today, I decided to add more subtle touches to the existing museum like game rather than making it more gamey (how indecisive of me). I added a trail effect to the player character and a "drawing" zone where players could make art with it. #SmallGameStudio

I forgot to post about it when I had finished it, but I have a finished draft of "The Beginner's Manga" ready to playtest! I have an idea of where I might take it as it is still a museum-like walkthrough game but I'll see after the playtesting. #SmallGameStudio

That's a really cool effect! I remember how explicit you wanted to make it to the player that they're in a dream, but I think something like this where they might miss it if they just glance past it while being very obvious once they do adds a feeling of uncanniness

I was finally able to finish making all of the assets needed for the game (a little later than expected) and am now compiling them into game objects with existing animators/audio triggers. #SmallGameStudio

While laying out the panels that would be present in the game, I realized I would need different zoom scales so I played around with enabling/disabling multiple cameras attached to the player character.Now the game will zoom out as needed for each size of panel! #SmallGameStudio

On my desk I have a couple sketchbooks, books on drawing, a drawing tablet, markers, greeting cards from friends, and little trinkets like figurines. I think the first couple of items might be skewed however since I do a lot of drawing! #SmallGameStudio

Despite having an idea of the game's direction, I actually went back to make the game more like a game, rather than just a museum walk experience. Introducing unlockable secrets that utilize mechanics the player learns would definitely help with that. #SmallGameStudio

Can't wait to see how you go about making the game into 3D! I feel like there can be a lot of freedom in making obstacles in a 3D running space. Things like the spacing between obstacles and obstacle height/width carry so much more importance.

I just finished scripting out what text the game is going to include and the overall direction the game is going to go in. The different types of visual effects I'd like to showcase have also been chosen. Time to find/make the assets and build the game. #SmallGameStudio

I was able to implement a CharacterController in Unity for the first time, and was able to make a short demo for my next game "The Beginner's Manga"! This project will mainly be created by the CharacterController, collision detection, animation, and audio cues. #SmallGameStudio

I found that completing a mood board was really helpful for pinpointing what to include for my next project. It will play closer to a normal walking simulator-tutorial, teaching players about something at a slow pace, rather than a platformer game. #SmallGameStudio

Small typo, it should be this link:
vicdoan2.itch.io/all-that-time

I just finished "All That Time", an abstract two player (also playable by one person) experience inspired by my own experiences of reflecting on the time I could have spent with loved ones. You can play it here:
vicdoan2.itch.io/all-this-time
#SmallGameStudio

I really like the idea of the flickering light as a means of navigating a maze more interesting and engaging! I was originally going to do something similar with the dark maze but went in a different direction. Can't wait to play this

During a break from programming the gameplay, I started exploring with the "juiciness" of the game by adding some delayed transitions, fade in and out animations, and a "pingpong" effect for the pulsing light sources! #SmallGameStudio

I'm really fixated on playing with a limited light source for the next game. Initially I was planning to attach a flashlight to the player characters, but then found that I liked the impact of a still light. Now I want to try and incorporate both. #SmallGameStudio

We played “Freedom Bridge” which was a simple scrolling game where the player must cross through barbed wire to a bridge that’ll lead them to freedom. However, the player is always killed at the bridge, symbolizing the trapped feeling of those looking to escape #SmallGameStudioArcade3

We played “passage” which documents the life of a pixelated couple walking through life, aging and eventually dying as they go on. It has a somber message as they continue to age no matter if the player walks forward or move back, showing the constant movement of time. #SmallGameStudioArcade3

We played “untitled (the flower game” which lets you control the way the flower like pattern is generated by messing with different sliders. The visuals are very hypnotizing and the generation seems very dynamic and unrepeating #SmallGameStudioArcade3

We played through the “snow diorama materials experiment” which has snow like particles falling and collecting on different procedurally generated maps. Some maps even let the snow build structures. A lot of the games look at the random generation of life. #SmallGameStudioArcade3

We played “shu” which focuses on making black strokes in order to teach the player about Chinese calligraphy. The fine targets make the game very rewarding to complete #SmallGameStudioArcade3

We played “melt” which is a very simple minimal game that involves merging two circles or driving them apart with the mouse. Bringing them together makes the game brighter which might connote the sense of brightness during an intimate relationship #SmallGameStudioArcade3

We played “the marriage” which was a really interesting survival-like game where you are in charge of maintaining the health of two squares that will fade or grow according to different conditions. A very introspective look into relationships. #SmallGameStudioArcade3

Project pivot! I couldn't get the Pac-Man clone to work so I made a 2-player tag game where one player has to collect dots as the other chases them. Each player also has the option to rescramble the dots one time to try to improve the map for themselves. #SmallGameStudio