KingofCrows

My hope is to move far enough in development that I can actually start advertising lol. It's a lot of work to go, but a lot can be done in a year (hopefully more than in the past 3 years...).

I have not worked professionally on any project aside from my own, art-wise, but I have been looking for a good reason to continue developing my art skills. While dragons are what started my interest in art, canines are what developed it. This is a WIP shot of a commission (species lineart) someone ordered; I do not have many finished up-to-date examples, and I apologize for that, but here are some of my works from 2016. From this year I do not have much to show as I have had medical issues that resulted in being unable to use my old tablet. I recently invested in a pen-display tablet, though, which has significantly helped with this problem. Now it's just been inspiration I lack, haha. Regardless of how you feel about my work, I wish you the best of luck in finding a third member to add to your team, and in your project! -King of Crows

I generally see folks sell at larger sizes that are meant to then be reduced down to a smaller size. If it still holds well when resized then I'd say whichever dimensions you prefer work just fine! (I personally like items in the 80px to 120px range, pets in the 300px to 500px range)

Oh yes, this is a huge issue with the vast majority of artists (myself included). We just find a face structure we like and subconsciously reproduce it, same with body type. I've been practicing drawing a variety of body types, nose shapes, and eye shapes to see if I can get out of the habit. Different people also have different types of facial expressions- not everyone smiles the same way (just look at a highschool yearbook haha). For body types I've found life figure drawing and gesture drawing does help a lot!

I develop species concepts more than characters. I pretty much always start out by sketching something super sloppy to get the rough shape I want down. Then I take some time imagining how it moves. Once I have an idea for movement I find an animal with a similar movement style and do some anatomy studies to figure out what makes it capable of moving the way it does. I compare animal builds and combine them to form the base for my creature. Then I work without the references in adjusting proportions by blocking out the muscle groups, then layering skin over the top, then adding the top layer. I usually go through and make any adjustments to the overall anatomy to come up with a standard for the species. Most of my species boards (my big documents I sketch concepts for a species on) are full of quick-doodled pose studies to see if it looks feasible and natural, and various body parts, usually with a ton of notes jotted down like "movement based hunter- slit pupils" "arboreal- plantigrade, prehensile tail?" "herbivore- side eyes" "fast runner- flexible spine, sloped?" and the like. I base the design on what the animal is and does: Is it an herbivore? A carnivore? Insectivore? Omnivore? - determines the necessary dental layout which I develop the rough skull shape from. What does it eat? I get more specific than the broad group. What it eats/where it gets its food from is going to determine a lot. Say it's an herbivore and its main diet is fruit. Fruit grows commonly in trees, so it needs to get to trees somehow. Is it going to be large to reach up, or arboreal so it can climb trees? Where does it live? The climate/habitat is going to determine a lot of the adaptations. If it's a fruit eater, and it climbs, chances are its in a tropical climate. Tropics are hot, so it'll need pretty big ears, a low-fat makeup, and exposed skin to release more heat. How does it court? Most adaptations are based on two things- getting food and making love. Most animals have some sort of courtship ritual. Birds usually dance using their feathers, so those feathers need to be flashy, such as birds of paradise, and pigeons' iridescent necks. Other animals grapple with competition (lions), sing (frogs), fight with the potential mate to prove themselves worthy (oscar cichlid), etc. I continue from there by answering more questions, and I often come up with questions by learning about the behaviors of other animals- why and how they do what they do. Right now I have a thread up for my species that I've already been working on for a while, but I am going to toss one up starting from scratch to share my development process with others. One of my favorite exercises to do is take a skeleton of any animal, be it extinct or alive still, and without looking at pictures of the animal, draw in the muscles/skin/exterior over the skeleton as though I have no idea what species the skeleton belongs to. I've come up with some really fun ideas that way.

Looking back over the latest sketch with a fresh mind I'm curling my lip at it, thay design has lost the powerful build that I'd like them to have. I'll drop back to Sketch 1 and work on the paws...I think I'll go with a fossa like structure for the feet. Thanks all for the feedback! I appreciate it very much

While I cannot do much (if any) of the programming for my little project, I can and am working on developing/revamping an older species of mine! Figured I would show off some of my work in progress pieces. If anyone has suggestions/questions I'd greatly appreciate it! The species started out as a tiger-like creature hugely inspired by Eastern dragons. It's developed since then into something more in tune with my mind. An Older WIP (need to update): This is intended to be a full site illustration once it is finished. I need to fix the forepaws, neck, and skull. The rest is pretty much up-to-date. Latest WIP: More of an experimental sketch. Looking back at it (always good to not look at something for a day then come back with a fresh mind)...I'm more fond of Sketch 1 anatomy. The major changes are the head shape, and the front "paws." I really love giving non-humanoid creatures hands, haha. They are not as dexterous as humans, of course, but they most certainly use this adaptation to their advantage in climbing trees and discovering better ways to get food. Much of the time, however, young will rely on brute-strength to solve their problems, not becoming particularly interested in thinking until maturity. I am probably going to modify the thumbs to make them more rat-like...in that they're vestigial but have enough bone/muscle left to use them to an extant. They generally have a pretty thick body coat, this one does not for the sake of anatomy study. Coat thickness, length, ear shape, and horn shape are major things that breeders focus on altering through selective breeding. Illustrations and species design are strictly property of Arik E. E. (myself). No one is permitted to copy, reproduce, or otherwise illegally claim the artwork and species.

I love seasonal events! When my site is on its feet then I'll certainly be including events featured around the Equinoxes and Solstices. Seasonal events offer several benefits in that they pick activity up, and give users a reason to interact with each other if they're trying to trade for event-exclusive items/etc. Seasonal changes in layout are also a great way to indicate to potential users that the site is active and the staff are involved enough to make the changes, another bonus. Lastly, and frankly, events are fun! Chaotic to plan and actually pull off...but I think well worth it in the end.

Hey all, So my project is just a wee baby in the earliest stages of development right now. I have an array of features thought out or at least planned as bullet lists, but most of what I plan comes from my own particular experiences and desires in regards to the VPL/Sim community. I want to be able to appeal to a variety of folks, and the best way to do that is to listen and learn from those who are a part of the industry already. What features do you enjoy the most in various sites? What conveniences make something better to play? Are there any common features you wish were more developed? Is there something you haven't seen, but wish you would? This is intended to be an open-ended inquiry...if you've any thoughts/opinions then I'd love for you to share them

CURRENTLY ON HOLD Hello! I am now to the point where I am looking to hire artists for the artwork I cannot do for my work-in-progress game. I've already reached out to map and environment artists, so now I am looking for an item artist or two (if those two can match styles closely). This is not a small project in terms of item artwork. The game is very item oriented because gathering, hunting, farming/gardening, and crafting are some of the major activities, which are all dependent upon items. All items are in stages from most crude, raw material, to the most complete, refined craft. Here are some examples of item evolution: Elk Carcass >> Raw Meat | Hide >> Leather + string and iron >> leather collar + red dye >> red collar Long grass >> Wheat Seeds | Fibers >> String Iron Ore >> Iron Ingot Red poppy >> Red Dye Wheat Seeds >> Plant in garden! >> Wheat grows over time (through a couple illustrated stages) Items include raw resources, processed resources, food, herbal medicines, pet accessories, human avatar accessories, and some other misc. things. This is, of course, all going to be paid work and will be drawn out over time. So, if you're interested, please contact me!

If the veggie set has not sold yet then I would very much like to purchase it!

Absolutely still an active Play-by-Post RPG community! There are dozens of them if you do some googling, and many are very active. There will always be people who prefer writing to playing a video RPG, and if you cater to that niche then you would end up with a healthy, active community, I would think. I was active in a couple of PBP RPGs a while ago, but university took up more time than I could spare, so I have not in a while but it is certainly something I'd pick up again, given the spare time.

Right now my immediate goal is find a way to get my digital artwork to reflect what I can do traditionally, as the divide between the two is unsettling for me. Long term I'd like to illustrate my own graphic novel. In the most broad sense my dream would be to look at my artwork and feel something other than "I could have done better." Not sure if that day will ever come, but I hope it does. I wish to be satisfied with my artwork, to develop a style I am consistent and comfortable with. I'd love to be able to support myself through my work, but I know this is extremely unlikely, so I'd settle for getting a commission order every now and then, haha.

Beautiful artwork! I love the pet designs, so fluffy and/or flowy!

Ah, I don't mean disinvolve yourself from the community. I mean don't get so entangled in it that you become distracted from the site itself, or become unprofessional with the members. You can certainly be friendly and professional at the same time, crack a harmless joke (and I mean harmless very seriously. The best way to enrage/lose members and support is by making insensitive and/or discriminatory "jokes") every now and then, share pictures of your beloved ferrets, etc. My main concern is to not get so involved/friendly that you have a difficult time actually reprimanding/managing the userbase.

I could write a book on admin-to-user interactions. I have seen admins be active parts of the community and do very well, and I have seen them do very, very poorly. I've also witnessed admins detach themselves from the community and, with an active mod team, do very well, or they have seemed like they abandoned the game and users. This may sound wrong, but I would advise not getting too involved with the community. You really do not want to get too close to the user base, because it honestly does come across as unprofessional, and can lead to issues within the community later on. It is very possible to not be directly involved, but still have a good reputation as an administrator. As for building sim hype...I think planning is a big part of it. You need to already have something to show for, something to back up your text. A wall of text is not nearly as interesting as small text interrupted by eye-catching illustration. Already have some of the "backbone" features very well thought out, if not already started programming-wise. It needs to be feasible, and sound feasible at that. If you have an idea, look for feedback on it and be willing to take criticism and consider suggestions before throwing it before the potential userbase as bait. Do not go into too much detail, but be ready to answer questions on things should they arise. You want to avoid false promises. There are usually two things that initially catch my attention when browsing through games; A ) The Idea; What is the core idea at the center of the game? B ) The Art; Everyone is going to have their own preferences for art, so I cannot say much specifically on this. Just try to keep the style consistent, as mismatched styles are going to make for a bit of an eyesore and be a turn-away. I would advise reading through the threads here posted by other game-owners and players. Even posting a general idea for a feature and asking for feedback can be really helpful-- that is if you're willing to consider the feedback.

Oh, great! I am not yet able to access it, so if you do have spare time I would greatly appreciate it if you'd be able to ask him! I went over your wee mod collection, it is lovely! Though I did leave some questions for you lol

Thank you for sharing, Dinocanid! It is a pity to see that the entire mysidia host/server is down

Sent you a message!

Hello TGL community, I am looking to commission a programmer who is experienced with GD Library/dynamic images for pet customization/dress-up on my website. I would like to have the feature added so that users can add (pre made, of course) backgrounds to their pets, and items on pets. This would be a paid ($USD) commission. If interested please post here

Sounds like a great idea to me, it's a good way for users who cannot do the coding part but still want to be involved in "creation" of a VPS. The main way to avoid copyright infringements would be to have a good, decently sized quality control group.