Ouli

Eee that's cute! I'm going to pick one up. Yes the egg is creepy and I like it. Thnx for the new adopt!

@Anoua That's totally fine! Art is very subjective. I would be very surprised to hear everyone likes it. It's meant to be a bit gross (but somehow kinda cute) so I'm quite happy with a mixed response. Meheheh~

Aaaah I'm so happy! I love the way they've been presented and I'm just so happy to see them! Hope everyone has fun wit their Worm Cats! Thaaanx!

I think limiting accounts can still help. Sure some people may work around it but it will prevent some at least. The only drawback could be when siblings want to play together. So simply monitoring might be an alternative if you want to allow people living under the same roof to all be able to play. I like the idea of offering advantages to people working together. I'm sure there are different ways to implement that. Maybe one thing that could work is to give bonus SP if two or more people work together on something at the same time, like battling and enemy together.

It sounds great! I'm more of a fan of games that don't hold your hand. The cycle of reincarnation, if I may call it that is so cool! Each death is no complete loss but you have to let go of your past life. Not many games are like this. I think it's unique and it could be like a breath of fresh air. Many pet or sim games follow standards. Luckily It's been changing over the years. I see more and more new features pop up. Standards are broken and this genre is evolving. Edit: Just found your game listed here on TGL and read about its features. That is all just so cool! Shared packs! Working as a team! OMG! Teamwork is so important for wolves yet I see a lot of games out there where players are more like lone wolves all the time. Definatly looking forward to see how this would play out in game. Also, npc's leading their own life makes the world so much more immersive. Keep it up!

Speaks of freedom to me. I like it! The forum's running smoothly so I don't think time spent on adding features to the adoptable system would take away too much from the forum so I'm not too worried about the focus being taken away. I would have if this forum was messy and full of drama. I think that with the layout we have it's pretty clear that this is more of a forum than a game. Many forums spruce up their boards by adding features like this and many pet games are heavily focused on forums so I think it can go hand in hand well. I'm sure it can help boost/maintain activity.

I love the idea of paths. It reminds me of Digimon. Affinities.. hmm it sounds interesting though what if a creature that's clearly designed to be aquatic gets the fire affinity? Would it be possible to have certain adopts with limited affinities to hatch with? Though if you want an aquatic creature with a fire affinity being able to change affinities is nice and having one could be interesting for roleplaying. Exploration sounds interesting. No real thoughts formulated on that though but it might make a nice addition.

@Kesstryl Good to hear that about the site and its creatures. Thank you! I'm busy working on some projects atm so I decided not to join but look around instead. If I ever do join I will let you know. Thanks again though!

@Kesstryl That looks very pretty! I explored the site a bit. Lots of lovely pixels! They even have drawings alongside the pixels in some of the bestiary entries. Thanks for sharing this! ^^

I think you're both right. There's been a drop in popularity as newer technologies became available. Pixel art got as big as it was back then as it was due to limitation, they only really had pixel art to make games with. Computers and consoles back then could only handle so much. after 8-bit I think 16-bit came. Nowadays though there's a lot more you can do with pixel art even. Older games have a limited amount of space and a limited pallette but now you can add more colours and have more space provided you're up to the intensive task of making pixel assets. That leads to a lot more new styles for pixel art. And yes! Lots of indie-games use pixel art. I've seen a lot of new styles come up lately by indie game-makers. Indie-games got big lately. : D Some people like the old-school pixel styles, others like modern pixel art. I guess it's still up to taste to a big extent though. There's a charm to pixel art if done well. Here's an example of pixel art from Digimon World Dawn. It's kinda VP save that it's a console game rather than a browser game but yeah your digimon are basically like pets that you go explore with and you get into fights with wild digimon. While I can't see 8-bit work well for a pet based or human avatar based site unless they're fine with being small, which is not bad at all if you're running it for pure fun. Maybe something like the above could work for browser based pet games. Animated would be really cool but a still pixel image could also work. There could be customization if it was as big as the bigger sprites above, I think. If not a full blown game with exploration etc.. I think it could work for adopts..wait yeah now I remember Dragon Cave. Probably difficult for a browser based VP but I though I'd show a screenie from a game called Owlboy. This is more modern pixel art. It's got a much smoother feel than most pixel work from before 2000 yet still retaining that pixel feel. And one of the most beautiful pixel games imo I've ever played, Pokemon mystery dungeon sky. The characters stand out well against the softer environment. There's lots of ways to go. If done well enough I think there is lots of potential for a pixel game to be popular among those who usually play games in other styles even in this day and age. It's pretty nice how many different art styles and techniques exist. Pixel or otherwise.

One of my favourite kinds of art is pixel art whether it's looking at it or making in myself. It's especially nice for RPG or dungeon style games. I was wondering though, how well it can combine with the VP genre. I've seen some RPG and dungeon elements pop up in games here and there yet pixel art seems to be rare. Is it unpopular for a reason or has it just not caught on yet?

Hi! @MasterDaye Thanks for the welcome! ^u^ Hihi I'm sure I will, plenty of nice topics on art. : D

1st sketch. Started with insects and water in mind, turned out mammalian. They're omnivorous but mostly eat plantfood. Insects on the side and any meat they can scavenge. They make horrible fishers so forget fish. They live in small groups and live a semi-nomadic life. Moving around ensures the aquatic plants they eat can grow back. They're rithm loving creatures and occasionally come together for rituals, dancing and drumming and tapping on their bellies. Predators are often chased away by their loud beats. Now I've just got to refine the concept before making a full colour piece.

I'm more of a creature artist than a pet artist though I think there's a lot of crossover. Or pet could be a subgenre of creature art though that could be a topic of it's own. Anyway Subconsciousness is an important factor for me. Sometimes a vague idea comes up and i get my drawing book and start drawing the head. As I draw I get a more clear idea of where I want to take it. Maybe a long body, maybe 4 fingers, a spike here or a tuft of fur there. As I draw I get an idea of what it could eat and in what kind of place it could live or other such characteristics. Other times I get a general theme in mind. Aquatic, misty jungle, desert.. and I think of something that could fit. Something more reptilian or something fishlike maybe. If you're ever struggling to come up with something new, have a look at documentaries on animals or environments. It can be inspirational and it provides you with some materials whenever you make a new design. These materials I mean are aspects of animals and environments. The tail of a rattlesnake, the strands of skin that seem like hair on the legs of the hairy frog. Did you know there's even a flat frog who's young crawl up through the skin when ready for the world? (yeah I recently watched a docu on frogs c:) what if there was a flat lizard pet? Here's an article on that flat frog btw but I must warn for potential gross-ness, https://www.wired.com/2013/12/absurd-creature-of-the-week-the-toad-whose-young-erupt-from-her-skin/ Might be some good inspiration for halloween themed stuff. The idea is not to just copy what's out there in nature but to keep it in mind and form something new with what you've learnt. take the rattlesnake's tail for example, maybe you could make a design with a tip on the tail and that tip would have bands with each band having 3 small thin spikes on it? Maybe the bands are close together or perhaps there is some space in between them making it look like rings. it could be red it could be blue~ You can think actively on these things but given you've watched enough documentaries idea's may start popping up at random. KingofCrows just above talked about a lot of things you can learn in documenetaries and books about animals and I think they gave great advice on making up new species. Also, Sometimes I actually imagine a specific bodypart and then form the rest of the design.

Elloz! I'm Ouli. I've been playing pet games for years and am very interested in game development in general. I'm mostly an artist and am looking to either work on gaming project once I feel ready or start on my own one day. I joined so I thanks participate in discussions about game development and to connect with the community in general. Nowadays I mostly play FR. You might know me as Mineral there if you've come from Earth Flight. Here's my DA if you want to see my progress as an artist, https://ouli-ukuli.deviantart.com/ I only recently got into digital (and haven't been able to scan my traditional work as of yet) so there's a lot for me to learn. Hope you find my creatures amusing. I hope to make a comic and or game with them some day.