Do you think the news of Kanye West’s new minicities called “Yecosystems” will have a negative impact on my new business venture, The “Yeetcosystem?”
I guess now is as good a time as any to debut the concept:
Concept art for Yeetcosystem. Suzanne Skaar, 10/25/2022. All rights reserved. Visit yeetcosystem.com for more information..
Text in image:
“Yeetcosystem
How it works
Luxury condos are constructed on working catapults.
When climate change threatens the safety of the building, whether due to intensity of storms, flooding, or riots, the catapult is released, ‘yeeting’ the inhabitants to safety.
Concept art by Suzanne Skaar, 2022. Nominestudios.com.”
While I’m waiting for this new enterprise to take off, if you haven’t yet done so, please like, follow, and share No, Mine! Studios (@nominestudios) on the following social media platforms:
A huge thank you to everyone who came by to show their support at Grit City Comic Show! And thank you for your patience regarding our technical difficulties. Who knew affordable access to electricity for vendors would be so vital to a game demo at a convention?
As promised earlier this week and to those I spoke with at the City of Tacoma Kaleidoscope Kickoff Party, here are some resources that I have found useful while working on my as yet untitled dino game.
Screencapture of how a scene is assembled in Unity. Artwork by Suzanne Skaar, 2020-2022. All rights reserved.
GAME ENGINE
I am building my game in Unity, which is free for individuals who make under a certain amount of income from games per year. I am brand new, and I have definitely not come close to that threshhold yet. Another engine that other artists like using is Unreal. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m thinking about testing it when I start on my next project. A great benefit of Unreal is that they do offer funds for some projects. Here’s the link for more info.
2022 8 1 Progress. In game capture. As yet untitled dino game by Suzanne Skaar, 2020-2022. All rights reserved.
GRAPHICS
(NOTE: This is not a paid promotion by Adobe.If they would like to change that, my bank account is all ears.)
I create the initial designs of characters, objects, and background art in Adobe Photoshop. I held on for as long as I could to my 2009 MacBook and hard copy of Photoshop CS 6, but at this point, I am now locked into the full Creative Cloud. It’s expensive, so if others would like to suggest free/ cheap alternatives that work well with Unity, please comment below. The import process between Photoshop and Unity is fairly simple. I can share a sample video of the process if others are interested, but there are also many tutorials on YouTube.
AUDIO
When getting the sound ready for the game, I have used a combination of Audacity (audio editing software), BeepBox(online tool for making and sharing melodies), and more recently, Adobe Audition. The first two are free whereas Audition comes with Creative Cloud subscriptions. I have used Audition more for marketing than content creation so far.
Video capture of in game play. Graphics and sound by Suzanne Skaar, 2020-2022. All rights reserved.
VIDEO
For video, I have been relying on Open Broadcast Studio (OBS)for screencaptures and Adobe Premiere Pro for compiling videos. OBS is free, and I am still figuring it out. For Creative Cloud subscribers, Audition is linked to Premiere, so changing audio levels or doing simple effects like fade in/ fade out is relatively fast.
TUTORIALS
I started researching how to turn my concept into a game using Unity in March 2020. Since then, I have watched a lot of videos which break down the process of animating sprites, importing audio, and more. Due to updates from game engine platforms, some of these tutorials may become outdated fairly quickly, but I really like the teaching styles of Brackeys and BurgZerg Arcade. While Brackeys is no longer posting new videos, they have a plethora of great ones still up on YouTube. GDC posts a lot of great talks about game design from all angles. From the business side, I recently discovered the Future of Play channel on YouTube. The Publish Me Punish Me series is entertaining and informative.
If you think this kind of post is helpful, please like and share with friends. You can also support No, Mine! Studios on the following social media platforms:
If you’re local to Tacoma, I would love to see you at Grit City Comic Show on October 22, 2022! In addition to having the game progress available for playing, I’ll have a limited supply of merchandise for sale.
This is a few days later than I had hoped, but I wanted to say thank you to everyone who attended the Tacoma Arts Month Kaleidoscope Kickoff Party at the STAR Center. Thank you to the City of Tacoma and Metro Parks staff and the Tacoma Arts Commission for this great opportunity! And a special thanks to the Arts Commission for accepting my game into the 2021-2022 Tacoma Artist Initiative Program. The game demo went well, and I can’t express how much I appreciate the support!
It was great to see 2021-2022 Tacoma Artist Initiative Program recipients Curtis Ashby and Tamiko Nimura! [Tamiko is a 2022 AMOCAT Award Winner! ] Thank you to the Tacoma Arts Commissioners, artists, and staff who popped in to say hi and check out the game in between taking care of other duties for the party. And I loved seeing how far indie game devs will go to support each other, like Natasha who came all the way from Seattle! (Check out her work!) It was absolutely a packed house at times, so I didn’t get a chance to thank everyone personally.
I am especially grateful for my co-parent Tim Kapler and Izzy’s hard work. In addition to helping with the setup and tear down processes, I was informed by several attendees that Izzy did a great job directing people to the game demo, as well as pitching the game itself. Despite being encouraged by both parents to focus on enjoying the party, multiple trips to the pancake station and the Grand Cinema’s table for popcorn only strengthened the Junior Tester’s resolve to make sure everybody in the building had a studio business card and tried the game for themselves.
I ran out of stickers and buttons at the event, but more will be available for sale at the Grit City Comic Show on October 22 at the Tacoma Convention Center. Please let me know via email (nominestudios@gmail.com) if there is a specific item you are looking for, and I’ll do my best to have it on hand (within reason). I also have a smaller set up for those who haven’t gotten a chance to check out the game progress yet.
Because a few individuals asked, I am available to speak to local classes and am open to teaching beginning animation and digital art classes. Please email nominestudios@gmail.com.
For those who asked about the tools I am using to make my game, I’ll share a more in-depth blog post later this link, along with links to tutorials that I have found helpful.
A common theme of the night was talking to people who had either made an indie game and not released it, or wanted to make an indie game but didn’t know where to start. If you are interested in seeing more indie games flourish in Tacoma, let’s connect! There are so many talented creators here in the 253! I want to see the local dev’s game about revolution in my Steam account!!! (I didn’t grab your contact info, so please contact me if you see this!)
There are many ways to help support No, Mine! Studios. If you haven’t yet done so, you can like and follow No, Mine! Studios for more frequent updates on the following social media platforms:
Financial contributions are appreciated. I am considering options such as crowdfunding to hire a local programmer to help get the game ready for publication. Until that campaign kicks off, you can buy a dino a coffee here. And you can buy some of my art onlinehere.
Thank you again for your support, Tacoma and beyond!
Suzanne
Pixel Art Minizines by Suzanne Skaar. Layout of zines on table by Izzy. Photo by Suzanne Skaar. 2022. All rights reserved.Photo by Tim Kapler. City of Tacoma Arts Month Kaleidoscope Kickoff Party. No, Mine Studios Game Demo. Artwork by Suzanne Skaar, 2020-2022. All rights reserved.Photo by Tim Kapler. City of Tacoma Arts Month Kaleidoscope Kickoff Party. No, Mine Studios Game Demo. Artwork by Suzanne Skaar, 2020-2022. All rights reserved.Photo by Tim Kapler. City of Tacoma Arts Month Kaleidoscope Kickoff Party. No, Mine Studios Game Demo. Artwork by Suzanne Skaar, 2020-2022. All rights reserved.
No, Mine! Studios 