4 Months later
Continuing on from my previous post, I’ve continued work on my new card game Total Blast. It’s a 2-player, duelling, lane-battler strategy game which takes around 30 minutes (providing you know the rules and are familiar with the cards).
It’s funny- initially I thought this project might get finished in 6-7 months. Month 7 has just passed! To be fair, since the last update, I got Covid and was out of action for weeks. Then took a few weeks break for Christmas Holidays. Plus I’ve been dealing with frequent migraines recently. For those that suffer them, you know how completely debilitating they can be.
Thankfully there were a few months when I got the chance to crack on with the project. Mostly finishing card artworks. And they’re looking great! All the Upgrade and Ability card illustrations are now finished for the core part of the game. That is to say, 17 unique illustrations. Many of the cards will be doubled up in-game to allow multiple uses. When I look over at the completed artwork I feel excited for what I’ve been working on here.
The Rule book is now on version 2.5 and I expect them to continue to refine as more play tests come in. Now that the card art is done, I can get the next prototype printed and tested in order to gather more feedback.
Art Development Overview
Here’s a couple of ‘Upgrades’ examples showing sketches to finished card artwork.
I feel good to have broken the back on the artwork side of things and completed the majority of it. It was always going to be the most time consuming part of the project, with each card illustration typically taking several hours minimum. Now I remember why I’d been so adverse to working on card game art like this in the past! The graphics for the designs is not necessarily final, as I’m thinking of adjusting the card titles and perhaps the text layout.
Overcoming obstacles
Unfortunately it’s not all been plain sailing. For example, one of the card files became corrupt so had to re-create it from scratch. Luckily it wasn’t the most complicated of designs, but still took a tedious 4 or 5 hours to recreate. What’s going on with Photoshop these days? Frustratingly, I’ve had this issue 3 times in the last year on various files.
What’s next?
- I’ll be designing the Characters in the game next. I’ve only tested a few of them, so will need more testing to find the right balance. Each will be lending a specific ability to help win the game. They will include: The Thief, Ninja, Mage, Merchant, Spy, King and an Alien!
- The Rule Book’s graphic design with diagrams.
- Decide how the game will be packaged and then create relevant cover art/box art
- Then comes my only real concern- how do I get enough eye balls on the project and market it effectively?
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