Project Update: "Needlemouse: The Emerald Hills" (Jono) / 3D Art

Jono talked forever tonight about the game he's working on, Needlemouse: The Emerald Hills. To condense, he talked about:

The Art
Jono showed the club the first glance of the in-game level art. Here it is:
Someone clearly had a headfull of acid last time he played Sonic.

Prototyping
It's kinda a big deal. Without prototyping, you don't know if your game is really as great as you think it is, or if it's utter crap. A prototype is a super-simple version of your game, or an aspect of your game, for idea-phase testing. Build prototypes constantly, always try out new features, expand on those that work and are fun, and throw out those that don't work and suck. Prototyping is the difference between a game that is fun and effective and a game that isn't.

Communication
You can't build your dream game all by yourself. And even if you can, you'll still need to be able to communicate effectively with team members in the game industry and in life in general. Good communication tools are paramount to pulling off a big project. Jono recommends Google Docs (soon to be obsoleted by the upcoming Google Wave, which his lucky team has been using), Subversion / Git / some version control system, and Skype.

3D Modeling
It's pretty much just three tools:

• Extrude Face / Edge (for creating new chunks)
• Insert Edge Loop (for adding detail to an area)
• Split Polygon (for redirecting edge loops)

Good polyflow is the most important part of modeling; with it your models will be low-poly and easy to work with. Without it, your models will be bloated and cumbersome. Here are two polygon redirection patterns which will make your models easy and efficient:
Fig 2: Redirecting around two edges; redirecting around one edge. Good polyflow puts detail where you need it.

Jono's project can be followed at Needlemouse.com.

Btw, this post written by yours truly, in the third person. We wouldn't actually rip on a member showing their work (unless they're an officer... in which case, fair game! ;-)