Drawings & Paintings ppower arts

And it's that time again for the monthly update of my art thread.
Last month I felt like I've done too less, so I guess I had to make it up this month. :p
So lots of things and drawings have happened recently.

Starting with the Revenge of the True Night's Edge:
Revenge of the True Nights Edge.png

Earlier this year, @InstaFiz had invited me to do a Terraria melee playthrough together, with the twist that he only uses Swords and Flails, and I may only use Spears and Boomerangs.
We had a great time doing so, with lots of hillarious moments that I've been missing out, and it had brought me back into Terraria once again. :D
During the run, Instafiz was questioning if he should attempt fighting the Vortex Pillar with a True Night's Edge. As a reminder when I've attempted that myself against all the glorious comments in the Vortex Invasion. This resulted in lots of pain and regret, but it was manageable...somehow :p
So as a thank you gift for the great time, and as revenge for all the comments I've recieved, I've decided to redraw the Vortex Pillar again with extra emphasis on the True Night's Edge.
Let all the technical flaws flow~

In case you want to see a quick compilation of the Melee Gang, here's a compilation of the funny moments:
And in case you want to see all the amazing comments, here's a compilation of them:
True pukesEdge.png

At this point, everytime I see the sword, I can only imagine the Vortex Pillar with it. :p
And that's enough of the True Night's Edge business, time for the other arts!

-----
I've finally made the next Request Recap that's ready for exhibition again.
...The fact that you see MiltVala's character two times for her birthday means that this one really took a while... <.<
Request Recap 13.png


Artwork for my sister's birthday!
Feather.png

Kaaeeeee!!!
Kae.png

(Kae from 100% Orange Juice)

Ghostar's Smolstar, because she resembles some certain Orange Juice character:
Smolstar OJ transparent.png



Random Fire Grill idea drawing:
Fire Grill.png


And an attempt to animate once again, though since this one already took an hour, I probably need better tools to improve with it:
Wings.gif


Nageru's Reaction after she heard the Throwing Class was removed:
GN Spoiler alert.png

GN Thrower gone.png

And a comic sequel, she'll get through it. :)
GN Nageru Ranger.png

And a comic about the Wings meta in Terraria:
GN wings club.png
This comic actually got me hooked in the classic series again,
so while everyone's into Game of Thrones and Avengers Endgame, I'm watching fairies with inspiring transformation sequences. don't judge me. :)
(Yes, the wings animation was also inspired with that)

And some final doodles that doesn't need much context:
Doodles of April.png
-----


And I think it's time for a little status update of my game:
Entity_Peae_jump2.png
Entity_NinjaOwl_Fly1 2.png
Entity_Leafly_Idle 3.png
Entity_Beetle_idle.png

So far, lots of progress have been made, and I can already consider the gameplay to be done by the majority.
But since the overall design needs to be remade, it's still difficult to show any of it, but I'm already glad that the playable part already starts reaching an end. :)
There were many ideas I've planned to do, but at the same time, I also start to feel tired working on the project.
So also for the design, I'll probably keep it at a minimal required to save a lot of time.
An exact date is too difficult to set up in the current state, as I'm aware the last stretch to keep it up is also the hardest.
But I could estimate that I can manage to finish it before 1.3.6 will be released. (within 5 months, at most)

Things does keep me in doubts though, not knowing what for results to expect once it's finally done, and what the feedback will be about.
It's one of the things where I think many short games has been much easier to start with rather than one unexpected large one. I'll certainely take that as a lesson I've learned when it comes to development. And if I managed to reach the end before the Terraria update, then I could say that the progress have taken the entire dry Terraria period. :p

And that's all for this month's batch, have a great time around!

Aru chick.png
 
And it's that time again for the monthly update of my art thread.
Last month I felt like I've done too less, so I guess I had to make it up this month. :p
So lots of things and drawings have happened recently.

Starting with the Revenge of the True Night's Edge:
View attachment 220579
Earlier this year, @InstaFiz had invited me to do a Terraria melee playthrough together, with the twist that he only uses Swords and Flails, and I may only use Spears and Boomerangs.
We had a great time doing so, with lots of hillarious moments that I've been missing out, and it had brought me back into Terraria once again. :D
During the run, Instafiz was questioning if he should attempt fighting the Vortex Pillar with a True Night's Edge. As a reminder when I've attempted that myself against all the glorious comments in the Vortex Invasion. This resulted in lots of pain and regret, but it was manageable...somehow :p
So as a thank you gift for the great time, and as revenge for all the comments I've recieved, I've decided to redraw the Vortex Pillar again with extra emphasis on the True Night's Edge.
Let all the technical flaws flow~

In case you want to see a quick compilation of the Melee Gang, here's a compilation of the funny moments:
And in case you want to see all the amazing comments, here's a compilation of them:

At this point, everytime I see the sword, I can only imagine the Vortex Pillar with it. :p
And that's enough of the True Night's Edge business, time for the other arts!

-----
I've finally made the next Request Recap that's ready for exhibition again.
...The fact that you see MiltVala's character two times for her birthday means that this one really took a while... <.<


Artwork for my sister's birthday!
View attachment 220581
Kaaeeeee!!!
View attachment 220584
(Kae from 100% Orange Juice)

Ghostar's Smolstar, because she resembles some certain Orange Juice character:
View attachment 220585


Random Fire Grill idea drawing:
View attachment 220588

And an attempt to animate once again, though since this one already took an hour, I probably need better tools to improve with it:
View attachment 220575

Nageru's Reaction after she heard the Throwing Class was removed:
View attachment 220576
View attachment 220582
And a comic sequel, she'll get through it. :)
View attachment 220577

And a comic about the Wings meta in Terraria:
View attachment 220587
This comic actually got me hooked in the classic series again,
so while everyone's into Game of Thrones and Avengers Endgame, I'm watching fairies with inspiring transformation sequences. don't judge me. :)
(Yes, the wings animation was also inspired with that)

And some final doodles that doesn't need much context:
View attachment 220578
-----


And I think it's time for a little status update of my game:
View attachment 220596View attachment 220595View attachment 220594 View attachment 220593
So far, lots of progress have been made, and I can already consider the gameplay to be done by the majority.
But since the overall design needs to be remade, it's still difficult to show any of it, but I'm already glad that the playable part already starts reaching an end. :)
There were many ideas I've planned to do, but at the same time, I also start to feel tired working on the project.
So also for the design, I'll probably keep it at a minimal required to save a lot of time.
An exact date is too difficult to set up in the current state, as I'm aware the last stretch to keep it up is also the hardest.
But I could estimate that I can manage to finish it before 1.3.6 will be released. (within 5 months, at most)

Things does keep me in doubts though, not knowing what for results to expect once it's finally done, and what the feedback will be about.
It's one of the things where I think many short games has been much easier to start with rather than one unexpected large one. I'll certainely take that as a lesson I've learned when it comes to development. And if I managed to reach the end before the Terraria update, then I could say that the progress have taken the entire dry Terraria period. :p

And that's all for this month's batch, have a great time around!

View attachment 220583
I still can’t thank you enough for going through that journey with me. I know I’ve said this multiple times, but I had such a fun time, and I’m glad that you did as well.
I guess it was a good thing that I managed to make the compilation before you posted this, huh? :p
 
I still can’t thank you enough for going through that journey with me. I know I’ve said this multiple times, but I had such a fun time, and I’m glad that you did as well.
I guess it was a good thing that I managed to make the compilation before you posted this, huh? :p
Yes, I was indeed waiting for the compilation to be uploaded. It was well planned out :)
 
And it's time for another full-doodle batch for May.

Starting with Terraria's 8th anniversary:
Terraria 8th birthday.png


Colored ninja doodle for Jenosis' birthday:
Nina Ninja.png


MiltVala's Nixa and Balthasar in the Rythm Heaven wrestler format:
GN Balthasar Wrestler.png


Nageru and Samantha sharing stories during Mother's day:
GN Nageru motherday.png

And random doodles/requests I did around:
GN Warmup onhold doodles.png
2hu.png
GN Valkyrie Support.png
GN Hands of fire.png
GN Celeste.png
GN steef pls.PNG


And randomly Ctrl Cactus related things:
dramatic exit.png
Cactus request.png
Cactuar.png

Most of the other time has been spend working on the game project.
However, It's sure that if I've already felt tired, it won't help to pressure myself even more to put a deadline to it.
One of my local friends have told me if it's really worth pushing it much further than it needs to be.
And I have to agree that I went too far for it with my current ability.

So instead of continiously working on it, I've decided to finish it up this month and put it on hold.
so I've once again the time and space to think about other things again.

Sure, building it all up only to partially cancel it was a difficult descision.
So I'll probably going to tell more about it soon enough, and what my future plans are. So you can stay tuned for that:
Teaser2.gif

More info coming soon.
Have I prepared most of this batch just to say this? I probably have. But I'm glad that I can finally leave it alone soon enough.


With that been said, Much luck to everyone still doing finals or ending their schoolings, and have a great holiday when you do. :)
 
Last edited:
It's been a long while that I've talked properly about game development,
I bet some doesn't even know that I've been doing that besides drawing too.

But as you may have noticed in the previous posts. I've been working for a long while on a new game project.
Pretty much since the Nintendo Switch was released. I already had in mind to start with it.

The title itself is still kind of a placeholder, so during the development, it went go as project: "Hjort Helten".

Teaser2.gif


Preview 4.PNG


Hjort Helten, which translates to 'Deer Hero', is my platformer game experiment I’ve worked on during my sparetime.
Due to my interests in Metroidvanias, I would have loved to try making one of them by myself.
The game itself is greatly based on the Momodora series. As I found that a neat example to show how other small indie developers make Metroidvanias.

As far as the story goes, it’s about a young huntress named Samantha, seeking around in the forest to save her pet deer from the big bad wolf.
Yep, that’s the main story in one sentence. Keeping the story simple helps me from focusing more on the other parts. :)

The idea of itself was short and clear, and I've started experimenting with the platforming mechanics on my own.
It went off a great start, as I was already glad that I managed to make this:
First 'working' application.gif
Excited.gif

(Collisions are horrible)
This started becoming a Caffeïne meme on the group chat I shared it. So Samantha's been unintentionally related with coffee now.

Thanks to HeartBeasts platformer tutorials. I managed to get a decent platforming engine working:
Samantha Animation Progress.gif

And from that point, it was all for myself. And well, it's been a ride with ups and downs:

Short Story:
For over 2 years I've been working on this project and while I knew Game Design shouldn't be underestimated, I've still underestimated it a lot. I formerly didn't expected that it would take this long after my first game example, but with all other ideas I had in mind, I've started to grow exhausted on it.
And eventually I've decided to wrap it all up and put the project on hold since last month.

GN Deer Hero.png

Because of my method of design, I’ve wanted to avoid showing anything about it in public, to avoid building up any interests until I know I’ll be able to finish the game.
But as time passed, the anxiety of expectations started to grow too, so that standpoint had changed to ‘not showing anything until I know it’s looking good.’
And that’s been going on for over 2 years…

I saw myself looking pretty critical on games, which was good to know how to know game design, though that also hits back at my own design, looking deeper into the gameplay and wanting more than formerly was needed.
So it has been a struggle to balance it out:
Keeping the game simple to simplify the work, but also wanting to make the game look good for my own needs. It were two opposite poles.

Map design pls.png


So the game has changed a lot since it’s former idea: Having ideas to implement, shrinking it down, having different Ideas I would like to see too, shrinking the game down again. Willing to work on things that It’s far from ready yet. Or willing to work on things that were never planned to begin with.

Eventually, things like drawing ideas and new games have caught my interests over it, and I’ve also been procrastinating it for a while, even while it was still on my mind to keep working on it. And since October last year, I’ve decided to stop procrastinating on it and put the development on main priority, So I’ll also be able to finish the game so I can stop thinking about it.
GN Maplestory distraction.png

Thanks to my work’s schedule, I could make monthly todo lists myself. And so progress started growing a lot since then. Though because I was also still working full-time, I was basically doing twice as much work. Which slowly starts becoming exhausting.
there were also lots of ideas to draw and also smaller game projects I wanted to work on, but I disliked to dismiss this project after so much time was already spend on it.
So I've nearly stopped drawing things that weren't related to the game, stopped playing new games to avoid addiction, or cancelled friend invites to play games together just to focus on this project. It were difficult times.

That leaves me here at May, where a friend of mine noticed my exhaustion and started wondering if it’s not better to let it go. The decision to do that was tough, as I didn’t wanted to let it go abruptly. So I took that last month to finish and polish up the details I wanted, and decided to put the project on hold at the end of the month.

So, where does that leave the progress of the game itself so far?
Well, technically speaking:
Preview beta.PNG Preview beta3.PNG Gameplay preview.gif
The game itself is already playable from start to finish, though in it's minimalised and shortest approach.
It is still lacking the amount of polish I wanted to give it. But maybe most of them may not be necessary.
Maybe this current state could also be seen as the 'small project' that I had in mind since the beginning?

This does leaves me in a tough descision what to do with it, either:
- I could leave it on hold, and only release it when I'll find it ready.
- or I could partially release it here silently on the forums, so you'll all understand why Terraria 1.3.6 is taking so long to finish.
I find it a tough choice. So it's something I'll have to keep in mind.
I think I may have hoped a bit too much to create a game with a 'wow'-effect from the players, but I think it's way to early for me to take a huge step from that.

Maybe it feels like something doesn't look ready in my eyes, but it could already be more than enough for something else.
So yeah, in that view I've learned a lot of the progress, so even though I've not finished it, I won't regret my choices made. As I've also learned to keep holding on a certain goal for an extended period.

I've grown great respect for all the solo-indie developers out there.
As it's more than just keeping focussed on it, but almost putting your whole life into that project to make it reality.
But then again, I probably have thought too big about this project from the start, and I should have started much smaller on the first place.
So that's something I'm going to keep in mind the next time.

It was kind of funny, when I was just done with finishing up, I've seen this quote the next day,
and I guess that sums up my feelings about this project really well:

"Happiness is a journey, not a destination."

---

So, where does that leaves me next?
First of all, I'm going to take it easy and recover from the effort spend on this project. Then return into drawing again as a hobby, not as a restriction.
And as far as game development goes, I'm having some small ideas in mind I would like to work on for variation. But I'm going to give it a thought of three before starting a new one again. It's gonna be certain that I won't take an approach as big like this soon again. (Even though I do have a working platformer engine already, so the next platformer should certainely be faster to make)

Whew...glad that it's all out my mind for now.
I think if anything, this was a great way to keep me busy while waiting for Terraria 1.3.6. :)

Pretty somewhat fitting to talk about this during E3. I noticed.

In that case, This was pretty much my contribution to it.
Hope you'll all have a great time watching the rest of the E3. :)
 
Even though the game doesn't look exactly flashy ( no super-duper visual effects ), I still think it seems pretty solid judging from what little you've shown to us. If the whole game works like this, then it would definitely be something nice to play right now.
But since you're not satisfied with what you've got... What I would advise is thinking a bit, during the hold-on, about what could be improved or added first without taking excessive amount of time. Small things, basically, eventually they might add up.
Also I would recommend to take some inspiration from Hollow Knight as well, since it's an another prime example of a good Metroidvania game ( even if you keep in mind it was greatly funded ). One thing Hollow Knight did was having free DLCs released in form of updates. You could basically release the game later in what you would deem a "reasonable" state and keep polishing it with updates, in the same time adding new content you had to cut or possibly putting in new ideas of yours. Regardless of what you're gonna do, you've done a good job on this game and I hope you will finally be able to fulfill your dreams regarding it. Good luck!

On another note: that animation with Sam clipping through the floor and Trex saying "Don't get too excited." cracked me up.
 
Even though the game doesn't look exactly flashy ( no super-duper visual effects ), I still think it seems pretty solid judging from what little you've shown to us. If the whole game works like this, then it would definitely be something nice to play right now.
But since you're not satisfied with what you've got... What I would advise is thinking a bit, during the hold-on, about what could be improved or added first without taking excessive amount of time. Small things, basically, eventually they might add up.
Also I would recommend to take some inspiration from Hollow Knight as well, since it's an another prime example of a good Metroidvania game ( even if you keep in mind it was greatly funded ). One thing Hollow Knight did was having free DLCs released in form of updates. You could basically release the game later in what you would deem a "reasonable" state and keep polishing it with updates, in the same time adding new content you had to cut or possibly putting in new ideas of yours. Regardless of what you're gonna do, you've done a good job on this game and I hope you will finally be able to fulfill your dreams regarding it. Good luck!

On another note: that animation with Sam clipping through the floor and Trex saying "Don't get too excited." cracked me up.
Thanks for the feedback, it really helps to hear what others think about it.

I havn't really gotten in touch with Hollow Knight as the artstyle and atmosphere wasn't to my likings. (Why do so many Metroidvania's have to be dark?), but might think about it when it comes to learning it's game design.
And like I said before, the game already feels playable, just not in the expected state I wanted.
Though if I had to leave my 'great design' approach aside and keeping up my 'small game' approach, then it's already pretty solid looking. And I think I should leave it that way too. I start to notice it's better to start smaller too.
I'll probably consider giving it a second look to see what's currently necessary and what can be saved for later. So it'll look more polished if I'll eventually release it. :)
 
So, after I've taken the time to think about it, and given it a second look at the remaining things of the platformer game.
Looking back at it, it already does look fine as it is, especially just coming from me, and it would be a waste to put it on hold now untill it's full release.

So, instead, I've decided to give it the last needed polish, and then release it partially as a working Beta.
It'll still remain on hold, as I would like to work on the finishing and extra touches later on. But that way I can let it go with statisfaction.
The polish shouldn't be taking too long, but there's no need to rush it either. So I'll talk further about a release date when it's done.

samhug.png


I'm no longer disappointed on what I havn't managed, but proud at what I've already archieved. :)
 
And so we've reached the end of June already, happy Terraria 1.3 anniversary!
Plenty of stuff has happened in the meantime, and I'm looking forward for what further things it'll bring the next month.

I've given a try to do a Terraria request for the chance to open them again,
whether I'll do that before or after my vacation trip is yet to decide, it's still a month away.
So far, here's the request I did for @Oleg34518
Solaris ref.png


upload_2019-6-30_20-6-33.png

I've also started to become more active on my Twitter too, and I'll be posting there just like my profile posts here.
It's been a while since I've been posting stuff there, but I'll give it a try and see how things goes, you can follow me any time you want:
Steven (@ppowersteef) | Twitter

upload_2019-6-30_19-32-38.png
And with the recent sale, I've aquired a new power: Clip Studio Paint!
For the first time I'll be working with a paid drawing software, but wow, the options available are quite exploding in your face.
I'll probably take a while to feel comfortable with it though, but I've seen options available that I found missing in Medibang, including animations!
So I'm going to find it a good step forward regardless.

And with these news said, it's time for the other arts:

I managed to install SoulCalibur VI, and started to love the character creator.
The one that really liked to turn out was Silvyne, using the Cobalt Naginata as her weapon.
Had the intention to leave it as a doodle, but I had too much interests to finish the picture anyways. I see that desire as a good sign. :)
GN SoulCalibur Silvyne.png

Silvyne in game

I've also tried doing a ranked match with it, but man, these competitive plays are brutal.
I still managed to see some fair fighters around there, and even though I've lost, I've still had an exiting match out of it:
GN SC Ranked.png


A lot of Metroidvania titles have also been released this month, so far I've already counted 4, and all of them great in their own way.
Too bad that with deadlines and projects that are almost done, I can't afford the time yet to get distracted at new games again.
GN Blaster Master Zero.png GN Blaster Master Zero 2.png GN Blaster Master Zero 3.png
Still managed to get hooked on SoulCalibur VI, so it's already been a struggle to leave that game alone. :p

And a bigg doodle for MiltVala's birthday!
Even though you're not hearing much from him on this site, he's still a great friend I can talk to any day. :v
Helenaaa.png


Valkyrie girl Sapphire is still an OC with an unknown backstory,
though I'm having ideas I may or may not work out with her:
Angels of Fire.png


Some small sexy sketches. <w<
grills.png
GN Silverboob.png


And some doodles that don't need much context:
GN Sakuya pls.png
Grandmomstar.png
samhug.png
GN ways to look angelic.png

And finally, the progress update for the game project:
teaserbomb.gif

I've spend the last month well to fix everything I've wanted to fix.
And now, even though it'll still be a beta build, I can count it close enough to fit as a working game itself.
Though, the last change just happened yesterday, and even though I've already gone through a lot of overall testing,
I think it'll be too early to release it right away.

I wouldn't have mind releasing it early if I can hotfix it later.
But this game is designed for progression, and I rather want to avoid unnecessary hotfixes if it causes save files to become corrupt.
So, speaking for an actual release date would be too broad to say clearly. Would it be ready in 4 days? one week? two weeks?

Putting a certain release date probably causes too much rush, so I'll probably just go cheesy and say "It's ready when it's ready." :)

And that's all for now, hope you all have a great holiday! :)
 
Last edited:
And at long last, Hjort Helten Beta has been released!

Technically, I've drawn all the assets by myself, so I could count this whole project as an artwork. :p
But the original announcement is mentioned in my Indies thread, (which was previously just called "Space Siblings")
index.php

You can click on the direct link here to download it on itch.io, or you can see more details on the second link on TCF.
But please keep any feedback in my indies thread on the second link. :)

Website with download link: Hjort Helten by ppowersteef

Feedback thread: Member-Run Project - ppower indies

Have fun! :)
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom