Starting A New Year!

Starting A New YearStarting A New YearStarting A New Year

Hey everyone! I’m back with the first post of the new year.

A Little Thank You

I’d like to thank you all for your support and the kind messages regarding Garnet’s passing. It’s been very tough, but we’re hanging in there together as a family. We’ve been taking turns adding to a list of things we love about Garnet. It’s been bittersweet, but has been a wonderful way to reminisce about her together. Folks around the neighborhood have also been sharing their condolences, and I don’t know what I’d do without them! A few have been asking about the future, to which I say: We’re not done having dogs in our lives, so stay tuned.

Poll Time!

I’m starting to get back in action now. I have a lot of ideas for pixel art packs this year, and I want your input on them! What kind of stuff would you like to see or use in your games? Want more props? More effect animations? Heroes? Monsters? Icons? The list goes on- Let me know what you think! Vote here in this special patron-only poll: https://www.patreon.com/posts/96291113
(Not a patron yet? What are you waiting for? Join up and get awesome pixel art for your games!)

Stuff I’m Working On…

This year I’m also planning on finishing the redesign of my game engine and completing and releasing SparkBolt Studio, an all-in-one sprite/tileset/level editor. Work is going well- I did have time to do some over the past few weeks. The redesign is using EnTT, an entity-component system, instead of the previous object-oriented approach. There’s still going to be a bit of that where I need it though. This past week I got serialization and deserialization of data (saving and loading) working for the first time. It can successfully save objects to a file, and then restore them. It can also preserve the relationships between entities- For example, a parent entity and a child entity, or an entity which “knows about” another entity by storing its handle. Those types of relationships can be saved and restored, as long as all entities involved are saved together. A good step forward, but still a lot to do!

What’s Next!

Here’s the tentative schedule for January and February.

I’m looking forward to bringing you lots more pixel art this year as well as SparkBolt Studio!

Thanks for sticking with me, and see you soon with the next asset pack.

– Will

Remembering Garnet

Remembering GarnetRemembering GarnetRemembering Garnet

Hello, everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and were able to ring in the new year with friends and family.

Garnet, my ten and a half year old corgi, had a fantastic two weeks on her new medication. She felt like a puppy again and was able to go for good walks, run around, play, and (of course) get into trouble. She had a wonderful Christmas with us. Unfortunately, I have sad news to share.


Above: The last picture I ever took of Garnet, after opening Christmas presents.

It’s with a very heavy heart that I say that we said goodbye to Garnet on the morning of December 30 at the vet. She entered a series of seizures and could not come out of them even with last resort medication. My folks and I were able to say goodbye to her together as a family and it was very difficult but I’m glad we could all be there. My heart is broken and I am utterly broken and devastated. There are just no words for how sudden this is to me.

Hug your friends, your family, and your pets. For me, they are one in the same- Garnet was, is, and will always be an important member of my family, my best friend in the world, and my little pup.

As for me, I’m an utter mess and need to take some time to pick up the broken pieces of myself. I’ll be on break for at least another week while I figure out how to live a very different life in this new year, with Garnet in my heart instead of at my side.

Thank you for your support.
– Will

Here’s Garnet on her 10th birthday earlier this year, on a sunny Summer day. I miss you so, so much.

WIP Wednesday: December 20, 2023

WIP WednesdayWIP WednesdayWIP WednesdayDecember 20, 2023December 20, 2023December 20, 2023

This post is also available on my Patreon. Join up and get pixel art for your game!

Hey everyone, I’m here for a quick pre-holiday Work-In-Progress Wednesday! This is gonna be a bit more of a chill one since Christmas is right around the corner. But… It’s not that chilly here in Minnesota this year! Where’s all the snow?! At least it’s not icy outside- That’s a big deal for me and Garnet when we’re out walking, so I’m happy with that! Anyway, here’s what I’ve been up to the past couple weeks.

Christmas Card

Here’s my family’s Christmas card for this year! We do one most years, but I think this year’s turned out the best yet. I picked out some of my favorite pictures of my folks and Garnet and me to work with, and the collage look turned out nice. Garnet likes the Santa hat!

Garnet

I’m happy to report that Garnet is doing a lot better since last week. She turned 10 this summer, and began having seizures in October, which became more frequent in November and December. We first tried a medicine that stopped them, but it made her extremely tired and groggy. Last week we switched her meds and unfortunately had a pretty bad day because the new med didn’t work for her. However, since switching meds again last Thursday Garnet has been very VERY good!


Above: “Stumped,” from earlier this year

The new meds are working fantastic, and she’s seizure-free and acts like she’s 4 or 5 again. She feels great and wants to walk, eat, play, and have good ol’ corgi fun! She is drinking a lot of water (one of the med’s side effects is thirst) and needs to go out a lot more, but we’re making it work. We’re all hoping she’ll continue feeling her best for a long long time!

Programming

I had the past couple weeks earmarked as “programming time,” but honestly I haven’t been able to get as much done as I wanted. Between Christmas prep / shopping / wrapping and Garnet’s health issue, it was a lot to manage and there were many sleepless nights. I did get a useful thing done though:

This is an addition to a small library I’m working on with a friend, and like it says, it lets you hook up editable variables with controls. That’s not special in and of itself, but it tries to make it super easy and has support for custom validation functions and for drawing special widgets.

For example, the code to edit the above variables is just one line for each property. It automatically handles limiting the min/max values you can input. For the most part it “just knows” what kind of input widget to use, but you can explicitly tell it to treat certain things as colors or sliders.

Using custom validation functions, it’s easy to restrict the input to what you want. Errors and warnings print automatically. Invalid values never get pushed to the actual variable, so dealing with invalid input is a thing of the past.

At the end of the day it’s really just a different way of doing things- This can all certainly be done with just Dear ImGui. I like to think this is easier and cleaner though, so I like it! It’s going to be useful in a lot of my projects.

Other than that, that’s pretty much all for now! I still want to swing around and work on my game engine, and I think I’ll have time for that in the new year. Maybe I’ll do a little before, but I’ve got to take some days off too! After all the stress of Garnet not feeling well, I really feel like I need to rest and reset. So glad she’s feeling better!

Long story short, happy holidays, and I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the year! I’ll possibly see you sometime around New Year’s with a year in review video, and I’m already really looking forward to the first pixel art of 2024. I can’t wait to make more amazing things this coming year! Thank you all for being a part of it and following along on my journey.

– Will

New Asset Pack: Super Pixel Fantasy UI – Viking Hearth

New Asset Pack:New Asset Pack:New Asset Pack:Fantasy UI “Viking Hearth”Fantasy UI “Viking Hearth”Fantasy UI “Viking Hearth”

This post is also available on my Patreon. Join up and get pixel art for your game!

Hey everyone, I’m here today with a new asset pack! Very happy with the way this UI pack turned out. Let’s have a look!

Read on for more awesome screenshots and a download link for patrons, or purchase below!

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WIP Wednesday: November 29, 2023

WIP WednesdayWIP WednesdayWIP WednesdayNovember 29, 2023November 29, 2023November 29, 2023

This post is also available on my Patreon. Join up and get pixel art for your game!

Hey everyone, I’m here today with another Work-In-Progress Wednesday! Hope you’ve all been well- I took some time off for Thanksgiving and it was great. I’ve been playing some games, hanging out with my family, putting up some Christmas decorations, and finally taking a chance to relax. Hope those of you who also celebrate Thanksgiving had a good holiday!

Unity Update

First off, I’d like to just let everyone know again that I’m creating Unity packages for my asset packs! They’re sure to be useful for those of you creating games in Unity.

A full list of them is here: https://assetstore.unity.com/publishers/18465

New since last time we talked about Unity:

  • Super Pixel Impact FX Pack 1 (approved since last time)
  • Super Pixel Item Pickups: Sci-fi Pack 1 (approved since last time)

Coming soon (in approval queue):

  • Super Pixel Blood FX Pack 1
  • Super Pixel Fantasy FX Pack 1
  • Super Pixel Item Pickups: Fantasy Pack 1
  • Super Pixel Projectiles Pack 1
  • Super Pixel Projectiles Pack 2
  • Super Pixel Props: Mansion Pack 1

For patrons who use Unity and want to get the Unity version of an asset pack that you already have access to on itch.io, send me a Patreon message. Let me know which Unity packs you’re interested in, and I can send you a link to download via Dropbox.

Next Pixel Art Pack

Coming up next after the sci-fi UI pack is…. You guessed it! A fantasy-themed UI! Here’s a look at some of the progress so far.

For this UI pack, I’m going for a sort of Viking-esque theme. I still have to test this out to see if it looks alright in action- The window title area is a lot more centered than the previous theme and the window area is a little narrower as a consequence. I’m thinking it’ll look nice with centered title text. As for the palette, I definitely wanted to make a wood-colored one this time. After all, that’s what Vikings typically used to build things! I’ll have to tinker a bit with my export process to get that palette in there, but I’ll make it happen. I might also enlarge the gems or fill in the title area with the secondary color, because I want a two-tone color theme here and there’s currently a lot of brown. Anyway- Still very much a work in progress!

Other Cool Stuff

I’m doing more pixel art for Veridian Expanse! Here’s a look at some new UI I drew for the game recently. Gotta love that sci-fi look!

Check out the game on Steam here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2137670/Veridian_Expanse/

Try out the demo: https://howlingmoonsoftware.itch.io/veridian-expanse

That’s all for today! I’ll see you next week with a full look at the new UI pack and a look at the second pack for December: sci-fi props.

– Will

New Asset Pack: Super Pixel Sci-Fi UI – Futura Max

New Asset Pack:New Asset Pack:New Asset Pack:Sci-fi UI “Futura Max”Sci-fi UI “Futura Max”Sci-fi UI “Futura Max”

This post is also available on my Patreon. Join up and get pixel art for your game!

Hey everyone, I’m back with a new asset pack! It’s a little later than planned, but that just means I get to tell you all happy Thanksgiving! For real though- Thank you for your patience. It’s been a tough month on my end but things are a little better now.

For this pack, I went beyond what I originally planned by adding a ton of controller glyphs! There’s images for each button and stick on all the modern controllers I could think of. Let’s take a look!

Read on for some awesome screenshots and a download link for patrons, or purchase below!

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Wrapping Up 2023!

Wrapping Up 2023!Wrapping Up 2023!Wrapping Up 2023!

This post is also available on my Patreon. Join up and get pixel art for your game!

Hey everyone, we’re in the final stretch of the year! That means it’s time for a new schedule that runs through the end of the year.

There’s no WIP Wednesday this week, because I threw out my back over the weekend and am still recovering. So far so good- finally able to get back to work at the computer! Luckily I have a standing desk, which I really need to use more often to avoid future back issues.

As always, the schedule is more of an estimate or roadmap than a rigid thing. You never know when you might throw your back out, after all!

I also have a good chunk of December earmarked on my personal schedule for programming, so there’s going to be a lot of decent progress on the game engine and my other tools!

Can’t wait to make a lot of cool stuff through the rest of the year. See you on the 17th with the first sci-fi UI pack!
– Will

New Asset Pack: Super Pixel Alien Monster Pack 2

New Asset Pack:New Asset Pack:New Asset Pack:Alien Monster Pack 2Alien Monster Pack 2Alien Monster Pack 2

This post is also available on my Patreon. Join up and get pixel art for your game!

Hey everyone, happy Halloween! The long-awaited sequel has arrived- Say hello to Alien Monster Pack 2!

Read on for more juicy screenshots and a download link for patrons, or purchase below!

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WIP Wednesday: October 25, 2023

WIP WednesdayWIP WednesdayWIP WednesdayOctober 25, 2023October 25, 2023October 25, 2023

This post is also available on my Patreon. Join up and get pixel art for your game!

Hey everyone, I’m here for a quick pre-Halloween Work-In-Progress Wednesday! Here’s a look at the progress so far on Alien Monster Pack 2.

New Monster: Xenomantis

Hot off the pixel art presses today is Xenomantis, one of the deadliest alien races you could ever have the misfortune to encounter in your journey through the galaxy. Although it resembles a praying mantis from Earth, don’t let your guard down! The Xenomantis is highly intelligent and well-armed. Its scythe-like arms make quick work of even the most experienced space marines. Stay clear of these bad bugs!

Animation Demos

Here’s a sneak peek at some animations from other monsters in the pack!

Moon Muncher: Idle (left), burrow/emerge (right)

Moon Muncher also has a biting attack animation and a walk animation. I knew from the start I wanted it to burrow and emerge from the ground, and I found out on the fly that having it retract its legs would be a cool way to do that. It was pretty interesting to draw, I enjoyed this one!

Skittermite: Walk (left), attack (right)

Skittermite walks like a crab, so I watched some video of crabs walking in slow motion for reference. The body of the crab is actually remarkably stable while walking, but I wanted to add some bobbing up and down for a better visual effect. For the attack animation, it brings its tail up from behind it and fires some energy blasts. I’ll be including a projectile for that, of course!

In addition to these animations, Skittermite also has idle, jump, fall, and land animations. The attack animation is split up into start (show tail), loop (fire), and stop (hide tail) segments.

Wrapping it up

While Moon Muncher and Skittermite are pretty much done, I still have to animate Amoeba and Xenomantis. I’d also like to include small versions of Amoeba and Skittermite, plus two additional simple monsters with a couple animations each. I was planning to release this Friday but I think I need a little bit more time, so I’m moving the release to Sunday 10/29 instead. As long as it’s here in time for Halloween, I’ll be happy!

Thanks for your support- I can’t wait to see what you guys make with these monsters!

– Will

WIP Wednesday: October 18, 2023

WIP WednesdayWIP WednesdayWIP WednesdayOctober 18, 2023October 18, 2023October 18, 2023

This post is also available on my Patreon. Join up and get pixel art for your game!

Hey everyone, it’s time again for another Work-In-Progress Wednesday! I’m here today with another sneak peek at the upcoming Alien Monster Pack 2, plus a little more about what I’ve been working on other than pixel art.

Alien Monster Pack 2: Two New Monsters Revealed!

Put your hands, claws, or tentacles together for the latest new species to be discovered in Alien Monster Pack 2! On the left is Amoeba, who we met last week.

In the middle is Moon Muncher, an alien quadruped known for its voracious appetite. Its spiked carapace can repel most attacks, and although it’s slow and heavy it never fails to catch its prey using its powerful jaws and fangs.

On the right is Skittermite, a vaguely insectoid alien creature that can infest pretty much any space station. It’s adept at moving quickly from side to side, and can even jump! Let’s hope you don’t meet one on your next spacewalk…

Stay tuned for the reveal of the final alien monster next Wednesday, and the asset pack release on the 27th, just ahead of Halloween!

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