glamatron3000

[glamatron3000]

After a small series of very minor health issues (I'm fine, don't worry, just stuff like colds) I'm finally back to working on the art for my Beast Machines visual novel! Rattrap's Transmetal sprites are all done, so I've started on Rhinox. He has far fewer sprites needed for this section of the game, so I plan to have all of his done by the end of the weekend. I'll probably work on Cheetor, Blackarachnia, or Silverbolt next because I absolutely am not avoiding Optimal Optimus, dunno why you'd even think that hahaha!

[glamatron3000]

Just got my tattoo colored! I'm super happy with how it came out!

[glamatron3000]

Just finished the first of two sessions for this bad boy! Getting it colored in a month!

[glamatron3000]

Hey y'all, just wanna give a little update, which I'd really like to do more often going forward.

So, I recently got a new position at work that's a lot easier on both my body and mind, and that's really helped in allowing me to focus more on my Beast Machines project. Seriously, I've done more on this in the past two weeks than I've been able to do in the past year, and it feels amazing!

You've likely seen the screenshot from the game that I posted earlier in the week, but since then I've also finished about half of Rattrap's Transmetal form sprites, as well as completing the rough-draft script for the entirety of what will be chapter one of the full game release. I've been on such a roll with writing this week that the first scene of chapter 2 is also already scripted out as well. (Note that these 'chapters' are more accurately thought of as mini-arcs that are the equivalent of roughly 3-4 episodes of a standard show)

As for the release schedule for the game, the plan at the moment is to release it on a chapter-by-chapter basis as they are completed. What I'm calling the "demo" of the game is the prologue, which is essentially just the first scene/act of chapter one. The full release will be when chapter one is complete, with updates adding the following chapters as they get completed. They will be posted on something like itch.io and freely available to anyone who wants to play at no cost. I may set up something for people to support the project if they want, but don't even wanna think about that until I have a full demo to show for it.

I could really yap about this for days, but I don't want to subject you to an entire novel of an update, so I'll leave it there for now. More to come soon!

[glamatron3000]

After what feels like ages, I've finally progressed enough in my Beast Machines visual novel project to have a fully finished screen to show y'all! And just in time for the Beast Wars Weekend hosted by @tfmicroevents!

This screen is part of the prologue, which I'm hoping to release as a demo version of the game sometime later this year. I literally have the entire thing scripted out, I just ("just") have to do all the art for it and figure out a few small features of Ren'Py and it'll be ready to go!

[glamatron3000]

After what feels like ages, I've finally progressed enough in my Beast Machines visual novel project to have a fully finished screen to show y'all! And just in time for the Beast Wars Weekend hosted by @tfmicroevents!

This screen is part of the prologue, which I'm hoping to release as a demo version of the game sometime later this year. I literally have the entire thing scripted out, I just ("just") have to do all the art for it and figure out a few small features of Ren'Py and it'll be ready to go!

[glamatron3000]

I couldn't resist lol

[glamatron3000]

I finally gave in and reverted to my original format for the Beast Machines project (visual novel) and bruh… My code editor didn't have to call me out this hard after writing a single line of code 😭

I dunno, you guys, you think I should add Jhiaxus or something? 🤔

[glamatron3000]

Hey y'all, just wanted to pop in and give an update since I've been pretty quiet lately.

This time of the year always tends to be a little rocky for me. I dunno if it's seasonal depression or just people going nuts while shopping and giving me crazy sensory overload anytime I leave the house or just plain burnout, but... I just never seem to be able to get anything done during winter, particularly December. I've learned not to try to force myself through these things, so I've sort of just letting my brain work on what it wants until I can get back into full working shape.

Mostly what I'm doing for the moment is learning a few things I've been interested in getting into, improving my living space, and just trying to survive the busy season at my workplace. Hopefully this slump won't last for too long.

[glamatron3000]

More Beast Machines concepts!

So, Blackarachnia's Beast Machines design is actually my favorite of all of them. I especially loved her toy from this era, which was definitely a favorite of mine as a kid, along with Cheetor. I just really like spindly characters I guess lol

Anyway, I thought I'd go for something that blended the show's model with the toy design, leaning a little more heavily towards the toy side. Her hands in particular were very interesting, which I've sort of turned into folding bladed weapons that are very much inspired by Varuna/Varnani from the Digital Devil Saga games.

Her story arc will still largely revolve around trying to bring Silverbolt back, but I'm hoping to have her go about it in at least a slightly more intelligent way.

[glamatron3000]

i hadnt seen you in a while, and then you came back... youre back... youve blessed us with your presence once more

Yeah, sorry about that! At the start of August my internet just... stopped working. It took months of fighting with my provider before I just gave up and got new internet through someone else. In the meantime, I was stuck with very limited mobile data that I had to ration, so sadly my Tumblr activity had to be cut.

I am fully back now, though! And I've got so much I'm working on, I can't wait to show y'all!

[glamatron3000]

for the poll, it's from the ar tonelico series! I haven't gotten to that specific song, but the games use songs as a way of doing magic, and the musical style for that is like that (Also uses a constructed language called Hymmnos for the songs) Here's another example also! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5wb-WCQkbk

Ah, tysm! That sounds super interesting! I'll have to check these games out, because the music is truly gorgeous and I'd love to see how the magic system works in practice. I imagine the fights have great rhythm to them. Also I respect any series that goes out of its way to invent a whole new language!

[glamatron3000]

Eek! A rat!

[glamatron3000]

Back on my Beast Machines bullshit!

So, after a little bit of a panic attack at how long it would take to draw ~32 issues of comics in my usual high-detail style, I resolved to try to find a simpler way of doing my entire process and still be satisfied with the result. I think this is what I've settled on, along with the design I'll be going with for Optimus.

I didn't want to stray too far from his original model, so he's got only minor design adjustments compared to the others I've shown off so far. The same will be true of the other three main Maximals, the Vehicons, and possibly Botanica, but all other characters involved are getting fresh designs. His personality will be the main overhaul in this project. In Beast Machines, I found him to be uncharacteristically overbearing, rigid, and honestly pretty narcissistic (everything is because of him in his mind) compared to Beast Wars. I intend to bring back that more understanding side of him that seemed to be lost in the two in-universe hours between shows.

Also it was not my intent to make him look like a Doomfist skin, that was pure coincidence 🤣

[glamatron3000]

I did promise I would do some voice acting shenanigans eventually lol

Backshots...? No, I could never strike my enemy whilst he isn't looking. It would be most dishonorable

[glamatron3000]

I need you to know that your human version of D-16/One!Megatron is so hot that he stopped me in my scrolling tracks. My god. He's so beautiful.

Aww, tysm! I'm glad people are liking those designs. They were fun to draw!

I admit I didn't go out of my way to make him so pretty. I just drew him how I thought he sounded and half way through I was just like "good lord, you're a gorgeous man, aren't you?" 🤣 I may try to draw more of him if I get the time. It would be fun to add some color next time.

[glamatron3000]

Currently catching up on the new episodes of Earthspark. Already got some Alex cooking in episode 2, so I will be updating the Malto Cookbook post sometime this week.