popcornmind

[popcornmind]

Updated E.G.G.

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Today's hard surface practice was inspired by Elemental Gimmick Gear for the Sega Dreamcast. The original E.G.G. design in the games is by Hidetsugu Watanabe, who also served as game designer on the project. Please support the original work and artists.

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New Joint: DONUT DODO!

Donut Dodo is an excellent game from Luxembourger indie developers, pixel games. If you're a fan of games like the original Donkey Kong, Mario Bros. or BurgerTime, then I absolutely recommend Donut Dodo for you. It's available on Steam and Nintendo Switch for the hopefully affordable price of $5 and even has a brand-new 2P arcade version (Donut Dodo Do!/Donut Dodo Deux or 2 as in 2P, via exA-Arcadia) with additional stages and music currently scheduled to release this year of 2023. The new official artwork is being handled by ex-Capcom employee and artist Makoto Yabe. The outstanding music was all done by indie artist, CosmicGem.

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Budokai Tenkaichi / Sparking! Returns

Wow. I honestly had an inkling it was time for a new Dragon Ball game. Next-gen (currently PS5, Xbox SX, Steam Deck, high-end PCs) is in full season now. However, I wasn't sure what to expect. People seemed to be shouting for Xenoverse 3 the loudest. But, ever lurking in the background, previous Budokai Tenkaichi entries (Sparking! METEOR, in particular) were still quietly receiving regular updates via fan mods and videos showcasing said mods gathering up fairly large view counts with tons of love in the comments. That slow, steady re-kindling has clearly become an inferno. No official statements on game details, which platforms it will be launching for, or even a release date window. I think that's a great sign; let them take their time. As much as I would love for as many people to play these games as possible, this new one would benefit from all-out next-gen only development; meaning likely no Switch, XB1 or PS4 ports. Treevax, a popular DBZ fan from the mid 2000s came to mind when I saw this announcement 2 days ago. Treevax had been consistently championing for good DBZ games, even actively showing up at conventions where Bandai Namco was attending and laying out his own design documents for a good DBZ game with the actual producers. They actually listened and would have a conversation about his ideas on camera for a bit. Eventually, things mentioned in those conversations or in his design docs would start to show up in the latest games. It was beautiful as a fan to see this happen for one of us; especially a fan who contributed much to the DBZ fan community. The incredible reaction to this really small teaser has really been felt around the world and I hope fans all over are excited for its return. Prepare for battle.

Also, quick side note, I'm hoping for a large variety of enormous, highly detailed (NPCs running/reacting to battle, cars flying, impact craters, ki blast craters, etc) fully destructible stages. If it's actually Unreal Engine 5, which it definitely looks like, or something Spike developed themselves, it's over 9000! The only small gripe I've ever had with the previous games is the small number of stages. They were definitely considered large for the time, but nowadays that invisible barrier/wall isn't going to cut it. Hoping they take a note from DBZ: Kakarot where the fights happen wherever you take them, allowing for a more dynamic feel to the battles. UE5 or a similar in-house engine would be able to handle all this and much more.

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Homage to a really interesting and well-crafted platformer called Gimmick! by Sunsoft. I based this fan illustration off some of the exA-Arcadia EXACT MIX artwork from the arcades.

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One of my very 1st original characters. Took a few homages of things I dig and made soup. I believe I'll come back to him in some form in the future.

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Recent update. An homage to one of my favorite PS2 games. Can you believe these characters were designed by FromSoftware Inc.? Find and play The Adventures of Cookie & Cream (aka Kuri Kuri Mix in Japan) and share your experience. This piece was inspired by one of their adorable advertisements in Japan. Support these artists.

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RIP Mr. Matsumoto. You inspired many.

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Some of today's practice.

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work in progress

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A compilation of some of my work and progress in 3D art and animation over the past few months.

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My 2nd demo reel.