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Live2D drawing technology from Cybernoids adds a little 3D spice to your hand drawn images
While 3D graphics have been filling our eyes in cinemas and video games way before Nemo ever got lost, we've typically had to settle for computer generated artwork. Live2D from Cybernoids is a drawing technology that hopes to change that. The software lets animators and game creators give hand drawn 2D images rudimentary 3D qualities. In the video above you can see the character turn her head, and the image -- based solely on the 2D version -- twists and adapts in real-time. There are two versions of the software, one based on polygons, and the other vectors, and there is support for consoles and smartphones -- but no details on specifics at this time. The developers admit it's only suitable for limited movement, such as in dialog-based games, for now, but hope to have the tools to handle full 360 degree motions over the next two years. At least, for now, its way way further down on the creep-o-meter scale.
Daily iPhone App: The Act combines great cartoon art with iOS gameplay
The Act is, I will say, probably one of the most interesting experiments I've ever seen show up on the App Store. I don't know if it's entirely successful, but even at the current price of $2.99, I can wholeheartedly recommend it. It does some very interesting things with interactive storytelling and animation that have to be seen to be believed. The Act is a game by React Entertainment, a company that has at least one famous 2D animation vet in its background. As you can probably tell by the screenshot above, it's a game that's been entirely hand animated, and the art is just plain beautiful -- the characters pop off of the screen like a Disney movie. There's no dialogue at all, so the story is told strictly through animation and music, and yet it all comes across very well. The interactive part of the game arrives in certain sections, where you need to swipe to the right or left on the screen to keep "the act" going. This is perhaps the biggest fault of the "game" -- all of your cues come from the on-screen animation, so it's often hard to tell exactly what you're supposed to be doing and when. But the game does get clearer as it goes on -- by the third interactive scene or so, I had a pretty good idea of when I was doing it right and when I was doing something wrong. Even with those issues around feedback (the game definitely could have been a little more designed for accessibility), The Act still respectably takes some bold moves with its gameplay, and again, that animation is just gorgeous. If you're a fan of games or good old fashioned hand-drawn animation at all, definitely check this one out.
Zu Online alpha test goes live with 'big rewards'
Zu Online, a new, free fantasy MMO being developed by Onwind Digital and brought to the 'states by IGG, has entered its alpha test. Sporting a unique and surprisingly stylistic hand-drawn style, Zu is heavily-steeped in Chinese mythology, shirking the typical elves and orcs fare for a focus on Buddhist monastic tradition.Their website, which is curiously hard to navigate and chock full of good old fashioned engrish, claims that "hundreds of thousands" of people applied to be part of the alpha, and only five hundred made it in. Those lucky few will get an added treat from Onwind and crew this weekend, as all alpha testers will receive a princely 30 gold!And hey, for a free game, it sure is pretty. If they work on localization a little bit more, Zu Online could very well be a hit . We'll see.
Today's hand-drawn video: Super Smash Bros.
It's cute, it's simple, and it's better than a slew of video games we've been playing lately. We give you Super Smash Bros., in hand-drawn animation. A sweeping cinematic score only underlines the awesomeness of this fine video.Nintendo, if you want to save some money, get someone on this project, pronto. Release it, rake in the dough, and we'll have something to tide us over until the real game comes out. Trust us. Make sure you watch until the very ... end?
