OK so I feel like yesterday's mockup was pretty uninspired looking. I started trying to make an animated sprite today in Aseprite but I got to the clothes layer and was just like... uggghhh I've animated pixel-art sprites so many times this is BORING.

The original version of this game ("Fantazio de Esperanto" / Language Fantasy) was definitely meant to invoke the feeling of Final Fantasy to try to trick your brain into being invested in playing the game. Because retro art. Retro art = game? But it just doesn't excite me. Just like how I'm sick of coding the same stuff over and over, I'm sick of doing the same type of art over and over.

So two decisions: I'm not going to animate sprites for now, and two: I'm going to go with a more hand-drawn style, and not constraint my sprite sizes.

Customizable character

As I was working on the "player character" sprite (which really is just me for now) I was drawing everything on different layers to keep in mind how I'd have it in a character creator. I think with this style it would also be easier to make different body types (especially if I'm not worrying about animating asap).

Helper character

I don't really know what to have as a "helper character". I might give the player several options but not have a character creator for it. Maybe you want a magical fairy helping you out, or a dragon, or a spooky skeleton. But for now, my helper is my husband Rai.

So yeah, that's all I've done for now. I have a work meeting to get to. I may work on this later, or I may need to catch up on grading. :P