Diver Down: Reality is just a Memory

vecna made HUGE strides today overcoming some of the winv2 bugs. Everything's not quite 100% compatible, but if we can get to 99% with no show-stoppers we'll be happy.

Sorry for those looking for an early release, but I got class at 9am and still wanna see how far this winv2 fix comes along. But metro sent me his final words about the project and I thought posting them here might tide you over.

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9:08 PM 10/30/03

i read hendrick's thank you on the blog and felt compelled to do so.

well, i still can't believe that diver down is finished, and by finished, i mean story-wise, game engine wise, graphics wise [*01] (see point 1 down the page)... the whole nine yards.

i expressed interest in helping grenideer on the game when he released the last version of his public demo on verge-rpg.com - i think that was back in 1999? (help me here gren). i was in the process of making a game myself, but soon desisted due to the scope of game design, and by my all too ambitious ideas. I decided to help anyone else who had a stable project running along.. which leads me here to helping gren make art for diver down. and was it fun.

i was most productive in 2000-2001.. again, help me out here gren - it's been so long, so much has happened, i don't remember when i made those act 1 ending pics! anyway, gren asked me to make an ending cut-scene for chapter one. so i had this really elaborate idea for the ending, but due to time constraints, some shots were removed and reused as a compromise. but somehow, gren managed to put them together anyway while i was "exiled" to Africa (literally.. ;)) and i STILL haven't been able to see it! so much for Windows XP..

My pixel art has improved greatly while working on diver down. i mostly worked on the ending shots of the first chapter of the project - pixel art, or should i widen the topic to animation, is a time-consuming process where time = quality; there's just no way you can make character art look good without dedicating time regularly, unless you are going for a sketch, unfinished style, for example.

soon after i joined, hendrick joined too. i saw how hendrick's art progressed - it's really amazing. we should put all the production art together and release it, like a bonus dvd presenting production notes and behind the scenes stuff, people would definitely appreciate the work more. it was great to know another artist was working on the project for me to psychologically remove myself from the duty of having to redo all the art, if that were going to happen.. which, ideally, should happen sometime in the future.. what do you think gren? ;)

working with grenideer has been a great experience. he knows limits, what he can and cannot do, and when enough is enough. a committed individual (gee.. this is beginning to sound like a letter of recommendation!). an example of this is that you're probably reading this txt file with the finished game. need i say more? gren is a great person, an understated asset to the verge community, and mostly, to the indie rpg scene. Even though i only know him as an online persona, i only get good vibes - this dude knows where it's at! :)

so that's it. play the game. enjoy the work. spread the word. diver down is a great game. and it was a labor of love.

so long,

metro

[*01]
this last part is a slight overstatement, but the fact remains that diver down was mainly a one man driven project, and excelling at every aspect of game design, especially art (an entirely different discipline), is not something, well, ordinary. this isn't to say that gren is ordinary - he's brilliant! but considering the length of the game, making consistent 'good' art for this project is difficult, also considering the rarity of finding artists willing to contribute their art as well, which makes the task even more trying. from my point of view as an artist, this game could benefit from a total visual make over. the overall feel of diver down is dark, bleak, gothic and even sarcastic at times - there's no better way to convey these elements to an audience without proper graphic art, especially, in my opnion, when it comes to game design. it can also be conveyed via the dialogue, which i commend gren for his excellent writing skills! the dialogue in diver down is highly believeable and strongly contributes to the overall feel of the game. it also plays a central role in communicating the story, which is not as epic as you might think yet equally and perhaps more interesting, which i personally find refreshing. drek, the protagonist, doesn't seem to be the type to save the world anyhow, hehe.