Hey Creative people, I'm Bloomzeye! I'm a new indie game dev and designer, and my goal is to create colorful games and stories.
For my first video, I'm sharing with you how I learned pixel art for the first time and made my first game, Bubble Bumble!
Bubble Bumble is a 2D side-scroller, pixel art game where you play as Kiwi, a small but mighty bee who gets trapped in a Super Bubble 3000, and needs your help getting home.
If you prefer the blog version, keep reading bellow. P.S – the blog version and video version are slightly different, I share a bit more here.
After being encouraged by my wonderful art group (if you're reading this, you know who you are!) to re-start making board games like I used to do when I was younger, it lead me to research how games are designed and made. Since I started to watch and listened to many podcasts and Youtube videos, it wasn't surprising when I fell into the realm of indie video games.
I always assumed games were made by triple-A studios or just multiple people, so I was happily surprised when I saw how many resources there were for solo developers. Inspired by the stories I saw being created and published and remembering the video games I used to play, I went headfirst into learning how to be an indie game developer.
But I didn't know where to start, or rather, which character or story I should develop first, and I didn't want my first game to be a 5-year project. So once I discovered what game jams were, I changed my mindset to create a short mini-game instead of biting off more than I could chew.
And with everything I do, it all starts with a sketch.
One evening while I was sitting awkwardly at a family gathering where I didn't know many people, I opened up my sketchbook and started scribbling and doodling shapes. These shapes turned into a bubble, then I added a bee, a flower, and a bird...before I knew it, I had created a rough concept of a one-level video game.
It didn't take me too long to hop into Adobe Illustrator, my art program of choice, and put together a digital concept of a 2D vector-style design. But something wasn't clicking. And it turns out, I didn't want to stay comfortable with my art. I mean, I'm already learning a new format; why not learn a new art style?
I knew I didn't want to learn 3D modeling, and I didn't want to paint anything, but I really liked how pixel art was being used, and once I found out I could learn it, I was hooked. I found the pixel art and animation program, Aseprite, and I really liked it!
It has really great documentation, a thriving community, youtube videos galore, and it was affordable at a one-time fee *side-eyes subscription services*.
Way before I even touched Aseprite, I created my first-pixel art bee in a web app called Pixil Art.
It looks...not great, but I was excited nevertheless. Finally getting into Aseprite, I practiced and learned the fundamentals of pixel art, the animation method, and properly exporting my files for Unity (more about Unity in a moment).
Overall, I'm delighted with how my art and animations turned out. I learned that for pixel art, simplifying my ideas can enhance my entire project, how to create tile sets, and it was just gosh-darned fun to do.
I was tempted to go into After Effects to animate everything since that's where I usually go to make gifs and such, but I told myself NO! So I animated the following: Kiwi the Bee, the Flower Points, the Aviator Bird enemy, Kiwi's Profile image, and the Hive Gate at the end of the game.
All of these small animations adding up to a UI design that I'm proud of, and I even animated a cutscene for when you win the game and get Kiwi home!
To put it all together, I learned the foundations of the Unity game engine and C#.
I am NOT a programmer, but I have one coding boot camp under my belt, so learning C# and Unity wasn't scary. I don't enjoy programming, but I'll try to do it if I can learn it.
Here are some tips on how I learned Unity.
What is my next step?
What do I need to do in that moment? If it’s making my player move, I need to find that in the documentation
Read the documentation
Like most softwares, there’s are rules and instructions on every aspect of the program and how to use it to your best ability. Even though it’s well documented, I needed a visual guide and example.
Find a youtube tutorial...or three
I have a growing video library on Unity, Aseprite tutorials, GDC talks, and game design. Again, I watched videos on what I needed in my next steps.
Literally, just Google it. Someone has the exact same question/problem
There is nothing new under the sun, and any questions you may have, someone else has had it. And if it’s been a few years, try the solution, or ask for an update for the problem.
*Head-ups, my game does have its bugs and glitches, but it's still playable. You can't pause the cutscene, but it’s not even a full minute.
None of this was easy, but it was possible for me to learn how games are made, why we’re drawn to them, and how to create characters and stories that people can connect with. I have a lot planned for Kiwi and her adventures, but I’m letting myself start small, and while Bubble Bumble doesn’t have some big fantastic story or characters, I hope you enjoy playing Kiwi the Bee as I’ve enjoy making it.
As always, thanks for reading, and I'll catch you latter!
– Bloomz
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