Something of note that happened during the break: the alpha-tech demo of Project Zomboid was released!  It’s been getting quite a lot of nice buzz, which is very exciting, and we’re hoping to live up to those lofty expectations :D

I have lots of new art to post, but will try and space it out a bit.  In keeping with the theme of zombies, though, here’s a creepy pattern I made with an ink dip pen and adjusted in Photoshop.  It will tile, so it can be used as a desktop background if you want it staring at you all day ;)

Why am I posting about this, you ask? ;)  Friends and Indie Stone cohorts Lemmy101, CaptainBinky, and Nickenstein are the braaaaains behind it.  I am not a full-time member on this, but have kicked in a few art assets.  Those inventory icons in the screenshots?  Mine ;)

Take a look!  Pre-order and you’ll get free updates for life, but for the more fiscally cautious a demo is due out at the end of this month :)  http://projectzomboid.com/blog/

But enough about that!

I was cleaning up some of my files on the server and came across some sprites that I made a good while back for the TIGSource Assembly competition, in which artists/musicians made assets that were used by programmers to make games. I thought I’d put them up here, so anyone can download them.  Yup–they are free for use in any game projects requiring a violent mushroom (although credit should be given, and a link to my site is highly appreciated), no need to ask permission :)

Animations and a tile demo up here, and the spritesheet and tilesheets are after the break for your downloading needs :)

Sprite and tilesheets:

It’s sad that it will never be released, as it was a fun game and with more time put into I think it would have made quite a spiffy game; however time is a resource that is in scarce supply.  To find out more about what happened you can read Lemmy101′s blog entry about it (it’s more to do with his and CaptainBinky’s experience with another project, but it does go into why PAWS is not possible).

On a more positive note, I did learn quite a bit from the experience (my first runcycles, tiles, and more), enjoyed working on it, and I’m hoping to use the sprites I worked on in another project so it won’t be a complete loss :)   I may release some more art later on, but for now here are two character portraits from the selection screen of Mr. Spiffo, the sly raccoon, and Pancake, the cheerful hedgehog:

Speaking of PAWS, if you were wondering where it is… it took a largish break in production due to a spiffy game called Privates, by friend Zombie Cow Studios (the other members of the PAWS team were the ones working on it, btw–I was just a scientific fact checker ;) ).  I have been that assured PAWS will be finished some day!

Having played through the beta, I can confirm that TGP is quite awesmoe: funny, witty, and stylish.  And what’s this?  Yup, I did the “previously on” art, too! :)

Check out the demo, or buy it here!

For those of you who are not members of the Indie Stone (and shame on you if you’re not ;) ), you missed out on seeing a sneak peek at a new PAWS screenshot a good while back.  Click on the pic for full-size!

Remember, Indie Stone members see all this weeks before anyone else! (mostly because I’m lazy with updating, but still, it’s a reason to join!)

Crabshack’s just undergone a server change, so you may notice some missing pictures or funny symbols in the posts, but I should fix that over the next little while :)

But in more interesting news, Lemmy&Binky and I have started up a nice, spiffy forum for indie developers, gamers, and/or well-wishes to share knowledge, hang out and have fun, called the Indie Stone :D  Check it out by clicking on the ladybug-shaped button (which I learned how to make at the Indie Stone, btw!)

Still unconvinced?  Read this, and you’ll wonder why you’re even still reading this terrible blog instead of being at the Indie Stone! ;D

Paws is not only one of (if not the most) luscious looking titles we’ve played for the Community Games service to date but it’s also one of the cutest games that we’ve played in the history of all our game playing. It’s quite simply adorable.

[...]

Each game type is just massive, massive fun to play. Special moves are easy to pull off and in general, the controls are so wonderfully responsive and just feel right that within moments the game becomes the epitomy of pick up and play. All this in a half finished game? It’s sort of boggling.

Aww, thanks Oddbob :D  Check it out!

Yep, it’s a screenshot from a game in the works with the lovely Lemmy&Binky!  We’re keeping details under our hats for now, so I’ll just say it’s multi-player, and the characters will put a smile on anyone’s face :D  The goal is to have this finished in 2-3 months, so expect more news soon!

Yay!