Ø14 - Almost Summer
Summer always makes it hard to work on any side project-type stuff. It’s too nice outside to be sitting at my computer, but I’ll try. I’ve also started to coach my oldest soccer team so I’m pretty excited about that and having a great time showing kids how much fun soccer can be. Both of these are partially why my newsletter is so late this month.
World of Product Design
Figma just launched a whole suite of updates, there is some really exciting stuff in there. If you get the chance you should watch the Config Keynote. I’m really excited to see how this will change our design system kit, Shipwright. I’m particularly excited about the component properties and instances swap. These are going to dramatically reduce the number of components we build and we might not need to do base components anymore which is going to help with the clarity and usability of our kit. I haven’t had a ton of time to work through it all yet but I will soon.
Paran Updates
I’ve been reworking the atmosphere demo a bit. I’m almost done with the environmental parts and need to focus more on the writing and the Interface. Below is a shot of the updated desert scene, unlit with some of the new cliff props I’ve started to work on. There are still a few assets needed before I can finish the full-level experience. I’ve chosen to remove the unity terrain and go with just geometry exported from blender.
This second shot is an animated gif of the second level, still part of the intro but it’s after the player enters the main facility. The main part of the game is still just a walking simulator that tells a story as you go through each level. Eventually, the player will come across some basic puzzles, but right now I’m just focused on nailing the atmosphere and vibe of the game.
The quality is a bit low in this animated gif, but I really like how the graininess is coming across, very quake 2 which I really like. I can do this by forces a maximum resolution so I’ll probably mess around with that as I get further along in the process.
Inspo Central
I wish it wasn’t so but we’ve had another series of tragedies lately here, stay safe and spend time with the ones you care about! As always I hope everyone has a great rest of their month.
-Billy
P.S. Section
Started watching Formula 1 drive to survive, so there might be some car talk here soon.
Still can’t believe Bayern Munich is coming to Green Bay!