PogoGirl Devlog #22: Graphics Overhaul

Posted June 26, 2021

In the previous two devlogs I’ve talked about the changes I’ve implemented in Go! Go! PogoGirl based on player feedback. And now there’s another one…a big one.

I’ve already mentioned how the positive player reaction to the demo has motivated me to take this game further than I had originally intended. And now I can tell you what I meant by that:

Go! Go! PogoGirl is coming to Steam!

Yes, shocker, a PC game is coming to Steam. But this will be my first game on Steam, and it’s kind of a big deal for me. I see it as another step towards doing this whole thing full-time, so there’s more meaning behind it than for other devs I suppose.

However, once I had made that decision, I started to have doubts. I didn’t feel like the game in its current state was good enough to be on Steam, which is known for its high quality standards.

What’s everyone laughing at?

Anyway, I felt like the game didn’t have a chance in hell of making any sort of splash on Steam, so I went back to the drawing board to see how I could improve the game. And while I did come up with a whole list, the first thing on there was a graphics overhaul. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the game’s visuals, but there was always something slightly off about them. They were lacking a final layer of polish, a certain je ne sais quoi that would make the game look like a professional product instead of a hobby project. This is probably because I did all the art, and I’m not an artist, and I pretty much made things up as I went along. Yeah, that might be the reason.

So, I changed the graphics. And kept changing them. I was supposed to be working on something else entirely, but I got into a graphics groove. And that’s also the reason I was so quiet on Twitter this past week, as I didn’t really want to show anything until it was (almost) finalized. Well, now it is (almost) finalized. So here you go, a look at the new graphics in Go! Go! PogoGirl!

images/reveal.gif

What do you think? As you can see, the world is now more lush and detailed, and PogoGirl herself is bigger and more expressive. Plus, everything looks just a bit more consistent than it did before. I have to admit that I really like this new look, and that I’m proud of what I managed to do here. I still like the old graphics and their simplicity, but I do feel like this is the right direction for the game. Graphics aren’t everything, but they are certainly something. That’s a quote from Einstein, I think.

But graphics aren’t the only thing that are getting spruced up, oh no. I’m very happy to reveal that I now have a composer for the game! The amazingly skilled and relentlessly awesome Reflekshun will provide Go! Go! PogoGirl with the Sega-inspired beats it was always meant to have. He has done great work on games like Hyperdrome and I’m sure the soundtrack is gonna be the best part of the game. Oh, and he’ll stream some of his composing sessions live on Twich, so follow him on Instagram and check out his chill Twitch streams!

Well, this was certainly a lot of stuff to unpack. I’m super excited about the future of Go! Go! PogoGirl and can’t wait to reveal more stuff and (eventually) get it into the hands of all you awesome people! Please post in the comments below if you have any questions or, uh… comments.

Oh, and the game will of course still release on itch.io!

I’ll let you know once the Steam page is live, so you can prepare for the endless stream of “please wishlist my game thx” tweets that will inevitably pour out of my tweethole. Until then, be excellent to each other, party on, and wishlist my game on Steam! Once the page is up I mean.

Buy the Game on itch.io!

Join my Discord Server!

Hang out, get news, be excellent!

Come hang out!

Want To Buy Me a Coffee?

Coffee rules, and it keeps me going! I'll take beer too, though.

Related Posts

Triple Update

POST | | #PogoGirl #Mega Drive #JettyCat #Shino-kun

A new game, an old game, and a Mega Drive game? Excellent!

Go! Go! Pogogirl Is Coming to Mega Drive!

POST | | #PogoGirl #Mega Drive

It is finally happening: Go! Go! PogoGirl is coming to the Sega Mega Drive!

Kid Bubblegum Devlog #2

POST | | #Devlog #Kid Bubblegum

And we’re back again with more Kid Bubblegum! First of all, the game now has a Steam page, so I’d be tickled bubblegum pink if you could hop on over there and wishlist the game. It helps a lot! Now to the game itself. This week was spent building a few levels, making a new enemy type and polishing the game up to a basic state…just like I had planned to do.

By using the Disqus service you confirm that you have read and agreed to the privacy policy.

comments powered by Disqus