My Friend Flick - The Beginning!

Welcome to the first post for the 'My Friend Flick' app project! 

It's been about one week since we first came together to form our teams and officially start the whirlwind process of creating something tangible. Something worthwhile. A true testament and tribute to the wonderful Finger Lakes Community College mascot, Flick!

Here's what we've accomplished:

UI/Programming

So far, we've made particular strides in our functioning UI, which is being put together in Unity by our resident programmer, Wyatt Foster. 

Attached is the basic UI created so far, which shows an impressive feat of transitions between rooms, entering Flick's wardrobe, and the un-interactive screens that will appear in the app. Though, perhaps it's better to let the man himself properly explain what he did:

"Simply put, I made an interactable UI that uses buttons to move from screen to screen in one scene. For a little more detail of the process, I started with the cube as a test for moving the camera (the camera moving to show different identical cubes), then moved on to the UI itself, using the same code but for the UI elements (i.e. the Image elements, which are the colored solid and transparent panels... I wasn't thinking too far ahead and didn't realize I could reuse the code for the UI elements until, like, an hour later). Other than that, the wardrobe and obtain outfit stuff are very similar, it's just layering that makes them different... and also the fact that there's a frame when the screen is completely black that most of the UI just disables itself while also enabling a new set of UI elements, and vice versa."

As we progress and create more assets, Wyatt will be able to integrate these into what he's made and, over time, the app will begin to look way more polished! 

Sprites/Backgrounds

Thanks to the help of Ben Burggraaff, we've gotten some concepts for the general look of Flick within the My Friend Flick game. As we await approval on the ideal representation of Flick, Ben explored some alternate ways to represent him.

In this first depiction, he has both stylized yet somewhat realistic proportions to how he typically looks. Even still, he remains far more simplified and, therefore, easier to work with than a more realistic model.

In this second depiction, he's far smaller and simplified. His large head and small body is reminiscent of the original Tamagotchi game characters that have heavily inspired the creation of My Friend Flick. 

This body is far easier to break apart and tween, creating ease of animation for both programmers and animators when it comes to the marketing portion of the game. 

Though, of course, preference isn't optional as we await for the final say from the marketing aspect of FLCC and how they feel about our depiction (fingers crossed it's all good!). 

In terms of backgrounds, we've had Serena Eaton (both artist and co-lead on the project) begin concepts for backgrounds, specifically focused towards Flick's wardrobe and bathroom for the meantime. 

Serena has provided lots of additional space for Flick so that he remains the forefront of the app itself, while still creating very eye-catching and gorgeous backgrounds in the process!

Our goal going into next week is to finalize concept backgrounds and, additionally, create necessary assets to work alongside Wyatt in order to start officially piecing together everyone's portions of the game. Even if it's just placeholders, I know it'll be extremely rewarding to see everyone's efforts come together. 

Closing Thoughts

As we continue this uncertain trek, as long as we remain focused on our tasks and stay close to the checklist, I know we'll be able to create something genuinely fun and helpful that all of FLCC can enjoy. 

I'm looking forward to seeing the milestones we pass throughout these next few weeks. 

Updates will continue and be posted every Monday from here on out, so please enjoy what's to come!

Yours, 

Ryder Wake, project lead for My Friend Flick