Going Logo

Just some ideas for a logo. These will probably end up being used for a title screen. 

Dusky

Morning

Sitting on the dock of the bay.

The thing I enjoy most about any project like this is the chance to work with some really talented artists,      animators and designers and here's some of stunning results (with some very  minor tweaks from me) . These images are early concepts and so don't  necessarily reflect the final look of the game,  but they're too good to keep hidden until Kickstarter comes around so here they are. The first is from Ciaran Duffy, and features a night time scene at the docks. The other, an interior shot of the galley is by Rob Semple (it's a work in progress) . So head over to their respective blogs, where you'll find some more amazing work, and get following. 

Otto on the docks

Olaf in the galley

Danny O' Dwyer's Adventure Games Retrospective.

An awesome retrospective of adventure games form Gamespot's Danny O' Dwyer. From Monkey Island to Grimm Fandango, the adventure game genre has had a rich and varied history. Now with the popularity of tablets, its a perfect time to bring adventure games to the market. Take a look at whats inspiring us.

Demo News

Update: Just received our first version of the game demo, with some rather fine functionality and a fair amount of seriously hard work on display. Pity we can't reveal it just yet. We'll have some more news about the game soon when we launch it on the Steam Greenlight Concepts section in the next few days. It's great to finally have something in game form, and even at this early stage its easy to see how its shaping up. Feelings of relief mixed with concern about how much work is left to do.

Amanda and Otto go walkies

Woohoo! We love animated gifs

Howdy! Its the gang.

Slick Nick

Nick is all about the style, and once he passes the next audition, he can unleash that style on the world. But for now, he's stuck working the door. 

Outside the Electric Lobster

This is where famous director, Mr. DeChrisdeburgy, is scouting for local talent. It also happens to enforce a strict over 18's policy. "All the more reason to try and get in there" says Amanda. The bar itself is actually the hull of an old Mississippi Paddle Steamer that proprietor and barmen Sandy Jackson, won in a famous card game many years ago.

Colour Concepts

Some early colour concepts - night and day.

Bar Patrons - Concept art

Meet some of the patrons of the Electric lobster, a dock-side dive full of erstwhile sailors and seadogs. With little or no work on the docks these days, they spend their time palying arcade games and practicing karaoke. If you need to recruit a crew, theres worse places to start looking.

Fred vs da seagulls and Weather-beaten Otto.

 Fred Vs. Da Seagulls - Will Amanda decide to help?

Weather-beaten Otto.

Rough Fred Run Cycle

A rough run cycle for captain Fred. Animated in Flash.

FREDRUN from Eoghan Dalton on Vimeo.

Bravo Nick!

Quick sketch of Nick the singing bouncer. Having grown bored of the bouncing profession, he is obsessed with becoming an actor. If the guys can sit through his performance, he just might let them into the bar.

Game Test

Hello adventurers, here's a video test for how we want the game to look. Its just a quick mock up but please let us know what you think.

Stephen

Attack of Stephen, the 50 foot Jellyfish!

"Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water"

NDRC Launchpad Startups Select Shipantics!

Hello everyone! The NDRC launchpad that we pitched for a couple of weeks ago has begun!  We are looking forward to an exciting few months ahead of us where we will have access to highly experienced mentors and excellent facilities, not to mention the benefits of being around such a highly motivated and dynamic group of digital entrepreneurs.  NDRC LaunchPad is Ireland’s first digital accelerator, supporting the next generation of digital entrepreneurs to accelerate good ideas to sound startups.

Setting Sail - Exciting News .

Woah!  We've been mighty busy lately its fair to say. The tall ships have come and gone, providing Dublin with a taste of life on the high seas, and  leaving us naval-gazers with a hankering for more nautical adventures.  There's also some rather exciting news we'd like to share so stay tuned over the next few days as things develop.

Otto

 

Some old Otto concepts. I went through so many different designs for Otto, but looking back they don't exactly look a million miles from the finished one. The toughest decision was whether to give him eight legs and have him sorta scuttle around like a spider, or give him a more human look. He was actually born with only four legs, and is considered a freak in the Octopus world, but this means he has found it easier to adapt to life on dry land (also eight legs would have made it rather tricky to animate I reckon). 

1. The octopus  is a cephalopod mollusc of the order Octopoda. Octopuses are among the most intelligent and behaviorally flexible of all invertebrates. They have numerous strategies for defending themselves against predators, including the expulsion of ink, the use of camouflage and deimatic displays, their ability to jet quickly through the water, and their ability to hide!  Yeah that last one sounds about right to me. 

Otto VS Evil Otto - Round 1

Sunburned.

Poster -

Here's the latest version of the poster, needs a logo though. (EDIT: Done)

Amanda Walk

Look at Amanda strutting her stuff. You go girl!

Whats cooking

Olaf the grumpy Russian bear dude is passionate about cooking, and hates when folks interrupt him. His signature dish is stewed eel beaks in a light dill sauce. He can be contacted for private catering functions and parties ( but due to legal reasons, cannot perform his amazing knife juggling act in public again. )

Animation Auction Ahoy!

Hey great news. Shipantics is proud to sponsor the upcoming Animation Art Show Auction this Sunday. All proceeds go to charity and there are some amazing original pieces on offer, as well as some truly unique production cells from some landmark animated classics. Please make sure to bring your pocket money, as the bidding promises to be fierce. See you there!

Fred's Holiday snaps

Fred trying to solve one of the puzzles. He gets there eventually through dumb luck, but he never seems to learn anything. Drives Amanda up the wall sometimes.

Get that camera out of my face Amanda!

Otto has a fear of water so he needs a bit of convincing when taking a swim.

Island Scene

Here's a quick look at the island. Its low tide at the moment. You can explore the buildings and ships, but the layout will alter with the tides. 

Where's Otto?

Hello there. This is a rough floor plan for the one room demo we're working on.
Amanda knows Otto is hiding somewhere in the kitchen but she can't look for him while the Chef is in there. The Chef's busy at work and is very grumpy. He shouts at Amanda and chases her away with a knife if she enters his work area. She needs to get the chef out of the way.

Stephen

Amanda da do run run

Here's the finished animation for Amanda's run. Next we're going to do some tests with adding some texture and shadows in Photoshop and After Effects.

The okay ship Barnacle

 Some concepts for the Barnacle.The barnacle is an all purpose salvage and cargo vessel, as well as being a home for its captain and crew 

The Galley

A rough staging shot for the first puzzle. We'll use this to test visual elements, lighting, animation, particle stuff. This is the Galley ( kitchen, keep up landlubbers) of the Barnacle where Otto is hiding. But Olaf the ships cook is hard at work and hates being disturbed. Gotta distract him somehow.

Promotional Poster

Here we have a promotional double-sided poster by Eoghan, using the final character designs. We're pretty chuffed at how it turned out! The characters were drawn in Flash and then painted in Photoshop.

Shipantics - A brief history.

Hello and thanks for checking out the Shipantics blog, where you'll hopefully get to see all the development work and concept art that goes into making a project like this, and some of the awesome work Stephen and I will be putting together in the near future. Looking back over all the work I've done over the years, its hard to know where to start with it all.

ShipAntics!

The project came to life about 5 years ago, all based on a quick drawing I did of a huge ship packed with random characters, each with their own little room to hide out in. I'd read (don't remember much writing) Richard Scarry's books and loved the little worlds he'd created, bustling with characters and vehicles. I was also obsessed with those Osborne Puzzle Adventure books, where you played the role of various heroes, and progressed through the book by solving various puzzles and finding clues. And being  a little bit in awe of Herge's mad Captain Haddock, I reckon what better way to combine all these elements than in a classic adventure game ( think Sam and Max Hit the Road, Day of the Tentacle) set on the high seas.

Adventure! 

Adventure games are experiencing a considerable resurgence in popularity these days, with new technology bringing puzzle games back to the mainstream, and as a genre we've always loved, we hope to bring something new to the table. Hopefully we can use this blog to share all the early designs and concepts that rarely see the light of day, but are often the most interesting parts of the process. 

Thanks , and I hope you enjoy your visit!

Bye! 

Concepts

Wave Riders

Some concepts for the game -  On top, a chase sequence involving the many perils faced at sea. Here the crew are chased by a Gulper fish towards a European Sailor Whale - is he friend or foe?

The day-to-day chores on board the Barnacle. 1: Catch Otto, he nevers wants to do any work.
2: Load the precious cargo of dried coconut husks 3: Feed them to Diesel, the ships friendly engine - dont get too close, he breathes fire. Repeat.

Turnaround, brighteyes!

This is an old turnaround for Amanda, with a much simpler, graphic look. Dig the stripey socks.

Feeling Plush?

Ah Bless! An old Otto plushie. Skillfully rendered by Mark Flood's mum. Great Job! And joining him, the famous Captain Fred, captured here with his favourite pokeball, courtesy of the talented Niamh Brennan.

Subs

Some concept designs of the S.P.U.D, (subaquatic-propelled-underwater-diving wotsit) that the crew of the Barnacle use to explore beneath the waves. It's powered by pedaling really fast, and is about as maneuverable as a stone. It also leaks from when Otto crashed it into a large clam.

SPOILER ALERT. This is an extract from an early version of the puzzle document for the first episode "The Mystery of the Werecod" (working title) We've fleshed out and reworked some of the puzzles since this but it gives a good idea of what we want the game to be like.

Here's a rough pass of Amanda running. I'll post the finished run soon.

Here's some concepts for the new Otto. He's gone through a lot of redesigns but I think we're nearly at a design we're happy with!

Introducing Amanda the star of the show! In ShipAntics we take on the role of Amanda as she navigates and explores the strange and wonderful world that is ShipAntics

And here's Amanda's sidekick Otto. We're changing Otto's design but his personality will be staying the same.

This guy is Captain Fred, father of Amanda and skipper of the Barnacle