Ninja Robot Dinosaur

Ray Ardent is up for bidding on flashgamelicense.com and I was given some very good advice from a total stranger. PJ Baron was nice enough to play Ray, and give me some very valuable feedback.

The crew at Flash Game License has been doing some research on the importance of the thumbnail image. It’s that little picture that tempts you to play the game.

Before seeing the results of the research, I believed that a descriptive image would be the best bet – show people what the game looks like.

The research that Flash Game License had done showed that games with a better quality thumbnail image regularly received more money from sponsors, received better editor reviews and were visited much more frequently. The research also showed that ’screenshot’ thumbnails didn’t perform as well as a dedicated original thumbnail image.

With PJ’s advice and the research from Flash Game License in mind, I set off to redo Ray Ardent’s thumbnail image.

Before

After

I’m really happy with how the reworked thumbnail worked out – I somehow managed to capture the retro/pulp feel that I’m going for with Ray.

Looking at these now, it’s almost silly that I thought that a screenshot would be sufficient. It’s the little things that matter people.

Ray Ardent is pretty much in the can and now I begin the exciting process of sponsorship/licensing. A huge thank-you to everyone who has supported me since the start of the year. You all rock and I am in your debt.

DeviantArt, a hub for online artists of all skill levels has recently launched Mhttp://muro.deviantart.com/, an online art tool which is much more responsive than any other online art tool I’ve used. Beyond that, it’s the most impressive implementation of HTML 5 I’ve seen.

A quick search for Muro reveals that the community is already experimenting with this tool and getting some amazing results.

It’s also interesting in that they’ve monetized it by letting users purchase additional brushes, which is simple and absolutely brilliant.

As a Flash developer, HTML 5 comes up a lot.

My stance is simple. I use Flash because it lets me reach the largest possible number of people. When HTML5’s install base is close to or surpasses Flash, I’ll be making the switch. With Apple swearing off Flash, likely for life, on their handheld devices, which continue to sell like hotcakes, it’s very likely that 1 year from today I’ll be putting the finishing touches on my first HTML5 game. Who knows, I might switch before the end of the year.

Sadly, Muro doesn’t have an iPhone optimized setting, but if any of you iPad owners out there want to give it a go and let us know what you think in the comments, that’d be great!

I discovered the work of Kevin Tong when I was looking at concert posters for inspiration for the UI design for Ray Ardent. I have fallen deeply in love with his combination of hand drawn illustrations, Illustrator wizardry and color palettes from the gods.

Kevin has a show opening in at the Phone Booth Gallery in Long Beach today – here is a preview:

You can get more insight into Kevin’s process and check out more of his incredible work on his site: Tragic Sunshine.