Designing Game Art

Over 12 hours of game art tutorials, broken down into 45 short videos!

CALLING ALL FLASH ARTISTS AND GAME DESIGNERS
Over 12 hours of game art tutorials, broken down into 45 short videos with guest instructor Justin Dike.

Have you got a great idea for a Game App? Or do you want to get hired as a Game Art Designer?

This course can give you the training you need to do some or all your app's art production yourself.


Imagine being seeing a style of art or reference image and already knowing the steps to recreate something similar. That's the true aim of this course. The wide range of topics in the course should make you feel confident enough to try illustrating any aspect of your game, be it the logo, hero, background or interface. We'll even cover animation and discuss tips to exporting image sequences specifically for games.

The software used to demonstrate is Adobe Flash Professional CC.

SECTION 1 : "Flash Basics"

  1. Initial Setup with Flash – 18:03 – A quick creash course in using Adobe Flash
  2. Manipulating Vector Points – 5:00 – A short video discussing how to move vector points around in Adobe Flash

SECTION 2 : "The All-Important Logo"

In this section, we'll look at some incredibly easy tips you can use with just about any font to make your logo stand out. Your logo is one of the first things people will see in the game itself, but more importantly, potential players will scrutinize any preview screenshots in the store before downloading your game. This first impression could be the key to people downloading your app or not.

SECTION 3 : "Ye ol' Quest Map"

Alright matey's, no one knows where to begin their journey without a map. This could be used as a guide to give players an overview of the various levels they will travel to. Or you could simply create a map for decoration in conjunction with your logo. Maps can be a great, soft background piece behind text, or other user interface elements.

SECTION 4 : "Interface Elements and Buttons"

In this session, we'll be covering many types of interface elements, or GUI. This will include buttons, progress bars, selection icons, radar, and anything else you might find while playing the game or within a menu.

SECTION 5 : "Designing Game Characters"

In this session we'll tackle drawing your main character. We'll practice drawing the in-game views (front, back and side) and more detailed closeup views for Selection Screens, App icons or Promotional Art.

SECTION 6 : "Character Animations"

In this session you'll learn how to animate your character from the previous session. We'll look at front and side view walking animation, an attack animation, how to add an interesting attack effect, and how to export a PNG sequence or Sprite Sheet from Flash.

SECTION 7 : "Terrain"

In this session we will construct various top-down view terrains. Combined with the buildings and structures taught in the next session, you'll have some very detailed backgrounds to work with.

SECTION 8 : "How to Draw Buildings"

In this session we will cover perspective points, sketching ideas for buildings and creating multiple different structures, as usual using Adobe Flash. You'll learn how to draw a castle, tiki house, and modular style buildings which are great for filling larger background pieces with very little art.

SECTION 9 : "Animation FX"

In this session we will look at explosion FX which you could use for collisions, impacts, death sequences, etc. We will also practice animating looping effects to use in a background sequence. Great for adding a little extra life to your game's scenes.


Your Instructor


Justin Dike
Justin Dike

Hi! I'm Justin Dike, founder of CartoonSmart, iOS developer and long-time Flash advocate for animation, illustration, interactive apps, and games.

Website: CartoonSmart.com


Course Curriculum


  Download Game Art Files
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  Session 1 : Flash Basics
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  Session 5 : Characters Part 1
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  Session 6 : Character Animation Part 1
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  Session 6 : Character Animation Part 2
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  Session 7 : Terrain Part 2
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  Session 8 : Buildings Part 1
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  Session 8 : Buildings Part 2
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  Session 9 : Animated FX
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Frequently Asked Questions


When does the course start and finish?
The course starts now and never ends! It is a completely self-paced online course - you decide when you start and when you finish.
How long do I have access to the course?
How does lifetime access sound? After enrolling, you have unlimited access to this course for as long as you like - across any and all devices you own.
Is the Course Downloadable or Streamable?
We offer the best of both worlds! You can download all the video files to keep and you can also stream the course on all devices.

Get started today!