(Above is featured in order: 3D assets made, UI elements and sprites made, reject sprites and UI elements, concept art, and reference photos.)

Check out the main game page for the banner, cover photo, gameplay trailer, and screenshots I made.

No asset packs were used in this game.

Who am I and what have I done?

Hello! I’m Kyra Ruhlen and I worked as an artist and narrative designer on Devilish Double Down. I was in charge of character art, environment art, finalizing our game’s story, and customizing our itch.io page. The first thing I did was draft a story explaining who the main character is and what they were doing. (link to that Google doc below) I made concept art for the main character and battle screen, drew the main character sprite and card shark sprite (multiple times), drew UI elements for the battle screen, recorded button and card sound effects, and made 3D models and textures for the floor, walls, lamp, and slot machine. I even wrote a script that makes the rollers in the slot machines spin!! According to our Kanban board, I should have spent around 22 hours on this game. In reality, I spent closer to 34 hours. My biggest underestimation was how long it would take to set up the itch.io page. I made a custom banner and cover image, customized the itch page theme, recorded and edited a gameplay trailer, took screenshots of and wrote a description for the game.

What was the most difficult part of this project?

The most difficult part of this project was working with a group of others who each had different tastes and ideas. I got really lucky to have a super talented and supportive team to work with. However, it was still hard to settle on what elements of the game were a MUST-HAVE and what ideas were just not meant to be. The thing that held us back the most was time. We had so many cool things we wanted to add but had to cut due to the short timeframe. Things like animating the sprites, customizing enemy zones, and adding collectible items unfortunately rest on the cutting-room floor. Still, I’m super proud of the game we made!

What am I most proud of?

I am most proud of my beloved slot machine. I was afraid I wouldn’t get to 3D model anything for this project, so jumped at the chance to make this thing. I feel I did a good job and only wish this game was played at a bit of an angle so the player could see more of it. I added cool lights to the sign and wheels and a small script to make the rollers spin. Now that felt impressive! I’m also very proud of the fact that all art, visual and auditory, was made in-house. We did not use any asset packs or free music. June, Caitlyn, and I made all of it.

What have I learned?

I learned that some of the coolest ideas will never make it to the final project, and that’s okay. Working with a team means compromise. And working on a deadline means compromising things that you all like but would take too long to implement. Working on this project has helped me feel more confident about collaborating with others, tossing ideas out there, and not taking it personally when those ideas get turned down.

Narrative Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ooPlM3HMpUxg9Tb4IZZRrPNGNwu3wJPaSaBq9AUIRDE/...

Slot Machine Blueprint: https://blueprintue.com/blueprint/dlitltnd/