I didn't think it was that big of a deal, enough to receive several messages from different people criticizing my latest artwork. Still, being self-critical, there was room for improvement. And so, I did it.
Briefly: at first, I had a very colorful artwork with too many elements, very "rough" because the lines were ultra-thick, but with a lot of personality. Then, I changed it to an overly simple cover, with just a single character and nothing else. Both images had things that could be improved, so I combined the two: keep it simple, but at the same time incorporate something to properly fill the rest of the canvas, while representing the game's genre somehow.
Currently, the cover shows the 2 most important characters in TEKO: Pixi / Yeni. Yes, they are the ones that appear the most on the cards; then there's Talio and Gasparov. If you pay attention, you'll notice there are many sprites that relate to each other (BECAUSE THEY ARE THE SAME CHARACTER DRAWN IN A DIFFERENT WAY!). Also, I drew cards. The problem with my game: it's very complicated to represent "chips" and "cards" because they don't work like in other games. What did I do? I represented them more classically as if they were from a normal deck. And I took the opportunity to place one of the most important elements of the game (The Crystal Tower), creating a combination between Poker and Tarot cards.
In the post where I announced the new visual changes, when I said the new elements represented the game better, I was specifically referring to the new trailer and screenshots. However, the game's cover has to be simple, and it isn't always obligated to represent it faithfully. Even so, I wanted to change things, so I decided to reuse the old background (the wooden table, the purple tapestry, and the green rug) and the yellow color from the old text. And I redrew Pixi in a realistic way!
Yes, I'm so sorry, Pixi. You scare people, everyone prejudges you. You know what? Unfortunately, with the previous design, people were afraid to get into my game because he seemed like a deformed and poorly drawn creature. In my opinion, he was always cool. But I had to update him to draw more attention and make it clear that he's an ALIEN BIRD! Before, he looked like something else and people could get confused.
And no, I wasn't going to waste the illustration of Yeni. So, I put them both together. Besides, Yeni is holding an Ultracolor Chip, subtly representing one of the most important elements in TEKO.
I think this is the definitive work. Usually, when I'm very sure of something, I don't listen to others. But, when I finished the previous artwork I still had doubts. That, added to the fact that some people wrote to me (respectfully) about what they thought of my "aaaah goon waifu bait cover", made me rethink things and generate new ideas. In my opinion, things are much better now. Even so, I'll never discredit my own work. So far TEKO has had 4 covers, and I don't hate any of the 4. They're all different, and each one has an EXPLANATION and a MEANING. Until you understand this, it's impossible to know why I did things the way I did.
Anyway, I'm proud of having taken the time for this. I got a bit stressed out, not from drawing, but from coming up with new ideas and the concept I wanted to capture. Now the elements of poker + 2D fantasy should be understood.
I'm never going to underestimate people who share their opinions about my stuff. Although, art is subjective. Even so, I want you to know I always read the comments. I understand people, and I try to find a middle ground between what I want and what others want. Obviously, I'm always the priority. But if there's room for change and people want a change, if I think it's a good idea, I'll do it. I'll always be open to opinions, especially if they are made respectfully like they have been so far.
I want more people to wishlist my game. At the same time, I want more people to play TEKO. I'm going to prepare a new DEMO completely faithful to the latest version, which will also HAVE THE FULL GAMEPLAY LOOP and a lot of content. Yes, the pockets and cards will be limited, but it'll have so much to offer. And this will lead to a lot of people getting interested in the full version. Until now I was holding back, because I wanted to improve the official version. Soon, when I finish polishing the game 100%, I'll launch the demo, and this will help a lot. I'm excited and really looking forward to it.
I'm making an RPG. Yes. I don't know what's going to happen, I'm not promising anything. I just want to show you a bit of what I'm doing. I'm taking my time, trying to enjoy and think things through, imagining what my ideal game for this subgenre would look like. I have a lot of plans and you'll see more stuff (plus I created a YouTube series to document everything from scratch). I hope this new path turns out great. This isn't going to replace any of my other simultaneous projects, just clarifying just in case, I'm doing it in my free time. TEKO's development is not affected by the RPG.