A. Aronsson’s WeBOLLog

Before I started making impossible figures in three point perspective I drew them in parallel projection. What I’m posting here is my greatest figure from that category. I made a few sketches in 2004, the idea was to prepare for a Photoshop project where I would create a piece that would look like a real Halo level, but I never got around to that part of the concept.

In 2006 Stuntmutt, the writer and artist of One One Se7en (now only updating sporadically), was getting married and as I’ve had lots of good times using his versions of the Halo characters and cooperating with him in person, I decided to dedicate this to him, his art and his new family.

While the happy couple enjoyed their honeymoon a few of the (Halo) community people had made guest strips which got posted during the absence of the original author; and this illusion was created to complement my guest strip (left).

Originally you had to figure out that there was more to it if you clicked the blinking crystal (2552 Sep 7 and the next)… I’m not sure how many who actually found it, or even understood the comic. Today I present the larger art directly for easy access.

As I usually do not create pieces with this amount of details, I was a bit indecisive of how to present it online. I ended up creating my own flash viewer; which you can launch by clicking the image below or this link. Hover the question mark in the top left corner for controls.

The entire figure was drawn and colored in Flash. As there was a lot of work to do I used the application I felt the most comfortable with, and Flash has really intuitive drawing utilities, I think, it only lacks in accuracy and resolution as it’s not really made to create print art. The work in 2006 spanned from late March to mid May, and as I only did contract work around that time I could spend a big chunk of my time on this.

Back then I also created this file to see the creation process over time. Only step #1 and #2 are from 2004, the rest are from 2006. This file has not been displayed publically before and was planned to never be, so please feel a bit privileged when viewing it now!

And as nobody will probably figure out the secrets or interesting details, I will list what I can recall. I think there was something with the number of weapon spawns and MCs as well, but I can’t seem to make any sense out of that now.

• You can see the original comic strip in the upper left corner of the artwork.
• There are weapons present from Halo 1, 2 and 3, referenced from the comic.
• There are flags from CTF, skulls from Oddball, a hill from KoTH and a bomb from Assault.
• The grenade cache to the right is a reference to Sgt. Johnson’s immunity to the Flood.
• Hidden text(s), but I won’t tell you where!

Lastly are a few screenshots from the levels I used as inspiration for the art direction. I grabbed the images from my own collection of Halo panoramas.

• Hang ‘em High, a favorite, also the initial project name was Dang ‘im Possible.
  
• Prisoner, you might recognize the color on the floor and gangways.
  
• Boarding Action, notice the level numbers.
  

Phew! This was way more information than I initially planned to write about this piece of art.

Flumen Formula is one of my many spare time hobby Flash projects which is unfinished. This one I’ve spent a fair amount of brain-juice to create, so I better complete it or the waste would be terrible! The game is fully functional, but what it lacks is levels, and some polish.

Development grinded to a halt when it was time to design the 144 levels the game can handle, but after several months I got the suggestion that I should open up level creation for anyone who would dare, which is now what I’m doing.

So here you have it, your chance to make a contribution to this project!

The Game
Water flows from the blue block. Your mission is to move and rotate the colored blocks so the water uses all canals in the entire level, without any leaks, including canals that are immobile.

How to Play
To lift a block, click it and hold the button down. To rotate the block, use the scroll-wheel or the left and right arrow keys. To drop the block, simply let go of the mouse button. Give it a test spin to understand what it’s all about, use the link at the top or click the game logo.

Level Creation
I’ve written a description of how to create and test levels for Flumen Formula, and I present it here in Word, PDF or HTML format. Also available are reference material in PDF, PNG and Flash (in HTML) formats for the game board, the various blocks available and a sample paper conversion.

• Level Creation Documentation: levelkit.zip @ 193KB

As mentioned above, levels can be pasted into the game and tested, right now! How to is described in the documentation!

Submission
To contribute your level to the project, please paste it in an email, or attach a .txt file with the level data, and send it to submit@7708.net. You decide yourself what personal information you want to disclose, but any type of name will do. It’s all that is needed for the credits. There is no deadline, but I will post a message when I have gathered enough acceptable levels!

Ownership
If you submit a level you grant me the ownership to the level data if you don’t specify otherwise. This is to simplify the process if someone wants to purchase a license for the game or the source code. If you do not want to grant me the ownership please note that in your email submission. In an eventual business transaction those levels will be removed from the game.

Credit
Everyone who gets their level(s) in the final version of the game will be mentioned as level designers in the credits and on any eventual site/page that accompanies it. If you go by a moniker, it shouldn’t be perverse, politically incorrect or anything else I wouldn’t want to say in public.

Genereal Feedback
Of course I also appreciate feedback on anything surrounding the game. Be it user interface, graphics design or anything. Feel free to send your feedback to feedback@7708.net or post a comment right here!

Thanks!

Note: The game itself is hosted on my private server, and not the server that hosts this blog, which is why it’s located on the 7708.net domain.

Update: My initial plan was to have this ready two weeks ago, but as I was finalizing the public release I came up with new features that changed how levels were constructed and other things that needed polish, so I’ve been postponing it several times. Two times the post managed to pop up on my front page as my social life kept me so distracted I forgot about when the post was going live, as well as denying me the time to finish the small details I myself thought necessary, sorry about this.

I like to doodle in Flash, I got this idea in my head after I browsed my old flash creations, so I made it. It’s really quite simple, but so toys should be. Just mouse over the flash to see what it does. A useful tip is to hold down your left mouse button in the flash to avoid triggering stuff, which enables you to interact with the center of the field without trouble. Note: This might be heavy for not so recent systems.