Using creativity to get closer to what you love
Hallå pals!
Jonas here with another issue of Indie Notebook to get some ideas out of my noggin, and to inspire you to do the same.
I went to a concert with my partner this weekend, to see one of her favorite musicians Cosmo Sheldrake. He makes music by sampling sounds from nature, and he’s very nerdy about it (I say that with love). He described how he went on a trip with a biologist friend to a South American country, stuck his microphone into a hole where she found a new species of psychedelic mushroom and used the sound of the soil in one of his tracks. I think it was this track called Soil, where he used it.
He had more stories like that - recording whales chasing squids and jamming with a singing bird under a tree in the middle of the night. His creativity takes him on adventures and helps him get closer to what he loves. That’s kinda what this newsletter is about and I can’t think of anyone else who lives that idea as clearly as Cosmo does. Although I don’t know how often he does this, this is just my impression from my first very brief peak into his world that evening.
Which reminds me that I’ve got a collection of photos on my phone of moss and nicely textured rocks, etc. that I never did anything with. My idea when taking those pics was to use them for messily texturing 3D assets. Might be time for those textures to come to use soon…?
Using Unbound
Here’s a new project/gig I’m really excited about! I’ve been given early access to Unbound, an SDF 3D modeling software, in which you can also make games. For now I’m just focusing on the modeling part of it.
SDF modeling is quite different from modeling, there are no polygons involved. It’s basically like sculpting with magical, geometric clay. I can quickly make a new lump of clay, change its color, tell the lump how much it should blend with other lumps of clay, how “fluffy” it should be and I can even create anti geometry - shapes that remove shapes from other shapes.
It’s a joy to work with cause it’s so straight forward and very much in line with the approach I have when I 3D model in general (using mostly vertex colors and chunky shapes). Plus it’s lit and colored nicely as I work, unlike normal 3D software.
I’ve been asked to focus on making environments because plenty of users have already made characters in it. So I’m making this little diorama with treehouses. Treehouses can never go wrong.
Mini Notes
💬 Comic strip - KINGLY
This just cracks me up. I’m always happy to find a good comic strip online that feels modern but not like a meme. Several memorable and lovable characters. It’s still being updated and it seems like the regular updates are happening over on Nick Edward’s instagram. Which I’m honestly not a fan of, it’s hard for me to read and appreciate comic strips in that format. I prefer to be able to read seamlessly, either vertically or horizontally. It’s very time consuming to cross post a strip to many platforms on a regular schedule though, so I understand why.
I’ve been trying so many platforms for Space Deer and think I’m gonna stop posting regular updates on instagram because nothing I post over there gets seen beyond my close friends.
🕹️ Game - Hollow Knight
I’ve been in a big metroidvania mood lately. I’ve been playing Axiom Verge, Metroid, Ori & The Blind Forest and Animal Well. They’re all ok, the best one out of those so far is Animal Well, I played through it in three days and enjoyed it and appreciate the game design going on.
But with every game I found myself comparing it to and wishing I could replay Hollow Knight for the first time. It might be close to a perfect game for me? It just pulls me around effortlessly and every minute is a joy. In the others I’m often/constantly frustrated, feeling lost, stuck or like I can’t tell what is happening (looking intently at you Ori & The Blind Forest).
Oh and I got an entire metroidvania idea sprout that I’d love to make or explore, it’s hard to stop thinking about it. But it would be a pretty long project…
Lmk if you have any metroidvania recommendations!
Panel of the week
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Thank you for reading Indie Notebook! The best way to support me right now is by sharing this newsletter with a friend.
Take care and have a creative week.
Dude, I wish I enjoyed Ori & The Blind Forest but I just don't know where to go.
Metroid Prime Remastered is great (although it might not be what you had in mind, with it being first person). So is Metroid Dread, but it is even better if you know the story of the previous 4 instalments.
That 3d model looks really nice. Unbound seems pretty cool.
Yes t-shirt material! Looks great!
> My idea when taking those pics was to use them for messily texturing 3D assets.
Sounds like a very cool idea.
KINGSLY is fun!
I found hollow knight a very enjoyable experience, though it doesn't push the medium of gameplay in the way I like to. Loved the visual style and parallax and animation and colors.
It seems you're doing lots of cool things with Space Deer and unbound explorations, nice!