Sorry for the lack of updates, so lets just get right to it. POW is kicking some ass with Bot Stoppers; adding new features, artwork for enemies, backgrounds, effects, and animations. Currently our hotshot programmer is coding an enemy AI, a femme robot capable of flipping around the player and shocking him with a bolt arm.

Below the video are some Pros and Cons of making 2d animation within a 3d program

Pros and Cons of making a 2d animation in 3d software package:

Pros:
1. IK tools for limbs and skeleton, very handy and fast
2. Smooth deformations of bodyparts if painted correctly
3. No need to redraw every frame like flash or hand animation
4. Easy editing of keyframes and graph curves, fine tuning animation
5. You can build your own rig, a toy doll for you and others to use
6. Mel scripts and "Set Driven Key" for custom switches and details
7. With clever constraints and texturing, you can store a whole sprite sheet on a single textured object...
8. Copy pasting weights onto other limbs saves time
9. You dont have to model a full body, just flat cut out limbs

Cons:
1. render times
2. Complicated animations such as characters rotating might require extra sprites/angles of body parts. Hiding and unhiding these are a pain.
3. Can be rigid at times, all animation is mainly rotation that doesnt have Z depth
4. Weight painting can be time consuming
5. Bodyparts need to be cut out
6. Bending areas like elbows, knees, torsos and necks require special mesh flow/geometry
7. Additional effects like sparks, blood and smoke need to be added post to the render frames in another package IF you dont know how to use particles and etc within the main 3d package (we generally dont)
8. Polygons are still subject to shading anomalies like regular 3d objects if the mesh is twisted/compressed too much

9. Unless you have a sure fire way of importing into XNA, your custom rig in most cases will not work with XNA unless you built it with XNA in mind from the start. In many cases you might need to export each frame seperately and combine within XNA as a sprite sheet.

KEEP KICKING ASS!

The team at pow is pretty deep within development of Bot Stoppers. Lots of sweet stuff is being done, as well as new goodies coming down the pipeline. Take a peep at an animation of our main character charging some energy for a special move. (the animation is lower quality for preview purposes and to tickle your appetite).

We are also working on some new stuff in the game; new melee combos, special abilities like chargable moves, army spewing dropships full of electronic hatred and more.

Keep an eye on us, or we might just incinerate you with some kind of energy blast thing.
 

I usually try to avoid politics as it tends to cut into my creativity and productivity, but this issue hits too close to home.

The Supreme Court of the United States will be hearing arguments relating to video game regulation on November 2.  What this potentially means is that your rights as an individual to make your own choices on the types of content that you are interested in, will be limited by overarching mandates.

Project Runner is moving right along :)  Check out the videos below!

The movement still needs some refinement and we'll probably need to nix stair-like structures from the level design, but overall, the game is progressing well :)  Your comments are welcome!

We just helped launch a fan site for Anna Wu from the hit show Chuck on NBC! WeLoveAnnaWu.com is dedicated to requesting the return of Anna Wu to the show!

We've got a petition for you to virtually sign as well as the opportunity to suggest storyline arcs for how she may be incorporated back in :) Be creative! Contests will be held! Winners will be chosen!

We're also working on some other fun stuff for the site. I can't say too much, but it shouldn't be too hard to figure out given the kind of stuff we do :)

Go check it out already!

One of our original ideas/themes for the runner game was to have the player character be chased by something. Whatever was chasing the player could influence or create the whole theme of the game itself. We thought of an avalanche, so our player could be a little eskimo, or a rising tidal wave, where our player could be a surfer dude. Eventually we got into the idea of the player being a little egg, and the force chasing it was an army of....sperm.

We found that to be kinda awkward, but we did like the idea of some slick little runner woman hauling ass across the level, so we went with it.

If you didn't get it from the title, this project is so new, we have no idea what we're going to name it!

We've been inspired by games such as Canabalt and wanted to try our own hand at the run-for-your-life style of gameplay, but with a physics based twist.

Now Available Here!  FYI, the room is still being built!