THE GREAT FARM BAKE EASTER DESIGN BLOG!
This blog is in two parts. The first part is the standard discussion with our five London-based designers, and after we welcome the designer sometimes referred to as 'God' by the others... a veteran all the way from our Finland HQ: it's Radish! Radish answered a couple of questions about his brand new cow pet. So, read on, dear Habbos...
Above: 8 of the finalised, pixelled versions of furni from The Great Farm Bake furni line.
Q: SO TEAM, LET'S GET RIGHT TO IT. THIS YEAR'S THEME IS ALL ABOUT FARMS AND BAKING. WHICH ELEMENT OF THE CAMPAIGN ARE YOU MOST EXCITED TO REVEAL TO HABBOS?
Elementary Kage: I'm really looking forward the Easter Bunny hopping in and surprising people by throwing eggs on the ground and running away! So generous of them, especially with all the goodies they have inside.
MrCroissant: I think the cooking mechanic is quite exciting, as there is loads of potential to do more and add recipes in the future.
Sparkaro: during pre-production, I worked on the new cooking mechanic and the different recipes, so I’m excited to reveal that new feature to Habbos and I hope they'll have fun crafting the different recipes and collecting the new food items.
Kukuyit: I think Habbos will really enjoy the public room activities we have in stall for them. Giant exploding eggs with treats? Yes please!
Cromsnosehair: I'm looking forward to the cow pet being revealed. It's been a while since a new pet has been created, so this should be quite the event.
Q: OUT OF THE FURNI YOU WORKED ON, WHICH ONE WAS THE MOST FUN? WHICH ONE ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF? WHICH WAS THE MOST TECHNICALLY CHALLENGING, AND WHY?
MrCroissant: the windmill was quite challenging to work on. Mainly because of the amount of animation frames, and needing to make sure they each looked correct from the isometric viewpoint. Anything curved or circular is always difficult to work on in isometric pixel art. And don't get me started on spirals...
Sparkaro: I had fun animating the Border Collie! The most technically challenging furni was the seed bag, which is really several furni in one, since the bag turns into seeds when 'cracked' that can grow into four potential crops. It was a bit of a challenge to get that functionality working properly, as there were several things I had to make sure were coded in, e.g. making sure the watering can effect would cause the crop to grow, and that it would randomly grow into one of four crop types.
Kukuyit: I enjoyed making the dessert dishes and trees the most, pixelling the smallest details is extremely fun for me. The most time consuming was the sprinkler as I had to animate all seven directions to get all the patterns you can see in the furni. I hope to see builders making beautiful giant fountains out of this item, it's a versatile item to use!
Cromsnosehair: I had most fun making the chickens. I programmed a lot of random animations in so they look more alive and unpredictable in their movements.
Q: IF YOU HAD TO LISTEN TO ONE OF THESE NOISES WHILE AT WORK CONSTANTLY FOR A YEAR, WHICH WOULD IT BE?
1. A selection of famous Donald Trump quotes on repeat.
2. A duck quacking.
Elementary Kage: I'd listen to the varying, magnificent calls of the duck gods. They'll quack secrets of the universe into my ears.
MrCroissant: A duck quacking. At least a duck knows what it's doing when it makes noise.
Sparkaro: definitely the duck!
Kukuyit: I'll take the duck any time; let the sound of the Duckets roll in!
Cromsnosehair: I'd have to go with the Trump quotes. Let's make Habbo great again!
Q: THE EASTER BUNNY IS GENERALLY CONSIDERED AS THE 'HERALD' OF EASTER. IN YOUR OWN IMAGINARY AND IDEAL WORLDS, WHAT WOULD YOUR HERALD OF EASTER BE? WHAT WOULD ITS/HER/HIS NAME BE? DRAW IT FOR US!
Elementary Kage: in my world, the herald of Easter would be the glorious Sky Qwark, a duck bird large enough to ride into the skies as it drops magical, colourful eggs of joy for people to find.
MrCroissant: in my world, the herald of Easter is a giant, chocolate egg firing, chicken mech.
Sparkaro: mine is called ‘Fluffington McBaa’.
Kukuyit: mine is the antagonist in the next spine-chilling movie coming to you this Easter: 'Lagomorph Origins: Never Forget'.
Cromsnosehair: My Easter herald is Eggbert the Eggman, inspired by the ancient game protagonist Dizzy.
Drawings below! Clockwise from top left: Sparkaro and Fluffington Mcbaa, Kukuyit and the evil Lagomorph, Cromsnosehair and Eggbert the Eggman, (middle) Elementary_Kage and the Sky Qwark, MrCroissant and the Chicken Mech.
Q: HEY, RADISH! LONG TIME NO SEE! YOU GOOD?
Great, thanks!
Q: ALL IN ALL, THIS PET IS QUITE A BIT MORE VARIED THAN OTHER PETS THE HABBO DESIGN TEAM HAVE MADE IN RECENT MEMORY. DID YOU HAVE FUN WITH THE DIFFERENT BREEDS OF COW? WHICH BREED IS YOUR PERSONAL FAVOURITE AND WHY?
Radish: Oh yes I've had fun with designing the cow and the breeds! I was born in the countryside and we had cows when I was young. Ayrshire is close to my heart, because that's the breed we mostly had back then (with a few of odd firesians and finncattle ones). But cows are generally beautiful and interesting creatures, regardless of the breed. I love to observe them and learn from their calmness and relaxed nature. For the Habbo cow breed selection I've also included some rare fantasy colours because - it's Habbo!
Q: DESIGNING AND MAKING A HABBO PET TAKES A LOT MORE WORK THAN OTHER ANIMATED FURNI TYPES. WHY IS THIS?
Radish: Habbo pet design takes more time than furni design because there's a lot of animation frames moving in eight directions, and all the moves and transitions from one action to another have to look as smooth as possible. Also the more versatile the pet's colouring options and breeds are going to be, the more it needs time for careful planning and design. And there's an AI that needs to be configured and tested to work correctly and logically for each pet type. Different pets have different behaviours, needs and abilities.
Below you can see three of the 16 normal cow breeds Radish made:
UPDATE - 20 Cow Breeds: ayrshire - brit white - friesian holstein - highland - exotic - belted - jersey - hereford - dexter - guernsey - hungarian - texas Longhorn - amdevon - ausbaz - normande - kyytto - arctic - devil - fantasy - crossbred
THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO TALK TO US, GUYS!
-Habbo Staff