Hello Everyone ^^

[Nieca]

*just reposting my original greeting...something happened to it the first time* ^^

I figured I should stay silent no longer, and say hello to my fellow Ys brothers.

The name's Tim. I attended Eastern Michigan University; graduating in '98 with a BFA. I am an independent animator/illustrator. I currently work in a printshop. Previously, I did work for Working Designs back in their TG-16 days. Check out my myspace page to see some of my work.

Myspace page is: www.myspace.com/nie73

I've been a fan of Ys since my Turboduo days of gaming...many years ago. Anime was a large part of the 90's for me...and so was Ys. I collected many CDs, OAVs, and manga during that time. Since then, I've kinda got "out of the loop" with people and I lost most of my contacts that fed my otaku fire.

The pride in my Ys collection are 3 production cels from the Ys OAV collection. 2 of Lilia and one of Adol. You can view these on myspace.

Nice to meet you all.

[Justin]

You worked for WD? Sweet!!

So tell me what it was like to work there, if you don't mind. I was a huge fan of that company, and some incite on its inner workings would really make my day. I am so sad they are gone....

[Nieca]

hehe...thanks. ^^

hmm...well, to answer your question about WD...

Very early on, they had a lot of freedom to create for their translations...(i.e. had to create cover art, disk art, instruction book art/design). A large percentage of their TG-16 titles where not "well known" and the titles didn't come with a lot of original artwork from Japan. So, WD tended to tap into the young talent around the educational (and theatrical) institutions in the Redding area to create for the US releases.

My association with them actually happened by mere chance. ^^ It was a year after I graduated from high school, during my animation classes. I was starting to dive head first into videogames, and was hooked on titles that were coming from Japan. (My personal drawing style tends to reflect both Anime/Disney-ish styles). I was playing "Cosmic Fantasy 2", at the time. I had a question about the game, and decided to call the game "hotline" to get the hint I need. In my haste, I accidently dialed their offices rather than the "hotline" for the game. Someone in their offices picked up, and (to make a long story a little shorter) we ended up having a loooong conversation about the game, the industry, and art in general. The guy I was taking to was Don Shirley. (if you don't know, he's the guy who created all the cool box sets for all of their ps2 titles.). He decided to introduce me to Victor...we talked...and I ended up sending him a small portfolio of my work (including some Cosmic Fantasy drawings I did). He liked them, and the rest is history. Phew!

As for the pay...meh. It was fair. I was a naive kid just out of high school, so any cash in my pocket was good. Now, being older and wiser (and more refined in my artistic abilities), I probably would have wanted more. ^^

I worked from the comforts of my own home. I'm from the mid-west, and I sent my work in via snail mail (and eventually, email).

A big disappointment came when I got a chance to illustrate for a lil' game known as...Lunar: Silver Star Story for the Sega CD system. I had learned that WD picked up the title. I researched the title a bit and started a portfolio of character sketches to submit to them to win any illustration spot that they may need for the US release. Unfortunately, Lunar was one of the first big titles that came with a lot of original art...and they could only use that art that was provided. This started a trend that weeded out state-side illustrators.

So...I moved on and continued my college life.

Phew! done! I hope I haven't lost'cha with that story. ^^

I'll try to dig up those illustrations for Lunar and post them on myspace. Those sketches haven't seen the light of day for about 15 years. >.< probably buried really good...somewhere.

[Kimimi]

That's a really cool story! Reminds me of how a lucky Peter Molyneux blagged a load of Amigas over a spelling error -

uk.gamespot.com/features/petermolyneux/index.html

[Yakra]

I'm very, very bad at saying hello and welcome, but since the old post disappearing confused me so much (yesterday was very confusing! I thought I dreamt half the things up!), I figured I'd actually do so this time! :'D

Your story was incredibly interesting though! (I always considered Working Designs to be like the 'artists' dream company', even more so when I heard about that fan-made cover edition of Lunar 2, so its amazing to see someone who actually worked there!) It actually reminded me quite a bit (especially the pay bit XD) of how I got my first 'job' too, though it was no where near something as amazing as yours!

I really wanted to take a look at your works, but... one has to register at myspace to do so, doesn't one? Pooh.

Anyways em... welcome. I'm glad that old post of yours was real atleast! :'D

[Nieca]

Hello Yakra. ^^

I noticed there was a thread created for member's art work...I'll try to get some pieces up this weekend so you can see some of my art.

To follow up on WD...I've been "in and out" of the industry for the past 17 years. I've always considered them a good first step to one's career...but not a place to "hang my hat" on. Not to sound like a broken cliche....WD was a two-sided coin. The good side was they did give "budding" lil' artists, like myself, the chance to get published with little hassle. Nonetheless, WD was still a business...so the downside was they wanted to get the artist for cheap. But, in the end, WD was a fun experience...a good "feather in my hat".

Ok...I think my cliche machine broke on that last one.

wyrdwad: The most notable game I worked on for them was "Vay". I did a few "fill-in" pieces for various other games (In other words, they either used them, and I got a check...or they didn't), but "Vay" was the title I received credit for.

Keep in mind, WD didn't have absolute freedom to create for their box designs. They mostly used us for fillers. They did what they could in-house in regards to the design, but in the end, they still needed the approval of the parent company to go to press with it...which is one of many reasons why WD became known for their delays on release dates. ^^ Oh I just loved those delays.

[Nieca]

Yeah...I remember that rating system they had.

btw, when I finally got my name in the credits, they misspelled my last name. Typical, huh?

[Nieca]

heh...the thing is, I never owned a Sega CD system...so I never saw the credits to the game until many years later when I watched the ending on the internet. with it being sooo long before I noticed, I guess all I can do is laugh about it.

[Incog Neato]

Many welcomes, nieca! :D

[Nieca]

Thanks, Nunuu.

[Nieca]

hehe...np. ^^ Thanks for having me.