Animated Demo: Sifaka World!

We often get asked about our work on Sifaka World, so we thought it would be cool to post a demo video we created back when the virtual world (MMO) was still being developed. This video shows just a few of the cool world areas, games, and characters 2A! designed and animated for Sifaka World!

You can also view more of our Sifaka World artwork on our blog and website.

Enjoy!




Copyright © Sifaka Productions, Inc.

"Weedy's Revenge" Game

2A! shows off our weed wacking skills with the Weedy's Revenge game!

This is our second team up with Digital Backlot for Growums.com. "Weedy the Weed" is on the loose and wreaking havoc in town! It's your job to help "Duke the Cuke" stop him by spraying him with your weed repellent!

2A! handled coding, animation and assembly of this rootin' tootin' Wild West Shooter-style game, using Digital Backlot’s awesome 3D artwork.

Be sure to head over to www.growums.com to test your weed shootin' skills!

Copyright © Growums

"So You Think You Can Grow" Game

2A! gets our grove on with the So You Think You Can Grow game!

We've teamed up with Digital Backlot to create a series of fun games for Growums.com. The object of this first game is to hit your keyboard arrow keys in the right combination to water and grow your tomato plant. If your timing is off, you'll face the judges' insults. If you impress the judges you’ll move on to the next level, and grow another inch closer to the stardom you've always dreamt of!

2A! handled coding, animation and assembly of this fun Dance Dance Revolution-style game, using Digital Backlot’s awesome 3D artwork and designs.

Be sure to head over to www.growums.com to test your growing skills!

Copyright © Growums

Animation: You Rock My World!

This animation is a great way to tell that special someone how much they mean to you. Especially when you're sleeping on the couch because you forgot your anniversary again! LOL =P

Another animation from our "flirty" batch of SweetIM's. Enjoy!



Copyright © SweetIM Technologies Ltd.

2A! Launches Mobile Site

Don’t have Flash on your iPhone or other mobile device? No problem!

2A! recently launched our “i-compatable” mobile site. The abbreviated site allows visitors to learn a little about our studio and view select videos and artwork without requiring Flash. This is the first version of our mobile site, so expect it to grow as we continue to make new content available. And of course, you can still see our full Flash website on your desktop PC or Mac.

Copyright © Two Animators! LLP

Animation: Knockout Girl

There’s no better compliment than having a beautiful girl tell you “you’re a knockout!” Of course, the fact that she could actually knock you out might be a bit intimidating, but who cares… it’s the thought that counts.

Here’s the first in an all new batch of “flirty” SweetIM animations. Enjoy!



Copyright © SweetIM Technologies Ltd.

Flirty Sweet IMs

Our latest batch of SweetIM animations (pictured above) has launched and boy are they hot! They’re all part of a flirty-themed batch, and include our humorous takes on bad one-liners.

2A! developed the concepts, designed and animated the characters, and provided the audio. Check out some hot screen shots below, and then head over to www.sweetim.com to download the FREE application.





Copyright © SweetIM Technologies Ltd.

The Skinny On Nuts Website

2A! gets healthy by adding The Skinny on Nuts Website to our diet!

Did you know that peanuts are not only good for your heart, but also good for your exercise routine? That's because eating peanuts, along with other nuts, provides the body with many of the necessary nutrients that help you get moving. This fun, educational site was commissioned by The National Peanut Board and is chock-full of important nutritional information about your favorite nuts. Get the "skinny on nuts" at www.skinnyonnuts.com and find out how eating nuts can be part of a healthy diet.

2A! helped design the Website and characters, and provided music and animation. We had a great time teaming up with LBVD to work on this project!




Copyright © National Peanut Board

Beetle Busters: Freeze & Collect Game!

2A! catches beetle mania with the Beetle Busters: Freeze & Collect Flash game!

We worked with our friends at JMH Education to create this online game which helps spread awareness about the Asian Long Horned Beetle, or ALB for short. The ALB is an invasive pest that destroys trees and threatens our industries and wildlife habitats.

In the game, players use their magnifying glass to identify the ALBs and then freeze and collect them. See how many points you can earn by collecting as many ALBs as you can spot, and help stop them from spreading. Don’t forget to answer the bonus questions between levels to earn extra points!

Check out more screen shots below, then head over to www.beetlebusters.info and play the game! Good hunting!




Copyright © USDA

Background Design: Sifaka User Homes

We all need shelter; it's a rule of nature. We human's have homes, animals have habitats, and in Sifaka World you can get the best of both with user homes for your animal avatars!

Our user homes started with the idea of a basic hut, with a wood floor and straw roof, that players could customize to their own liking with various furniture items. Below is my initial sketch of the empty hut.



As you can see, the inside of the user home got enlarged from the initial sketch to the color mock (below). We needed to make sure these huts had ample space inside for players to decorate and move their avatar around.



Below is the final base hut built in Flash. Now we’re ready to start decorating…



Players can earn points to buy furniture and other fun objects for their homes by playing the various games on the site. Another exciting option of these homes is you can even invite your friends over. Just think how jealous they'll be when they see your big screen TV! Below are a few screen shots of how we decorated our user home. In the second image you can even see the grid we had to adhere to when designing the user home and furniture items for game play.




Decorating and furniture buying is a fun thing to do -- at least until you see the price tag! I'm still saving up to get a hot tube in my own user home. ;)

Copyright © Sifaka Productions, LLC

Squirt Gun Bandits: Bar Background

Last but not least in our series of Squirt Gun Bandits game backgrounds, we've reached the final stage: the big bad boss!

This level runs along the same influences as last week's, with old west saloons as the inspiration. This background was more straightforward, as everybody is familiar with the scene of the cowboy at the bar. Since the villain only pops up from behind the bar, we only needed to separate the bar and everything in front of it from the background image. We also tried to keep things colorful and kid friendly. The bottles in the back are soda as opposed to the whiskey held in most. I like how at first glance, they look like the real thing until you try and read the labels. Most players don't pay attention to such detail though, as they have a boss to defeat! It takes some quick squirt gun shootin', but I feel this baddie is going to end up all soggy.





Copyright © Sifaka Productions, LLC

Squirt Gun Bandits: Saloon Background

Last week we showed the Street Background to the Squirt Gun Bandits game. We used a very customizable approach to the Street, because that's where players spend most of their time. Once they've progressed past the various Street levels they get to the Saloon interior, where we went with a more traditional approach to creating the background.

A Saloon seemed like the best place for the game's baddies to hide out in, so I went about researching saloons of the old west. Photos from that era are all in black and white, but it's easy to imagine the colors of that time. Places like saloons were able to afford things like wallpaper, so I tried to use that to add variation to the woodwork.




Even though we designed this background to be less customizable -- as it was only needed for one level -- we still made sure to build it out in layers. This way the programmers would have an easier time hiding those pesky villains behind objects. Below is an example of how we broke up the layers.



Once players defeat all of the baddies in this level, they move onto the final boss who hides further inside, behind the bar. Stay tuned for a peek at that background next week...

Copyright © Sifaka Productions, LLC