I started work over a year and a half ago (maybe 2 years now, not sure) on a version 2 of all my Neko products. The original skins were some of the first products I released way way back at the end of 2005 or so I think and I have always felt they needed updating even though they used to sell well. Used to being the important part of that sentiment. Nothing of mine sells well now...but that tends to happen when you go crazy, disappear and don't release anything new for over a year or more - People forget you exist. And of course, I am no longer the only person in SL selling neko skins the way I used to be. That probably doesn't help. So...what the fuck was I writing about anyway/ oh...right...the version 2 shite.
Well, I started on updating those old neko skins a long time ago. I redid the tabby housecat stripes from scratch, added a lightened belly fur to the skin, and made adjustments to the face, eyebrows, makeup, etc to be more in line with my newer skins. I also tried a quick test for some tiger stripes, since people have always seemed to confuse the tabby striped skins for tiger skins and complained the stripes weren't prominent enough. The idea was to update the whole line. Add more options to the ears and scripting, throw in lots of interactive stuff and new features and release the whole new line when I designed a new store for more space.
Well, I did eventually have Teiko make me a new store...which is open now over 2 years after starting that idea. I also did prototypes of the new neko skin idea back then and then I didn't follow up. Like so much junk half-finished in my inventory. the prototypes are still sitting in a folder, but I spiraled out of control, went crazy again, and lost all motivation and ability to work or think straight for a year or more and here I am now looking at these old prototype version 2 skins and asking myself...are they shite or not? Should I continue with em or start over yet again?
Now...I am making a massive assumption here. Namely that even if i do decide to do anything with these or start over, that I will indeed complete something this time. That is a huge if for me right now at this stage of my recovery. Huge if. But...assuming i may be able to pull that off and I might actually work on a new set of neko skins...should I use these prototypes? Are they good enough, different enough, updated enough and simply not shite enough to be worth it?
I have a hard time answering that myself. I am my own worst critic, and I always hate my own art, my own work. That's hate. As in it fuckin' is trash. So it's hard for me to look at any of my stuff objectively. So, I decided...hey, while I have enough guts to post a blog today, let's just ask anybody out there still reading this what they feel. Shite? or Not Shite?
To that end...here are some images of the prototypes:
The Leopard Version 2 Prototype -
The Tabby Version 2 Prototype -
The Tiger Version 2 Prototype -
No, not the best pictures, but the ads are the same style as the old skins, so you could compare against the old look if you wanted to. They still need work even if they aren't shite, but the question is...do I bother with em at all? Hell...while you are at it and taking the time to comment (assuming anyone does), let me know if I should just scrap the neko stuff completely from my list of future works. I mean, honestly...when i did the original neko skins it was because no one was making any that I could find. they were rare, unique and new back then. But now nekos are so common you can't avoid stepping on a tail anywhere there are more than two people together, and seems every store out there has and makes neko parts and skins now. Is it time to move on to other stuff? If not, do I use these and continue with version 2? or scrap them and work on version 3 all anew?
Anyway. just some rambling, musing, and a cheap way to make all of you answer my questions and make up my fucked up mind for me. Yeah, I am lazy. Wanna do the actual work too? >_>
P.S. - Please, please, please don't ask me when these will be released. I get enough of that already, and seeing as I don't even know if I will do anything with them at all, I sure don't have any timetable. Hell, I don't have timetables for anything in my life just now, let alone new releases and stuff.
