I suppose I should explain what salad fingers look like, well just be warned it's not a pretty sight. This humanoid creature has green skin and three tendril-like fingers on each hand. Its teeth are yellowing and its eyes are creepy. What's even more disturbing is how it talks about its love for rusty spoons in a haunting tone. Apparently, Salad Fingers particularly enjoys how the spoons feel against its salad fingers (Bradley, 2021).

I heard in an interesting interview with Firth (Bradley, 2021) where he talked about Salad Fingers and that it was actually inspired by a friend's instant-messaging username, "Salad Fingré." It's funny how things like that can spark creativity! , And did you know that back in 2005 (YEAH I know we are that old anyway moving on), the series was even recognized as the "best flash animation online" by the San Francisco Chronicle's Year in Review? It's amazing to see how far we've come since then in terms of online content creation.

David went to study at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and originally wanted to major in film. However, David found that he could express himself better with animation, so he chose that instead. David had always wanted to combine animation with horror because he thought they both had a lot of potential but there weren't many examples of it being done well.

‘Romero says (Creepypasta Stories - Scary Stories and Original Horror Fiction | David Romero, 2020), “I’ve always had an affection for the arts, especially since I grew up watching animated films like Secret of Nimh and Nightmare Before Christmas.” he also said “Since graduating UArts, I got to work making animated horror shorts that I could submit over to festivals to get a feel of the process. During this time, I took up some freelance illustrating to practice on my storytelling for personal projects. I’ve been experimenting ever since, mixing mediums for my shorts and illustrations and am currently working on my Instagram horror story, noc_ternal.”(Instagram, n.d.)’

In the game you find yourself mysteriously waking up in a ghostly residence, Upon waking up in an unfamiliar place, I couldn't help but feel uneasy. The atmosphere was tense, and something felt off. As I looked around, I saw ghosts frantically preparing for a dinner party. It all seemed like a dream, but I knew it was real. To find my purpose and make sense of my surroundings, I had to solve puzzles and interact with the ghosts. It was a challenging experience, but thanks to a unique camera that allowed me to navigate through the residence, I managed to make it through. Overall, it was an unforgettable experience that I will always remember.

After Dream was aiming to release hopefully for PC on March 15th, 2023. The game still hasn't been released yet but is due to release soon on Steam and hopefully on GOG and the epic games store, as well as a potential console release sometime later.

If you're a fan of spooky and intriguing games like me, you might want to check out Afterdream(Afterdream on Steam, n.d.). but since it's not out yet you can Wishlist it on Steam and you can watch the trailer to get a glimpse of what's in store. The game lets you explore a mysterious location filled with ghosts, and you'll need to collect items and solve puzzles to progress in the story. One of the cool features is that you get to use a camera to interact with objects in the game. The setting is dreamlike and vivid, making for an immersive experience. Can't wait to see how good the game is when it comes out!  

A spiritual successor to Until Dawn (2015) and The Dark Pictures Anthology Series, The Quarry (The Quarry (Game) - Giant Bomb, 2022) narrates the tale of seven teenage counselors of Hackett's Quarry Summer Camp, who become trapped in the deserted campsite and must brave monstrous beasts and bloody locals.

Have you heard of the new game that's been released? It's similar to Until Dawn and The Dark Pictures Anthology, featuring third-person exploration, timed dialogue choices, and quick time events. What's interesting is that there's no losing condition, as the story proceeds to one of multiple endings regardless of which characters live or die. It also has local and online multiplayer modes, numerous difficulty and accessibility options, and a special "Movie Mode" that removes all interactivity and shows the game as one long film. Players can set the personality traits of each character beforehand, allowing for rewatchability. It's worth checking out if you're a fan of these types of games! (The Quarry (Game) - Giant Bomb, 2022)

But Wow, the attention to detail in this game is impressive! I read that Digital Domain conducted facial scans of every cast member to create distinct facial shapes and expressions for the in-game characters. Supermassive then used this data to create the looks for each character. It's amazing how realistic games are becoming nowadays. (How Digital Domain Brought Photoreal Characters to Life in ‘The, n.d.-b)

It's fascinating to learn how the cast of The Quarry went to Digital Domain's stage in L.A. to act out their roles in full mocap suits and a facial capture rig for performance capture. It shows how much effort and attention to detail go into creating realistic characters and experiences in modern games. Each character was performed individually or in small groups, It's really impressive that they acted out multiple iterations of the game's story to give it a variety of narratives, including unique death scenes for each character. It just goes to show how much attention to detail is required to create a truly immersive gaming experience.

“It's weird to think how primitive the technology was,” David says of that era. “I think you might have had to copy the link from MSN Messenger into your browser. Before the days when you could even have multiple tabs.” 'Part of the cartoon’s appeal and virality was undoubtedly its unsettling nature, especially to kids, but David reveals that he never actually intended for Salad Fingers to be scary'(Holliday, 2022).

It's hard to believe that it's been eighteen years since David first introduced us to the bizarre world of Salad Fingers. But even after all this time, he's still finding ways to expand the universe with new episodes. The latest installment, Salad Fingers 12, is just as weird and intriguing as ever. I can't wait to see what David will create in his next episodes if he keeps posting them.

'David is a talented artist who has also taken Salad Fingers on tour, giving fans the opportunity to enjoy a full screening of the show's episodes. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, David has continued to engage with his audience through frequent streaming on Twitch, providing a unique opportunity to watch his animation come to life in real time.

In addition, David has recently gained a substantial following on TikTok, with over 789,900 likes and millions of views across his videos. Many of his videos feature the Royal Family, which must be interesting for his viewers' (Holliday, 2022).

 Pleasant Inn is an example of David Romero's work, the Earwig Creature is the main antagonist of David Romero's animated short film "Pleasant Inn". The origins of the monster are unknown, but it is speculated to have been a lab experiment gone wrong that managed to break out and that the monster is hunting for a new head, although these speculations were never confirmed (The Earwig Creature (Pleasant Inn) | FC/OC VS Battles Wiki | Fandom, n.d.).

Not only does David make short horror films he also designs and creates pictures and drawings or digital photos of horrific things that will haunt your dreams and be psychologically horrifying.

It's interesting how technology like Masquerade and Chatterbox can be used to improve the development process of a game like The Quarry. By allowing the team to access the entire library of facial expressions from every cast member, they could make necessary adjustments to the performances that remained true to each actor's unique facial tics and mannerisms. This not only saved time and money but also ensured that the final product was truly immersive and authentic. The developers behind The Quarry are dedicated to pushing the limits of what is possible with technology and creating an unforgettable gaming experience for their players.

“It was important for us to make every movement and reaction as realistic as possible, to create an immersive experience where players truly feel the weight of their decisions and connect to the characters,” says Will Byles, game director for The Quarry. “We wanted to get as close to the likeness of the actors as possible, both in terms of the super high detail scans and the subtleties and nuances of their performances. With its history of award-winning VFX and pioneering digital human work, Digital Domain was the best choice for this.”(How Digital Domain Brought Photoreal Characters to Life in ‘The, n.d.-b)

Motion capture is a great technology that can greatly improve the animation process for games and films. It's amazing how it can capture the realistic movement of characters and props, making them look more natural and lifelike. Plus, it's a cost-effective way of achieving this, which is always a plus. I can see why it's becoming increasingly popular in the industry (Matt, 2022).

I also think motion capture is a great technology because it has a lot of advantages over traditional computer animation. One of the biggest benefits is that it's very low latency and can produce results in close to real-time. This can be a huge cost saving in entertainment applications where keyframe-based animation can be very expensive. I think the Hand Over technique is a great example of how motion capture can be used to achieve this. Overall, I'm impressed with the capabilities of this technology and it's clear why it's becoming so popular in the industry. (Wikipedia contributors, 2023).

I found out that Afterdream uses Pixel art (Game Design, n.d.), a cool digital art style with limited colors and resolution. Pixel art is indeed a fascinating digital art style that involves using pixels as the building block to create images. It's a cool way of drawing using graphical software and is perfect for creating retro-looking graphics for games, animations, and icons. Afterdream is a great example of the impressive results that can be achieved with this unique style.

Creating a unique art style can be quite challenging, but it's worth the effort. Afterdream is a great example of how pixel art can be used to create stunning visuals. The art assets were painted using bold texturizing, and the use of various shaders added a unique touch to the style. Afterdream is a hybrid between pixel art and low-resolution art, which makes it even more interesting.

During an interview Jesse (Teel, 2022) was asked “What was the development process like for this game?” and Jesse’s response was:

“The development is still ongoing. But so far, it has been a blast. I was initially going to make a very short game, targeting around one hour of gameplay. Even though Afterdream isn't going to be a long game, it will be more than that, likely around 2-3 hours.

I'm going solo, so it's a balancing act. It's fun but, at times, very demanding. It's hard to be super-efficient all the time, so there are days I don't get as much done as I'd like. It's the little details that take lots of time! But yeah, I've enjoyed developing Afterdream, and I believe it shows.”