Don't worry, I backed up the other one, but I'm going with this for the alien spacecraft. Part UFO, part retrofuturist rocket, and only three tentacles for the tripod look.

"Sir, is the Super Scaler effect really necessary for a cutscene like this?"

"I coded it, didn't I?"

...let's be honest, I'm a character designer, not a master of hi-res pixel art.

This is supposed to be the backside of a large alien spaceship. It looks too much like a giant escape pod with thrusters. I'm keeping the large tentacles, though.

Some big motions require big animation.

The least I can do is try to get the big motions right before drawing all the other details.

Resistance is futile.

Line work first, then shading.

Also, if you're asking "where's her hair?", that's gonna animate separately.

I might have to put this in a little black box on-screen, but that's no problem for me.

Testing out a tentacle...

Screenshots for Belgrad: Curse of the Castle

Back in the old days, you could just flash between these two frames to make dynamic lighting, to show something's flashing in front of her.

I'm just gonna use the other frame to indicate the lights are on. No flashing required.

Whoooooa, we're halfway there!

...in terms of cutscenes.