# Mushroom Kid's Big Grass Sword

This is the Markdown version of https://www.liamarmitage.com/projects/mushroom.

A 2D platformer about Mica, a mushroom kid with a sword made of grass. It started as a 2022 game jam entry, then won a $10,000 stipend from RIT's Magic Maker Program to become a full game. I drew the backgrounds for the jam, and in production I made everything that wasn't characters or UI: environments, shaders, effects and lighting.

- **Role**: Environment art, VFX & tech art
- **Dates**: 2022–24
- **Tools**: Godot, Godot shading language, Aseprite, Blender

- **My part**: Background art for the jam. In production I led art direction: I was the only artist on everything besides characters and UI, so the environments, VFX, shaders and lighting are mine.
- **Funding**: $10,000 stipend from RIT's Magic Maker Program for fall 2023. A Kickstarter in 2024 passed its $15,000 goal.
- **Built with**: Godot, Godot shading language, Aseprite, Blender
- **Awards**: Best Visuals and Best Soundtrack, Game/Music Jam 2022. Aesthetics Award, RIT EDGE. Grand Prize, RPI GameFest 2024.
- **Status**: Demo out on Steam; the full game is still in development by Team Broke Kids.

## Links

- [Steam demo](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2734380/Mushroom_Kids_Big_Grass_Sword_Demo/)
- [Steam page](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2734360/Mushroom_Kids_Big_Grass_Sword/)
- [Kickstarter](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/teambrokekids/mushroom-kids-big-grass-sword)
- [itch.io](https://marytheproducer.itch.io/mushroom-kids-big-grass-sword)

## Shaders and effects

When the game went into production in fall 2023, I moved from drawing the world to lighting it. I wrote the game's shaders in Godot: god rays and post-processing that set the light in a scene, a fire effect, and fireflies. The god rays, fire and post-processing are still in the current demo.

God rays and post-processing over a village background

The fire took three versions. The first two are below, then the final one in the village.

First test

Halfway

Final fire, in the village

## Color and value

I planned the production backgrounds in color scripts and value sketches before drawing them.

*Image: Color scripts and palette studies for the production backgrounds*

Color scripts and palette studies

*Image: Value sketches for background art*

Value sketches

## The jam, 2022

The game started at Game/Music Jam 2022 as *Sword of the Morel*. I was the background and asset artist and drew the pixel-art world in Aseprite, over 60 hours of it. That look won the team Best Visuals.

[Watch the trailer](https://youtu.be/JZuC0EvqXaM), produced by Mary Haley.

The hard part was fit. The levels were built at a different resolution than my sprites, and a jam leaves no time to redo either. We worked it out together as the art went in.

*Image: Cover art: Mica sitting on a stump with the grass sword*

*Image: Cave background*

*Image: Large tree near the end of the game, where the bird's nest is*

*Image: The podium where Mica first finds the sword*

*Image: Village house built next to a tree*

*Image: Village house built into a tree*

*Image: Village house inside a tree stump*

*Image: Rock wall background*

*Image: Dirt tiles*

## After the jam

The $10,000 stipend from RIT's Magic Maker Program paid for development through fall 2023. The team then formed Team Broke Kids LLC and ran a Kickstarter from April to June 2024, which passed its $15,000 goal.

I left in May 2024 to join Respawn Entertainment as a VFX intern on the Star Wars Jedi team. I kept sending the team background art through the Kickstarter launch.

## Contact

The site has Email, LinkedIn and GitHub buttons.

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liamarmitage/
- GitHub: https://github.com/PukekoKiwi

## Pages on this site

- [Liam Armitage — VFX / Technical Artist](https://www.liamarmitage.com/index.md)
- [Star Wars Jedi Series](https://www.liamarmitage.com/projects/jedi.md)
- [Changeling VR](https://www.liamarmitage.com/projects/changeling.md)
- [Flipnote Shader](https://www.liamarmitage.com/projects/flipnote.md)
- [Jolyne's Thread](https://www.liamarmitage.com/projects/jolyne.md)
- [日本語: キノコの子のくそデカ草剣 | 琉煌・庵三灯寺](https://www.liamarmitage.com/ja/projects/mushroom.md)
- [中文: 蘑菇小子的超大草剑 | 琉煌·庵](https://www.liamarmitage.com/zh/projects/mushroom.md)