Jeffrey "GrahfMetal" Canam
@grahfmetal.bsky.social
I'm a pixel artist and game designer who worked on unofficial NESventure games, Infested, and Spectacle, as well as Official NESventure games, Beyond Shadowgate (2024), and The Uninvited 2: Let Nothing You Dismay New Brunswick 🇨🇦 [He/Him]
In #BeyondShadowgate there is a tapestry in Castle Genynthell that depicts the demon, Motari, who lent his name to a terrain-altering spell, Motari Riseth. This spell is obtained and used in the original #Shadowgate to lower the Motari statue in a bit of histrionic irony
In #BeyondShadowgate, Jair's room features a plethora of Easter Eggs from the first #Shadowgate on #NES The symbol of courage can be found on the bed's backboard. The gonfanons in the back of the room are the same as the ones in the throne room. And multiple usable items are lying around the room
In 2017 I made #PixelArt of Warren, the protagonist from the Souls-Like game, The Surge I've always considered this game to be a misunderstood masterpiece, and easily THE most underrated/underappreciated gem of the last generation I'm playing through it for the umpteenth time, and I still adore it
For our upcoming game, Infested DX, I made three quick transportation animations, like this one where you go to a planet. I emulated the SNES Mode 7 while maintaining pixel resolution. A shocking amount of math went into pulling off these 2 sec. animations 😅 #IndieGame #PointAndClickAdventure
In our #PointAndClick Adventure game, Spectacle, there is a day/night cycle. The sky shifts in 30 min. intervals whenever you move to a new screen. This is often used for puzzles The bottom mirrored half is for reflections on water surfaces Download the game for FREE! grahfmetal.itch.io/spectacle
Some unused art from #BeyondShadowgate Most of these were from a cut chapter about a group of cultists in the forest The sword was going to be a puzzle where the pommel could be removed to reveal a jewel that you could take. I'm not sure how that would have worked
I bought this bookmark in '89 from the Scholastic Book Fair, alongside a book on Elephants, and the Illustrated Wildlife Treasury. It's been in hundreds of books, to over a dozen countries, and even survived a war. I've never used another bookmark. It's the little things.
In #BeyondShadowgate I wanted to gatekeep the Castle Shadowgate denouement with a literal gatekeeper When designing the gatekeeper I decided to copy the box art from the original 1987 release of #Shadowgate This creature doesn't appear in the original game, so I retroactively made it canon
#PixelArt 🎨 #PortfolioDay I'm a pixel artist who works on retro Indie Games, but I also love making #OC designs in various styles
I updated my GrahfMetal Games logo. I figured it's been 10 years now, and I've gotten better at drawing over the past decade, so it's time for an updated design Hopefully people will stop asking if it's a cactus 😅
It's International Rock Day! Does anyone get the rock reference found in the top left corner of this screen from our upcoming game, The Uninvited 2? #GameDev #IndieDev #IndieGame #PointAndClickAdventure #MacVenture #Shadowgate #TheUninvited2
At one point I considered making a cartoony Circus themed #PointAndClickAdventure game. I abandoned the idea, cause I couldn't think of an entire game's worth of content. Some of the art wound up making it into our game Spectacle, reimagined as the sepiatoned, film grainy story bumpers.
After making Infested, I was trying to think of the theme for out next #PointAndClickAdventure game. I played around with several ideas, but nothing stuck... ... one day I was going through my stuff, and found a Persian rug that my grandfather gave me. Once I saw this palace, I thought "BINGO!"
The Mines of Mythrok section of #BeyondShadowgate was based on the #Shadowgate VR game of the same name. I don't do VR, so in order to draw rooms for that section, I watched a playthrough uploaded by a team member. I would periodically take screenshots, then trace over them in my 8-bit style.
What if Shanoa from Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia was in Castlevania II: Simon's Quest... #PixelArt #Pixel #8-bit #Castlevania #NES
Unused art I cut from #BeyondShadowgate. I wasn't even sure what the puzzle would be. I just wanted to draw a witch's hut. I may still use the candle/pentacle/blood animation one day. I'll have to get those🕯️flickering. #PixelArt #Pixel #PointAndClickAdventure #Shadowgate
Here's some examples of what my #PointAndClickAdventure #PixelArt looks like in their earliest stages compared to being completed. You can see why it's a called a ROUGH sketch 😅
This is the sprite sheet for our #PointAndClickAdventure game, Spectacle 🎪 Our first game, Infested, has about 1/4 the amount of sprites, with the game itself being 1/2 the size, while #BeyondShadowgate has about 4x the amount of sprites, with the game itself being 2.5x the size #PixelArt
For you, what is "that" game? The one that EVERYONE loves, but you just can't get into, no matter how many times you try For me it's Secret of Mana. I LOVE the Seiken Densetsu series, and I've collected all of the merch and games, including Japanese versions Secret is BY FAR my least favorite 😅
Today is our 14th birthday! 🎉 We've been developing and publishing #indiegames as a husband-and-wife studio for so long, we need braces. 🎮 4 original games released 📦 6+ platforms supported 🕹️ 7 physical releases ... and big plans for the next 2 years. 🤗 #gaming
I got the #MegaMan Retro Play Watch. It's the one with the stripped down, touch screen version of #MegaMan2. It's surprisingly fun. I really like it, and I kinda want to get more #MyPlayWatch 😁
Morrigan the Mercenary says : "Pumpkins who skip sword practice are gonna get carved!!" #pixelart #ドット絵 Palettes : #silverlamplight #kiwi1bitplus #cosmicdust
The evolution of Death screens in the #Shadowgate universe #PointAndClickAdventure games. The #BeyondShadowgate ones were a blast to draw/redraw. The Japanese Deja Vu one is genuinly frightening 😱 #TheUninvited2 #InfestedX #itchio #NESventure
My brother and some friends of mine at @komigames.bsky.social are making this incredible looking MMX inspired #Metroidvania, action-platformer #IndieGame, called #GeminiX. Please wishlist it, and spread the word. We're in for a real treat with this one.
Gemini X - WISHLIST NOW!@geminixgame.bsky.social · 2mo agoFight For Everlasting Peace in GEMINI X, a brand-new Metroidvania! 💥Incredible Boss Battles 🗺️Interconnected World and Branching Story 🚀Anime Inspired Sci-Fi Setting World Premiere at @futuregamesshow.bsky.social ! Wishlist on Steam! store.steampowered.com/app/4360760/... #GeminiX #summergamefest
The evolution of title screens in the #Shadowgate universe #PointAndClickAdventure games, as well as in our tribute games #Shadowgate #BeyondShadowgate #TheUninvited2 #InfestedX #itchio #NESventure
The evolution of close-up keypad/lock puzzles in our #Shadowgate style #PointAndClickAdventure games #itchio #IndiaGame #IndieDev #BeyondShadowgate #TheUninvited2 #InfestedX #NESventure
The evolution of cave entrances in our #Shadowgate style #PointAndClickAdventure games Infested and Spectacle are available for free on itch(.)io, while #BeyondShadowgate is available on Steam and GOG #TheUninvited2 and #InfestedX are in development #itchio #IndiaGame #IndieDev #NESventure
