A Tale of Transient Orcas

In which Arielle shows the final work done for the Pong Clone and shares a bit more about the theme, in other words...a fascinating tangent on a specific ecotype of Orca and a rare genetic trait the species displays...

Pong [Delphinid Edition] is officially complete! It will be published shortly. You can expect the next post to be a link to where you can play and download the game!

Poor seal...

Above is a screenshot of the game at start! I think the ball rushing toward the Orca really sells it.

Below are close ups of pixel art completed for the player's paddles as well as images that show off their hitbox. Player 1 is the "white" Orca (more on that later) and Player 2 is the normal coloration Orca.

It was surprisingly more difficult than I thought it was going to be when I started, but I suppose I should have expected that. After all, I'm still really new to pixel art and "shading" in the medium. Though I'm learning some things really fast! I'm getting a better grasp of readable shape language, at least.

Now, for the curious among you, I figure you might be asking yourself what the whole "Transient Orca" and "Albino/White Orca" business is all about. So... Is there such a thing as an Albino Orca?

I wanted the game's paddles to look different, something difficult to do with animals whose coloration is so similar amongst individuals. I then realized I had never heard nor seen anything of an Albino Orca. In my mind, I figured that they probably died soon after being born, from a combination of being far easier to see and genetics playing a part in poor health. I found pictures of a couple of different individuals, all from the same ecotype Transient/Bigg's Orca. Names of individuals popped up repeatedly and so I researched: Tl'uk, Chimo, and Frosty. Their coloration wasn't the type of albino most people would think of when contemplating albinism, or Type 1 Oculocutaneous Albinism, but instead was a kind called Leucism. Unfortunately, Leucism comes with some conditions. For Chimo, Tl'uk, and most likely Frosty, Leucism is believed to be an indication of Chédiak–Higashi syndrome, which is a disorder that can also result in individuals becoming prone to infection, having a weakened immune system, and neurological issues with the nervous system. As a result, most orcas with Chédiak–Higashi syndrome are not often recorded to survive past 5-6 years of age.

Frosty is newest leucistic orca recorded, and also the "model" for Player 1's character. Frosty was first seen in September of 2019, and originally was mistakenly thought to be Tl'uk. They've been sighted as recently as April 2024 and is reported to be doing well.

I highly recommend doing some research on these individual orcas for yourself, or really, looking into individuals of any animal you have interest in.

Don't let this happen to you...it gets...SO LOUD...

FINALLY, I am off to go publish and post the link to the actual game instead of just writing a wall of text about it! Then...it's time to touch down on the next clone project: Lunar Lander.