Within the game industry, documentation is extremely
important in order to structure the development of a product. Regardless of the
project, a studio will more than likely have a written brief and plan to ensure
that every employee and designer knows what they are doing.
While I have been on this course, I have realised how
important these documents are. In order to keep everyone on the same page,
these should all be up to date with the managers and publishers plans as they
are always changing. Demonstrating how these may be laid out, I thought I’d
look at how one of my final major project ideas may be planned and set out.
The overall theme of this idea is the setting of an old
valley based quarry or mine. Being in a rural setting, there would be old mud
and dust tracks along with vehicles to drive about and work with. With this I
also hope to put in a shooting range which would allow the player to try out
various rifles and guns, which could be shot at targets. I would also produce a
vehicle to drive around. The platform I would aim to create this for would be
for PC and next generation consoles, aimed at a generally older audience, 16+.
To produce this, I’d use 3DSMax, zBrush and Photoshop to produce models and
concept art work. I’d also use various other software to help in the aid of my
workflow.
You as the player will be the lead character. I had not
intended to make this a known person and I would instead extend my focus onto
the vehicle and weapons as well as the environment. I would not produce a visible body so I would
not really require any specifications for it, other than that of the arms and
hands which may be visible when using the weapons.
I would like to give the player access to a land vehicle
that could be drivable. I would need to set a budget to make it look good, yet
efficient in engine. I would also have to consider possibly doing an interior
for the driver to see if you were to drive in first person. But this would
depend on the time I have to produce it as well as practicality with my ability
as an artist.
The environment would be the edge of a valley, where you
arrive at a waterfall with an old coal/slate mine low down on the slope of the
valley, with a small stream flowing from the waterfall past the mine house. I
would have to consider the possibility of making the building open or not, but
this would depend on the time and budget. However, being able to enter the
building would be unnecessary for the player as it would not help with the
gameplay or experience.
As the main focus would most likely be the assortment of
weapons; this would be my main focus and attention throughout development.
These could be a selection of weapons such as a rifle, pistol and machine gun,
or I could develop a single weapon with various attachments that could be
added. As for other props, I would make the shooting range look as realistic as
possible. With this being the main focus, it would mean that I could make this
small section my main project environment and have the rest of the environment
un-explorable with less focus on some of the environment.
Having written this plan, it’s helped me to run through the
process and run possibilities through my head. As well as this, I feel like it
has given me the realisation that I would really have to plan what I would want
to make my main focus and desire so as not to cause any confusion or make the
project too large and difficult to actually complete in the given time.
In a game, levels are important. Like, really important.
They’re what everything else is placed in or onto. Without levels, you just
have assets. Because levels are so important, it’s no surprise that level
design is such a complex process when it comes to creating a good game.
In most games, levels are designed and built depending on
the storyline and plan of the game itself. However, with free-roam, open world games;
you will usually have one very large “world”, maybe with the addition of more,
smaller maps if a narrative demands it.
Like a drawing, painting or any 2D piece, a level would be
built up in layers and processes; through development stages and construction
stages. The game design pipeline will be followed throughout, running through
initial concepts to early builds and white boxes of the map to see if it works
for what the run through of the game requires. When it actually comes to
finalising the map and adding assets, these will be built up like a painting in
order to make the level look real. From graffiti on the wall to a tank on fire
while sitting in a destroyed wall, these details, big or small really add depth
and believability within the levels.
When looking at open world games, the environment has to
draw the player in wherever they may be in the game world. It has to give the
visual and aesthetic feel of what it is representing. An urban, city
environment such as the recent GTA:V needs to make each part of the city
different and entertaining in some way, but retain the immersion of being in an
LA-like American city. This can also backfire on some developers however. Take
Team Bondi for example: LA Noire had a large, open-world map between single
player levels. Being and impressive and visually interesting 1950’s setting it
almost felt like it was there to cover up a much smaller game. There was no
fast travel, meaning you had to drive through the city, usually to very far off
objectives. The only thing that the open world was good for was to find
collectibles, cars and occasionally help at a random crime reported on the
radio. This, in my opinion shows lack of polish when finalising the game and
although GTA is similar, it gives you lots of things to complete around the
whole world. Be it side missions, random encounters or simply buying and
upgrading cars and clothes.
Following the pipeline process, levels are usually white
boxed or mapped out to give a visual idea of how a level will look and play
out. This is an important part of level design as it looks at how the level can
and will be played, where the player can go and reach and how. It also explores
the practicality of certain visual and technical parts of the map. To make the
map in the way it is planned for story or mechanical purposes could change its
look and asset positioning. This may be to give the level enough spacing. This
is space between different events; giving the “tempo” to the game if you like.
If too much happens at once and too quickly, then the player will feel
overwhelmed and rushed. Too little to do *cough* LA Noire *cough* and you will
find the player getting bored and uninterested.
Level design is very important when it comes to game
creation. It’s not just about the look and feel of it, but the way the whole
map plays. If it is done right, you have a stunning game which is both good
looking and interesting, making you want to play more. Do it even slightly
wrong and you could lose focus from the player all together.
In art, composition is a paramount understanding in the way
artistic principals pull together to create an image. This can be seen in
almost every master artist’s pieces; from those in history all the way to
modern artists. Composition is like the ingredients to a cake; you can have all
the right ingredients, but put them together in the wrong order and you won’t
be having a slice.
Without composition, things in the scene can look “wrong” or
out of place. On my course, this is something that you can’t afford to get
wrong as you are trying to draw the viewer into the setting and make them lose
focus of reality. You can’t make this happen without everything portraying the
same genre, story and scope. For instance, you wouldn’t see a car in one of Da
Vinci’s paintings, as it just wouldn’t be expected there and cars didn’t exist
in his time. A lot of composition also therefore comes down to a good general
knowledge of what is being created. If a concept piece is being drawn for a
first person shooter set in the future, you would need to know what the
weapons, clothing and environment look like or are based on.
Obviously a lot of artwork comes down to the imagination,
which can even be noticed in some historical artwork. But the understanding of
how things work in the world; the weight, the scale, reflectivity, etc. is
vital in making a piece “belong”. However, composition can involve less if
needed and can largely come down to the way in which light is used in the scene
or how “ingredients” are positioned/mixed together. An example may come from
looking at the rule of thirds and the rule of odds. The rule of odds suggests
that people find an odd number of subjects look much more natural and less
ordered as opposed to an even number. This is because humans pick out patterns
in nature, and if a pattern is spotted the illusion can sometimes be lost. That
being said, the rule of thirds helps to position the piece. Based on the golden
mean (1:1.618) this understanding of division within the picture can help to
naturally frame the subject of the piece and makes it much more visually
interesting.
When we look at composition in 3D space, be it in a game
level or when modelling and texturing a character, these rules still have to
apply. A level must be built up using all the correct assets, putting them in
space where they belong as well as giving them purpose. It would be no good
making one long street and having the same building everywhere you look, with a
tree in the middle of the road, it just looks out of place. It’s the small
details which add to the composition. If you can affect the silhouette of
something enough, it can look unique. Too much and it doesn’t belong. This has
to be taken into account when putting a level together.
Within a game developing company, it is essential that there
is a planned and very strict schedule to be followed at all times. For us on my
course, we are learning how to plan and stick to these timeframes.
With each project we are set, we are given a brief which
gives us the, genre/backstory, technical specifications and anything else we
need to know about producing the final product. This will be given in different
ways; whether we are producing work for 2D or 3D aspects.
Ultimately, these briefs are structured in similar ways. We
are given the general outline of the piece before conducting research and
finding reference. Then we look at silhouettes and idea generation which moves
us on to a development of the concepting process and design exploration.
Finally, you end up with the final conceptual idea, which can then be modelled,
sculpted, imagineered, etc.
The time frame always depends on the product. For our visual
design projects last year, we were usually given between 1-3 weeks, but this
largely depended on whether we were drawing still life as practice or conceptualising
a character or in game asset. With our Game production projects, we were given
around 3-4 weeks; again, this was all down to the brief and final result we
aimed for.
Already in second year, the step up is noticed. Although,
there isn’t necessarily more work to do, or less time to do it in. A definite
change in attitude and skill has improved everyone’s final outcomes with their
work. The understanding of having a good plan is on my mind this year. I look
to try and be consistent with each module, and to complete enough work to keep
a balanced working ethos.
In Critical Studies we looked at the pipeline process that
an average game studio might follow. It follows a specific set of instructions
throughout the process and always sticks to the brief. With our 2D conceptual
projects, we usually just see it through to the final conceptual design and
never all the way to actually building it in 3D space to put into a game
engine. Because of this we have the developmental process, closely following
that of a company’s design pipeline in game production, but less so if it’s
just for a single asset/character.
The design pipeline for a company follows the entire process
for creating a game. Although we don’t/haven’t made an entire game, we still
follow these design aspects in order to explore and create the best ideas in
these given tasks. Although there is one main structure, it largely branches
out in order to focus on refinement.
For any game development team to function smoothly, the
pipeline has to be closely regulated, giving you art directors and many other
heads of authority keeping everyone’s stylisation and vision focused on the brief.
This is an excellent way for directors to keep track of what the whole team are
doing as the whole pipeline can be changed and shifted with the team still
following. It is clear that without this structure and the development of all
areas in the pipeline, games would be pretty pants. The clear focus of where
they need the final product to be helps the development continue throughout the
project, and not just at the beginning. This is how it should always be done.
So this is where my motor is reignited and churning faster than ever before.
Second year of Game Art Design! It’s been a long break away from Leicester and
I’ve had some time to readjust my body clock, learn some new things and earn
some dosh.
This for me was a time of thought and reflection on my work and attitude to the
course last year. I wasn’t as happy as I could be with my grades, and I
entirely understand why. I don’t think it was that I fell behind, or that I
missed deadlines. I think it was more my attitude and artistic history which
had some things to do with this lower grade. Throughout school, I liked to
think of myself as a bit of a “perfectionist” in Art. I didn’t learn a lot of
theory and technique and so largely relied on my natural artistic ability. I
liked to think that if I produced a piece of work that was 100% accurate when
compared with the photo I copied, that it’d look better, and I’d be appreciated
more.
However, since starting the course, I realised very early on that accuracy with
speed is essential. Things need to be done to an extremely high standard and
quickly. I guess it’s like flying a helicopter; you have to know how to do it
well and constantly concentrate on your actions. Take your mind off it for just
a second or neglect to plan ahead and it’s a downward spiral. Because of this
“perfectionism” attitude, pictures took a long time to produce, which usually
caused me to fall being on work quantity. But this didn’t concern me too much
as I would work extra hard to complete work to the best of my ability. Although
I did not always complete as much work as my fellow art students, I still got
similar high grades to them from terms of effort. This always spurred me onto
doing better pieces of work and that’s why I’m in Leicester… to improve my
skill at the most rapid rate possible.
It’s hard to think that last year was about 8 months of
learning the fundamentals of the game art world. The work load was an enormous
step up, and already in the beginning of this second year, it’s obvious that
the bar is going to continue to get higher. Having looked more into anatomy,
form and lighting over the summer, I feel a little more confident about the
year ahead .I wish I could’ve done more personal work, but work was essential
in being able to afford the course. I aim to develop and stick to a tighter
working schedule, as well as focusing more on what I am doing in order to be
most efficient in as little time as possible. This year, is about me developing
my skill. I hope that by the end of the year, even if I have a rocky first
semester, that I have something to show for it.
So here it is… the end of my first year doing Game Art Design.
And all I can say is “Woah?! What just happened?” Because quite honestly it
feels like I’ve been hit by a bus of knowledge and artistic skill! This past 8
months or so have gone by so quickly; I’ve learnt so much and met so many new
people. I really don’t know where to start!
5 hour masters study - Rembrandt 1655
I came to Leicester in September as a stranger to everyone,
unaware of what lay ahead for the year. Within a few weeks I had met so many
people that I was struggling to remember names and the start of the course had
me diving into a pool of artistic challenges. The learning curve of the past
year has been a very steep one and has helped me develop as an artist
significantly more than I had expected. In both my Game Production and Visual
Design modules it is clear when comparing work from the beginning and end of
the year that my skills have sky rocketed. And with Critical Studies, I have
improved with confidence and the fundamentals of both blog writing (here, for
those unsure…) and with my presentational skills.
But let me talk to you about Game Production first. Back in
September, I had never even touched 3D software in my life and at first
believed that this may hinder my chances of progressing on the course. But being
plunged into the deep end really gave me a determination to do the best.
Although at first my work was very basic and not on par with any 2nd
or 3rd year work, it didn’t matter to me, and it has shown. I can
now happily look back on work and understand how to change or improve it. I’ve
also become much faster at completing this work with helpful tips and shortcuts
given down the years through the second and third years. I also have also begun
to understand how to look at a shape or object and have a good idea of how to
produce it in virtual space.
Transit Van model - 4989 triangles
Secondly, Visual Design has shown me just how insanely
quickly my artistic skills can flourish. I used to think I was a decent artist,
and was happy with my skill level. However, within the first few weeks it
became clear to me that I would really have to work on timing and mark making
techniques and understanding. With the new idea of “artistic license” I’ve come
to terms with a sketch or painting not being absolutely 100% perfect and
accurate. I now know that if I want to succeed in my hopeful career I have to
rapidly produce work at a high level of quality. Looking back at my work over
the year, it is noticeable at how much my working speed has accelerated and
that with anatomical and artistic studies I have begun to understand how to
correct my errors and use many different materials effectively.
Overall, my first year has been extremely challenging but
doubly exciting! One thing that really creates a good working atmosphere is the
sense of close comraderie between the whole year and also with that of the 2nd
and 3rd years. This is helped by the very useful and casual tutors
who truly drive this course. With all of these elements combined, the course
members can really develop with their personal skills and thrive within the
working environment. I have thoroughly enjoyed my year and I am eager and
excited to start with the second year of the course and see how much further I
can push my skills. I look forward to seeing my learning curve turn to the sky
and for my work to become more of an industry standard… Wish me luck!
Tonight was possibly the most disappointing reveal event
ever in the history of technology. Microsoft
had kept up suspense for the “New Xbox” for a good 3 months in the run up to
the event, after Sony’s PlayStation 4
reveal event in February.
As an Xbox/Microsoft
fan boy I have been anticipating Microsoft’s
“Legendary” reveal to the next marvel in gaming for years, and as I’m now on a
Game Art Course working towards a potential and hopeful job in that industry I had
high hopes that the event would be an amazing spectacle. However, this was NOT
the case. The event, in my personal opinion, was a complete disaster. And I
believe that I’m not the only gamer that thinks this.
The event began with the announcement of the “Xbox One” and a show of the hardware.
Now, I have to admit that my first impressions of the Xbox were good. I thought that the design was nice and basic and
the Kinect 2.0 was quite stylish. But
then I realised how big the console was and saw the controller… Now, it
appeared that the console itself is about a 1/5th to ¼ bigger than
the original Xbox 360. This makes it bigger than the original PS3, which was rather large compared to
other consoles in the past. But this was not the worst change. I do believe
that the controller looked very comfortable to hold; much like the Xbox 360 and that the D-Pad issue has
been fixed. But the thing that bugged me was the repositioning of the “guide”
button located in the centre. It has been moved up a good inch or two since the
360 controller. I think this could
cause problems and hurt thumbs trying to reach it without looking!
Now, at a game consoles reveal event, you may expect games
to be one of the first things to talk about and the main focus for the console.
But if your life depended on that thought, then you, along with almost 56.25million
(of the 75million 360 purchases)
people would have just died… IGN did a poll involving over 70,000 people and
discovered that 75% were disappointed with the event. Yep, in reality about
75-85% of the event was actually more about making the Xbox One a media centre hub for every possible audience. Hence the
name “One” possibly hinting that it will be the one thing you need in your
house…
Let me just take one second to look at the name of this
leviathan VCR player. It’s just awful. I mean, firstly it’s hard to say in one
breath. Now you might be thinking that I’m over exaggerating a little. But come
on! The rumoured and production codenames were: Durango, Infinity, Xbox, 720,
with many others. I think you’d agree with me in saying that any one of these
names sounds better than “One”! I mean that’s just close to being like the Wii or the Wii U… just… terrible names.
Back to the conference, and what’s this? They’re talking
about the dashboard and the snap feature. Nice idea, and well executed in the
demonstration. But when would you ever need to search the internet (might I add
Bing search… just really?!) at the same time as watching a film or playing a
game. I mean it’s like reading a book while also driving a car… literally. Now,
I don’t mind some cool multimedia features, like the Love Film or BBC iplayer
app on the 360, if they mention it
briefly or even talk about it for 10 minutes or so during their conferences.
But spending about 30 minutes talking about television and how good their new
television services will be in an hour long conference and the gaming magic
seems to dissipate.
Much of the focus on television also centred around US media
and sports. Now, fair enough, Microsoft
is an American company. However, it’s a global business and they need to
provide to their market audience (now apparently every living soul). Just
looking at a frickin’ map it is clear, however much they want to believe it,
that America is not a majority on a global scale, and a huge chunk of Microsoft lovers come from everywhere
other than the USA! So anyway, Microsoft’s
Senior VP Yusuf Mehdi came on to now talk about sport and the Skype feature.
Finally, something good, Skype could be useful for in-game communication and
with the Kinect 2.0 you can connect
visually as well. But, if you thought they’d focus on a globally recognised
sport such as football, or basketball you’d be completely wrong. That’s right…
They focused on an American sport NFL. Just WHY Microsoft?!
Kinect 2.0
So this focus on sports was probably the first turning point
towards games, now about 30-35 minutes into the hour long review. Now, sports
games are not my favourite genre to play, but I understand that a large amount
of gamers enjoy to play these games. However, I don’t believe that sport games
really appeal to core gamers that much, and personally at this point, I’m getting
ready to put a metal knife in the toaster… So finally EA Sports get to show off their new “Ignite” engine for next gen
sports games! A little voice in your head tells you “Now we get to see some
gameplay of next gen sports!” Shortly after, you hear a faint gunshot and the
voice stops. This is all because the “gameplay” turns out to be a pre-rendered
sequence of footage with some shots of wireframe models in 3DSMax! By now, you
can here every gamer screaming or crying from being stabbed in the back for
about 40 minutes straight.
The first glimmer of hope! The blatantly obvious and
predictable Forza 5 announcement,
along with a new IP; Quantum Break.
Finally, we get to see some gameplay from at least one of these, right?
Wrong! Again pre-rendered footage and a painfully tacky and slightly spooky
live action trailer. Forza 5 did look
pretty though… but without gameplay, I think I’m just going to believe that it
was a cinematic. Wake up Microsoft! The worst thing about this part of the
conference was that they quickly added that there will be 15 more Xbox
exclusive titles released over Xbox Ones first year, with 7 new franchises. Fantastic
news, but nothing was given. Not even a couple of teasers or hints to get our
nerves tingling. Instead, Halo’s famous art style and scenery appear on screen.
Could it be that the horribly overused franchise of Halo will be announcing their next title? Nope… they’ve returned to
television, with the announcement of the Halo:
The television series (exciting name too… Not!).
By now it’s clear that with the last 10 minutes of the
conference, we may finally see some gameplay with the imminent reveal of the internationally
anticipated Call of Duty: Ghosts.
Well, if you thought this… your dead body just got incinerated. That’s right,
instead of Activision’s usual tactic
of showing off a short real time gameplay demo. Somehow they thought it would
be a good idea to show two in depth videos explaining almost nothing anyone cares
about and a trailer. Understandably, Infinity
Ward wanted to show off their “incredible” new game engine for next gen CoD
titles. One of the videos showed some glimpses of in-game action, focusing on
the technical aspects, such as:
Fish AI – giving them the sense to move out the way of the player
Interactive smoke – which moves around objects
Continued movement – such as jumping over a wall that you’ve just sprinted at
More curves… - basically advanced levels of tessellation and detail dependant
on depth of field
Dog – the dog that you will apparently love like a friend…
MW3 > Ghosts comparison
Now I’m not brilliant with game knowledge (HAHAHA just
kidding) but I believe that these “advanced” features have been implemented in
games for years now. I’ll just mention a few names in order of the CoD
features: Spyro (PS1), Metro 2033,
Battlefield 3, every game ever and Fallout
3. Not to mention that the environments were still easily outmatched by
that of Crysis from 2007.
So with the event finally over and me perched on the edge of
my window ready to jump, we have many unanswered questions to be answered at
the post show event. This is the time where they’ll finally clear up this crap
rumour about Always-Online DRM on the Xbox
One.
Or maybe not. In matter of fact, they didn’t even seem to
know the real answer, instead being very unclear with them. As it turns out it
is not Always-Online, they obviously learnt from the mistakes of the past with Diablo 3 and Sim City. But what’s that?! You have to connect and update every 24
hours for games to work… sounds a little bit like always-online to me… I don’t
know what dimension of time Microsoft’s
employees live in, but they’re the only one’s clapping for this.
This is without even touching on the horrible decision for Microsoft to make you register and
install all of your games onto your Xbox
One. Let’s look at the install idea first. So yeah, it sounds like a clever
idea, I can have all my games in one place and ready to play at the click of a
button. You know there has to be a BUT! Once the game has been registered, the
physical disc is unusable. As a console gamer, this presents a wide range of
problems. Firstly, if you want to lend a game to a friend, they must pay a fee
to play (rumoured to be the price of the game itself). Secondly, if you buy a
pre-owned game, you will also have to pay this fee to “register” it to your Xbox One. In my personal opinion, it
sounds to me that physical discs seem pointless; why not just use digital
downloads if that’s the process. Also, I’m pretty sure that everything I just
described is a computer… Microsoft
hasn’t made a console; so far they’ve taken everything that makes a console and
buried it alive.
Another problem that arises from installing all your games
on the Xbox One’s hard drive is that
it only has 500GB of data. Xbox One
will finally have a Blu-ray drive and
therefore Blu-ray discs. Blu-ray discs commonly hold at least
4.7GB of data. Doing the simple maths, you find that you can only install about
106 games on average. You may be thinking “That’s a reasonable amount of games
I can install.” Well, bear in mind that the Xbox
One is being designed as an entertainment device. Therefore, it would be
expected for someone to also install movies and other forms of entertainment,
as well as apps and Downloadable Content (DLC) for in-game expansions. “But, I
can replace the hard drive if I need.” If this thought passed through your
head, you’re really not getting this are you… Microsoft has stated that only they have the power to remove these
internal hard drives, but have said that external hard drives will work. But
surely the name suggests that there will be ONE box in the room. Now it’s a box
with other smaller boxes surrounding it. Good move Microsoft, there’s another thing that makes the Xbox so great… G.O.N.E.
I’m very nearly at the end of this monster rant, so if you’ve
got this far… you can hopefully make it to the end.
One last question remains! The Xbox One’s
cross compatibility. Able to play all of my 50-100+ Xbox 360 games in the same place as all of my new games; they’ve truly
succeeded in merging current and next-gen hardware, in order to only have the Xbox One and therefore one device in
your room. But, here is where Microsoft
has made possibly one of their largest mistakes. They claim that that there is
no backwards compatibility whatsoever…
It’s okay though Microsoft have
thought this one out and said that you can keep your Xbox 360 (I’m starting to think that’s all I’ll keep at the
moment). But, again, that’s another extra box to go with the Xbox ONE! Also, if you’re like me and
you have the original version of the Xbox
360, it will most likely be on its last legs and ready to call it a day.
Xbox 360
For me, the next Xbox
was going to be my saviour, like the Jesus of the console world, taking all my
gaming problems away and uniting all gamers as one. But Microsoft may have well of come on stage and presented a cardboard
box saying “Presenting the ‘Box’, its pretty crap, don’t get it unless you’re
under 5… those guys like boxes…”
In conclusion, I was extremely disappointed with the Xbox One reveal. It barely showed
anything to do with gaming, with nothing to really excite the core gamers. The
presentation itself seemed badly organised and executed confusingly. And
everything Microsoft has grown great
to be with the Xbox 360’s life cycle
has been removed or burnt at the stake, supposedly for profit. But the worst
part is that Microsoft’s Senior VP
Yusuf Mehdi claims that they believe in achieving 1 billion unit sales of the Xbox One in its cycle, alongside a
further 25 million Xbox 360 sales.
Personally though, I honestly think they’re pulling these figures out of a squirrels
arse, bearing in mind that the Xbox 360
has sold roughly 75.9 million in 7 years. At this moment in time, I am strongly
swayed towards changing allegiance and converting to the Japanese goliath Sony. The PlayStation 4 so far exceeds the Xbox One in every way imaginable.
I eagerly anticipate E3 on the 10th June to find
out if Microsoft can dig themselves
out of their grave. But I believe they may be 12 feet too deep. Goodbye Microsoft, it was nice knowing you.
Thank you for reading my rant… check back after E3 to see if I’ve bothered to
expand on my views.
Environments within games, films and books are extremely
important when telling a story. Although people may interpret a description of
a place differently, it is dependent on a genre and the story that is trying to
be told. If the style is not a justification of the targeted genre, then the whole
game or film can collapse. This is why artists work on making the character
match the environment’s style in most cases. This can make the world seem
balanced rather than two styles trying to erase one another.
In games, level designers are usually tasked in opening up
the world to the player. Obviously they won’t make a controlling free-roam game
which restricts you as a guide to its true linear path… Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising! That is just false
advertising and leaves a massive amount of work which no one will see. The
level design has to match the style of the game, so a controlled path in a game
will guide the player along the right path, and a free-roaming game will give
freedom to where the player goes. However, the designer will not make a linear
path seem obvious. It will be subtle in most cases… after all, gamers are not
idiots and they know this; for example, if there are two possible paths, one
that has some climbable rubble and another covered with lava then you’re not
going to try and wade through 2000˚c. That’s just stupid.
The designs of the levels don’t just help guide players
through them; they are also there to add to the games whole look and
atmosphere. The architecture must relate to the characters as well as the genre
and style of the game. This gives the whole look of the game balance which adds
to the possibility of this world existing in reality. If the game is too
stylised when it doesn’t suit the genre, it can sometimes make the game feel
like it’s actually designed for a different genre. But again, this is a problem
with realistic games as well.
Environments don’t necessarily have to have a lot to them. I
mean, obviously this depends of the skill of the artist as well as the type of
game, but sometimes environments are more simple and minimalist in order to
avert focus onto the character. An example of this is LIMBO, in which there is no colour throughout the entire game and
the backgrounds are extremely similar and linear. This art style works, but
only really for this game.
One game I like in particular with its environmental art is Far Cry 3, again as with Vaas, the
environments are designed very well. Although the in game, Rook Island is made up, the artists have managed to replicate it
realistically, giving the illusion that it could exist, adding wildlife which
you can hunt around the island. Obviously this will more likely be seen in a
free roam game, but with a game that has such believable characters, you would
expect the same from the rest of the island/environment. But again, there is
balance in the game. Some of the minor objectives require you to climb radio
towers in order to unlock vision of an area of the map. Although I’m not sure
how realistically they’ve been located or made, it adds to the features and the
game, and takes that thinking process away from the player.
Characters… Characters are kind of the main requirement for
any film, book, game or story in general. I mean they act as the focal point of
that visual story. I never said it can’t be a human or necessarily living
character, but there must be at least one character that drives the story
forward. I mean look at Rubber for
example. It’s a story about a car tyre! Obviously the film makers knew that
selling a video of a tyre just lying in the desert for almost 2 hours is nearly
impossible. But they knew that if you gave that tyre telekinetic powers where
it can blow things up with it’s… tyre… mind, then you have created a character
with mystery and to be quite honest one of the weirdest films out there.
When you compare a character in a book, film or game, you
may notice that they are in fact very similar. They usually have a very
intricate and leading story in which a viewer, reader or player can follow and
gives them depth. But this all largely depends on their genre. All of these
media creators understand that a story can drag you into that world and push
out thoughts of reality, and if they do it well enough it can lead to more
story’s, more money and all together their one main goal… a franchise with a
fan base.
The characters I enjoy in games and films however, have to
be the classic action/war hero, and also, clever genius’. I like to play as a
hero as I like to feel like I’m in that world for a reason. Usually being a
powerful war veteran or an assassin fighting for a cause, you can find yourself
being led along a path through the story. Elements around a free roam world or
background dialogue in a game can lead to understanding the character and the
story even more and it leads players to want to find this out.
I mean looking at a character such as Vaas Montenegro from Far Cry 3, you can see that a lot of
work went into him, not looking like a lean and fear evoking leader of pirates,
but bringing out the fear in the player by making Vaas insane and very
unpredictable. Every encounter with him makes you feel on edge as it keeps you
second guessing a somewhat obvious outcome. They also made him somewhat
chillingly realistic, in the sense that it could actually be a real person. And
when you witness him kill your playable character, Jason’s brother, you
somewhat feel Jason’s anger and sense for revenge, which swallows you into the
adventure.
I feel its many elements which brings this together. With
the acting of Michael Mando through motion capture being so superb, his amazing
interpretation of the script and the style of an insane pirate accurately being
portrayed, I think that this adds depth to one of the best characters out
there. For a game to be able to produce a better character than many films out
there, it’s no surprise as to why more and more people are playing games and
giving these franchises such large fan bases.
Art Directors are the glue that holds a games development
and production together. Without an Art Director, a game will have no real
artistic or stylistic structure. This structure is paramount for their success
and with 80% of games losing money in the current climate; it’s no surprise as
to why games have such a long and intense production cycle.
Art
Directors have one of the hardest jobs within a studio. They are in charge of
the style, mood and look of the game, while also having to be aware of every
graphical asset within the game. They must know what is happening with almost
every character, level, texture and object; and how these look from any and all
angles within the games world. Every detail must be as accurate as possible, as
these details help tell the story and give the illusion of the game world.
These slightest details or errors can cause the mood of the game to die
completely and can have an abrupt effect on the player during the game. So it
is vital that these elements fit together like a jigsaw.
These
managing figures are responsible for all the other artistic sections of a
studio, such as concept artists, 3D modellers and texture artists. Although
it’s a managing job, the role still requires an extremely artistic and creative
knowledge and they must understand how each art role works. Their partnership
and artistic bond with an artist helps them to convey ideas and artistic
knowledge, which both ways, adds to the game’s integrity. They have to
incorporate the game’s style and genre into this feedback, and make sure the
style is consistent throughout the game. If the style changes from level to
level, then it can leave the player feeling lost between levels and disjointed
throughout the story line. So an art director always has to be on top of his
game.
This
art direction is similar to that of film direction in that they are ultimately
in charge of the project and they control how it is run. It’s their job to keep
the whole team in check, and understand the whole production cycle of the
product. However, Art/creative directors are not in charge of the whole
project. There are different managing roles depending on the studio; and
usually there is a project manager overseeing every group of management. But
largely, both film and game studios have very similar management and
development structures, so the Art direction is largely the same, especially in
animation studios.
To
become an art director; if it turns into something I may want to pursue as a
career. I’ll need to improve my skill in all departments, so that I would be
able to relate to the area of work I may be directing, I would also need to
understand genres, and how to set the mood for specific genres, just with basic
and subtle changes, such as light/shadows, architecture, style. I would also
need to grasp a mood advanced understanding of colour theory, not to mention an
extremely good understanding of the anatomy and characters which may be
relevant for a specific genre or game. One other major skill I need to sort out
is organization. Although I may get assets and characters created in time, I
know there would be some key details that would be a miss.
Gameplay is the fundamental part of a computer game.
Without gameplay a "game" wouldn't have a defining nature.
Gameplay is usually the mechanics which allow the player to feel in control and
drive the game forward. However, gameplay can either be enjoyable or poor, and
this is usually determined by the developer’s skill in structuring the
gameplay.
Gameplay
is usually found to be more fun and fruitful throughout many higher budget AAA
games, coming from developers like Ubisoft, EA, Crytek, 2K and many others. But
these are usually based on structured gameplay used in many games of their
selected genres. However, more often in recent years, smaller, independent game
developers have started to think of new original and unique ideas which bring a
greater depth of creativity to the way these games are played.
Game play
is one of the biggest design features of any game. The game mechanics are built
up of elements of story, combat systems, art style and many other things. But
game design is usually in almost every aspect of the creation process. You will
have story which gives the genre, scope and generally the style of the game.
Based on this, artists in many departments can begin to design combat, characters,
visual style, etc.
However,
this is not a single person’s job. There are many dedicated teams, including;
level editors, designers, technical artists, modellers, lead designer/design
manager and many others. These all have a job of their own and all add their
own little unique elements. When they come together, the game builds up so that
the game can immerse a player and make them feel like they are actually in the
game. With this idea, gameplay is not just the players interaction with the input
of controls in a game, but the emersion and feeling of being somewhere else,
that they are changing and moving the game alone and effecting the world as
they play.
Not all
games will have dedicated or segregated teams however; some smallerindependent studios will more likely
have less staff, and possibly some employees doing more than one job! This
means that development time is longer and less games can be made in that space
of time, however they get past this weakness by, in my opinion paying more attention
to detail and making the gameplay elements present themselves more and to a
much higher quality.
However,
gameplay can depend on the genre of the game entirely. A horror game cannot
allow the player to ride on unicorns as that takes the whole atmosphere and
makes it unbelievable. Just as a Hello Kitty game can’t include levels where
zombies jump out of dark rooms and expect players (a target audience of young
children) to proceed in blowing their heads off with a shotgun. The designers
have to understand the mood, style, and colour palette of the game in order to
make it appealing to its target audience or fans.
I think the most important thing for
a game developer to understand, is that players buy games because of the genre
or style. It usually depends on age, with teenage boys liking FPS titles such
as Call of Duty and racing simulations such as Need for Speed. I think the
most important thing for gameplay is to get the game you have bought! It’s the
best feeling as a player, when driving a car in a game moves like the real
thing, or shooting a gun gives realistic recoil. I believe that a game
developer should make sure the gameplay is as good as it can be before
improving graphics. But it is still very important to have decent sound and
graphics as it really adds to the immersion of games.
Guns, explosives, helicopters and tanks… 12 year old me
would say something like;
“There is no guy on this planet that doesn’t like guns?!”.
But then I grew up and reality took hold of my stupid little
mind. I now understand that there are some guys who think handbags can solve
terrorism. I guess I have just experienced the exhilaration of firing a real
gun under realistic circumstances, and having the mentality that it’s you or
them while in the army cadets or just paintballing with friends. This
exhilarating, team-based immersion is definitely one of Bettlefield 3’s strong
points as DICE have managed to bring this multiplayer feature through from its
previous First Person Shooter (FPS) games and given it new life with the new
squad spawning mechanics.
“I need a medic!” being screamed down your ear could never
sound more real when my brother or fellow squad mate is incapacitated in one of
the many epic fire-fights which happen between both teams in many areas of the
multiplayer maps. Now the maps are what really give the game its legs. The game
boasts 9 varied maps, which with the addition of all 5 expansion packs will
increase this number to 29 maps! The size of these maps all vary in size, with
more compact, close quarters combat taking place with fewer vehicles drawing in
an audience similar to that of a call of duty game. While other maps are much
more open, with tanks, jets and helicopters becoming available to players.
Although having vehicles to command is extremely cool and
presents some very cool vehicle battles, larger maps can become tiresome on the
console versions as much of the game will be spent waiting for a vehicle to
spawn, or sprinting from flag to flag across the map in order to try and get in
the fight. This can cause combat to
seem rare and long winded at times, making the game seem less personal and more
of a long distance chore.
"Did you see that shot?!"
My brother cries as he
shoots a foe from 400 metres away. The style of combat tends to vary between
game modes and maps considerably, with large maps, showing tournaments between
the snipers of both teams. This style of
combat is very unique in that the Frostbite 2 engine takes into account the
forces of the world causing bullets and rockets to drop if fired at a long
range. This means that players who use sniper rifles actually have to have some
degree of skill to achieve a long range kill. This is an area where Call of
Duty player may struggle with… you know, thinking about stuff.
The smaller maps, which
include the Close Quarters expansion DLC give light to insane iron brawls. Lead
and blood is spent and the gritty reality of war starts to shine through putting
you and your team mates in the spotlight. These bouts are frequent and are seen
in tight areas of the maps. It may be that a team is defending an M-COM station
in Rush, defending an outpost in Conquest, or simply trying to earn a
kill-tally in a team Deathmatch. Whichever is the case, these battles never
cease to entertain, with squads on both teams constantly attempting new
tactics, to try and flank or outwit the other team. The winners are usually the
team with squads that work well together and present their skill as a certain
class.
However, although the
Frostbite 2 engine produces some staggeringly beautiful graphics, which makes
the game both gritty and realistic; it does occasionally have some annoying
little glitches and can lag substantially at times, which really ruins the
game. Although DICE and EA have addressed some of these more comical issues;
like the “zombie” glitch and some boosting glitches, the game still has some
time out and lagging issues which can see you kicked from a game for no
apparent reason.
“What about the storyline?”
I hear you ask…
Well, there is a polished
single-player campaign in addition to multiplayer. The story follows Sgt.
Blackburn of the US 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, and several other
characters who are important to the plot along the way. Blackburn, the main
protagonist is being questioned about events that happen throughout the game. I
won’t give away too much, but the campaign does have some unique missions which
give you a bit of a buzz. However, it’s something that has already been done
and isn’t really that original. In fact, it has some extremely similar moments
to that of the Call of Duty franchise. Specifically looking at MW2 and MW3. All
in all though, the campaign is fun to play, with some unique and heroic feeling
twists. Only let down, by some confusing events, muffled dialogue and
repetitive combat.
The saving grace of
Battlefield 3 has to be its multiplayer modes. With so many variations in play
style and scale no battle ever feels the same. The amount of weapons and
customisation choices far exceeds its predecessors and other games in the
genre. Teamwork is key in this game however, so it is more fun if played with
friends or friendly strangers. If you are more of a lone-wolf, then prepare to
become bored very quickly…
