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.
