Planning and concepting

In this post I intend to talk about planning and concepting, so I figured out that the best way to tackle this subject would be to describe what steps I went through whilst creating this vehicle for 2nd year visual design project.

But first let me talk a bit about how I have learnt to plan my designs properly. I believe that this was (in terms of visual design) one of the most important things that I was taught on this course, and also one of the things that had the biggest impact on quality of my works. Sure, things like good lines quality, value separation, and using right colours are important too but these are things that I've been improving by practice whereas planning is more about mind setting.   

Before university and for the most of the first year I was not planning my projects at all. When given a task I would sit and draw whatever was in my mind without doing research and often even without preparation sketches. I guess that it was caused by the fact that I didn't fully understand the purpose of these preparations. I used to think that artists do research and preparation sketches only to come up with ideas, but I already had plenty of ideas in my head, so I thought I didn't need this. I was so wrong...

Now I know that these first stages are crucial and I would even say that they are the most important as they have a great impact on quality of the final outcome. It's just like with cooking - you can't make a good dish without preparation, just by throwing all ingredients to one pot, stirring and hoping that something edible will come out of it. Actually, it's like that with every creative process. You can't create something nice without preparation and planning. Also if you're planning ahead it can help you prevent many mistakes and save some time that you would spend on trying to fix that mistakes. 

So now I'll talk a bit about planning process behind this vehicle. It was created for 2nd year visual design project. The task was to create a mean of transport that can traverse through water, air and land. First of all I started with a research. I wanted to check if there are any real world vehicles that can function in all these environments. That's how I found about flying hovercrafts and I decided that it was a good starting point for my design. Although, I didn't want to simply draw something that already existed in our world, so I decided to turn flying hovercraft into a racing vehicle! So, I started with gathering some photos of both hovercrafts and sport cars and composing them into this mood board.

Even though you can't see it on this picture, at this stage I did small research on how real world hovercrafts work to make my design more believable. Putting photos of all these vehicles against each other helped me to clarify which way I should take this design. Next, with pen and paper I created these small sketches. It allowed me to explore different possibilities and gave me some options to choose from.   

Now that I had pretty clear idea where I wanted to take this concept, I did a few experimentations with shapes in Photoshop.   

And now I was ready to create this final picture. Later on, when I decided to magnify even more the fact that it's a racing vehicle I created the version below, which shows a bit of an inside. It was also based on a real world racing vehicles' interiors. 

I hope this post helped to show the importance of planning and preparing.

Year 2

So the first two terms are over now, Easter is in few days and I still haven't posted even one note on this blog. I feel really awful that I'm really far behind with my critical studies tasks... Although, the lack of entries was not caused by laziness! I was so busy with visual design and game production projects that I haven't had time to write anything... Especially that English is not my first language and it takes me extra time to write anything coherent and readable. But I'm aware of that it's not a valid excuse and I'm supposed to write posts just like everyone else on this course. So, now that I'm quite up to date with all my visual design and game production tasks I'll try to catch up with critical studies tasks over the Easter. 

In the first post I'm supposed to write about my plans for second year but since it is almost the third term I guess it's too late to make statements like 'I'll write at least one blog entry every week'... So instead of that I think it will be more appropriate if I write a bit about my experience of the second year so far and how different it's been from year one. And there's been some significant changes!

First of all the course have now new facility and it is really great! (despite the fact that it is twice as far from my bus stop than the old one :D ). Beside of obvious pros like new hardware and extra space we have now, the location of the building is just two minutes away from Tesco, which is an extra advantage. Especially when you're working in labs from early morning till late night, it can be really handy :)       

Along with new space our course acquired some new personnel, which is my favorite change from year one. All of these new tutors are great and nice people, and most of them worked in game industry before, which means that beside of knowledge they have relevant experience. Also more staff means that they've got more time for us (which I felt was an issue in the first year).

Another difference is the kind of tasks we've been given over this year. In the first year we would draw and model mostly from observation and real life references, whereas in this year most of tasks ware to come up with original ideas, design and draw/model something from our imaginations. And I really loved that as someone who aspire to become a concept artist, because that's hopefully something that I'm going to do for living in my future. 

One more thing that I really enjoyed this year, which we didn't have a chance to experience in the first year, was the group project. Even though it took a lot of time and many times along the way I had enough of it, but at the end I've learned a lot and what is most important it allowed me to experience industry based production pipeline.

There have been many more things that I've enjoyed this year but I'll write more about it in the last post this year, after third term.     

The end of the first year

So it is almost the end of my first year at the university. I remember my first days on this course as it was a week ago. I was shy, curious and I didn’t know what to expect. The first term was fantastic, when I met all these new people, my tutors and I started the university life. I also begun my adventure with 3d modelling which was a bit intimidating at first but I quickly realized that it isn’t that scary, it just required some patience and practice. One year ago it took me a whole week to create 3d model of Dalek. Now I feel like I could do it within an hour, which I’m really happy with, as good time management as well as being efficient in short amounts of time are essential on this course. Its quick pace was sometimes killing me and it was hard to keep up, but… well I have to get used to it if I ever want to work in the gamming industry! I found both visual design and game production projects very interesting and I feel that every each of them thought me something new and valuable. Generally I preferred projects that allowed me to design something like the evil character project or the 3d gladiator project. Nonetheless, I’m aware of the importance of drawing from life and I’m glad that this course program required me to do it quite often. Life drawing sessions helped my to better understand the human anatomy and it’s noticeable that my characters are more coherent now. However, life is not a dream, so there were also some things on this course that I didn’t like... For example it happened to me a few times that I came to Fletcher just to be informed that there was no sessions that day. It’s probably not a big deal for students that live in halls that are 3 min away from University, but there are also people like me who live away and a simple note on Facebook or blackboard would prevent them from wasting time/money on traveling. I also found formative assessments a bit disappointing. I believe that it would be much more beneficial for us if Chris and Heather instead of assessing our works on their own would seat with us just for 30min, get through our drawings/models and give us some short verbal opinion on every project… But back to more pleasant subject now: critical game studies. Even though I hate writing and it was really hard for me to get through all the tasks from handbook I’m really happy that I did it, because they gave me some knowledge on how the gaming industry works. I was never good at standing in front of people and talking so I was really terrified when it came to doing the presentation… but after doing it three times my confidence got much stronger and I’m not so worried of the presentation that I’ll have to do in the future. Concluding – my first year at the university was fun, I’ve learnt a lot and I’m looking forward to the next year!

Elements of game design - part 4

What is a good game environment design? Is it one that takes your breath away and makes you stop a game for a while to take a look around just to appreciate the view? Well, yes. But if you are overlooking the surrounding while playing a game it doesn’t necessarily mean that it was poorly designed. Sometimes it has to be created in that way not to distract you from the plot and in that case it’s good too because you can be dragged into a game without analysing the surrounding. If the environ takes your attention from playing because at the back of your head you keep thinking that something is wrong it’s a sign that Level Designer or the Game Environment Artist messed up. For example below you can see a picture of a first person shooter set up in Mario’s world. It just hurts the mind, doesn’t it? Well... maybe that example was a bit over the top, but you know what I mean…

In general good environment design should support the atmosphere and narration of the game. In my opinion one of the best instances of that can be found in game Portal. At the first look it’s a first person puzzle game that takes place in some kind of test chambers. Levels look quite alike; all are clean bright and insipid. However, in some places, you can find a hole in a wall or an open ventilation shaft and if you go inside you start to realize that there is something wrong with this place. Hidden rooms are small, dirty, and gloomy and their walls are covered with some writings. When you find one of those you can’t stop looking for another one to get some more clues. It’s a great way to tell the story through the environment.

Another example of an outstanding environment design can be found in the game Prince of Persia. It’s easy to say that the developers of this game put a lot of attention to the look of levels, and no wonder, because the main gameplay element is concentrating on climbing the walls and jumping form edge to edge. I admire the concepts of this game artist David Levy as he had to create in them believable levels with magic atmosphere but also had to considered the way in which player would interact with the surrounding.

I know that I’ve mentioned this game sooooo many times in this blog, but I can’t just simply write a post about environments in games and not talk about Shadow of the Colossus! Most of its events occur within Forbidden Land where you have to defeat 16 colossi. Each colossus dwells in a unique lair, so you can find here mountains, deserts, caves and many more… All of them are beautifully designed and they emphasize character of each colossus.

Environments are just as important as any other element of game design and they have to work well when put together with characters. Wrong decisions in developing them can easily affect the player’s perception of the game. 

Links:
http://vyle-art.com/
http://www.worldofleveldesign.com/categories/cat_game_environment_design.ph p

Elements of game design - part 3

Characters are the engine of every story. It doesn’t matter if it’s a game, film or book, you can’t tell a good story without a character. On the other hand, badly designed, half-baked character can easily damage even the most marvellous story. So there is no doubt that every character appearing in any kind of tale has to be thoroughly developed as it can affect one’s perception of the whole piece. So, how to create an interesting and appealing character? Is there any recipe for that?

I asked some friends what is their opinion on that and the most common answer I heard was ‘you need to make sure that the audience can relate to the character’. Sure, I can’t argue with that, it undoubtedly helps to sell the character, but it cannot be taken as a rule. After all, how many people can relate to a man-flesh eating murderer? Still, the character of Hannibal Lecter, played by sir Antony Hopkins is one of the most iconic movie characters ever. How did that happened? What is his secret?

Well, I believe that the key is a high contrast. You see an old man, gallant, extremely intelligent, loving history, art and classical music, but you know that a few minutes ago he has eaten someone’s face. Giving a character contradicting features is a good way to make it interesting and memorable and it is often used in games and movies.

A good example of that can be found in Tim Burton’s ‘Edward Scissorhands’, where the look of eponymous hero strongly opposes his personality. Although Edward resemble something between a demon from ‘Hellriser’ and a member of The Cure with scissors linked to his hands, he has a heart of gold, is shy, helpful and kind to everyone.

The above examples clearly show that it’s not good to judge book by its cover; nonetheless, movie makers and game developers constantly take an advantage of the audience stereotype thinking in order to make them perceive characters in a certain way. It’s especially noticeable among villain characters. When you look at Darth Vader, Lord Voldemort and Sauron you know at once that they are The Bad Guys, even though that the only thing that they have in common are the black outfits. Need a witch? Give her a black cat and broomstick. Archaeologist? Khaki shirt,  hat and whip!

Playing with stereotypes while designing look of a hero is easy and popular trick, although creators have to be careful not to over-use it as they may end up with a boring dummy, looking just like thousands of others. What are the other things that should be avoided? Don’t make you hero too powerful.

Superman is one of the most iconic, marvellous and simultaneously boring superheroes. He is as fast as light, strongest than any other man and he’s resistant to everything but one thing – kryptonite, which as a result drastically reduces the group of people that can stand up to him… and it makes all fights monotonous and predictable. In addition, he wears pants over his trousers – and that also should be avoided when creating a hero.

There are many things that should be kept in mind while designing a character. For instance, high contrast and playing with stereotypes are common methods of developing a hero. On the other hand, following stereotypes could result in copying previously created heroes which might be negatively received by the audience. So that, I believe that new ideas are worth trying as different doesn’t have to mean worst.

Elements of game design - part 2

During my first presentation, which was the review of the game Shadow of the Colossus, I tried to explain what was that ‘special thing’ that made this game one of my favourites. I talked about colossi looks, magical atmosphere and environments... But I felt like I was trying to describe taste of a cake by talking about eggs, flour and sugar flavours… I couldn’t find a word for the thing that made all these elements one extra piece... But I’ve finally found a name for it: art direction.

The person responsible for art direction during a game production is called the art director. His job is to make sure that all elements of the final game are well designed, created and what’s important that they all work together as a whole. It’s really important, tough and demanding job. Art director is a link between artistic team (including concept artists, texture artists and 3d modellers) and the game designer. He has to make sure that all artists accomplish given them tasks on a level required by game designer, but also that they are being provided all materials needed to do that. That is where close work with lead artists is really important, as they help to manage individual art departments.

'33 things I know about Art Direction' from David Bell

One could say ‘ok, I see it can be a hard job, but after all it’s still a managing job, there’s no difference between being art director and restaurant manager!’ Well... that’s no true. Although management is a big part of it, that’s obviously not enough. Even though art directors don’t create art pieces themselves they still need to be outstanding artists. Artistic knowledge of lighting, perspective, colour theory etc. is essential for being art director. If that wasn’t enough, they have to know everything about 3d modelling and textures as well!
Even though films and games are two different forms of entertainment I guess that the role of an art director in both is quite similar. They use different mediums but their task is the same: to make sure that everything works well together.

For me art direction is one of the most important aspects when it comes down to rating a game. A good example of game with an interesting art direction is Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. It’s a game set in post-apocalyptic future, so your first thought would be a Fallout-ish atmosphere, moody colours and vast deserts like in Mad Max, right? Well – surprise! Enslaved is one of the most colourful games I’ve ever played! Most of the time in this game I spent in a full daylight, running through abandoned city that slowly turns in to a jungle, full of vibrant plants and flowers. But what is the most important – it works really well with the story.

Being an art director is a hard job and I don’t think I would ever be a right person for it. Beside of lacking some essential skills like good communication skill I don’t enjoy managing other people and don’t feel comfortable when I have to make big, important decisions.

Links:
http://howtonotsuckatgamedesign.com/?p=4176
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20001204/davies_02.htm
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20050912/bossant_01.shtml

Elements of game design - part 1

So gameplay – what is it? It’s one of the things that every player knows what it is, but is not sure how to explain it. I think that the reason is that every game has its own gameplay and it differs from one to another game’s gameplay. Even games of the same genre have different gameplays.

For example Baldur’s Gate and The Elders Scrolls: Morrowind are both RPG games set in fantasy universes. However if you look at them they look like a complete different games.The first one is isometric view RPG where you command the group of adventurers. In the second one you’ve got only one hero and you see the world through his eyes.

On the other hand… Are they really that different? In both games you’re on a quest, you fight the monsters, collect experience, obtain new weapons, and cast spells… The difference is how you do it – and that’s what the gameplay is. It’s the way in which player interacts with a game.

As you can see, it’s a very important aspect of every game and it has a great influence on a specific game look and playability. So who is responsible for that? Who, during the game production, makes decisions about gameplay, decisions that can drastically change the whole game? Well, it’s part of the lead designer’s job.

Basically, the lead designer of a game is like a director of the movie. It’s a person with overall vision of a game in his mind, who makes large design decisions to make sure that the final product will match this vision. It’s achieved by coordinating work of other designers: game mechanics designers, level designers and the writers. A game mechanics designer’s job is to make sure that the game is well balanced. For example, the person decides how much damage player will deal with a sword in comparison to damage dealt with a bow. Level designer is responsible for creating the game’s environment and levels. Writers create the story line, narrative, dialogs… They are responsible for making other game elements more coherent.

Beside of directing these people, the lead designer’s job is to presents design outside of the team and keep well-presented documentation of the game. One of the most important documents is Game Design Document. Usually it is created in the pre-production stage of a game development; however it’s constantly changing and improving during the production of a game. Basically, it is a written down core idea and vision of the game, which the developer team should refer to and use as a guide.

Obviously all these designers are only a part of the team involved in a process of game creation. Although some people still believe that games are created by 2-3 computer geeks closed in dad’s garage, that of course is not the case. More and more people are involved in creating games and the entire game industry is evolving with a great speed. I’m really excited to be a witness of that and I can’t wait to see how it’s going to look like in the future.

Links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiQcANX3NNE
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/2675/into_the_transmission_randy_.php
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/2156/game_design_theory__practice_.php