Crit presentation

This week has been really busy. Apart from participating in a lower year’s Crit presentation as usual I had my hands full with my own preparation for Thursdays Crit presentation: trying to complete oil and watercolour mock-up screenshots for my game 'Lyse'. On Tuesday met with Simone to have a quick chat about my work so far however because I had only one version ready did not get much feedback but she said she liked what I was doing.

I have managed to finish my game environment layout sketches by completing the last part: air (see image below)

Also finished intended screenshot mock-ups (see images below)

 Oil/acrylics version

Watercolour version

Although I did not have time left to redesign my character I have included my new character inspiration moodboard (see image below)

So far my personal thoughts about the work

Not happy with the mock-up screenshots. There is nothing wrong with the sketch underneath the paintings; however the painting bit for neither oil/acrylic nor watercolour is right. The images are of course quite rushed and supposed to be only 'sketches' but still... things are wrong. There is no surprise about the watercolour media imitation as it is very far from the real water on paper technique. However, one would think that oil/acrylic would be easy, but no, the art is not happening on a digital paper/canvas like it used to on a real one. The technique does not feel right even though use of various brushes and their different settings helps (mentioned in my week 19 post). At the moment watercolour looks better, however there is an issue with watercolour. Since the feature of watercolour is its translucency on a paper and my game environment is contains many layers I think transparent trees just not going to look right. Besides,  if I vent for the 100% opacity then the environment would look 'cut-out'. Not sure if I want that.

In addition,  the colour! I like the sky in the background however it just does not work with the foreground. I defiantly need to fix that by either changing the sky layer or the forest. Also, sky is obscured by the forest layers. Perhaps revealing more of it would also give more space for the UI/HUD at the top of the screen.

During Crit presentation I have talked about my game idea, game design and layout.  Also showed images of paper prototype as well as character designs and moodboards and told them that I will change my character design to something simpler. Perhaps something similar to the Boy from 'How to Catch a Star' by Oliver Jeffers book, however I want it to have a painted texture and face.

Lecturers’ feedback

I did not get that much feedback even though they asked quite a few questions about my process and art. They still like the idea and what I am doing though which is nice. Also, I probably need to learn how to structure my presentation better so I explain more about what I am doing and how. I will have one more chance to do that at the end of the year and the presentation will be graded so I better make it right.

Pre-Pitch work

Last week I have submitted my infrastructure form, but so far have not done any proper research on how I am going to present my stuff during the showcase. In fact I think it is too early anyway, because I am not sure if it is going to be a game, video or a number of still images. I guess I'll know more within next couple of weeks. Also it will depend on where I will be exhibiting, but most likely it will be just a standard bit of a wall that everyone is given. In any case I will wait and see, especially because I already have my hands full of 'to-do things'.



On Monday had my regular meeting with Lynn and we had a chance to discuss Robins feedback on my Project Proposal document. Looks like I will have to do some more research on the general game interaction stuff as well as how all the elements of design, sound and art contribute to the overall aesthetics of a videogame. So here comes more work instead of less and me going back to the books I have already looked at:
• Kirkpatrick, G. 2011. Aesthetic theory and the video game. Manchester : Manchester University Press
• Tavinor, G. 2009. The art of videogames. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell and possibly
• Egenfeldt-Nielsen, S. Et al. 2008. Understanding video games: the essential introduction. London: Routledge
 I may even dig out the book I have read during my second year 'The Art of Game Design: A book of lenses' by Jesse Schell. That book was really great, not only for game design but had a lot of great advice on how to evaluate any project to make sure that the work done fits the final idea/purpose.

If I was really honest here... I am starting to feel immense pressure of the project and the amount of research that I should do to really make this project up to the standard that I  think it should be. I think my topic HUGE and HARD because I need to understand and still learn sooooo many things. And some new things that should be added keep cropping up all the time. All the information I need is sparse and so scattered that I feel like I am attempting to gather all sorts of little pieces from all over the place and trying to fit it in to an image that fits together. I am starting to wonder how on earth I will be able to complete all of it the way I want it to be completed and get a really good grade. I am getting better at the time estimation on how long things going to take, but this 'ballooning' phase of it really scares me. There is only one thing that helps me a lot is the way I feel about my project: still very passionate if not even more, very interested and even more determined to make some kind of difference. It is as if my gut tells me I am on the right track not only for this project but probably for the long run in general. I think it will most likely underline a lot of my future work, especially my own, personal work.

Regarding my practical work I was not particularly pleased with the stuff I have managed to create so far.



Tile-based game


Here are sketches for the game: general idea as well as UI solutions. (see images below)

After first level is complete it would go in to a 'dual' fight screen where it will have the two characters at the centre of the screen. (see image below)

Here are some initial sketches for background and environment. (see image below)

 Work on individual tiles

Putting things together to see how it would look

It obviously looked very repetitive. What I needed to do is to create much more variation in the background tiles as well as get rid of too detailed art for the environment tiles. If I want any characters as part of environment tiles it has to have enough contrast to pop out. Sadly 'brushwork' is not really visible either.

Since I have little experience with tile backgrounds I have looked at some images of other tile-based games:

Available from: http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Civilization-V-Announced-First-Screenshots-Released-22954.html [Accessed 8 January 2014]

Available from: http://www.yetanotherreviewsite.co.uk/2012/02/08/battleship-videogame-coming-from-hasbro-and-activision/ [Accessed 8 January 2014]

Available from: http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/0/1792/568272-hbatt.jpg [Accessed 8 January 2014]

As well as done search on Pokemon game : https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Pok%C3%A9mon+game&espv=210&es_sm=122&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=iD76Uo6cB4Ow7AbG2IGgDw&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=2133&bih=1194&dpr=0.9#imgdii=_

Here are the images after I have applied my ideas and solutions.

Background with a grass texture.

Background with a plane green plate.

What I have done is tried to make characters stand out from the background and colour was the most obvious solution, because texture on such small characters is not really visible. However I did not want to go with a really harsh contrast and use very pure primary colours. Wanted more subdued and not 'in your face' colour palette since there are so many games that look like that.
In the second attempt I have changed the background from a number of small squares in to single plate image with a grid that would allow of 'on top' placement of individual objects within the environment. Reason: I thought that the detailed grass perhaps was a bit taking over the view and maybe just a single plane with some texture, brush strokes etc. would fit better since it will have a larger pattern and perhaps that way contrast more with more detailed assets.
Conclusion:  I think second option is a better choice. Also, the thought that there is a restriction on what I can do to make it look 'painterly' without getting in to a more abstract art which I think would not be too appreciated by the game designer or public. Since the work I am creating this year will be evaluated I am not sure if I want to go that far, especially on someone else idea.

Assassination game

Here are sketches for the game: general idea and layout during gameplay. (see images below)

Here are images of a Peugeot car interior images which I have used as a reference since this type of car was used for Taxi service during 60s-70s.

Development process images (see below)

Since the car interior is a very definite design I made a rough sketch to mark where certain objects should be and how it is best to fit all the things on to the screen by staying true to the original car design as much as possible.

Final setup completed with a watercolour paper texture and colour. Ready to start colouring.

First colours applied.

This how far I have managed to get it painted. I wish I had more time to finish it properly and would love to have time to try and make another mock-up screenshot image (more of a comic book style), however I will have no time since my presentation is tomorrow.

What I was going for in this art style was a watercolour painting illustration because I wanted the paper texture is visible. Reason for it, the game is very much about dealing with a dialogue and it is a bit like reading an interactive book: as if the gameplay-story is happening on paper in an old book. Muted/desaturated watercolours in my opinion was suite well for this effect as well as help to keep players attention on the text. Also, I did not want the art suggest any drama or warnings that something bad is going to happen since this part of the game was about investigation and information gathering from spies. Spies, as far as history has shown, tend to look like a very ordinary people.

I think overall the arts style choice is not bad, but I wish I had more time to finish it properly and as mention before try a more comic book look. It is hard to make many comments on this image since I did not finish it fully.
Is it the right project to take it on, I am not sure. My concern is a lot of the game is based only on the interaction happening on this screen. So there is not much happening apart from the animation of a moving road. I could try and add some more art at the very start of the game when the story is introduces and then at the end when certain options are chosen by player but is it exactly the project for me at the moment?...
I will wait what the tutors will say about it and then make up my mind.

Collaboration options

On Thursday I have presented my honours year project idea and work to Abertay Game Development Society members to see if there was anyone who would be interested in working on a project together. I was in luck as two people approached me after the meeting and we had a chance to discuss some ideas. One of society members would like to develop a top down chessboard based game where a character and an enemy moves on the checked board while trying to get to their destination first and another one wants to try and develop an interactive storytelling game that had been inspired by a thriller novel by an English writer Frederick Forsyth 'The Day of the Jackal'.

I have also done some research for the assassination game idea. Since the game will start with an assassin arriving at the Aérodrome de Pontoise - Cormeilles and then journey in to the Paris with a car (journey is part of the game) I have used Google Maps to see what is the landscape in that area and what if any prominent features are there, perhaps what colours to use and of course note the details (types of road signs, driving cars on the right side of the road rather than the left, etc.) Also had a look at the architecture in Paris. (see images below)

Also this weekend going to watch 'The Day of the Jackal' movie directed by Fred Zinnemann.

Rest of the meetings I had this week were little less productive. There might be a one more option to collaborate with an 4th year GDPM student, however the person does not have an idea of what he would like to do/develop and is happy to do make a lot of prototypes for me. So now I will have to try and make a decision but before I do that I will try and get some advice from my supervisor tomorrow.

Also this week I have managed to complete a one more mock-up videogame screenshot somewhat based on my second year Game Design Document. To save time I chose to copy already existing games and just create my own assets. Used Orisinal game 'High Delivery' mechanics as an inspiration. Can find original game here:  http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/g3/high.htm

I was trying to adapt the gameplay to my aforementioned game and attempt to recreate a watercolour look, at least for the environment. I think the paper texture is a bit too rough/pronounced and I should change it, but I do like how the clouds and the moon look in the uneven blue sky. Also I made a conclusion that actually trying to replicate a watercolour look and feel in digital form is a much more time consuming endeavour then in real life. Some of the patterns that form while adding paint to paper or when paint is actually drying have to be recreated separately and fine tuned using multiple steps while using software. It loses that watercolour hallmark of spontaneity which I like it so much. Basically the creation process becomes quite restrictive, repetitive, forced and time-consuming. It loses the charm of the 'happy accident' because there is none. I would say, a total opposite to using software for sketching, where the layers and the undo option makes things happen much faster without affecting final results especially if one chooses a brush that resembles a pencil or a felt tip pen.


I also thought it would be a good idea to actually try and digitally replicate some traditional painting. Just to get some practice and see how closely I can make my digital version to resemble what had been done on a canvas. I have found an image of a fairly simple oil painting. Reason for it, I was more concerned about showing evidence of a visible brushstroke on a large block of canvas than anything else. This is how far I have gone. (see image below)

 The original by José Salvaggio

My version

Note:  this painting is not finished yet and I did not pick the colours of the original using colourpicker tool.

I have experimented with a numebr of different digital brushes as well as with a sumge tool and paper/canvas texture. I think the texture ads a lot to the the realistic look/feel. Mainly because texture is hard to recreate especially when we are talking about the actual texture of paint mark/brush stroke on canvas.

 Here is the same digital painting  with the texture layers removed.

 I think it certainly looks more flat and digitally painted. I think the imperfections overall give a more naturalistic look. I think an eye subconsciously picks up the repetitiveness in digital art. For example digital brush strokes tend to be the same because it is a set tool (size, shape, opacity and other settings) I think varying brushes and their settings helps with achieve a  more natural look of a final peace. For example, I was trying to replicate a 'poppy' part of  'Chianti in Spring' painting by -by-Alexi-Zaitsev (see first image below) and the more I have varied the brushes and their settings the more digital version started  resembling oil on canvas. Note: did not try to replicate the colour but the texture only. (See images below)

Alexi-Zaitsev. Chianti in Spring. [online image]. Available from: http://www.artrussia.ru/pic_z/z478_110.jpg [Accessed 31 January 2014]

No texture added but a wide array of bushes used.

Papper/canvas texture added

I think the texture is too harsh. I think a softer setting would have made it look better, more realistic.

Same image as above but with a Find Edges layer overlayed on top of it.

Same image  but with a Stylise > Emboss layer on top.

I think the results are quite good. Just need to tweak some things on a layer texture to make it look more natural and use a variety of brushes while changing their settings. I think I might be on the right track here, but more work needs to be done. 

Inspiration

Traditional Art and Media

Because the aim of this project is to try and reproduce qualities found in traditional art (general aesthetics, media texture/look, composition etc.) it is inspired an influenced by traditional paintings and drawings. Also, because traditional art is considered as having cultural value of meaning, it is in my opinion the most appropriate area to look for inspiration and learn from.

Oil/Acrylic painting

I really like oil paintings by Russian landscape artist Alexander Zavarin. Especially the impressionist alike ones, done using wide and bold brush strokes which ‘suggests’ objects within the painting but does not show any of the detail and that way leaving it to the viewer to figure out  what it actually is. A.Zavarin manages to capture soft light within the scenes but at the same time creates illusion of space where colour either brings objects forward or moves them ‘deeper’ in to the canvas space. Paintings look chaotic yet manage to capture the actual mood of the scene. The artists’ brush strokes are very visible on the canvas and not only contribute towards the paintings mood but also emanates ‘personal touch’ energy from the work. This artist work is relevant to the project by providing not only inspiration for oil/acrylic paint look within digital medium, but also a possible solution to a problem where interactive objects should stand out from a background. Possible use of bold ‘brush’ strokes to only suggest some of the background objects can be the key. Also, keeping things interesting and letting viewers mind interpret some of the things that are happening on canvas can be used to bring more interest towards the game art. This traditional oil painting effect can be seen implemented as a 3D model texture in a ‘Damocles’ trailer for a new Crytec video game called Ryse: Son of Rome ( Trailer available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czXJeJ9I2Us). (can see another post where I mention 'Damocles' trailer here.)

Zavarin, A. [no date]. [online image]. Available from: http://allday2.com/index.php?newsid=470467 [Accessed: 19 December 2013]

Zavarin, A. [no date]. [online image]. Available from: http://artbook.oo.gd/en/alexander-zavarin/ [Accessed: 19 December  2013]

Zavarin, A. [no date]. [online image]. Available from: http://artbook.oo.gd/en/alexander-zavarin/ [Accessed: 19 December  2013]

Watercolour

Z.L.Feng is an international award winning Chinese artist living in U.S.  Many of his watercolour landscape compositions can strike one as being rather dark and fairly minimalist at first however further inspection reveals an array of colours that have been achieved by the watercolour pigments blending together on paper. Intricate and dark tree branches are ‘set on fire’ by a multitude of colour dabs. Balanced compositions achieved by use of light and shadow as well as colours. This artists’ work is great as an inspiration as well as an example of watercolour media look: where every brush stroke leaves a permanent mark on canvas and the actual media has ‘luminosity’ unlike a heavy oil paint on canvas. This type of medium, if implemented successfully, has a possibility to help with keeping backgrounds simple and uncluttered and that way to help emphasize foreground and interactive objects. And just like in oil painting example mentioned above this media look can be used to bring more interest to the game art.

Feng, Z.L. [no date]. [online image]. Image #:1: LImited Edition Giclee Print. Available from: http://zlfeng.com/landscape.html [Accessed 19 December 2013]

You can see one more image of  of his painting in my week 4 blog post.

Collage

Collage is another interesting and widely used traditional art technique and a piece of art done by Nancy Standlee (see image below) is a fine example of this art style. This painting somewhat reminds an impressionist oil paintings with an explosion of bright colours and an array of bits of paper that resemble broad brush strokes on canvas. It is a nice colourful composition that conveys lively mood using ‘bold’ blocks of colour and at the same time have textural interest in each single piece of coloured paper that has been placed on the canvas. This technique can be recreated well in digital media if one wishes and can serve as a general motivation to perhaps be braver while exploring unusual places/arts/ art styles etc. for inspiration.  In a certain way, collage is similar to what Amanita Design has done with their video game Botanicula (2012)* art direction.  more info in my week 3 post.

Standlee, N. [no date]. Feed the Birds. [online image]. Available from: http://nancystandlee.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/rooster-and-bird-torn-paper-collage.html [Accessed 21 December 2013]

Digital Art

One of the most inspirational current ink artists that manage to almost flawlessly merge traditional ink medium with a digital Photoshop painting is Taiwanese artist Jung Shan. Rough paper texture and flowing ink is visible from his scanned/photographed ink paintings that are used as background for his final images. This gives an authentic, ‘personal touch’ to the digital drawing which is created using digital Photoshop brushes. Some of the paintings are made even more interesting by photographing ink painting while it is still damp (see image below). This artist work is a great example of how to blend traditional and digital media. Use of specific digital brushes that imitate traditional media techniques can be a great advantage in trying to recreate traditional media look in Photoshop.

Jung Shan. 2013. Silence power. [online image]. Available from: http://jungshan.deviantart.com/art/Silence-Power-338758654 [Accessed 22 December 2013]

Jung Shan. 2013. Wuxia Magazine cover. [online image]. Available from: http://jungshan.deviantart.com/art/Wuxia-Magazine-cover-441137422 [Accessed 22 December 2013]

Jung Shan. Ink Samurai. [online image]. Available from: http://jungshan.deviantart.com/art/Ink-Samurai-193699240 [Accessed 22 December 2013]

I think this guy is absolutely amazing. Love the way he combines the traditional with the digital. It all looks so light and easy, done with a few brushstrokes. Amazing skills.

Videogames

Some videogame developers already tried to mimic traditional art styles and media within their games.  It is good to see what has already been done and perhaps find out how.

Braid

One of the greatest inspirations to this project has been a video game called Braid (2008)**, created by Jonathan Blow. Braid is one of the important works in the video game industry because this game is a very first well known computer game that has been inspired by and tried to reproduce traditional art style. Game artist David Hellman’s (who is also a comic and graphic novel artist) inspiration has come from traditional art movements such as abstract art, impressionism, and surrealism. 

Can read a bit about the game in my week 3 post. 

Even though all the art assets had been digitally painted, on a closer inspection, while playing the game, one can easily see David Hillmans’ brush strokes throughout the painted backgrounds (see first image below) just like in all impressionist paintings done by famous artists. (see 2 bottom images by Claude Monet)

Monet,C. 1882. Clifftop Walk at Pourville. [online image]. Available from: http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/claude-monet/clifftop-walk-at-pourville [Accessed 23 December 2013]

David Hillman chosen colours to create appropriate moods within the game that support the story and environment. Each of the game Worlds has its own colour palette. For example, within World 1 which is an introduction of the story, warm colours such as greens and yellows dominate the screen, while World 4 is a much more ‘cold’ looking environment with dominant blues and browns. Additionally, some of the elements within the game background where broken apart and implemented in to a particle system to create movement and dreamlike feeling similar to surrealistic paintings.

Also some of the background elements ended resembling watercolour or coloured ink painting on paper. (see image below)

Braid world has been crafted with a vision  as well care towards the actual game player. One of the most inspirational quotes that also strongly relates to the idea and vision of this project is a quote by Braid developer Jonathan Blow has said: “There’s a message in the visuals, and the effort that’s been put into the graphics. It’s a subliminal thing, a message which says that somebody really cared about putting this experience together...it says you’re in good hands” (Dennis, R., 2012) (Can find a link to the article in my week 3 blog post). 

In my opinion, the subliminal things within this videogame are not only previously mentioned images inspired by traditional art movements or visible brush strokes that reminds us of traditional paintings done on canvas (e.g. Zavarin A. or Monet C.) but also some of the remainders of digital paint that can still be visible on some of the asset edges (see image below).

These left over ‘flaws’ or imperfections created by a human hand are picked up by the viewer irrelevant if the art is created on a real or a digital canvas and becomes part of the artwork that contributes to its aesthetics and in this case makes game art more personal.

I think this game is important to my project because it is a great example that traditional art can work in video games. In addition, the creation process through which David Hillman went while designing the art for this game is very informative and contributes a lot of knowledge towards this honours year project. (Can read David Hillman s blog here.)

The Bridge

The Bridge (2013)*** is an only black and white 2D logic based puzzle game that is inspired by Maurits Cornelis Eschers’ (Dutch graphic artist) work; game play and art style (see images below). 

Escher, M.C. 1958. Belvedere. [online image] Available from: http://www.mcescher.com/gallery/lithograph/belvedere/ [Accessed 21 December 2013]

Escher, M.C. 1955. Convex and Concave. [online image] Available from: http://www.mcescher.com/gallery/lithograph/convex-and-concave/ [Accessed 21 December 2013]

This game can be also considered as an important step in game design style because it picked a single artist as an inspiration and successfully created artwork that closely resembles the original. Ty Taylors’ (game designer) and Mario Castanedas’ (artist) goal for games art style was to attempt to replicate black-and-white lithograph style seen in majority of M.C. Eschers’ work. Therefore, even though art for the game has been produced digitally, it does have a traditional lithograph, mezzotint media look (see images below).

The Bridge game level art

Mario Castaneda. 2012. [online image]. Quantum Astrophysicists Guild. Available from: http://www.gamersgate.co.uk/DD-BRIDGE/the-bridge [Accessed 26 December 2013]

In addition, game artwork somewhat reminds of Chinese ink painting (also mentioned in  week 5 blog post) as well as graphite pencil drawing (see images below).

The house

Mario Castaneda. 2012. [online image]. Quantum Astrophysicists Guild. Available from: http://calmdowntom.com/2013/03/the-bridge-review-pc/ [Accessed 26 December 2013]

The tree

Mario Castaneda. 2012. [online image]. Quantum Astrophysicists Guild. Available from: http://www.gamersgate.co.uk/DD-BRIDGE/the-bridge [Accessed 26 December 2013]

This game in my opinion is a great example where traditional art was used as inspiration and then was successfully transferred in to a digital medium.

Botanicula

Botanicula (2012)* by Amanita Design games, stands out with its unique artistic style: very graphic and stylised look. I think this game project shows that inspiration can be found anywhere and merging different things, can result in some unique and fascinating design results (see Standlee, N. Feed the Birds image or even Jung Shan Wuxia Magazine cover image above). 

Amanita design. 2012. [online image]. Amanita Design. Available from: http://games.tiscali.cz/recenze/botanicula-recenze-59212 [Accessed 26 December 2013]

Photography was used not only for preproduction phase as a material for character and environment design, but also as a texture material for both (see images below).

Amanita design. 2012. Botanicula: art book. p. 14. Amanita Design.

Amanita design. 2012. Botanicula: art book. p. 15. Amanita Design.

Game designers sought inspiration from nature. By blending it all together in a really creative way within game environment it resulted in a truly unique art style for a video game. 

Amanita Design. 2012. [online image]. Available from: http://amanita-design.net/games/botanicula.html [Accessed 26 December 2013]

This example relates to honours year project by inspiring one to look ‘outside the box’ rather than drawing inspiration only from existing games/art.

I think it is important to get inspired by many different things because, in my opinion it is the best way to go about it while trying to create something interesting and unique not only from a game artist view but also a game players view. Since traditional art undoubtedly holds a key to aesthetics and 3D art nowadays has taken over in realistic representation, going back to the origins of traditional 2D art seems to make sense while looking for answers of a question ‘what else can be one with this medium?’

* Amanita Design. 2012. Botanicula. Microsoft Windows. Amanita Design & Daedalic Entertainment

** Number None, Inc. 2008. Braid. Microsoft Windows. Number None, Inc

*** GameStop Corp. 2012. The Bridge. [online]. Available from: http://www.indiegamechallenge.com/2012-finalists/the-bridge/ [Accessed 27 December 2013]

Dennis, R. 2012. Games take on another dimension. Financial Times.