From Generalist to Specialist?

One of the main things that has been introduced to us as we progress through the course is that often you are required to specialize to get a job in industry. After having more of an understanding of how big AAA companies work, it is clear why this is the case. In some companies your job role may be so specific that you may only be creating armor plates for a character or are in charge of only the foliage of a level. Yet, because the industry has developed to this point of such specialization, it seems that now it is starting to reverse slightly.

With a wave of new small companies opening, particularly with the growth of the mobile games industry, it is again seeming more like being a generalist is not exactly a bad thing. I keep hearing the phrase of 'T shaped' workers floating about, with a little bit of research it comes from the Valve Employer's handbook. The 'T shaped' worker is described as having a broad range of skills and deep expertise in one area. So for a character artist, you have a deep understanding of creating characters, but also a sound understanding of rigging, rendering, animation, etc.

Even to get into the AAA development, I still feel that it is important to keep up with lots of different skills. After speaking to past graduates who are in industry they still work on a variety of things, be that bug fixing, texturing, learning in-house engines, or just learning new programs in general. I think that one should stay flexible and keep an open mind to a variety of skills. What happens when you have done everything you can do? If they employee has other skills, they can go help in another area, someone without those skills can not. So surely the employer would see the person with more general skills as a better investment?

So as well all struggle on deciding where we want to specialize our skills, maybe it is better to stay a bit more general.

Sounds in Games

Sounds, be that effects or music, in games can make so much difference to the atmosphere of the game; A well placed creak can create a sense of tension or a somber song may get them close to tears. Sounds can have a very powerful effect over the player, when used intelligently. In my opinion a good soundtrack and thoughtful sound design can make a game timeless.

One of the most important parts of a game is creating the immersion, that sense of being a part of the game. Things like bad level design, bad visual design and bad sound design can break that barrier and the player will not be able to connect with the game as the developer planned. I would argue that sound has one of the most important part to creating this sense of involvement within the game. Making sure all the surrounding sound effects are accurate are key to this. Sound is also a big part of level design as intelligently placed sound can help make the player progress in the preferred way through the level, it is an important part of triggered events.

If done well and successfully sound can help to create a sense of tension, stir emotions and even play on nostalgia.
Some games execute the tension very well through their sound; one game that stands out to me as doing this is Outlast. Even from the start up menu you have this horrible sense of tension and dread (even to those who do not know what they are about to inflict upon themselves.) Whenever I play this game with friends, the moment we hear the opening sounds we are straight back to feeling on edge and unsure about the whole situation. Even when in the middle of a level, you are constantly questioning what all the sounds are; some of the levels even revolve around the use of sound. For example, the guy we are avoiding at the moment has a chain that drags on the floor as he walks, so as soon as you hear that sound you know you have to hide as fast as possible. Then once hidden it is a question of whether it is your own breathing you can hear or someone else!

This game gets me every time! 

Possible SPOLIERS! 

Sounds also help to create emotions in the player; one too many games have had me bawling my eyes out and I can bet you that music in the game has helped achieve this effect. A good example of this, is in the opening of The Last of Us.

SPOILERS!

This opening is so well done as it established this personal relationship with the characters within the first few minutes of meeting them. In addition to this development the sounds and visuals support this well; when the music starts at the part where one of the characters is dying in the opening, it really stirs those emotions (makes me cry every time.)

Music from older games really starts to play on nostalgia these days, music from games we played when younger really stir our emotions when we hear them. When you hear a song from a game you played years ago it fills you with that sense of excitement and enjoyment you got from the first time you played it. Prime examples (at least for me personally) are the Legend of Zelda theme and the Elder Scrolls theme, whenever I hear these themes it makes me want to go play them all over again. When a song has this effect over you, you know that the games soundtrack was a very well done and successful one as it still remains in your memory.

My inner adventurer is crying with excitement!

Game Engines

So, what is a game engine? My understanding of a game engine is that it is the place where all the elements come together to create a playable game. The main thing I use them for is to create a playable level to showcase assets I have been working on. Things like 3d assets, textures, terrain, sounds, AI and other scripts come together in one place to create a final product.
There are many different engines to choose from so it is important to choose correctly as things like lighting and shaders are dependent upon your choice.
The amount of different effects and elements you can achieve also depend on the engines features.

So, most engines are based on licencing and again prices can vary depending on which you are looking at. So some companies choose to create an ‘in-house’ engine; ‘In-house’ engines can be a very viable option as it gives the developer the freedom to have any features that are necessary for their game. If they have the time, money, staff and patience to create one (and make it usable for more than one title) it can be very effective in the long run as they will avoid licencing and royalty fees.

While some developers may opt for ‘in-house’ engine, a lot of companies will still choose the licencing as it may often work out easier and cheaper. The benefit of using well established engines means that the bugs have already been fixed and there are often lots of tutorials available. While some engines can limit the visuals or features of a game, more commonly used engines like Unreal Development Kit (UDK) is known to have adaptable styles. While UDK is relatively easy to use and offers great features especially for first person shooters, it may prove a challenge for other types of game (not unachievable, but more of a challenge.)

All  above created using UDK (Bioshock Infinite, Dishonored, Mass Effect 2)

So, UDK still one of the most used engines boasts a variety of different titles and different visual styles, it is popular because of its flexibility and versatility. Because it is so widely used there are plenty of online resources to help with achieving a variety of different features and styles.
Another reason it is so popular is because of its node-based shader system, the layout is somewhat similar to other texture and shader compilers and is easy to grasp.
The lighting in UDK is not real time and is baked onto a lighting map. While this does not limit the lighting effects you can achieve, plus it is a lot cheaper than real time lighting, but it does take up extra time making sure all the lighting maps are correct.

All above created in CryEngine (Crysis 3, Far Cry, Ryse)

Another popular engine is CryEngine which was originally developed as a tech demo for Nvidia, which after its potential was realised was made into a full game engine. Crytek are re-known for creating beautiful games with ground breaking graphics and their Engine sure doesn't disappoint. The real time lighting is stunning and it has an easy to use flow graph system for shaders and in-game events. While it is relatively easy to jump into (with a bit of prior knowledge of other engines) it still requires a bit of adjusting to get used to importing assets. It makes it easy to create levels that look pretty good and as an artist it is pretty simple to get triggered events and other effects working without having much knowledge of programming.
However, CryEngine is not nearly as flexible as other engines and the lighting is set up for photo realistic styles. So trying to create a more stylised or cartoon-y effect can be a challenge. Also, because of the lighting it is often easy to distinguish when a level has been created using CryEngine.

All of the above created in Unity Engine (Guns of Icarus, Kerbal Space Program, Anna)

Although I do not know much about this engine, I feel it is worth a mention; Unity. Unity has long since been regarded as an engine for hobbyists and amateurs, but since its development it has drawn the attention of many companies. It’s vast tools for mobile games and has a pretty cheap licencing fee have helped build its popularity. It is easy to access and is surprisingly versatile with plenty of shaders and tools available. Unity is also well rated as it works for browsers; the Unity web-layer enables Unity levels to be accessible via internet browsers, as well as created and played over the internet with hardly any download necessary. Another important thing to look at is the fact that it imports max and maya files which helps speed up the work flow.
However as it is still being improved the lighting is not amazing, especially when competing with CryEngine and UDK; but there are plenty of plug-ins available from companies like Marmoset, which help improve this tenfold.

Obviously there are lots of other exciting game engines out there; these are just the three I am most accustomed to. It is worth researching other engines as they can offer even more different features and effects that would be more suited for whatever project it is you are working on. It is always worth looking out for new engines as well as the market is constantly changing so new programs will be developed to suit its needs.

Mock up on Documentation

My mock up practice brief;

My project will be a 3^rd person Fantasy RPG game where it is driven by narrative and quests, there will be lots of vast environments to explore. I will write a project outline for one area in the game. I want the level to be immersive and have lots of exploration elements. All concept work with be produced at the beginning.

It will be specified for PC and consoles and will be created in Unreal Engine as I am most familiar with it. The audience is ages 15 upwards and will have a realistic style. The other programs I will be using are 3D Studio Max, Photoshop, Crazy Bump, World Machine and Zbrush.

There will be;

• ·        A lead character

o   The lead character will be either a male or female generic hero type character. The player can chose between dual wielding weapons, bow and arrows, mage’s staff or stealthy daggers.

o   Character no more than 30 000 tris

o   2 x 1024 x 1024 (diffuse + alpha) 32Bit

o   2 x 1024 x 1024 (specular + gloss) 32Bit

o   2 x 1024 x 1024 (normal) 24Bit

o   Weapons no more than 5000 tris

o   2 x 512 x 512 (diffuse + alpha) 32Bit

o   2 x 512 x 512 (specular + gloss) 32Bit

o   2 x 512 x 512 (normal) 24Bit

• ·        An NPC

o   The NPC will be one of the enemies. As the player traverses the environment they will encounter many different enemies. The NPC I will create will be the basic ‘undead soldier’ character, who will be one of the most common enemies.

o   Character and weapons no more than 10 000 tris

o   1 x 1024 x 1024 (diffuse + alpha) 32 bit

o   1 x 1024 x 1024 (specular + gloss) 32 bit

o   1 x 1024 x 1024 (normal) 24 bit

o   Should include 3 LOD’s

• ·        A vehicle

o   The vehicle used will be a small row boat that can be used to traverse over lakes and rivers in the environments.

o   No more than 5000 tris

o   1 x 1024 x 1024 (diffuse + alpha) 32 bit

o   1 x 1024 x 1024 (specular + gloss) 32 bit

o   1 x 1024 x 1024 (normal) 24 bit

o   Should include 3 LOD’s

• ·        An environment

o   The level will be a castle ruins in a forest by a lake, where the aim in to make it to the ruins as an ancient relic you player requires is hidden within.

o   Will consist of terrain and skybox

o   Including heightmap

o   4 x 1024 x 1024 (diffuse + alpha) 32 bit

o   4 x 1024 x 1024 (specular + gloss) 32 bit

o   4 x 1024 x 1024 (normal) 24 bit

• ·        Prop or scenery objects

o   Most of the props will be foliage and other plant life; so trees, shrubs, grasses, bushes, rocks, dirt, etc. There will also be the ruined castle which where possible will be modular, with more unique assets like statues and gargoyles.

o   All props minor props should be under 1000 tris and hero assets can go up to 5000 tris

o   Should all include 3 LOD’s

o   Each minor asset can have;

o   1 x 512 x 512 (diffuse + alpha) 32 bit

o   1 x 512 x 512 (specular + gloss) 32 bit

o   1 x 512 x 512 (normal) 24 bit

o   Each hero asset can have;

o   1 x 1024 x 1024 (diffuse + alpha) 32 bit

o   1 x 1024 x 1024 (specular + gloss) 32 bit

o   1 x 1024 x 1024 (normal) 24 bit

My personal aims for this project will be to develop my organisational skills, my understanding of UDK, my understanding of budgets, my understanding of artistic direction, creating a set of assets that harmonise to create a visually pleasing level, to practice using lighting well and also to help me understand good level design, so that the environment is easily traversed with a clear goal, while also encouraging exploration. 

Level Design

Level design, would seem somewhat different to the kind of things I would usually think about when designing something. Level design is driven by player interaction, and from my research I would say it seems to be about a harmony between game mechanics and visual design. I would also argue it is also about telling a story without using words or dialog.
I read an article (by Dan Taylor on Gamasutra) on key principles to good game level design; the main points seem to be that player interaction is what keeps the player engaged. While I strongly agree that the interaction with the game is what helps drive the narrative along, I want to discuss the importance of visual design in a level and how it strongly aids the interactions in a game (as this is what is more relevant to me.)
While key triggers and events keep the gamer excited and engaged, I feel that it requires visual cues to draw the player through the level and create a sense of flow.

One of the first points made is;
‘In most cases, the player’s core method of interaction with your level will be navigation – the process of actually traversing the level.  Careful layout, lighting, signage and other visual cues should create a natural “flow” to the level that guides the player instinctively through it.  From an aesthetic aspect, a game’s levels should all work together to create a consistent visual language, through the use of colour and form, that the player can learn, to progress intuitively through the level ‘

So after the level and interactive elements have been blocked out then the visual work must support this set up by leading the player to where they need to be and without being too obvious. It is important to still leave the player with a bit of autonomy, it would make sense to still have areas hidden from the player as to make levels replayable and encourage the player to explore and be rewarded for that. Again it would seem that it is all dependent on what type of game it is as to what level of exploration verses obvious direction there is. 
The main ways of trying to lead the player with design would be with lighting, signage and clear direction. Interestingly, I would argue that this relates very well back to the visual composition I was discussing in a past post; the way a scene is composed can strongly effect where the players interest is drawn. Trying to think about it as what is the first thing the player would see, and how will we get them to look over to where the entrance to the next area is. Similar elements like high contrast areas, arabesques and coincidences can get the player headed in the right direction.



I feel that thinking about level design in this way may help to improve upon the interactive elements in a playable level. If those elements are pivotal to the progression of narrative, then we need to visual cues to get the played to the right area at the right time.  Visuals are very important to level design.

Visual Composition

Visual composition was never really something I properly thought about in my past work. My uninformed approach is normally to just go with what looks right by instinct and just settle with that.

Yet after being introduced to composition techniques in my visual design classes, my mind has well and truly been blown. I have had a glimpse into the importance of design, to think smart when creating an image, and to look further than simply the rule of thirds.  To be honest overall this year has been a mind changing roller coaster so far.

So, what did I discover? Well, there is a reason that masters work is so timeless, they were using incredibly clever and structured techniques to create an image that does exactly what the artist wants it to do. They understand what draws a person to an image, where do they look first and why? Once they understood this they started using set formula that means they can make the viewer see what they want them to. This is only in regard to visual composition, not even touching the other areas they had outstanding understanding of. 

I have also been reading a blog (http://www.ipoxstudios.com/canon-of-design/) in which these techniques are much better explained. I have only just started to get my head around it and I still have a lot to learn, I’ve had a glimpse but the stuff these guys were doing was so vast.  The author has been doing daily posts regarding different areas and explaining a lot of it so that I may start to understand what they were doing. I am hoping just having a basic understanding and trying to incorporate it in my own work will help me improve. 

It is odd to think, but what exactly have I been doing in my art education up to this point? It continues to baffle me how after 7 years of art education they failed to even properly mention basic drawing techniques. No wonder society thinks we just sit around drawing pretty pictures all day.

http://www.ipoxstudios.com/the-rule-of-thirds-killed-design-and-left-it-for-dead-65-of-365/

I really enjoy the blog posts where the author take the time to sit and break down some masters paintings; showing some of the thing they were doing. The link above is an analysed painting by William Adolphe Bouguereau and it is nicely broken down into the different elements used. 

Study and composition analysis by Miles Johnstone

My own analysis and study of 'Miss Elsie Palmer by John Singer Sergeant'

Planning and Concepting

Planning and concepting are two extremely vital parts of any project. A very misconceived opinion I seem to have noticed floating around is; 'I know how to do 3D, so I don't need 2D.' Obviously this is a load of rubbish. Your 3D work is going to benefit and improve tenfold if it has started with decent planning and decent concepts. One of the main focus'/realizations I have had this year is that having a good foundation in your 2D skills is more helpful that just being a wiz at 3D modelling. Developing an understanding of form, composition, and other basic drawing skills takes a long time. The more confident you are with it the better as it is easily transferred to your 3D work. Where as learning the 3D sides is often simply a case of looking it up on the internet.

In regards to concept art, there seems to be a massive misconception as to what it is. If you look up concept art you will usually find, beautifully polished and rendered pieces of work with a strong, well established visual style. So there is a general census that this is what concept art is right?
Well, another of my realizations this year is that actually no, what we are fed by the media as 'concept art' is not that at all. The stuff we are fed would be better named as 'promo art.'

Wikipedia says: 

'Concept art is a form of illustration where the main goal is to convey a visual representation of a design, idea and/or mood for use in films, video games, animation, or comic books before it is put into the final product.'

This gives a better explanation of what it is; while this is the general description of what it is, concepting is a lot longer and more thoughtful process than that. There is a tonne of work that goes through a process of developing thumbnails, variations or iterations of ideas before getting close to the final designs; most of it is scrapped or vastly changed. 

But this is vital to the process, it is extremely important to be critical and to be clever throughout the design process. It is not just simply drawing pretty pictures all day; it is an intelligent process where the concept artist is creating these images with a very specific purpose and idea in mind.

The fact that the public idea of concept art is warped is mainly becuase of the stuff that is relaeased as concept art. While this has a negative impact on students and amateurs who want to pursue a career in concept art; creating unrealistically high standards for them and restricting them from the real techniques that concept artists use, it is understandable why this has happened.

A company is not going to want to release concept art throughout the design process;

'Companies only release concept art when it is polished and final enough to represent the actual product. Nobody wants a design go viral, which is possibly later rejected and have customers imprint a wrong visual key.' - How not to suck at game design (explains topic very nciely.)

Planning and concepting needs to be treated as a vital part of the design process. It should be done in an intelligent and reflective fashion; seeking as much feedback and criticism as you go. This will push oneself further and nail the key visuals before processing to a more finalized product. It also should not end at the beginning, being prepared to go back and develop more is also important. For example, doing paint overs of an existing level or character is going to help move the idea further. Planning and concepting ensures that the project will run smoother but also is a constant through the whole design process.

I found a thing.