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ArenaNet celebrates concept artists, sheds light on WvW queues [Updated]
One of ArenaNet's main selling points for Guild Wars 2 is the game's art direction. In recognition of that, the studio has begun a series of weekly interviews, which kicked off with a chat with Concept Artist Team Lead Jamie Ro. After getting her start in Auckland, New Zealand, Ro worked on developing a new style of art once she got to the States. She's pleased to be on a team with "some of the most talented people in the industry" whose "support and friendly competition" keep her motivated, and she believes that the diversity of artists and art styles represented in the concept art department is a real strength of the team. Head on over to the official interview to see all of what she has to say. In other Guild Wars 2 news, Mike Ferguson has been busy updating players about World vs World queue numbers. About 30% of Guild Wars 2 players queued up for WvW on the day that his data was taken, and about 3% of the players who were queued up didn't get in during that time. Ferguson says that the team is "looking at a number of short term and long term solutions" to help get more people playing and fewer people queuing. There are a lot of charts to be seen, so take a gander at the NA and EU server posts to see what's up. [Update: The team also plans to limit world transfers to one per 24 hours in an attempt to limit WvW exploits.]
Artist plagiarizes Guild Wars 2, World of Warcraft illustrators
If you're going to steal, steal big -- or so Romanian artist Iani Papadopol thought. Papadopol put on an exhibit called "UpDate 3D loading" featuring fantastic landscapes and scenery. The only problem? Instead of painting them himself, he ripped off several well-known illustrators, including ArenaNet's Daniel Dociu and Blizzard's Mathias Verhasselt, claiming the pieces as his own. The fraud was discovered by online fans and local artists after the exhibit was broadcast on TV. Papadopol's works were found to be stunningly similar -- in fact, identical -- to those of famous video game illustrators. Papadopol attempted to sell the prints before he was caught. There's no word yet whether charges will be filed. "I found out from my friends," Dociu, a fellow Romanian, said on a news channel. "I recognized four pieces of my work immediately. What upsets me is that he's also Romanian with an artistic background. I will not take legal action if he admits what he did." Papadopol's father, the acclaimed artist Constantin Papadopol, says that this is a misunderstanding. In any case, let this be the lesson to the next lazy art thief: It's perhaps best not to rip off the guy whose work was on the cover of National Geographic.
Fallout 3 concept artist Adam Adamowicz passes away
Adam Adamowicz died of cancer yesterday, and while his career may have focused on building digital worlds, his impact can be felt just as intensely in our physical lives. As the concept artist for Fallout 3 and other Bethesda titles, including Skyrim, Adamowicz shaped the reality of some of our favorite video game experiences, regardless of whether the wider world knew his name.Awesome Robo offers an in-depth, heartfelt glimpse into Adamowicz's work and life, highlighting the hand-drawn process he used to create Fallout 3's vault jumpsuit, weapons and super mutants, among dozens of other integral pieces that made up the game's universe.
Meet the Sparkplay Media team: Part One, pg. 2
Massively: Is there any MMO that has influenced your work on Earth Eternal, and if so how did it influence you? Alex Madrigal, Concept Artist: I've been pretty active with MMOs for about seven years now. I've played Final Fantasy XI the most, but I've spent a serious amount of time in World of Warcraft as well. I've dabbled in Everquest 2, Lineage II and most recently Dragonica. Artistically, I've picked something up from each of the games I've spent considerable amounts of time with. What Earth Eternal race represents you the best and why? Alex: I'd have to say that I'm probably most like the Ursine. I'm big, tough and hairy. Also...not so much tough, but definitely cuddly! If you could pick out your favorite part of Earth Eternal, what would it be and why? Alex: My monster designs. That will probably (definitely) come across as conceit, but the time spent with the team discussing, designing and fine tuning the monsters was probably the most fun I've had working on this game. To take something from a simply stated verbal concept and then see it grow through the stages of development is always exciting. Getting to draw strange things and seeing them show up in a 3D virtual space is a hoot. Plus it does my ego good when I hear people say that they think the designs are cool. And if you manage to find monsters you think aren't so cool – I didn't do those. [Laughs]What has been the most difficult obstacle for you to overcome in your work on Earth Eternal? Alex: Doing user interface work. Having come from an animation background, jumping headfirst into designing a UI was a hell of a hurdle. Dealing with a whole new set of technical limitations and rules was difficult at first. For my first UI, I'm pretty happy with the end result, but I prefer the pencil and paper/Photoshop route instead of shifting around tiny pixels. What has influenced your art style for Earth Eternal? Why this art style? Alex: I wish I could say that I was on the ground floor to help decide the artistic style for the game, but I actually came on as the concept artist about a year after the game's development started. I've been following a style set by another group of artists, but I have taken the opportunity to slather it in a healthy coating of my own personal style when possible. I'm heavily influenced by European graphic novel artists, and I really enjoy classic fairy tale illustrations. Things with visual texture and very rhythmic line work. Earth Eternal has rich lore and to me, it feels like a fairy tale world. I try to implement that kind of stuff wherever I can.Come back tomorrow for part two, when we get to speak with the lead writer, Matt Mihaly, and one of the programmers, Ryne Anderson!
All Points Bulletin video podcast shows off symbol creation and character customization
Since E3 2009 the All Points Bulletin team at Realtime Worlds has been releasing video podcasts showing aspects of the urban crime title, and no doubt gaining some new fans in the process. We mentioned an earlier video that focused on customization options players will have, but Realtime Worlds is taking that a step further in their latest video podcast, which walks the viewer through the layer-based symbol customization players will use in All Points Bulletin.The demonstration from senior concept artist Jon Stockwell shows how simple it is to create and manipulate layers in a symbol, resulting in your own unique look. As the video shows, that symbol can be applied to characters in the form of tattoos or graphics on clothing, and even used to detail your vehicles. Have a look at the video we've embedded for you below, and let us know what you think.
Meet a Champions Online concept artist, Imario Susilo
It's been a surprisingly info-heavy week for the Champions Online fans, as yet another post has been placed onto the official website by the awesome community content writer, Kestrel.The concept art that's been coming out for Champions Online has definitely been impressive. With every new character that's revealed, the game seems to develop a personality all its own. One of the guys we have to thank for that is Imario Susilo, who's one of the concept artists working at Cryptic and the focus of this week's "Meet the Team" article. Born and raised in Indonesia, Imario (who apparently stands at seven-feet-tall) moved stateside during his high school years.Imario himself goes over his method for designing a new character for Champions Online, which sounds like an exhaustive -- but very fun -- job. We're certainly grateful for the people designing this game -- be it character, world or story -- because without them, our superhero fantasies would fall flatly onto their collective faces.
