art-design
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World of Warcraft examines the art of designing proto-Nagrand
Part of designing an MMO is putting a whole lot of work into things that no one will really notice. If you're playing World of Warcraft and running through Nagrand in Outland, you might be vaguely curious about how the zone is going to translate into its original form in Warlords of Draenor. Odds are, though, that you'll notice only in passing what the latest development blog from art director Chris Robinson talks about extensively. Robinson details the challenges of building the temporal prototype of an iconic existing zone, especially since the original Nagrand was marked partly by the contrast between its peaceful plains and the floating bits of rock in the distance. The intent was to give the area an almost delicate feel, as if parts of the landscape could rise up and start floating away. Take a look at Robinson's whole piece for more insights about weaving the story of the zone into the art, and take a moment to stop and look around when you reach the zone in-game.
Star Trek Online details the art of the new Intelligence ships
The Intelligence ship designs in Star Trek Online are like nothing else in the game, especially for the Federation. They're dark, angular, and aggressive. A new development blog on the official site sees art director Brad Stokan explaining how the new designs went from concept to finished ships and how the art department juggled the tasks of adhering to the design principles that make a ship distinctly Federation while also making something new and unique. Stokan explains that most of the choices going into the design were weighed against these two rules, such as adding in glowing sensor panels that both highlighted the ships' scanning functionality while providing a distinct silhouette. The design blog also stresses that players can expect extra customization for these ships, including the option to make the hull finish look a bit more typical for Federation craft. Check out the whole process and more bits of concept art in the full blog entry. [Thanks to Lonegun for the tip!]
Black Gold devs talk art design, 'clash of styles'
Snail's latest promotional post for Black Gold focuses on the game's distinctive visuals and art design. While there's little in the way of new gameplay information here, there is plenty of arresting concept art that melds fantasy, Victorian futurism, Wild West motifs, and of course steampunk.
SOE opens 2014 G.I.R.L. scholarship submissions
SOE has begun its 7th Gamers in Real Life Game Design Competition, inviting aspiring game developers to apply for a possible $10,000 college scholarship and a 10-week job as a paid intern at the studio. To apply, you'll need to be enrolled in an undergraduate program that has something to do with video games, have a 3.00 GPA or higher, be 18 or older, and be a legal resident of one of the 50 United States or District of Columbia. The application includes concept artwork, captions, and an essay. Interested participants need to submit their application by March 19th. We interviewed the 2013 winner, Esther Wu, last October about her experience with the competition, which is worth a read if you're interested in participating.
An interview with 2013 SOE G.I.R.L. Scholarship winner Esther Wu
Sony Online Entertainment's G.I.R.L. (short for Gamers in Real Life) scholarship was developed to encourage women to pursue careers in game development and design. The winners are selected via an annual competition and receive a $10,000 scholarship in addition to a valuable in-studio internship working on one of SOE's many games. The submissions, which this year consisted of art design pieces and essays on the topic of women in gaming, are reviewed by a panel of judges from SOE. This year's winner, Esther Wu, spent 10 weeks working with the PlanetSide 2 art team at SOE's San Diego headquarters. We sat down with her to learn more about the G.I.R.L. Scholarship, her internship, and where she hopes to go next.
StarCraft II Art Tools Open Beta available
If you're a 3D artist looking for some new toys to get that creative streak going, Blizzard has just the thing for you. The StarCraft II Art Tools package is now in open beta, and includes plugins for 3DS Max, along with a ton of StarCraft II source art files, tutorials, and documentation to get you up and running. The art tools package isn't just a new toy from Blizzard -- it's the same tools that the StarCraft II development team used to create Heart of the Swarm. The tools package allows artistic players to create new models, textures, particle effects, animations, or pretty much any other 3D art asset that you can dream up for the StarCraft II engine. This is, however, a beta -- so there may be bugs with the program. However, Blizzard of course has an official feedback thread for users to leave bug reports and suggestions for improvement. To participate in the open beta, simply visit the announcement page, download the program in either 32-bit or 64-bit version, grab the documentation, and get to creating!
How we see the World of Warcraft
One of the things I'm leeriest of is the idea of a complete overhaul of World of Warcraft's aesthetic. I've talked about it in terms of character aesthetics, and in terms of the visual set that defines the warrior class and what it all boils down to for me is that when I log into the game, I want it to feel like it's the same game, the same world. This is not to say that the game hasn't seen plenty of upgrades to its visuals over the years, far from it. As Takralus pointed out recently in a forum thread asking if WoW will ever see a major graphical upgrade, the game has seen upgrades, at least one every time an expansion has come out in fact. World of Warcraft is a game built out of all of these separate elements combined. It's got excellent sound design, both in music and in sound effects (although I can't watch a TV special on dinosaurs without recognizing a sound from World of Warcraft nowadays), which the graphics build on top of to create the world we experience. As such, I'm simultaneously interested in yet afraid of the long awaited character model redesign Takralus mentions. Yes, it's somewhat ridiculous that human wizards and warlocks, if male, have arms like coiled pythons, but by now I'm so accustomed to it I don't know if I could accept a more slender build for a spellcaster.
Go behind the scenes with EVE's art department in new video diary
CCP's latest dev blog spills the beans on EVE Online's upcoming rookie ship revamp. CCP Guard reports that the redesign is "part of our ongoing effort to continuously update the art assets in EVE Online and [make] sure it remains the most beautiful MMO out there." The blog entry features a video clip that takes us behind the scenes at CCP's art department, and there are plenty of talking-head interviews as well as a few glimpses of sexy internet spaceship concept art. The five-minute clip is basically a crash course in the lengthy process of adding new art assets to EVE, and you'll find it after the jump.
City of Heroes art lead contemplates the Hamidon redesign
City of Heroes Freedom brings not only changes to the payment model of the premiere superhero MMO but also to the art design for some of the existing creatures. In a developer diary posted on PC Gamer, Art Lead Gilbert Martinez explains the process behind creating a new threatening version of the Hamidon. One of our goals for the new Praetorian incarnations of Hamidon was to raise their threat level while keeping them tied visually to the original blob-like mass players are familiar with. We felt that it was important to design these creatures in a way that emphasized their power and scale and made it clear that they are worthy of going toe-to-toe with the all-powerful Tyrant. Martinez does not explain if this new incarnation of the monster will take 50+ heroes to defeat like its predecessor, but we are looking at a completely different creature than the former giant congealed mass. PC gamer hosts the whole diary on its website, which includes new screenshots of the Hamidon and a gigantic monster called the Shivan from the redesigned tutorial. And next week, City of Heroes hosts two panels at PAX. Massively will have reporters on the scene giving you the latest news for Paragon City!
The Daily Grind: What aesthetic should we see more often?
Possibly showing our skewed priorities, most of the Massively staff launched into paroxysms of cooing at the unveiling of City of Heroes' Steampunk Pack. It's an aesthetic that's sadly underused within the MMO space -- we have a few hundred games that feature a vaguely European fantasy world but a decided lack of games with thick smoke, oil, and clockwork machinery. But steampunk isn't the only design aesthetic and general setting getting short shrift within the games we adore. The modern "art deco" aesthetic of the 1950s. The lush jungle setting of South America during the reign of the Aztec and Mayan peoples. The bleak iron and hard edges of Soviet Russia. We've all got settings that we think would be a bit more interesting than yet another game with French castles and full-plate knights, so today we ask -- what would you like to see more frequently? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Chronicles of Spellborn unveils new area
Every MMO has its own style, but few have such a uniqueness to them as that of Chronicles of Spellborn. Set in great hollow rocks called Shards, caught in an immense cataclysm called the Deadspell Storm, it's a setting unlike any other. Though currently in closed beta, the developers let us have a peek at Shorath Mesa, a swampy land surrounded by mountains that drop in immense cliffs and thunderous waterfalls to the land of Garminholm, far below.Spellborn art lead Frank Bakker, in his latest art journal, brings us through the design, development and implementation Shorath Mesa. How does a designer balance the needs of the game with the desires of the player? What goes into designing a visually interesting area? How do you get weather inside a rock? This is a fascinating look into the art development of an exciting new MMO.
The Art Design of WoW
Jon over at The Bronze Kettle (I especially enjoy the way the husband and wife posting dynamic plays out on this site, it's getting bookmarked) makes an interesting post about how World of Warcraft's art direction works for him when other MMO's fail. While we've discussed the Uncanny Valley here on the site before, Jon's post comes with a nice visual representation of what he's talking about, contrasting another MMO to WoW. You can see that in many ways, the UI is practically identical but what sets WoW apart is the more stylized look of the characters. Clearly the more realistic look has come a long way... the character in this screenshot looks a lot better than you would have seen just a few years ago. Eventually, you might well expect the valley to be crossed and an MMO to have art and character design almost indistinguishable from a person, without the stilted poser quality you still see today.But WoW, as Jon indicated, skipped right over that hurdle by deliberately stepping well away from it. WoW's graphics mean that they don't come close to the uncanny valley, and as a side benefit WoW can be less demanding on your machine, so more folks can play it. A shrewd way to sidestep the issue and make more money, I'd say. As always, what do you think? Should WoW stay the course or start moving more towards an attempt at realism?
