Unit 72 - Concept Art - Vehicles

Concept art is the basis of any game to this day, these are the starting designs for a verity of things that can be placed within the game such as vehicles, buildings and characters. Concept give the company something to play around with before they start to create a given object using 3DS Max, Mud Box or Z Brush as these sort of things take hours to create and to get to perfection. Concept are is a really important part of the game design industry, concept art is what any company/game needs in order to be able to start creating. This gives the person the chance to be creative and come up with a verity of different ways in which something could look.

But the artists needs to remember what they are making a certain thing for, such a thing would be making a game that was for children, they would need to keep the complexity of the shapes very simple and not have too much detail on the object such as colour. While a game for much older people would require more colour and shading not only that but a lot more complex design with small details being a big thing. But one thing any concept artist needs is the attention to detail and how things would work.

Concept art isn't just there for the designer to construct the models but it is also there to get investment into their game, as a starting (Especially for indie games) they need to create something that suits the audience that they are creating the game at, and the investor needs to agree with this choice.

I think that this is a very good concept page, especially displaying the environment that this certain vehicle is in and how it is raised above the ground. I would have to say that this certain piece is made for a much younger age of audience. I say this because of the very simple design of the vehicle and of the restraining station of which the ship is attached to. The colours of vehicle are very simple blue and yellow, this gives the younger audience something not as complicated to look at and find it easier to identify certain parts of the ship, not only that but they are very calm and relaxing colours giving off that this ship is maybe for for transporting something rather than being a battle fighter. I think that the most important thing about this certain ship is that it looks slightly like a train, and this sort of thing would really appeal to the younger audience and there attract the attention.

This is an amazing piece of concept, it's highly detailed and contains a lot of colours and items within it. I could say that this specific piece of art is aimed at the a lot older audience, I can tell this because firstly of the high detail that is within this piece, every rivet and scratch has been but into this, something this detailed would be too complex for the eye of the younger audience. The colour that is within this is quite complex as well, you can see this by the verity of colours with at certain point due to the shading of certain areas and the lighting placement, not only this colour but they have also included some rusting with their design. 

Overall I think that concept art is a very vital part of any game, it gives the developers a chance to experiment and get some funding for their projects. The concept artists has to remember what type of audience that they are trying to aim a certain piece at and how this would effect the way that they design the piece, if they fail to do so, they could loose out on a lot more.

Engines

Unreal Engine

The first appearance of this engine was in 1998 with the original Unreal engine, this included all the importing things such as rendering, collision detection, AI, networking file system, visibility and scripting all into this one engine, making it easier for game designers, this game engine was designed for Direct3D.
The newest of the unreal engines, called Unreal Engine 3, this engine started to be boosted up so that it could be run on consoles such as the Xbox 360 and the PS3 and even getting boosted so that it could be run on iOS, the biggest update of this would be the graphics that it could produce and the effect that were given.
Unreal engine is a engine that is growing in popularity, this is due to the fact of the rising number of games that have been created using it and the ever updating of the engine. The two games that I think that really should be compared to each other out of all the Unreal games is Unreal Tournament (1999) and Unreal Tournament 2004. I thought that these would be the two best games to compare because they are the same game but with a big year difference. As from the two pictures we can see the difference on how the engine has progressed in graphics, the very first game contained very boxy type looks object such as the weapons contained within the game, now compared to the graphics in the 2004 verison of the game, the textures are a lot more life like and more rounded and sharp where they are needed and should be needed, one big change that we can see in both of the image is the armour change, we can see in the old engine the armour was very triangular and seemed to model into the characters body, now compared to the new engine, we can see that the armour looks detected from the character and looks like that they had to put on the armour rather than being modelled to them.



Cry Engine

Cry Engine has to be one of the most popular engines out to this date this is because the engine always aims to go for the most realistic look as possible, and this what's makes them a very desirable engine with the that comes a very big price tag. For the comparing I will be using Farcry (Cryengine) and Crysis 3 (Cryengine 3) the oldest and the newest versions of the engine. Looking at these two games we can see the big difference in the graphics, the very first cry engine was at the point of were it was making one of its first games called far cry and this was a big success, and back then the graphics were really outstanding for its time, but compared to now everything has improve drastically, there has been massive improvements in everything one big thing that the cry engine has improve and has perfect quite well (for graphics at this time) is the partial system and environmental objects. As you can see in the picture above how the explosion throws debre everywhere and the explosion looks fantastic, it gives off a realistic effect rather than a cheap imported explosion which makes the game have more atmosphere, another this that they have nearly perfected the hardest thing to construct and create which is water, the water effect is really well done and look realistic and compared to the old water, it was a simple blue and very still, but now its clear flows.

Feedback

Visual

Iconic

Visual interface is very important to any game, it is the information that is needed for your survival in a game and/or winning the game, through text, colour and size. This will be certain things like, your health bar will almost always be on your screen in some way or another, may that been shown as a health bar (Main way to show health) Skyrim, health circle e.g Guildwars 1/2 and Diablo 1/2/3 or even when you screen starts to go red when you are close to death such as in Call Of Duty. Sometimes your skills will also be displayed on the screen, this gives you the advantage of knowing what skill your about to perform and you can select which one you actually want to perform eg Guildwars 1/2. All these visuals are what is important to the game and the things that are required for your survival.

Colour Psychology

Colours can foreshadow what may happen in the game through the lighting and the surrounding colour, a dark atmosphere could represent coming danger and a darkness over your head. Bright lighting could represent that you are in a safe zone and are way from any real danger (Bioshock). Colour can be shown in the surround, red can show danger or love and blue can show calm or clean. But colour is mainly used to show the important information on screen such as health will most likely always be shown as red in a game, this is because the colour red is the colour of blood, and losing this make you look like you’re running out of blood and the less you have the less life you have left in you.




Inference

This is where the game tries to predict what your next move will be, in some cases this is to give the game some what of a challenge and giving the enemy the upper advantage in a game, such as in Fifa, when you are trying to score a goal the game tries to predict where you player will kick the ball and try to save it, instead of the goal keepers saving abilities being generated at random. This makes the game more challenging for the player making them want to continue playing the game and more realistic .






Player Viewpoint

Player viewpoint is the way you see the game, whether that is 1st person where you are in your players body and you can see what they are see, this is a good interface because you feel like you are actually fighting for the survival of your player, you are put in his shoes and you must make sure you survive such as Call Of Duty or Halo. 3rd Person is when you out of your players body and are an overview of your character, where you can see more of whats around you then whats only infront of you, this is in games such as Diablo and Guildwars.

Camera Techniques

Camera Techniques are what makes up the story of the game and takes you through the journey, this is shown through cut scenes, where the game is side tracked by a short clip, these clips are normal important to a game and give you more detail on the story line and what is happening in the game. Camera angles can also what what is happening in a cut scene and will emphasis the scene more, such as a small close up face to face cut scene will shows character interaction and show who they are close to/talking to one game that uses this technique well is the game called The Witcher, as you interact with a character then you get different angle to show how personal the conversation is, this sort thing also happens when new event acure in the game. When the cut scene becomes more wide and open this will maybe be the begging of a battle such as in Final Fantasy where cut scenes are used a lot through the whole game franchise.





Lighting Effects
Lighting effect are quite important to the game, this can determine how you feel, and what feel you are getting from the game, by this I mean when you are in a tunnel and the lights are flashing on and off like the power keeps cutting you get the feeling that you know something bad is going to happen or there is something bad down there, and this effect can once again foreshadow what effects might happen if you continue playing the game further. Such game that I've played that does using light effect well is the game of Diablo 3, in this game we have two main character, one that's called Diablo, his character is show to be evil through light and mist that contains the colour of red and black to show that he is truly evil and from the depths of hell. We also have another character that is called Tyrael, and this character is from the heavens and is show in an angelic form, shown through a pure white light that erupts all around him.

Physical

Vibration

Physical is where the game tries to make you feel more like you are part of the game and in the game rather than you getting bored and leaving the game after a short time, this is done through a rumble effect, this is where the game will shake the controller which will either be a joystick or a game pad and it will shake it according to the effects that are happening within the game, may that be an earthquake when your trying to escape, making you more into the game making you really want to escape the cave and save you character or you are being shot by an enemy plane such as in battlefield, this gives you the advantage of being known you are getting shot at rather then constantly concentrating on you health bar.

Haptic
Another way a game tries to get more into a game in when it used force feed back, where the joystick forces itself back in place this is seen in flying games when you are heading towards the ground you will get force feedback when you are trying to pull up away from the ground giving you the effect that you are actually in the plane and are finding it difficult to lift the plane back to a safe zone. A game that uses quite abit of haptic in it's game play is a game called Crimson Skies, this a fighting game where you take control of planes, and as you plumit to the ground the joystick becomes harder to pull back, this gives the effect that you are actually in a plane and once again added to the realism of the game and the game play itself.

Audio

Ambient
Audio is one of the main things that make the game so realist, this could be the sound of a gunshot, the sound of animals or the sound or running and breathing, these are things that make a game more and more realist, a game called Battlefield 3 uses this technique well, as you are running you can hear the footstep that you are making and as in really life you footstep become louder as you do run, also when you are running you breathing becomes louder the more you run, to show that you running out of energy. These things make you feel like you are actually your character and that you are actually in the game and can hear all these things that are happening around you. Sound can also for shadow some event such as silence could represent some danger.
 


Dialogue

Dialogue is one of the most important parts of games to this very and most likely will be forever, the dialogue is important because this tell us the story of a game, not only that but it can show emotion and how the character is feeling at that time, but another thing is that it can foreshadow the events that may acure in the future of the game such as you might know you will betrayed. One game that uses dialogue in the game really well is Star Wars: Jedi Academy 2, this game uses the dialogue to tell the story of your main character not only this but the emotions of the characters are show really well, one such emotion is of the character of Jan, the female character so quite sensitive emotions toward her male companion and this shows that she is in love with him but is holding back her feelings.


  




 Foley effects
Foley effects are there to emphasis sound making you hear what you need to know, such as in the game The Walking Dead when you are walking up and down the stairs you here the foot steps and when your character is trying to sneak up the stairs and the stair creek it comes out really loudly, this is more to help you to not make a mistake that can alter the games outcome and your game play experience, this type of effect makes you feel more involved and care about your character more, rather then not caring what happen to your character and doing what the hell you like.






Music
Music is a big part of game and always has been, music is what makes the game funner to play, a fasted pace music is normal used when you are being chased or trying to escape, they use this music because you makes you want to get out of the game fast and not just doddle about looking around the place, this can also can tell you how close the pursuer is and this is done by speeding up the music making faster and faster every time them are getting closer to you, and this starts to make you panic more and more, and from this you actually start to care about your character, you want him to escape because you think the pursuer is actually coming for you. Other music such as calm slow pace music normal shows that the place is clean and safe. One game that I have played that uses music to really get the character into the game a persuade them to do what the game actually wants you to do is a game called Serious Sam, in this game you are flooded by waves and waves of enemies and instead of running away from them and hiding the game starts to play music, metal music that makes you feel like you are indistrutable and that nothing can stop you, and this inspires you to kill the monsters no matter what.



Mood
Mood of a game can be shown through various things, one obvious one would be through sound, this isn't restricted to just dialog but everything you hear, such as music or the sounds from the surroundings, but dialog is the biggest one this is because you can show the mood of the character through the tone of the voice and what they are saying. Another good one is with gestures, such as hand movements, this would be used if they designers would like to cover up the mood of a character discretely without the player actually realizing they have actually put it in there. A game that uses a verity of things to show the mood of a character is Bioshock, you can tell the mood of a character called the "Big Daddy" by the way that the eyes are glowing, if his eyes are green he is calm but protective but when they are red you're in trouble.





Emotion 
Emotion can also be shown through sound, happiness is normally shown through the sound of laughter coming from someone and sarcasm can be shown through clapping, Emotions are also shown through the tone of voice, and angry voice will be more deep and louder and a sad will be more high pitched and quieter. This is one of the most important effect in a game, this is because this can foreshadow the events that will happen later in the game. One game that really uses emotion well is the The Witcher, and in a certain part of the game you have to listen to two sides of a story, the villagers side which sound angry, while on the other hand you have a witch that sounds scared and from these emotion you have to choose who you believe and who's side you will pick.

Game review

Fairy tale

I think that this would be a good educational game, this is because it teaches children not to trust strangers, and by this is shown through the witch taking in the children and tricking them, but the story also contains many other meanings help within, such as food, as a young child eating is very important to their everyday life and can be the object of many hidden fears within the child, and showing the story of these two young children doing what ever they can to survive and get the food they need.

One of the biggest things that shows a fear of a child in this story is the fear of a child getting abandoned by their parents, and even though that Hansel and Gretel get separated from their parents they stay strong and stick by each other till the end, and eventually get reunited with their parents. I think this is good to put into an educational game because as we all know children tend to wonder off on their own sometimes and then get all confused and start to panic while this story teach children that if they keep calm and stay brave then eventually they will be reunited with their parents.

And one of the last ones that is with this story that can be transferred across to the children is the reward of when its all over, this teaches that if a child is good and doesn't making a big fuss over something then they shall be rewarded.

Despite the many dangers and threats that are within the story, most children enjoy the thrill of the story of Hansel and Gretel because it offers a hopeful message that being brave and keeping strong will overcome any adversary that come into there path.

The story of Hansel and Gretel is from German authors The Brothers Grimms and was published in 1812. The story is of two young child called Hansel (Male) and Gretel (Female) who are brother and sister, and they’re family is struggling through life because they are extremely poor and the only food they can afford is bread, so the mother demands that the children be sent away to the woods, making sure that they cannot find there way back, they do this so that they have that little more food. As the brother

and sister go look for Food they come across a house made of gingerbread amd sweets. Within this house lives an old which, she takes the children in and then locks Hansel in a cage and start feeding him to plump him up and then eat him but Gretel tricks the witch and then kicks her into the over which then burns her alive, they then return to their parents with the food from the witches house.


ROBIN HOOD

The story of Robin Hood is a very famous story that has traveled throughout the world and has cause many movies of the story in their own adaptation. The story follows the life of a outlaw who goes by the name of "Robin Hood". Robin is a many of many morals, he steals from the rich and gives to the poor, stealing from them who care nothing or no one but themselves, and giving it to the more needy people who have nothing, not even a single penny to by the simplest of food, the story follows the basic line of Robin who is in love with Maid Marian, but there love can never be true because of Prince John hate Robin and wanting him to be killed, but in the end Robin can finally have his true love and Prince John loses his reign as ruler of England, as he tragically dies.

The meaning that I see in this story (whether or not it is the true meaning of the story) is that in the end the bad people, who think that they can play the role of God and decide what people can and cant do, will be punished by their own doing. I think that this is a extremely good thing that can be put into a game, this is because as children, they are bound to be picking on one another and children don't know what to do when they are put into that situation, but this story tell the child that, even though this is happening, something else will happen to that bad child, this will also be a good thing to put forward now as this (Once again) will happen throughout life of the child.

I think that Robin Hood will make a good educational game because, first of its one of the most popular fairy tales around for young children aged between 3 to 8, this is because it has a very bright atmosphere and there's always something that keeps the child interested and this would be a good point to take into our game if this become the chosen idea.

Evaluation

Character Design Evaluation

In this project we were given the task of creating a character but not our own, by this I mean we were restricted to draw a character that was a robot/scrap. The reason this was done was to start to put pressure on us and let us know that we would not be in control of what we would do in the industry.

Overall I think that this project has gone a lot smooth than the previous projects that I have done and this is because I felt that I had a lot more control in this projected compared to others that I have done, and this was the project that I have most look forward too. The only thing that I feel like was a little bit of a downside to this project was the fact that we were told what we had to do, but this is understandable since I will not b creating my own character in the industry and I will be told to do a certain thing, even if I do or do not like what is given.

One thing that I think that I have improved on quite a bit in this project is my drawing, this is because most of this project was drawing based rather than computer and because of this it gave me the opportunity to improve my drawing in which it did. Overall my character did come out better then I suspected and this was because of the constant drawing that was done all the way throughout the project.

One thing that I still struggle on a bit is the colouring this is because I really don't find it to be a strong point and I don't feel it to be right to add colour to my work, I personally think that adding any colour would destroy the work that I have done and will make it go from looking good to look awful, and this is why I tend to shy away from the colour aspect, but I think that the same effect can still be used through the technique of shading.

If I could do the project again I think that I would but more effect into my work and think more into my character design, and by this I mean by gathering and researching more into the characters that people have already created out there, known or not known. This would have given me a wider range of ideas that I could have put together to get a very different character outcome. One this that I would like to have was the chance to make our own character, being of any design rather than being restricted to making a scrap character.

Drawing For Concept Art