Practice-Research

This is sketchbook work done as practice-based research for the environments, informed by the investigations and case studies.

I Am Alive

This game displays a pretty good example of a method I wish to use in my Riot Street scene - a washed out, desaturated colour pallet to give a pessimistic, oppressive tone to the environment. This game gives a great sense of the theme from these screenshots alone, making it a good piece of reference for my project, even if it only has one theme as opposed to my collection.

I Am Alive screenshots on Gamerant.com

I played this game on Xbox360 and have once again found that not having universal screenshot options is a big oversight for console makers. It is basically free advertising for their platform, could not be too hard to implement and would help out students and reviewers by not making them use PCs and external software/hardware.

Colour Concepts

The first decent colour concept art for the environment along with moodboards, as requested at the Semester 2 pitch meeting. Concept art is not my strong point, but after some tutorials and practice, this is fairly presentable and definitely helps get across the ideas for the visuals of the final piece. Included is a moodboard for the Crystal Cave and Riot Street concepts, as well as a digital painting for each and an extra variant for the street, experimenting with lighting from a streetlamp.

Dear Esther

This game has shown some parallels with my own project. First of all, the only interactivity is exploring and observing the environment. By this method, along with narrated extracts from letters, the player is drawn into the narrative. Although the letters give the specifics of the story, it is the environment that sets the mood and backs up the details. As my final piece will also be an environment with the purpose of setting the theme and mood, this is a great published example to look at. The second reason Dear Esther is relevant to my project is the content; the somewhat bland and weather beaten island hides beneath it a system of caves rich with crystals, stalactites and vibrantly-lit chambers. My environment will feature a street ravaged by civil unrest, through which an unexpected cave of crystals is exposed underneath.

New Research Approach

Through discussion with tutors at the crit meeting on Thursday, a different approach to the research project will be taken. To me this is now a much more focused, relevant way to go about the project and will free me up to create a more interesting, engaging and effective environment.

My previous idea was exploring the decisions involved in choosing aesthetically different settings for a game. The wording was hard to understand and ambiguous, confusing the word 'themes' with other concepts and trying to remove narrative from consideration.

Though the wording for the refined project has yet to be finalised, the idea is to explore how game environments can be used to construct the theme visually, adding to the narrative of a piece. My final piece will still be very similar, but will now be more directed to giving the observer a sense of the theme of an environment using the visuals alone.

So by exploring the street, the player should pick up civil unrest as the theme and feel the tension and oppression without actually being told by characters, introductions, etc. The environment setting the theme and mood will be reinforced when the player moves into the crystal caves underneath and gets a completely different experience, finding that the natural geological formations will give a sense of discovery, wonder and optimism - in a strong contrast to the street metres away.

Deep Sea Creatures 2

The incredible Dumbo Octopus; uncanny faces of the Hatchetfish; surreal-mario-style Predatory Tunicate, glass-internal-organ-looking Tunicate and huge floating colony of Tunicates.

Deep Sea Creatures

Recently, I have been looking at deep sea creatures in a good portion of my spare time and have been a little obsessed with them for a few years now. I think that they can provide incredible inspiration for very original art, in environments, characters, concepts etc. It is one of the richest design resources I have ever come across, and looking at some of the cliches that appear in many games and films, seems to be relatively unexplored.

The surreal deep sea cucumber, Enypniastes; a group of ancient-looking Isopods and a mugshot; the transparent-headed Barreleye Fish; the ridiculous Blobfish.

Project Pitch

Pitch Presentation

Project Aim

Personal Statement

AG1064A: Professional Practice – Personal Statement

Proposer: Shanti Easton

Student Number: 0701816

Programme: Computer Arts

Specialism(s): 3D Environment Art, Games

Personal Statement

Inspiration and Interests

I am inspired by really interesting and exciting worlds in novels, films, paintings, TV and games. I always want to explore the best environments further and in more detail, and this is only really possible in computer games.

Characters are often well defined and represented in linear narrative, but I am never as satisfied with the environments as I always want to see what is around the next corner or through the trees. For example one of my favourite games series is The Elder Scrolls by Bethesda, as the player can explore anything they can see when looking out over the landscape.

I love beautiful, functional and well thought out art. But also appreciate when an artist includes the kind of aesthetic detail that is completely unnecessary in the context of completing the game; by not having to justify itself, I find that the environment can be promoted to the status of art. I consider myself an artist and respect the work of other artists more than content that is just there for a character to run through.

Another huge inspiration for me is the consummate work of Hideo Kojima, creator of the Metal Gear series. I admire his uncompromising approach to realising every part of his vision in his games and hope to one day have the same level of influence on any project.

Career and Creative Aims

During my career I plan to work, at one time or another, in Environment design and 3D Environment Modelling and Texturing for games; Art Direction; Game Design and Creative Direction. I wish to create engaging, convincing and exciting environments in which to enjoy great games.

Current Skills and Abilities

Environment and character design; traditional art skills; game design; Maya 3D modelling; Photoshop and texturing skills; Flash 2D art and animation; critical discussion of games.

Skill Gaps

By the end of this year, I plan to become highly skilled at 3DS Max modelling; advanced environmental design and construction.

Battlefield Beta

I was playing the Battlefield 3 Beta and this gives me a rare chance to see a slightly rushed environment in which I can pick up on mistakes that might be ironed out in the final game. I could learn from some of the things that do not work in terms of the art.

For a start they have left the bits of grass that stick up where there is actually concrete, but that's a pretty simple mistake. They also have made some puddles on roads that at first look good but on closer inspection just use the same moving water texture as on the lake which does not look at all correct on such a different scale. It looks like the roads are made from a tileable template that includes the puddles, as they are present even on downhill slopes which would obviously not be possible due to gravity.

Minor gripes but it is interesting to see that, even in the industry, it doesn't all look perfect on the first try.

Wish I could take screen captures on Xbox 360 :S

Environments: Skyrim vs Oblivion

I think that the difference between the environments in Oblivion and its sequel Skyrim are a good place to research what makes a good 3D environment.

A deeper look into the differing methods used by artists will be helpful, such as the fact that all environments in Skyrim will be put together by artists rather than using the procedural generation of Oblivion. So far the game looks much richer and more like a living world. I think this will help players to get immersed in the game and that highlights the importance of environment design in games, applicable to the rationale of my research project.

I will carry out very thorough 'research' on the game when it comes out in November. :D