NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE PLANNING AND CONCEPTING STAGE.
Seriously. The whole project will crumble, you'll lose all
your money, you'll have to live on the street and you will die.
Okay so that's a minor exaggeration, but there are a lot of reasons why both of these stages are important in the industry. From a creative standpoint, planning and concepting allows you to explore lots of ideas and get the best outcome because you've refined every part of your project. From a business standpoint, planning and concepting saves you a whole lot of money. It's cheaper to get a guy to draw 20 variations of a person than it is to have a guy model and texture one person and then figure out it looks terrible and have to redo it. TIME IS MONEY PEOPLE.
Okay so that's a minor exaggeration, but there are a lot of reasons why both of these stages are important in the industry. From a creative standpoint, planning and concepting allows you to explore lots of ideas and get the best outcome because you've refined every part of your project. From a business standpoint, planning and concepting saves you a whole lot of money. It's cheaper to get a guy to draw 20 variations of a person than it is to have a guy model and texture one person and then figure out it looks terrible and have to redo it. TIME IS MONEY PEOPLE.
There are lots of different areas of planning involved in
Games Development. When you take a look at Wikipedia you can see the basic
areas of pre-production are the high concept, pitch, concept, design document,
prototype; all these are majorly important.
However, we are focusing specifically on planning and concepting, and they are what sets the visual style and aesthetic from the beginning. This gives you a guide to stick to for the rest of the development process. This is essential for keeping your game looking like a cohesive piece of work rather than a bunch of assets made by different people in different styles. A way to do this is through an Art Style Guide, which will contain information on the style which would be researched, your characters, texture details, interiors, exteriors etc. This should be followed buy everyone on the team for a cohesive feel to the style of the game. Some of the concept art that I love that has a very definitive style is from Matt Rhodes, who has been working on Dragon Age Inquisition.
However, we are focusing specifically on planning and concepting, and they are what sets the visual style and aesthetic from the beginning. This gives you a guide to stick to for the rest of the development process. This is essential for keeping your game looking like a cohesive piece of work rather than a bunch of assets made by different people in different styles. A way to do this is through an Art Style Guide, which will contain information on the style which would be researched, your characters, texture details, interiors, exteriors etc. This should be followed buy everyone on the team for a cohesive feel to the style of the game. Some of the concept art that I love that has a very definitive style is from Matt Rhodes, who has been working on Dragon Age Inquisition.
One game that I think, in terms of its aesthetic, is spot on
when it comes to this is the Fable franchise and, in particular, Fable 3.
Interesting choice, I know, considering the game was less than stellar. Something
people don't necessarily know about me is that I adore collecting game guides,
particularly the specials editions. One of the guides I own is Fable 3 and in
the back it has so much concept art that when I first saw it I nearly cried
with happiness; it has character designs, environment designs, meshes, models
and information about each concepts. It's a game artists' dream, seriously.
This means that... well... citing a source for this blog will be a little
difficult but I'll link to somewhere you can buy it. Pick it up on Amazon.
Anyway, all of their concepts look as though they are part
of a single world with a particular style and when you play the game you can
see it carry over so well. Say what you
want about this game, it's style is fantastic and cohesive. Each of their
designs relates to another one as well, to make sure that they all fit
together. For example, the description of the Auroran City says that "with the continent - we were aiming
for a completely different feel to that of the familiar Albion" [1] but
they also mention "the visual style
still retains Fable elements, the swirl motifs being familiar"[1]. They
also explain about the stonework textures having a "similar saturation, but with a different texture feel,
endeavouring not to be too contrasting or jarring"[1]. When you look at Aurora you can see it has an entirely
different atmosphere to Albion but it's isn't like you're in a different game
with a different style. That's why concepting is important.
Fable III - Aurora Concept
Fable III - Aurora Concept
Fable III Screenshots - Aurora
Applying this to my own work is difficult for me to do
because it requires some SERIOUSLY good work ethic and the ability to plan and
plan well. This is harder than it sounds. My work ethic is... lacking. My whole
school life I'd been writing essays the day before hand-in, no problems. Game
Art is not something that can be treated the same way.
Improving my work ethic is the biggest problem I've
encountered on this course and I'm slowly building it up and getting better.
There is nothing more satisfying that seeing all your work come together after
you've gone through all the hard work to achieve the end result; it gives a
buzz that I'm starting to crave a little more.
http://www.slideshare.net/Kelvis2000/game-development-preproduction - So unbelievably interesting to read through.
[1]
Fable III Limited Edition Strategy Guide pg 416
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