Hi! In your “On Narrative Design” series you mentioned the writers having to “share” characters with the art team and how it’s sometimes difficult for you. I was wondering if they ever come up with designs that you absolutely CAN NOT stand. Like if they’ve ever made a character too attractive,…
Start-Select: We visited this years A MAZE Indie Connect Festival and talked to some of our favorite game makers about what “good game design” actually is.
For this video we talked to Adriaan De Jongh, Mikolaj Kaminski, Ed Key, Jan Willem Nijman, Nicklas Nygren and Daniel Rosenfeld.
Dutch film maker Bram Ruiter helped us out with a second camera.
David Kanaga pitched in for the music.
sinnsly asked:
nthornborrow answered:
Hmm!
Well I can tell you a little bit about what it’s like to work on Dragon Age. Things here are pretty collaborative, and I am lucky to work with a team of talented writers, designers, artists and animators who are all dedicated to making this huge immersive world. Not to mention the rest of the concept team and an art director and team of leads who encourage and understand the importance of creative exploration. We all work pretty closely and most often the best ideas come from the sort of nerdy discussions you have with other creative minds. The kinds of conversations that begin with “Wouldn’t it be cool if…”
The kinds of drawings we do to serve the team are pretty broad. They can be rough sketches to help a designer illustrate a game mechanic, they can be story boards, character and prop designs, or full on production illustrations to convey cool emotional beats in our story. Concept art is exploration. It’s a process. Drawing is how we think something out, taking something vague and nebulous and turning it into a tangible image that can be discussed and steered around towards a broader vision. Most of what we draw doesn’t end up getting used, but that process is necessary and is at the heart of concepting.
The other thing that’s cool about the concept team on Dragon Age is that we are really geared towards visualizing this entire world with a rich history. There is only so much of Thedas that you can visit in one game, and yet Thedas gives us a pretty massive sandbox to play in. So when we design something, we always try to contextualize whatever it is we’re designing with a sense of how it fits into the established lore, the world and the story we’re trying to tell. A lot of thought goes into defining the visual vocabulary of any given nation for example. When we design a character, what cultural quirks, utility and attitudes will bring a specificity to a character even if we’re leaning on a well established archetype. When we get a character right, their appearance will reflect a rich back story.
Being a concept artist is a humbling and gratifying (and sometimes exhausting) thing to do as a job. I don’t know if there’s a better environment to learn and grow your skills as an artist. And to work with people who have become friends and to be able to have these nerdy debates and discussions at work, that’s pretty special. And it’s something I try not to take for granted.
Thanks for your question. It kinda forced me to reflect a little bit on what it is I do and to think some of these things out for myself.
By the way, you might be interested in checking out “The Art of Dragon Age: Inquisition” which comes out next month. It’ll give you a lot more insight into what we do than my incoherent rambling.
Ok someone take this keyboard away from me now.
I love this show so so much.
Jodariel, best tanky girl.
I finally got around to finish watching the new She-Ra and wow, I love Scorpia. She got me thinking of my other beloved villain.
Jasper from SU, y’know? She’s just great.
This is the most advanced gif I’ve ever animated!
A huffing, broody elf boy.
“I like dogs” - Connor, Detroit Become Human
particlewaveform
muddlekips
bow: DONT tell me that you guys didn’t have hugs in the horde
adora, 100% messing with him: whats a hug
bow, choking on tears: o h my god
