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Post date: Apr 03, 2013 11:24:33 PM
Talks, Networking, etc.
I didn't really include the notes to the Dishonored: Raising Dunwall talk I went to, because I wound up not taking too many notes on that one. I honestly kind of zoned out on this one, so maybe my assessment isn't too fair, but it wasn't super insightful. I wound up just looking at a lot of -really beautiful- concept art. The speaker wasn't very engaging, either.
As for the other talks I attended:
I enjoyed both Embracing Imperfection and How Much is Enough for Beauty. I think they both conveyed similar themes: beauty in simplicity and imperfection.
For the latter talk, no matter what your preference for visual style- whether you prefer really stylized games or those that strive for hyper-realism, a good artist's interpretation of real life is typically going to be more appealing, because they can get rid of all the extraneous and distracting objects from a photo and focus on one design element. Basically, if you want photo-realistic, go outside. Beauty is much more simple than that.
I thought I'd attend the Creating an Emotionally Engaging Camera in Tomb Raider talk because I figured it might be a helpful talk. I really enjoyed this talk and found it very useful for the future. It was all about film and compositional elements I should already know, but it was just a good reminder about it, and also, it used lots of good examples in the game. Good camera work is work you don't notice, and I never noticed how crucial the camera work was until seeing examples from a game that does it so well.
My overall experience at GDC:
I met a few really awesome people going to bars after hours. Not a ton- some I already knew- but a few. I can definitely see the potential to meet lots of people this way, but it's not as easy as,
1. Go to any bar
2. Stand around
3. ???
4. Profit
It definitely takes time and patience (and a decently stuffed wallet), but overall everyone seemed very friendly.
I was invited by Ryan Hawkins to a Polycount party after a portfolio review, and there were a lot of great people to talk to there.
Portfolio reviews took forever! Waiting in line for an hour or more, sometimes to only be rejected at the front of the line because the artist reviewing the work had to take a break. (And I don't blame them - it's hours upon hours of talking and critique, but frustrating nonetheless)
I was prepared to make the sacrifice of time to wait in these lines, but it was really difficult to manage portfolio reviews along with attending the talks that I wanted to attend, especially if there was only a half hour to hour between talks. I would just manage that better in the future.
The Crystal Dynamics luncheon/greet was pretty good! Most of the crew was enthusiastic to talk and answer questions. The artist who critiqued our portfolio seemed very hurried and short since he had a line of students to see, but still gave critique and took our business cards.
I overheard that since the GDC booths are expensive to rent and that there isn't a way to be selective with whom visits the booth (professionals vs extreme ameteurs), some companies are leaning towards these luncheons because they can be really selective with whom they invite and the luncheons are less costly than a booth rental. So, we'll see. Maybe next year, a lot more companies will be doing this. And hopefully, Ringling will get a lot more invitations.
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GDC Talk Notes:
Embracing Imperfection: Using Style to Your Advantage
Sara Gross, Two Bit Art Hollow’s Deep, game that never came out because it was too big for them
Main Talking Points:
1. Style is Essence
2. Style offers Function
3. Flaws are beautiful
1. Style is Essence
· Too real can be boring
· Abstraction gets the job done
· Off perspective makes your brain work harder
· The complexity of the environments in Tomb Raider are nice but can be confusing: Simplify
· Mirror’s Edge: good example of simple style to spot objects at a quick glance
2. Style Offers Function
· Mark of the Ninja: Sound aura follows you around like sound ripples, good visual to be able to follow the character
· Glitch Hiker: the game visually dies as you die
· Journey: Color Palette for mood
· TF2: Good silhouettes and color to easily recognize your base and team vs. enemies’
3. Flaws Are Beautiful
· Lone Survivor: the style is hard to read, but on purpose, the sense of not knowing along with the monsters gives you a sense of uncertainty and uneasiness
· Crayon Physics: Players using pad or mouse won’t be able to draw great, but it’s okay because it’s drawn in the style of crayon and looks child-like
Games to look at:
· Guacamelee
· Tearaway
· Color Sheep
· Kentucky Route Zero
· Waiting for Horus
· Stealer
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How Much is Enough for Beauty?
Andrew Maximov, Gameloft Montreal
Simplicity v. the Unnecessary
Visual clutter with Photo-Realism
Example of an image of a street with lots of visual noise, and then an artists painting that simplifies the image to be more appealing with color & composition
Ninja Theory – Color
Dead Light – Composition
Fortnight
Quality of Execution:
Why implying is more than enough
Combo of basic shapes and gradients
Overall: visual sophistication can be simple and in fact, simplicity can sometimes be more visually appealing than photo-realism
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Rayman Reinvented: How Rayman’s World Comes to Life
Anais Dusautois & Christophe Villez
Talking Points:
· Spirit
· Origins
· Design & Animation
· Animation Tool & Demo
Montpellier
From Dust, Beyond Good and Evil, Rayman: “Origins”, “Legends”, “Raving Rabbits”.
Michel Ancel: Creative Director
Rayman: Why Come Back to 2D?
· Back to Basics
· Simple controls
· A game for everyone
· Mix old school universe with new technological means.
· Inventing a more flexible approach to a 2D world.
· Keep the energy of the primary concept
Character Design & Animation
· Designed from a French Comic book, “_______”
· Stretch and Squash
· Strong and clear posing, for any resolution
· Sophisticated, stylized background
Animated Character
· Form Follows Function: What enemy might throw fire? A dragon? Why not punch that up with a spicy chef costume to reinforce that theme?
· Animation is very minimal
· Assets are reused for front and side view “cheating”
· Reference: The globox is a combination of Barney from the Simpsons and Droopy dog
Technology:
· Genanim: animation tool at Ubisoft
· No skinning or rigging to do , animation is fairly easy
· Very optimized so have a lot of space for lots of assets
· Fx done with sprite animations
· Demo on testicle character
Closing thoughts:
· Recognizable Silhouettes for characters
· If you reinvent a character, remember where they came from & know where you want them to go
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Sex in Video Games
David Gaider, Senior Writer @ Bioware EA
(Mass Effect, Dragon Age Origins, Never into Nights?)
Talk about sex & romance v. sexism
Why do males get variety of romance, but females don't?
Statistics: (according to the ESA: Entertainment Software Association)
· The average gamer is 30 years old.
· 37% of gamers are 36+ years old.
· 63% Male
· 47% Female
Video Games under extreme scrutiny in the industry
Video Games as Art – Mature titles with mature themes
Sexualization of women in games
“Feminist Frequency” Conversations with Pop Culture
Female protagonists aren’t ‘marketable’? Example of the opposite:
· Lara Croft, Tomb Raider
· Mirror’s Edge
· No One Lives Forever: A Spy in Harm’s Way
· The Longest Journey
· Beyond Good & Evil
What is privilege? Privilege is when something doesn’t matter or isn’t a problem to you because it doesn’t apply to you.
- what if every game character in a game was black, and only one of them was a black female? Only then would the average Caucasian male gamer think that racism/sexism was an issue, because it effects them.
- Most of the team on Dragon Age were women. What if there was only one woman on the team, who might not have been heard? What if there were no women? How different would the game appeal have been? Different viewpoints on the team is an asset.
- Is it possible to have minority characters do multiple things for multiple demographics?
Bioware Edmonton
200, 4445 Calgary Trail
Edmonton, AB Canada T6H5R7
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Creating an Emotional Camera in Tomb Raider:
Remi Lacoste, Camera Designer, Crystal Dynamics
The camera plays a prominent role in the reboot of TR but also in all games.
What does a camera designer do?
- Needs to be heavily involved in level design
- Needs to also work with the character team
Roles of the Camera:
1. Camera is the narrator: Communicates the story.
a. Ex> When Lara needs to find supplies, the camera shows us the helicopter that she needs to get to (one that crashed and will probably have a supplies on it)
2. Develops Mood: Same as below, I guess.
3. Evokes Emotion: Through distance and angle, etc.
a. Ex> A shot where she is walking across a fallen tree log over an elevated distance is shot from directly above, giving the viewer a sense of vertigo.
b. Ex> When Lara feels bad about killing her first animal, we are really close to the dying animal, then really close to Lara’s face for her expression of remorse.
c. Ex> While behind an object to hide from an enemy, we are low, and with her, while being able to peep around to see the enemy really near (Tension)
4. Helps with play-testing: the camera can track what the player will be interacting with. Sometimes, the camera has to make up for bad level design.
5. Introducing Characters: Can help make a strong first impression
6. Reveals Unfamiliar Territories:
7. Supports Gameplay: The camera will guide the player through during high octane, fast paced parts of the game so the player will know where to go without breaking the flow by having to stop and look around.
Lara Croft, Reborn: Camera Style
-She’s not a superhero anymore…
-Lara is more humanistic, so she needs a more natural and humanistic camera.
1. Inspired by hand-held, documentary-style approach. It feels unrehearsed and live.
2. Camera doesn’t follow Lara 1:1.
3. Camera is organic, always in movement. TR uses a physic-based camera shake
4. Personal: needs to be close to Lara, more POV
5. Physical: reacts to explosions
6. Simulates reality: rain & blood splattered on the screen
Emotionally engaging: the more you create emotional tension and suspense, the more likely to engage the player. “Active Player”
The camera is more engaging when:
1. It’s active: when it reacts with the protagonist
2. It’s closer: more empathy, can identify with the protagonist
3. It’s crafted to feel more engaging with a customized approach to make each moment feel unique (So, switching up the shots and camera angles a lot?)
4. It’s Dynamic: continuous changes in distance and angle
5. Fluid: transitions between cameras need to be seamless or it is distracting
a. Ex> The new dropdown camera, when Lara hangs
6. Handheld: establishes character in a more physical world
Camera Systems:
- Camera Types
o Exploration/traversal
o Aim/Combat
o Anchored
o Spline: Scripted moments
o Animated: More complex, imported from Maya
- Trigger Types
o States – crouch, ledge, etc.
o Interacts – open door, crate, etc.
o Level based – interior v. exterior
o Exotic gameplays – ex. escapes
o Animations – ex. Boss fight finisher
The follow camera
The follow climb
3 point aim camera
Spline Camera
Remi Lacoste
Rlacoste@crystald.com
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