Elements of Game Technology, part one: game engines

After reaching the first project where I have used a game engine, which was UDK, (http://www.unrealengine.com/en/features/) it got me thinking about other types of engine that are available to me in industry. As games are becoming more advanced so are the engines behind them.

A game that stands out in my collection is ‘Rage.’ Rage uses id software’s id Tech 5 engine which is currently still in development and only supports Rage and the up and coming doom 4. The initial engine had 20 GB of texture data which is a more advanced texture approach called virtual texturing (VT). VT supports textures with resolutions up to 128,000x128,000 pixels. This allows automatic streaming of textures as they are needed meaning that the developer doesn't need to worry about texture constraints and limits. Other advantages of this are that it simplifies the creation of content meaning that adaptations for other platforms aren't necessary.

Unfortunately, at the minute id Tech 5 is only being used for first person shooter games, yet id software have stated that they are not ruling out the transition to other genres yet.  Although it will be available as open source, it isn't as of yet and the software wasn't  going to be available for external licensing until id announced in 2010 the first external developer to work with id tech5 would be machine games.

Another impressive engine that I used recently when playing the latest installment of the Hitman franchise, absolution, was the Glacier 2 engine. This engine can display up to 1200 characters at any given time whilst still working a 30 fps (frames per second). This was a requirement of the developers IO interactive because they wanted to created dense crowds that you could interact with. Here’s a screen shot of the game achieving this. 

The Anvil engine that has been used for the Assassin’s Creed and Prince of Persia franchise was also able to densely populate itself with smart AI, supposedly with up to 2000 characters. In the latest Assassins Creed (3), AnvilNext has been used which is an updated version of Anvil. This supports a highly detailed weather cycle system. This version all supports a dynamic game world that will change itself on its own accord in the course of time. This means, that for example, settlements that were previously in a certain area, may have moved or completely disappeared relating to the events of the game. 

The Frost Bite engine, which debuted in 2008, has been used on numerous battlefield titles, including battlefield 3 and others like medal of honour and need for speed: the run.  Version 1.0 featured a HDR audio which adjusted different type of sound volume according to importance for example as the gun fired the background music would lower and the gun shot would get louder. This was an advantage because even though there were other sounds going on you could distinctly identify the ones that affected you as the player. Destruction 1.0 was also a feature allowing entire walls to be destroyed in game.  The destruction feature improved in version 1.5 and 2 allowing entire buildings to be destructible.

The CryEngine3 that’s the power behind the Crysis franchise for PS3 and Xbox 360 and also other games like home front and D.R.I.V.E.  is in my opinion, through experience playing the games, the most visually pleasing engine. Others feel strongly that it’s the best engine that you can use 

http://www.vg247.com/2011/07/15/crytek-cryengine-3-the-best-engine-and-going-everywhere/

http://www.moddb.com/engines/cryengine-3/reviews

The features that the Cryengine 3 has would be exhausting to list, therefore I have included a couple of links to visually stunning videos to show you what the engine is capable of, from visual effects to developer controls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7JV-5a0Mdw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWvgETOo5ek

Elements of game design, part seven: level design

All video games, whether you are playing the latest call of duty or the classic Pac man have had some form of level design to look and interact how they do. Although these examples give a completely different experience, the fundamentals of level design are visibly present in both. So how do you get the ball rolling, Ideas? Like every process it all starts with an idea. These ideas can be triggered from anywhere at any time, like reading a book visiting the shop and so on. All these ideas can be tailored to a design document if one has been set. It is useful to make note of your ideas to refer to as you go along. With all these amazing ideas you’ve come up with how do you chose the right one? Personally I think it depends on the person, what motivates you and how exciting you find that idea. If I’m not passionate about the idea I go with it reflects in my work and the final outcome is poor, that’s if I haven’t scrapped it half way through. Also, make sure the idea is manageable; don’t start something that you know you’re not going to finish. From this stage I would treat designing a level like any other visual design task, set some specifications, collect reference and concept some ideas. With levels, because they are playable a lot of other considerations have to be made. To get an insight into the process I had a look at how others went about designing a level. On world of level design, (http://www.worldofleveldesign.com/categories/level_design_tutorials/how-to-plan-level-designs-game-environments-workflow.php) a level designer describes how objectives and obstacles are considered early in development. He or she looks at how objectives influence the path you would take through an environment and what obstacles they would need to overcome to progress through the level. This also influences focal points for example a well-designed and textured assets in the environment would want to be shown off therefore you could make this an obstacle or position this asset on route to an objective. A good example of this is the assassin’s creed franchise. The highly detailed architecture is used as a synchronization point so that you can view more of the map. 

An aspect of this level designers approach I thought would be useful is the use of a mind map decision tree. He or she briefly outlines objectives and obstacles and the knock on effect it has if the player choses to take this path. This seems an efficient and quick way of generating design ideas and asset placement. 

Another early consideration to make is the location and setting. This will often be defined by a brief. You would need to think about the time it’s set, past, present or future? The season or seasons it takes place in, maybe a specific time period like Edwardian times. This will help when it comes to collecting reference and stylizing concepts Another aspect that needs to be considered within design is the interactivity of playable areas. Defining what you can interact with makes a game like call of duty miles apart from a game like Pac man. All the fundamentals are still there in both, like style, map, objective, obstacles but being able to shoot a chain and a pile of well-placed rubble fall on an enemy is what gives a level depth and makes it more immersive. Hitman Absolution demonstrates an impressive level of interactivity in its levels because there are endless ways in which you can eliminate an enemy using the environment.

To get a feel for what you have designed so far, you could quickly prototype the level using standard primitives in a modelling program. Set up your designs to see whether you like the layout as it was planned. You can then make alterations if you feel aspects don’t work. 

 When all these considerations are planned and executed in visual development (the concept art), you have a strong base for modelling. A good example of a well-designed game is Assassins creed 3. 

You can clearly see the depth of planning and designing process the ubisoft team went to in order to make all aspects of the game true to the American civil war. As I feel many do, here’s some opinions that agree with my view on the games attention to detail. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2012/oct/31/assassins-creed-3-review and http://www.ign.com/blogs/blaze_fury/2012/11/12/assassins-creed-3-review

Elements of game design, part six: visual composition

Visual composition is an important aspect within visual design is composition. Good composition is always pre-determined and very rarely stumbled upon. Composition is simply how you arrange the elements in an image. It’s a form of organization. There are a range of techniques that you can utilize to successfully achieve an aesthetically appealing piece. The artist chose the main vocal point and organizes other elements around this. In doing this several principles are taken into consideration, these are known as the principles of organization. They consist of: 
• Shape and proportion 
• Positioning/Orientation/Balance 
• The area within the field of view used for the picture ("cropping") 
• The path or direction followed by the viewer's eye when they observe the image. 
• Negative space 
• Color 
• Contrast: the value, or degree of lightness and darkness, used within the picture. 
• Geometry: for example, use of the golden mean 
• Lines 
• Rhythm 
• Illumination or lighting 
• Repetition (Sometimes building into pattern; rhythm also comes into play, as does geometry) 
• Perspective A technique that I find beneficial is the effective use of viewpoint. This can determine the subject’s dominance, equality or vulnerability. For example if you were drawing a picture of a super hero, the piece would have much more of an impact if you positioned the viewpoint looking up at the character because it would suggest and emphasise this superior power that this character has. 

There are also specific compositional techniques that can be combined to improve the aesthetics of your work. The rule of thirds 
The rule of thirds is a simple guide. The aim is to stop the subject and areas of interest clashing in the piece, by placing them near one of the lines that would divide the image into three equal columns and rows, ideally near the intersection of those lines. 

The Golden Mean The golden mean is a ratio that has been used by visual artists for centuries as an aid to composition. When two things are in the proportion of 1:1.618 (approximately 3/8 to 5/8), they are said to be in the golden mean. 

Focus A technique that I find best works digitally, is limiting the focus of an image. This basically emphasises the focus of the piece and makes everything else vaguer. I achieve this in Photoshop using blur filters or in photography with a wider aperture. 
Rule of odds 
One of the simplest ways to make a composition more dynamic is to have an odd number of subjects in the composition. This is the rule of odds. An even number of subjects produces symmetries in the image, which can appear less natural. 

Intelligent organization of elements in any concept can really make the difference. This is why it is important to produce a wide range of thumbnails in preparation to a final piece. The thumbnails make a good elimination process into what works the best. You can also take small aspects from different thumbnails and combine them with the principles outlined above in mind. Having good knowledge and a solid grasp of composition will strengthen your technical skills, transitioning your work from sketches and doodles to industry standard final pieces.

Elements of game design, part five: planning and concepting

The process of planning and concepting, done right, is the difference between a disaster and an accurate, well presented, successful piece. The thought of planning is always daunting, for me anyway, mainly because I’m too eager to throw myself into the first idea I like the sound of. Planning is simple; it’s basically working out a method of how you’ll tackle things before you get to them. It helps to write a brief if you don’t already have one, just some simple but precise guidelines to prevent you from straying off the path to the finish line. For example, a 3D brief will outline a problem or aim: ‘For this exercise you will be required to model and texture a box of trash similar to the one seen outside shops based on the photo reference to a fixed set of technical requirements.’ This pretty much tells you all you need to know about what your expected to achieve, from here constraints are addressed like poly budget, texture sizes etc. The same can be done within 2D, for example a character design would have set styles and aesthetics in a brief that you would need to stick to in order to make the character fit to the game. (Specification for asset example: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3115/common_methodologies_for_lead_.php 

From the brief it’s time to get stuck into research. I can’t emphasise enough how crucial gathering reference is. Why try to magic masterpieces out of your mind when there are so many visual influences out there for you already. If you’re trying to get a certain pose for a character, don’t settle for something similar off the internet, grab a friend and ask them to pose for you. Using material you've sourced makes your work unique. You also can’t ever have enough reference. If you've found or created a scene you’re happy with, photograph it from multiple angles to build a better understanding of something’s form, lighting and composition. Constantly refer to your research as you progress, mood boards are very useful for this because all your reference is in one place and easy to glance at as your working. It’s equally a good idea to put reference up on the walls where you work. From the reference you can begin to pull ideas from aspects that fit the brief, you like and think will complement each other. In my opinion, and industries, the best way to concept is through quick and simple thumbnails. This is an effective way to try out different compositions. These can also be easily adapted into more detailed storyboards. Not everything translates perfectly on to paper first time, so repeatedly producing the same thumbnail or slightly tweaking it as you go along works as an elimination process to find the best result. Look at it as an interview process, you wouldn't chose the first applicant that came through the door would you. 

 I found that using this diagram as a rough guide to designing helps to cover the main areas and if you can’t honestly say you've answered each area accurately, then do it again.

Reflection on year one, and ambition for year two

Reflecting over the summer, I think that I have developed a lot in the last year. I have learnt how to use computer software that I had no experience in, mainly 3ds Max, and improved in traditional drawing techniques and the range of medias I can use. Last year I found the designing projects using research the most engaging and productive for learning. I think this was due to the high level of creativity the tasks required. I hope to see plenty more design tasks like last years this year, but this time with more detailed specifications because I like to have strict guidelines when designing, too much freedom makes my mind wander. Now fundamental skills have been built up from the first year, I would like to move towards a more specific field within game art and develop a unique style to my work using a combination of traditional and digital techniques. I am kind of torn between two paths that I would like to do, either a concept artist or art director within game and or films. I’m particularly inspired by the likes of Ridley Scott and Sylvain Despretz story boarding in Black Hawk Down because I can see strengths of my own in their work due to both coming from a traditionally art taught back ground. 

From the course this year, I would like to see more encouragement in using digital methods because I feel confident with the traditional side to art now and would like to broaden the ways in which I work. I would especially like to use digital media when it comes to environmental aspects of game art. I am particularly inspired by digital matte painters like Dylan Cole (http://www.dylancolestudio.com/) Although I am keen to progress digitally, I think the constant reinforcement of using traditional methods is crucial to what makes this course stand out and improved my abilities so far so I wouldn't want that aspect to have any lesser role this year. 
I would also like to see tutorials on color theory so that I can get a better understanding of it and introduce color into my work after focusing mainly on black and white studies last year. When it comes to game production, whether it’s through tutorials or self-taught, I would like to experiment a little in Zbrush. I wouldn't want to over use it this year because I know from the first year it is important to be able to low poly model in 3ds, which I am still developing in. I think it would be good to learn in preparation for third year FMP’s just so that it’s an option I can use if I would like to. The aspect of modelling I struggled with the most last year was characters, so this year I would like to see a few character projects so that I can develop more on my organic form modelling.

End of Year Review

As a whole I'm generally pleased with my game art course. There's been a wide range of areas focused on throughout the first year like drawing fundamentals, 3D modelling basics, recording design and thought processes, life drawing, character design and environment design. To be honest, I've covered so much I apologise if I've missed anything. It's been quite tough dealing with the work load at times but I always knew I had a mountain to climb when signing up to the course.
The two main aspects I have enjoyed so far is the character and environment design. I'm a creative person so the research and designing suits me really well. Something I particularly struggled with in these tasks, oddly was the huge amount of freedom we had. I find it a lot more constructive to have set restrictions so that my mind doesn't wander too much during the design process. So for me I would like to see some more constraints put in place for future design projects on the course, similar to the way 3D projects have a range of constraints.
I would also like to see a bit more emphasis on environment designing. The project that covered this was the one I found the most engaging and interesting to cover. So much so that it has kind of swayed me to want to focus on this area as I break into the games industry.
I have found the design tips and examples of design really useful in my critical studies sessions. It brought my attention to the small details that designing something like a character needs to make it a success especially when it comes down to how they are posed, clothing that fit them to the game etc. These are aspects that I take on board now when I design, taking on a slight graphic design role, making my characters more interesting. I definitely focus on silhouettes a lot more as a result of this because I think it's a good tool that gives you a good idea on whether a character will be eye catching and interesting to look at. I often get my flat mates to crit my designs during the design process to help me get a better understanding of what players of games want in a character or environment. This idea came to me from the great social network account that the course encourages students to leave feedback and view others way of working on. I also like the way that projects we get set encourage us to try things that we aren't particularly good at or never even experienced before. For example I have never used sculpey but I gave it a go for a character project and to be honest it turned out to be a complete disaster but I learnt from it and doing things like this build up a habit of teaching yourself things rather than relying on others which I think is a good mentality to install into us early on.
My passion is drawing, so for me as much as the course gets me to draw and express ideas then it can't go wrong in my opinion. I have learnt a lot from the first year and I am looking forward to what we will cover in the years to come.

Environments

Where to next? It's always frustrating to go back and forth in a particular area of a game not knowing where you can progress further isn't it? When constructing and decorating an environment the designers can utilize different methods to help guide the player to where they have to go. A particular technique that's used often is lighting.

This is a really simple example but if you entered this room, scavenged for supplies and could see no other option out, this piercing light that illuminates the human size crack in the wall would trigger your mind to automatically relate that as an exit point in that room. Exit point lighting is just making the goal obvious to the player, in theory acting as a huge sign saying 'hello, there's something interesting over here.' A similar technique is path lighting. This method is just an extension of exit lighting, highlighting a direct route that the player should take to get to the goal. In most cases, this method highlights the only route that's available making the game play seem more restricted and less realistic.

A particular method that I have experienced that helps navigate you through stages of and environment was in the Assassins Creed franchise. When entering a checkpoint in secret caves, the camera would take your view in a short cut scene, stopping at areas that you should head to, that suggests there are obstacles there that will help you reach your goal. This style of navigation is a little less straight forward than the previous two but I think it gives the player more freedom because even though the route shown is the highlighted one it's not necessarily the only one or most interesting one.

Another method I've witnesses used a lot is hinting. This is exactly how it sounds, giving clues to the player on where they can find secrets along the way. The key isn't to make the hint to obvious though. You could use the lighting techniques above to highlight routes for the secrets or you could add hints during loading screens. A game that applies hints to loading screens very well in my opinion is 'Rage' published by Bethesda. A hint often displayed is to 'scavenge' for items as much as possible to sell. This is particularly useful because you explore the environment more than you would usually and with the idea of scavenging embedded into the way you play you find yourself navigating and finding things more independently.

'Rage' is a game that particularly springs to mind when thinking of environments because it achieves everything I look for. The graphic aspect, developed by id software is phenomenally good. I can only describe rage as crysis 2 graphically with fallout 3's game play. The amount of detail built into Rage is staggering. It's easy to be overwhelmed with awe at the sight of rocky canyon walls that never seem to repeat and the meticulously designed cities. The story depicts an asteroid impact that wipes

Using 'Rage' as another example, I think that the environment, without a doubt, influences the atmosphere of a game. The stunning visuals of rocky terrain and abandoned, decayed cities is a big factor of what makes the simple story to 'Rage' much more believable and immersive.

The general style of 'Rages' environment seems to emulate the Colorado river in the united states with the orange tinted rock faces that contrast with the dusty polluted atmosphere of what's left of the cities. 'Rage' is highly stylized because it is depicting what people and places would look like after a natural disaster. On top of that the story is set in 2029 therefore the game shows stylized technology. I don't think any of these aspects hinder the realism to the game because the story plays with our perceptions, convincing us something similar to this maybe possible in the future. The designers have got the fundamentals of realism correct like people, movement, interaction and overall look of the game which strikes an important balance giving them a degree of lenience when it comes to stylisation of technology and cities.