Environments makes games, they are perhaps the most important aspect of game design in my opinion as they control game play and visually instruct and stimulate the user into believing or more importantly enjoying the experience. Environments are artificially created to support game play and they go hand in hand with atmosphere and the pace of game play. They can divide areas, create mood and allow story and emotions to be felt by the player. Environments dictate genre, style and platform and work in different ways to engage the user into believing what they are playing and making the experience more full.
Although environments may not be the first thing people talk about it is usually the first aspect of a game you notice. You are pulled into a game from the start and a sprawling world awaits your eyes. It is this moment that defines game plays the initial feeling and reaction that the player receives when playing and area or level for a first or thirty first time. That is what an environment is, it doesn't have to be blindingly obvious but its role is to interact with the story to show emotion and fit in with the style of the game. Level designers construct areas to slow down the user and create events that make the game more playable and enjoyable. They use cues to show the player where to go such as a light shaft, cavern, doorway. More broadly a focal point show the player where to go and this helps navigate a player in the right direction.
Environment definitely influences the atmosphere of a game by setting the mood with colour and assets that tell a story of the room or moment to the player. Reinforcing the key game play features and story. I don't feel that a players belief in a world universe is down to its direct realism or stylisation, as you can still be drawn into a world that is completely absurd. If you enjoy or are concentrating on a game your mind will help you feel more comfortable within what you are playing. I do think you have to be careful as an over realistic game will distract the user from the game play if anything is wrong or different and the same can be said for an over stylised game that can distract the user by not having anything realistic in its basis.
But if a developer can do this well both these can create brilliant games and environments. I feel that call of duty has done brilliantly in creating games that have environments that can be played over and over again, the same with halos vast caverns and sprawling meadows, GTA's skyscrapers and industrial parks. I think its fair to say everyone will find something to enjoy in a game environments and it doesn't have to be taken from real life to be enjoyable. Super stylised games attract there own player audience and the environments are eye catching and enjoyable. Think of the mass buy of the Wii that saw so many people creating Mii's. Despite its awful graphics it wasn't brought for that it was brought because stylisation is fun and it allowed people to interact and play together.
Environments are pivotal to game play as they create mood, atmosphere, life, stylisation, direction and speed of play. They are equally important across platforms and genres and they take a lot of reference for film, literature and life. They create worlds that are out of this world and allow people to experience things that they wouldn't otherwise experience. Which is what games do best, and why they are so popular.
Thursday, 28 April 2011
Easter Update 3
Two bragate paints i completed in the last couple days, i think i'm complete on what finals i need for the hand in. Just two blogs left and i should be complete all together, stupid weather being nice and making me rush at the end.
Wednesday, 20 April 2011
Easter Finishings 2
Second piece i#ve finished this Easter, of Abbey Park in Leicester had another go with layout and presentation, I'm happy with the piece but i still think it could use something else to bring it out, i might choose another final to have a go at, but for now dones. I don't know if i want to try a more sketchy approach to photoshop, i still don't think 'got my style down yet but its just getting used to the program, and once i get a few more pieces complete im sure it will become more natural. Also brushes this was one texture brush the whole time. Maybe i should try creating some new brushes for myself.
Monday, 18 April 2011
Pumping Station Final
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Hot Sauce Bottle Paint
Was trying to pick up speed whilst retaining detail, still took me way to long, a few hours behind this one, I need to work on my ellipses but i guess thats what practice is for.
Walther PPK 700tri model for game production, crazy ass render but still trying out new stuff in Max.
Thursday, 24 March 2011
Friday, 18 March 2011
Character/s?
Character shouldn’t be confused with characters however the two are interlinked. Character to an environment, story, characters, or anything that appears in a game is necessary. As without it we find it hard to believe what we are seeing. Character is important as it put a story and reasoning behind what we find and see in a game. It makes the player more submerged in the game and less disconnected from what they are playing if they understand how they got here and why they are doing what they’re doing. Games developers are quickly realising that increased hardware power, mindless gameplay and graphical stimuli will not hold the players interest for long, and in order to attract a wider market audience away from the hard core gamers an interesting story and narrative will be able to attract additional buyers.
Characters however are important in games as they generate emotional attachments, are interesting and ultimately allow you to take part in a games story. Without some sort of emotional attachment, relation or interest characters are dull, boring and distract the user from the key aspects of game. An effective character can persuade a player to invest more playing time, purchase more games and can spin off a whole world of different money making options for a company. An effective back story allows for the user to feel compassionate or resentful of a character and without this sort of planning and background story writing characters are flat and the story and gameplay is directly affected. Characters need to be individuals as much as people in real life and need to have there own motives, reasoning and goals.
Characters are normally the archetype; a character is either a hero/heroine. Although they might be a bad character they are still a character that is ultimately respected within a story. This doesn’t change much when looking from game to game and this is the basic for creating the majority of artistic pieces. Even if the character is supposed to be an everyday character the player still makes them a lot more capable that what they would otherwise be in real life. A script is important when building a character as this gives the player more insight into how they might be, feel and react to the surrounding area. However without proper character development and conception of a script can feel disjointed. Acting allows for the character to become more real as an actor uses his talents to create a persona for them. Having someone use their voice gives feeling to a character and is important to create this sense of presence and profound importance that makes characters so wonderful to look at. Appearance can tie in with art direction, without having a direction for the character the realism or more likely relation of character traits won’t work and you will not have succeeded in creating interesting characters.
Personally I find Sci-Fi and Alternate History/Futurism fascinating to look at, as this allows so many options when creating a story. Not that I don’t find Fictional stories interesting but I feel that Non-fictional stories allow for such a greater depth to storytelling as if done correctly a world different from what we are living in is so much more intriguing to learn about. I find the halo stories particularly interesting as with the development of the games they also released a series of books that give you more insight into the world and time that they are set and because these stories are following a ultimate style guide and guru they work amazingly as interlinking pieces of work and do brilliantly at developing characters that you have and haven’t already met. I feel games need to try and develop this more as ideas that are backed up with stories and characters that have been thoroughly thought through and ultimately a lot more believable. I would thoroughly recommend the entire halo book series as they are wonderfully written and give great insight into characters and why they are important in any creative situation.
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