Academy of Art Character and Creature Design Notes_ Creature Design for Video Games

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Discussion, inspiration, notes and links for online AAU students

cademy of Art Character andCreature Design Notes

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Creature Design for Video Games

As the technology in video games continues to develop and expand, the possibilities of what

concept artists are capable of producing also becomes open to a broader range of detail and

functions. Still, even as far as video games have come since the days of Super Nintendo and

Sega, the In-Game design and models fall short to the fluid m ovement and amount of detail

you may see in live action films (where anything is possible but they need to more strictly

obey the laws of nature based upon the subject matter).

A few key elements of design to keep in mind for game designs are a strong silhouette,

recognizable color schemes for the creature or character and distinct proportions in anatomy.It's just as important to know the basics of animal and human anatomy when designing a

creature for a video game as it would be for anything else, so you still need to study real

world animals whether from life or photos. I would recommend visiting local Zoos or even pet

shops, studying your own pets and animals outside as well as watching documentaries on

TV and picking up photo reference books. A few books I recommend for animal reference

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are the Smithsonian Institution - Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide to the World's Wildlife &

Natural History (Smithsonian) The Ultimate Visual Guide to Everything on Earth. While you're

at it, pick up a volume or two on human anatomy as well. Those containing photos and one

that is hand drawn and capable of showing the musculature, skeletal and organ systems

such as Classic Human Anatomy: The Artist's Guide to Form, Function, and Movement .

Human and Animal anatomy go hand in hand when molding and transforming animals,

humans, creatures, humanoids and everything beyond and in between.

The primary difference you need to keep in mind when designing for a video game is that

there are more limitations as to the amount of functions and fluid movement or details that

will be visible to the gamer. With that in mind, you need to utilize other ways to make a strong

impact on the gamer even if the creature is seen from afar or only at a quick glance. Game

designs especially if it's a fast paced action shooter or an isometric RPG are all about

"Concept" and iconic designs rather than fully rendered and polished drawings with tiny

details since most of that won't even get a chance to be seen, or in the case of an isometric

RPG the model will be so small it wouldn't be worth including certain details as it would go to

waste. In an isometric game, details such as fur and hair are often just painted into the bump

and texture maps as well as a lot of other fine details that would take up too many poly's to

bother modeling at such small scales.Take the game series Monster Hunter for example. This is a Platform RPG.

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Some of the better designs are those with unique body structures and proportions that may

look awkward if they existed in a live action film, but they leave the biggest impact on

gamers. So the anatomy of creatures in video games provides a lot more leeway and

freedom for creativity, since less adherence to the laws of nature is expected in a game

world. You're less likely to question why a creature with the body structure of a hippo can fly

with wings the size of a hawk because you know it's "just a game" and you're more willing tosuspend your disbelief than if it were a live action film. This opens up a huge array of

possibilities and ways to design a unique creature without having to explain too much about

the function of design choices.

A lot of this comes down to pure aesthetic and eye candy over plausible design. St ill, even

then it's important to know the basics of anatomy and how your design is intended to function

in the game. You'll often work back and forth with the CG modeler to fix mistakes, or explain

things that might not communicate too well in 2D once it's transfered over into 3D.

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Posted by Mike Corriero at 7:08 PM

Labels: Creature Design, Mike Corriero, video gaming

Guest blogger Mike Corrierois a character, creature, and conceptual designer and

illustrator living in New Jersey. Since graduating from Pratt Institute in 2003, Mike's client list

has included Breakaway Games, Fantasy Flight Games, Allied Studios, Kingsisle

Entertainment, Radical entertainment/ Vivendi Universal Games, Liquid Development, Zynga

Inc, Challenge Games, Paizo Publishing and Hasbro Inc, among others.Mike's book

"PLANET to PLANET creatures and strange worlds" includes hundreds of his sketches of

creatures, robots, alien life forms and their environments. I recommend it for students

focusing on visual development for games, or anyone who loves creature design. -J. G. O

Recommend this on Google

4 comments:

Thitaya (Tee) Pahsukkul February 19, 2011 at 10:30 PM

Thank you!

Reply

DreeH February 20, 2011 at 7:56 AM

Awesome man, I loved the examples !! I totally agree that one thing who impact

players it's be free from the laws like anatomy, it's even better (in my case) when you

draw free from it because you can get "high" in your ideas . Great Post !!

Reply

takeshi007 December 26, 2012 at 7:48 PM

The most important in creating game is creating good characters and creatures

especially monsters.

Play zombie games

Reply

Wally H April 20, 2013 at 1:45 PM

Wow, these designs are simply amazing.

Reply
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Academy of Art Character and Creature Design Notes_ Creature Design for Video Games

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