The first scene is very important for this animation because it is the introduction. I wanted the architecture to be in a misty night, surrounded by various vegetation and grass. I wanted the whole scene to have a natural and mysterious atmosphere, paving the way for the arrival of dawnbringer later.
Overall, when it comes to making the environment, it is always good to think and plan the asset you need in a scene. Think about what you need to make the scene have depth and layer. From stuff in nature (fog, tree, cloud and mountain) to human made objects, it is beneficial to make a good use of them.
Close up of the wood texture and components of the rooftop
I want to include a case study of Genova Chen in my thesis. I really admire his work and his journey on game development. I think he achieve both business success and artistic success with his work. Also I’m interested in his non-binary theory in his game.
Here’s my notes
Information about Genova Chen:
As a co-founder, Chen Xinghan founded thatgamecompany game company, which has successively launched CLOUD, FlOw , FLOWER , JOURNEY and SKY . All these 5 excellent games that are artistic, caring and enhance players’ emotional experience.
In the process, Chen Xinghan set multiple records. FlOw was the most downloaded game on Sony PSN in 2007 and was collected by MoMA (New York Museum of Modern Art); FLOWER broke the PSN North American first-week download record and was collected by the Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington, DC).
In 2013, JOURNEY won six awards including “Best Download Game”, “Best Visual Art”, and “Best Game Design” at the GDC Game Developers Conference. In the same year, it won the Grammy Award for Best Video Soundtrack. Nominated. In the end, JOURNEY won more than 180 awards and broke two Guinness records (the most awarded independent game in the world and the most acclaimed PS4 art game).
Compared with literature, painting and even movies, the history of games is not that long. But Chen Xinghan also regards games as artistic creation. He said: “Whether a game can be elevated from ‘popcorn’ to a ‘classic across the ages’, to me, is the key to making adults respect the game. A good work of art often has an emotional impact. After the audience, let the audience introspect and become their own growth.”
No matter what the subject matter is, from adventure to social interaction, the most distinctive feature of Chen Xinghan’s game works is “emotion”: using beautiful pictures, fascinating situations or stories, and gameplay and tasks that encourage interaction, players can achieve a unique The relationship of interdependence and help teaches us how to get along with others and ourselves, and ultimately achieve emotional healing.
It is necessary to have a lots of reference and concept art when making stylized model. In this way it is easier for the artist to have base body proportions well-defined.
First thing to do when making a sculpture is always to make a nice block out. Then it is ok to start experiment the details on how to get the style right. Also it is also important to keep the intensity of the brushes low so the artist can have a better control of the detail. Crafting your own brushes and alphas is a good way to speed up the sculpting process as well, in the future I will look more into it.
After finishing the sculpture in ZBrush, I took the model to Maya for a better topology. A good topology can benefit the multiple sides (texturing, rigging, animating and rendering) on the creation of a character.
▼Creating texture
For the texture of this character’s face, I emphasized the outline of the eyeliner to show the character’s unfathomable temperament. I also emphasized the blush under the eyes. For the character’s overall texture, I tried to make it as translucent and deep as possible. For the material of the clothing, I used a gradient transparent design so that it doesn’t feel so oppressive around the neck. I also used a image of starry night for the costume’s print to reflect her identity that is inseparable from day and night.
▼Creating cloth
For the creation of the cloth, firstly I made a model in the shape of a veil and increase the polygon counts so the simulation goes well. Then I add a cloth tag on the plane. I set part of the points to fix points, so only the area close to the edge of the cloth is influenced by the force field (the wind). Then I add wind field, friction and turbulence to adjust the movement of the cloth. In the end, I baked the object as alembic, so the PC doesn’t have to recalculate every time when rendering.
It is because the function of video games decides that the design for video games has to be highly interactive, and its primary focus, the art aesthetic for a game, sometimes is overlooked. Through research on the history of video games and debates on whether video games are art, it is clear that for the past fifty years, video games have achieved recognition in the world of popular art for their significant developments. MoMA announced in 2012 to set video games as a new category of artworks with a selection of video games and the intention to grow the number of their collection in the future (Antonelli, 2012). Though academic study usually focuses on technical issues in games. The art design in video games should be addressed.
Why is stylized graphics widely used?
Though not all video games are art, all of them are a business. And business requires efficiency. From the perspective of traditional art, stylization of art makes it easier for humans to observe the intention and emotion in an artwork. The common application of stylized art in this field may be that it has more advantages when it tells a story and conveys emotions to the players. Another reason is that video games usually have a fantasy or sci-fi background, such as Legend of Zelda (1986) and Final Fantasy 14 (2010). It is easier to use stylization to process a setting in a non-realistic sense. In this sense, the realism style may limit the approaches to mise-en-scene.
What are the key aspects of stylized art?
Modern real-time render games have a very complicated look. Players found themselves entering a new virtual space with an unfamiliar body in a digital environment with plants, water, and light. It seems that there are numerous factors that influence the visual aesthetic of video games. However, similar to the creation of traditional art, video game art can be broken down into simpler aspects to study. Various experiments have shown that shape and material are the primal factors that define how stylized artwork in the game looks. Studies from the game graphic production inspired the experiment methods will be conducted in this research.
Conclusion
The application of stylized art in video games is considerably wide and common. Stylized artworks enhance a game’s aesthetic value, narrative, emotional involvement, virtuosity, and interactivity. With the development of technology, there are infinite possibilities to be explored in this field. Maybe in the future, it is through the art design of video games a new and distinctive kind of art will be born.
After I learned about how to use UV mapping to maximize the efficiency of a trim sheet, I think it is a very smart approach. Especially in game development where texture memory and performance are crucial. Though I’m not doing a real-time rendered project, I still think trim sheets are a great way to add detail to a model without increasing the polygon count.
To maximize the trim sheet, I align edges with the trim sheet elements. Straightening UV edge is not normal, but here it is important to do it. In this way UV edges can align with the straight lines on the trim sheet, maximizing texture usage and reducing waste. Also, I will scale and arrange UVs to make the most out of the trim sheet. I will scale up parts of the UVs that will use more detailed parts of the trim sheet, such as the larger part (the door frame and the beam)
When there is tiling and repeating elements in the model. I will stack them on top of each other, so the texture can apply well. By effectively using UV mapping with trim sheets, I think it is easier to create detailed models that are also performance-friendly.
There has been debate about whether video games can be viewed as art. Aaron Smuts (2005) states in his paper that though not all video games should not be considered art, several games have exceeded the majority of popular cinema. Though under the definition of fine art, video games may seem artistically insignificant. There’s no doubt that the art of video games has been given great importance. Grant Tavinor (2009) demonstrated that video games, though different from traditional artworks, are similar to many other forms of art. Like artworks, “they do have perceptual and formal structures that are the objects of an aesthetic and interpretive engagement in much the same way as other artworks. Games are created by talented individuals and groups who can garner a reputation for their creative exploits, and who we are in many cases tempted to call artists”(Tavinor, 2009, p.174). Tavinor’s point is significant because top-tier companies in the industry, like Nintendo and Square, often hire artists trained in this field to work. It is because of the work of artists that game aesthetics like Mario became a world phenomenon. This is significant because there are few in-depth studies about visual art from video games, and the phenomenon should inform that attention in this field is necessary. Tavinor’s statement also leads to the point that game art can be created and analysed through the perspective of traditional art.
So what are the visual genres of video games? A study in 2012 found Owen Demers, an award-winning art director with years of experience in the industry. He defined six visual genres of digital painting: realistic, hyper-real, stylized, simplified, graphic, and fantastic (Wu,2012). Though for most artists who generally divide video game visuals under the category of realistic and stylized, Demers’ genres of digital paintings seem too complicated.
With the development of technology and sufficient budget, companies nowadays can produce realistic environments that capture the shape of reality. However, many major companies still use stylized art over realism. It seems strange because realism appears to work better in the way of bringing an immersive experience, which is essential. In Gombrich’s book on art history, he shows that during the post-impressionist era, artworks featured using visual distortion when representing objects and subjects. Such as Picasso, whose artwork is famous for its intentionally distorted physique. Though realism is ignored, the artistic process of reality brings out more of the artist’s intent (Gombrich, 1995). Gombrich’s view shows that perhaps intentionally done stylized art can help a game convey emotions to players more efficiently than realism. Also, video games usually have fantasy or sci-fi backgrounds. By using stylized visuals, it is easier to achieve the visual which realism cannot. Bordwell and Thompson commented on the German expressionist film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari that the film uses stylization to present a madam’s fantasy, so the lack of realism in this film cannot be condemned (Bordwell & Thompson, 2001). Saito and Takahashi’s Comprehensible Rendering paper shows examples of how just changing contouring lines and material can present various effects for different fields (Saito & Takahashi, 1990). A study from 2015 also believed that shape and material are two of the most influential factors in defining how stylized characters look (Zell et al., 2015). Inspired by that, this research will thereby experiment based on comparing the material and shape and its effect on stylization design.
“Trim sheets are textures which tile in the Horizontal (U) or Vertical (V) direction. They are used to quickly add detail to an asset with otherwise simple geometry as they generally consist of multiple trim elements which can be UV mapped onto an asset to add the illusion of a higher level of detail which is not present on the model.”
To create a trim sheet, first thing I need to do is to plan the section for each part in photoshop. Then I move the plane to Maya so I can create a base model for me to sculpt and bake later.
Then I import the low poly model in ZBrush to sculpt the high poly model. When it comes to the sculpting of stylized model, it is important to exaggerate the feature and keep it minimal. In this way the texture can have a nice, clean presentation.
After sculpting the model in ZBrush, I baked the high poly model on low poly model and textured it substance designer.
The Advantage of using trim sheets
The benefit of using trim sheets is that the artist only need to use one texture for a large collection of assets. In this way the artist can reduce the memory required to save and load texture.
“In general throughout a scene you will have multiple dozens of assets. Each of these assets will have their own texture sets, if we assume each asset has its own texture set that’s 3 textures for each asset in the scene on average. Clearly this would result in a lot of textures, as an example 12 assets would result in 36 textures, comparatively with a trim sheet you could potentially texture all of those assets with 3 textures.”
Why I choose stylized art as the focus of my research
I really want to be good at actually making stylized game asset, that is why I’m doing this study theoretically to enhance my understanding. Also I believe there’s a lot potential in stylized game art as well.
Notes on the history of the development of video game
In 1980, NAMCO launched the “Pac-Man” game that became popular around the world. In 1983, the superstar “Nintendo FC” with global sales of 60 million units was officially launched. Needless to say, Nintendo’s FC’s status in the gaming industry goes without saying. Nintendo and its FC have given birth to a new culture – gaming culture. In 1985, two of the most classic games in history were born: Tetris and Super Mario. All related versions of Super Mario have sold 540 million units. Subsequently, classic FC games appeared one after another, such as “Contra”, “Tank Battle”, “MapleStory”, “Street Fighter”, etc. In 1988, the first CD-Rom-based “The Manhole” was released, laying the foundation for the popularity of CD-type games. In 1989, Nintendo officially released the Game Boy portable game. In addition to console games, arcade games also began to enter the “golden age” in the 1980s, reaching their peak in 1983. The aforementioned Pac-Man and Donkey Kong were both initially released on arcades. However, due to the impact of the “Atari Shock”, American arcades gradually declined, and the focus began to shift to Japan. In the late 1980s, TECHN S JAPAN released “Double Dragon”, becoming the ancestor of the scroll fighting game. In the same year, CAPCOM launched “Street Fighter”, the first fighting game. In 1990, SEGA launched the Game Gear, the first handheld color game console. In 1994, another epoch-making electronic game console, the PlayStation, came out, completely overthrowing Nintendo’s 10-year dominance. At the same time, on the PC platform, the emergence of “Wolfenstein 3D”, the originator of FPS games developed by idsoftware, created an unprecedented new game mode. Then in 1993, he created another game that changed the history of the game industry – “Doom”, which completely opened the era of first-person shooting games. Today’s 3D games are basically designed based on these classic games. In 1994, Blizzard’s father appeared on the scene, and “Warcraft” became popular all over the world immediately after its launch. In the following years, Blizzard launched several “Warcraft” games one after another. Of course, when it comes to Warcraft, we have to mention the king of MMORPGs – “World of Warcraft”. “World of Warcraft” was released in 2004 and soon became the It became the production model of MMORPG. Later, the game mechanisms of many large-scale online games were made with reference to World of Warcraft. The release of these games directly established Blizzard’s dominance in the gaming field. The new generation of game consoles and the era of online games In 2000, Sony released the PlayStation 2, which directly dominated the entire game console market. In 2001, Microsoft also launched the XBOX console. For a while, game consoles were almost monopolized by Sony and Microsoft. However, Sony was not satisfied with the console market. In 2004, it launched another classic game handheld console-PSP. In the same year, Nintendo also launched an equally excellent handheld console – NDS, and later launched 3DS and Switch. The sales of these game consoles have reached tens of millions. Around 2000, the rapid development of computer hardware led to a significant increase in Internet speed. Against this background, the era of online games arrived. Starting from the open beta of “Legend”, various online games began to explode. Major domestic manufacturers gradually switched from agent online games to self-developed online games. After a period of time, “Fantasy Westward Journey”, “Audition”, “Zhu Xian” were born one after another. “, “Dragon”, “DNF”, “Zhengtu”, “Bubble Hall”, “Kart Racing”, “League of Legends” and a large number of classic PC games. In addition to these “heavyweight” online games, there are also countless online casual chess and card games. Due to their wide coverage, the number of players is not inferior in comparison.
Draft for abstract and introduction
Abstract
It is controversial when it comes to the topic of whether video games can be art. One of the reasons may be that because the initial focus of a video game has always been its interactivity, the visual art in video games is overlooked. However, the art in video games is phenomenal and influential, which indicates perhaps the art aspect shouldn’t be ignored. Through analysis of the application of stylized art design in video games, this research suggests that stylized art contributes enormously to the aesthetic value and interactive experience of players.
Key Words: stylization, game 3d graphic production, video games, art direction, traditional art.
UVs are coordinates that helps to wrap a 2D texture onto a 3D mode. Before unwrapping, I like to consider how the model will be used and viewed. So I can play on where to cut the seam and how much texture space each part of the model should occupy.
Maya is the best software I used so far for UV unwrapping. The tools in Maya are very easy to use. I can move, scale and rotate UV shells very easily. The sewing and cutting tool are very useful for to adjust how the texture unwrap as well. Tools like “Unfold” and “Straighten UV” are very useful for spread the UV for the shape I want as well. Optimize tool can help me make efficient use of the texture space. I scale up UVs for areas that need more detail and scale down less important areas. For the UV that require more detail, I scale it up as much as possible to maximize texture resolution. Normally, there shouldn’t be any overlapping and flipped UVs. But for the technique I’m going to use later, it is necessary to have a few overlapping ones.
UV mapping can be a meticulous process, but it is necessary for high-quality texturing. I have to take my time to refine and check my UV, as this will greatly influence the final appearance of the textured model.
Nick gave an example of the structure of the thesis which I will follow in my thesis
Title page
Possible title:
The Aesthetic and Functional Benefits of Stylized Art in Contemporary Digital Games
Stylized art in modern game
The application of stylized art in video game
Abstract
A short overview on the definition of stylized art and why I chose it as my research project.
Acknowledgements (Optional)
You may wish to acknowledge any significant contributions to the research from others
Contents page(s)
1.Introduction- Why exploring the application of stylized art design in Video Games
2.A brief history of game graphic evolution
3.The foundation of traditional art in video games
4.The application of stylized art graphics in video games
5.Effects of stylized art design on video game narratives
6.Most influential factors defining the overall artstyle
7.Conclusion
Introduction
As the development in the field of 3D graphics for video games moves forward with no intention to stop, one-day realistic rendering will become indistinguishable from the eye of a human. This research proposed that stylized art design should be more of a focus for an artist to grow individuality. The foundation of stylized game aesthetic design is closely related to traditional art, which transmits emotional complexity and explores more possibilities in visual storytelling. Thus, this research on the topic of stylized art in game design is necessary.
Literature review
review list:
Antonelli, P., 2012. Video games: 14 in the collection, for starters. Inside/Out, 29. Available at: https://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2012/11/29/video-games-14-in-the-collection-for-starters/ (Accessed: November 27, 2022).
Collingwood, R.G., 1958. The principles of art (Vol. 11). Oxford University Press.
El-Nasr, M.S. and Yan, S., 2006, June. Visual attention in 3D video games. In Proceedings of the 2006 ACM SIGCHI international conference on Advances in computer entertainment technology (pp. 22-es).Available at: https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/1178823.1178849 (Accessed: November 27, 2022).
Final Fantasy XIV (2010). PC [Game]. Square Enix, Tokyo
Friedman, A., 2015. The role of visual design in game design. Games and Culture, 10(3), pp.291-305. Available at: https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/1178823.1178849 (Accessed: November 27, 2022).
Gombrich, E.H., 1995. The story of art (Vol. 12, pp. 155-159). London: Phaidon.
Mohr, A. and Gleicher, M., 2001, March. Non-invasive, interactive, stylized rendering. In Proceedings of the 2001 symposium on Interactive 3D graphics (pp. 175-178). Available at: https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/364338.364392 (Accessed: November 27, 2022).
Saito, T. and Takahashi, T., 1990, September. Comprehensible rendering of 3-D shapes. In Proceedings of the 17th annual conference on Computer graphics and interactive techniques (pp. 197-206). Available at: https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/97879.97901 (Accessed: November 26, 2022).
Smuts, A., 2005. Are video games art?. Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive), 3(1), p.6. Available at: https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/liberalarts_contempaesthetics/vol3/iss1/6/ (Accessed: November 26, 2022).
Tavinor, G., 2009. The art of videogames. John Wiley & Sons.
The Legend of Zelda (1986). NES [Game]. Nintendo, Kyoto
Touhou Project (1997). PC [Game]. Team Shanghai Alice, Tokyo.
Wu, Y., 2012. The style of video games graphics: analyzing the functions of Visual styles in storytelling and gameplay in video games (Doctoral dissertation, Communication, Art & Technology: School of Interactive Arts and Technology). Available at: https://summit.sfu.ca/item/12529 (Accessed: November 26, 2022).
Zell, E., Aliaga, C., Jarabo, A., Zibrek, K., Gutierrez, D., McDonnell, R. and Botsch, M., 2015. To stylize or not to stylize? The effect of shape and material stylization on the perception of computer-generated faces. ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG), 34(6), pp.1-12. Available at: https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/2816795.2818126 (Accessed: November 26, 2022).
