Category Archives: Games Artist and Animator

Train2Game News: CryEngine 3 demo shows off impressive soft body physics

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CryEngine 3‘s soft body physics have been impressively demonstrated by Rig of Rods in a new version of Crytek’s engine.

A video shows an early work in progress of the “more realistic damage model ever” as a vehicle gets crunched, battered and rolled in a variety of ways. The beam physics system being shown uses no pre-defined rigging or animations.

Watch the physics demonstration in the video below, here on The Train2Game Blog.

CryEngine 3 is being used to make Crysis 3. Train2Game students may be interested to know that a free version of the engine is available for non-commercial use.

There’s plenty of news about Crytek, Crysis and more, here on The Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on the physics of display using CryEngine 3? How do you think it could be used?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: RPS]

Train2Game News: Darksiders II Creative Manager on getting into the industry

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Train2Game News recently went to a Darksiders II preview event organised by THQ. While there we had a quick chat with Vigil Games Creative Manager Jeremy Greiner, who told us how he broke into the games industry and offered advice to those looking to get in.

“My gateway into the industry was through community.” He told The Train2Game Blog.

“I was very active on the Microsoft forums, in the shooter forums, and ended up on becoming community manager and from there moved forward on the path.”

“Once you get your foot in the door, it’s all about what you do with it, so just get that foot in the door and keep trying hard.” Greiner added.

Getting a foot in the door can be a very important step towards a career in the games industry, and it’s something that Train2Game can provide students with thanks to the work placement scheme.

There’s more advice from industry professionals about getting into the industry here on The Train2Game Blog.

Also, keep reading for the latest Darksiders II news. Vigil’s action adventure game is scheduled for release for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC in August. A Wii U version will arrive at a later date.

What are your thoughts on Greiner’s path into the industry and his advice?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game news: Dungeonland dev diary reveals Disney, Spongebob and medieval art influences

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Train2Game students can get a look behind the scenes of art in Paradox Interactive’s upcoming co-op dungeon crawler Dungeonland, thanks to developer diary number number two from Critical Studio.

Posted on the Paradox Interactive forum, the Dungeonland developer diary entitled ‘The Art of Dungeonland’ sees the Critical art team discuss the influences and concepts behind their cartoon style title including Disney, medieval fantasy and more.

“When we started working on the visual design of Dungeonland, our only goal was really to just have fun. The personality of the game came from not trying to “copy” anything. It’s a big mix of influences from everybody in the team, done our way. We don’t really care if it’s been done before or if it looks like something else – if we think it’s cool, we are going to do it!”

“And we had a LOT of influences. Everything from Disney, of course: all the cartoons, the Silly Symphonies… But not only Disney – EVERYTHING even remotely related to cartoons, from Spongebob Squarepants to Coyote Ugly and any weird obscure stuff we watched as kids.”

“On top of that: everything medieval fantasy, including Lord of The Rings, a lot of Warhammer, about nine hundred different monster manuals from Dungeons & Dragons, and so forth.”

“We also try a lot of different stuff and throw a huge amount of ideas away until we are happy with what we got. Even though we are a small team, so far we’ve been able to produce hundreds of pages worth of concept art – and we’re very close to a thousand.”

There’s much more in the Dungeonland developer diary which you can read in full on Paradox Interactive’s forum.  Those on the Train2Game Art & Animation course will no doubt like a look!

There’s more Paradox Interactive news here on The Train2Game Blog, including our in-depth interview on the development of King Arthur II: The Role-playing Wargame.

What are your thoughts on the art style and influences of Dungeonland?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game news: How to create a “charismatic and interesting” spider

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Train2Game students can get a good look at the tricky process of designing a video game character in an interesting blog update from Alien Spidy developer Kalypso

Alien Spidy is an upcoming 2D and 3D platformer that’ll be released through on PSN, XBLA, PC and Mac.  Quick reflexes and fast paced platform action are apparently required for the game that’ll be released in June.

The PlayStation Blog post details how Kalypso designed their main character, a spider, and made him “charismatic and interesting”

“After a lot of brainstorming, coffee, comic reading, watching cartoons and lots of other inspirational tools, we thought that it would be interesting to play around with a small spider with big eyes that would be able to bring some “human” emotional connection to the game.” said Product Manager Andrew McKerrow.

“ We also decided to stick six legs on instead of the standard eight legs to make the character a little more friendly looking and little less creepy, as there are a lot of people with arachnophobia! See, we do care!” he added.

That however, was just the beginning, and the blog details how Alien Spidy went through different stages of concept art and designing a story for the game. It’s a very interesting read, which will surely be of interest to Train2Game students. It’s here on the PlayStation Blog.

What are your thoughts on the blog post from Kalypso? Does it give you a good insight into the game development process?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game news: Animation can be better than dialogue in games writing says Chris Avellone

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Game designers often make the mistake of using dialogue to in games writing, when animation can be better than words. That’s according to Obsidian Entertainment Creative Director Chris Avellone, whose credits include Fallout 2, Neverwinter Nights and Fallout: New Vegas.

Speaking to TheCriticalBit, Avellone said a common problem for game designers is “Lack of scriptwriting experience and brevity when doing a voiced game,” before adding  something a simple animation such as a shrug can have a better impact than dialogue.

“Not being aware that “tone” and emphasis on a word can help you edit out 2-3 extra sentences of foreshadowing – or not realizing that being able to call an “eye roll” or “shrug” animation is often better than any spoken response” he said, citing Uncharted writer Amy Hennig as a master of it.

Avellone is currently helping with InXile’s Kickstarter funded Wasteland 2. ‘The Godfather of post-apocalyptic RPGs’ raised almost $3 million in backing for the project.

You can get advice on getting into the games industry from the Obsidian Entertainment Creative Director here on The Train2Game Blog.

What are views on Avellone’s comments on the use of animation in games writing? Is it something that’s overlooked? What games do you think best use animation in story telling?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or here on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Beefjack] 

Train2Game news: Capcom launch Street Fighter 25th anniversary art tribute contest

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Train2Game Art & Animation students have an opportunity to showcase their skills and potentially see their work used by Capcom in a contest launched to celebrate the upcoming 25th Anniversary of Street Fighter.

“Whether you’re a professional or a first-timer, your art is welcome. Throughout the year, we’ll be showcasing our favorite pieces, and we’ll even utilize some of them in our official 25th Anniversary celebration activities. It’s a great opportunity to have your work become a part of history!” read a post on the Street Fighter website.

The Street Fighter artwork can be a traditional pencil or paint piece, digital artwork, or even photography. Two themes Capcom are looking entrants to expand on are ‘Twenty Five years of history’ or ‘I am Street Fighter’  The pieces that the publisher likes the most will be used in their official Street Fighter 25th anniversary material.

Train2Game students wishing to enter the contest have until Friday 4th May to do so. All the information on how to submit work is here.

Will you enter the Street Fighter 25th anniversary art contest?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Look Who doctored a visit from a Dalek at the Train2Game stand at GSL?

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Train2Game at Gadget Show Live gets a surprise visit from a Dr Who Dalek

Train2Game news: Next-gen consoles will increase “creative freedom” says Witcher 2 developer

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Train2Game students who think like The Witcher 2 lead level artist Marek Ziemak will probably support the CD Projekt developer in wanting much improved graphics and animation for next-gen consoles, in order to create better experiences.

“Sure, I’m a level artist so for me, it’s all about the visual quality, I want more creative freedom and more great graphics, that’s what really makes me want to create games.” CVG report the level artist saying at this week’s Witcher 2 developer Q&A at BAFTA.

“I’m looking for like real-life animations. It’s like pushing the limit again and again, creating bigger and greater stuff,” Ziemack continued. “I don’t know when it’s going to happen, but I want to see this, these great graphics being there on the screen.

“I hope its time comes soon and we won’t have to fight about pixels on the screen but worry more about delivering a true experience, the real emotion we can deliver through the game.” he added.

The Witcher 2 lead level artist has previously spoken to the Train2Game Blog, with our full interview with Marek Ziemak available to read here.

The Witcher 2: Assassin’s of Kings is released for Xbox 360 on Tuesday 17th April. For more news about The Witcher 2, keep reading The Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on Ziemaks comments? Would better graphics bring more creative freedom?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game news: PlanetSide 2 video shows design process for creating rifle scope

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Train2Game Art & Animation students can get a great insight into the modelling process for weapons in PlanetSide 2, thanks to a video released by Sony Online Entertainment.

PlanetSide 2 senior artist Patrick Ho talks us through the construction of the NC Scope 4X in a time lapsed video.  You can watch below, right here on The Train2Game Blog.

Train2Game students can apply for a place in the upcoming PlanetSide 2 beta by visiting http://www.planetside2.com/. As previously reported by The Train2Game Blog, Sony Online Entertainment’s Creative Director Matt Higby says beta testing is crucial to the development of PlanetSide 2.

““For MMO games beta is critical. There is a lot we can do to test gameplay and mechanics in studio, but getting the massive scale needed to ensure the game really works requires getting real players in.” he said.

“It’s also critical to determine if our player progression curves are too punishing or too lenient, find exploits, balance issues and so on. Beta for us as a company is an incredibly critical phase of development.” the PlanetSide 2 creative director added.

Keep reading The Train2Game Blog, for the latest beta testing opportunities.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the time lapsed modelling video?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game news: The Witcher 2 makes you “face the consequences of your actions”

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Train2Game Blog readers who play The Witcher 2 will need to “face the consequences of your actions” whatever decisions you make when the RPG gets its Xbox 360 release.

That’s what lead level artist Marek Ziemak told CVG about the game that CD Projeckt have previously described as “The most complex and non-linear story ever told on Xbox 360″

“The spine of our whole game is the storyline and it’s a dark fantasy world where you have to make choices, then later on you have to face the consequences of your actions.” said Ziemak.

“We were looking for a way to make those consequences meaningful and really important for the players. To show that, we sometimes have to kill some characters, sometimes burn places and sometimes make huge changes in the game’s world.”

When asked if that meant CD Projeckt were making parts of the story that might only be seen by a handful of players, Ziemak responded that no matter what, players need to see what consequences their decisions have.

“It’s not always enough to tell you that someone died because of your choice, we want to show you those consequences, because you’re the man deciding, then we have to be prepared that you choose one option or the other.” he said.

“We may have to create twice as much content, but then, there’s twice as much fun!” The Witcher 2 developer added.

Find out more about the development of The Witcher 2: Assassin’s of Kings in The Train2Game Blog’s own interview with lead level artist Marek Ziemak from Gamescom last year.

Train2Game students have the opportunity to question The Witcher 2 developers CD Projekt during a special Q&A event at BAFTA next month. There’s more information about it here on The Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on Ziemaks comments about consequences in The Witcher 2? Is it something that game developers need to put more focus on?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.