Features � Staff Diaries: Maff Evans
Maff Evans
Senior Artist
Next Gen Transition.
There�s a lot of talk within the games industry of �difficult transitional periods� whenever a new, more powerful games console appears, but what does this actually mean?
These new machines have more grunt under the bonnet and more graphical capabilities than we�ve previously been able to utilize. Speaking from an art point of view, this is akin to being given a blank canvas that�s four times larger than anything you�ve ever previously painted along with the phrase, �There you go, fill that.�
Obviously this requires a completely new way of working, since simply applying the old processes would result in every piece of artwork taking four times longer to produce. Instead our entire art structure has been reformed, placing groups of artists with different skill sets together in teams to produce sets of art for characters, levels, props, interfaces and effects. These teams then go through a number of closely-defined steps, from reference-gathering, concept thumbnails and prototyping through to building assets for the rest of the team to turn into the final visual elements that will be drawn on screen.
However even these individual stages require new working methods. At the simplest level the game geometry can be more complex, but you need to know where to spend those extra polygons to get the most �bang per buck�. Getting into more complex areas, the textures can be much more detailed with a greater colour depth, as well as being augmented by normal and specular maps. However this means that you need better resources for the base textures, which involves taking or finding more high-quality photos, rendering complex textures, and building layers for all those extra bump and spec effects. And we haven�t even started talking about lighting. Do we need to have flares off bright surfaces? How much can be dynamically lit before people stop noticing? How will new shadowing techniques affect the composition of a scene?
Bear in mind that all of this is against the backdrop of continually evolving game engine technology as the programmers discover what the new generation is really capable of.
The bottom line is that the next-gen transition is a double-edged sword. On the one side there�s all the hard work, producing tests of new and sometimes alien techniques with new tools. On the other there�s the excitement in knowing that we�re producing a better looking game than anything else we�ve ever worked on. We�re looking forward to when we can show you what we�ve achieved and we�re sure you�ll agree!
Maff.
These new machines have more grunt under the bonnet and more graphical capabilities than we�ve previously been able to utilize. Speaking from an art point of view, this is akin to being given a blank canvas that�s four times larger than anything you�ve ever previously painted along with the phrase, �There you go, fill that.�
Obviously this requires a completely new way of working, since simply applying the old processes would result in every piece of artwork taking four times longer to produce. Instead our entire art structure has been reformed, placing groups of artists with different skill sets together in teams to produce sets of art for characters, levels, props, interfaces and effects. These teams then go through a number of closely-defined steps, from reference-gathering, concept thumbnails and prototyping through to building assets for the rest of the team to turn into the final visual elements that will be drawn on screen.
However even these individual stages require new working methods. At the simplest level the game geometry can be more complex, but you need to know where to spend those extra polygons to get the most �bang per buck�. Getting into more complex areas, the textures can be much more detailed with a greater colour depth, as well as being augmented by normal and specular maps. However this means that you need better resources for the base textures, which involves taking or finding more high-quality photos, rendering complex textures, and building layers for all those extra bump and spec effects. And we haven�t even started talking about lighting. Do we need to have flares off bright surfaces? How much can be dynamically lit before people stop noticing? How will new shadowing techniques affect the composition of a scene?
Bear in mind that all of this is against the backdrop of continually evolving game engine technology as the programmers discover what the new generation is really capable of.
The bottom line is that the next-gen transition is a double-edged sword. On the one side there�s all the hard work, producing tests of new and sometimes alien techniques with new tools. On the other there�s the excitement in knowing that we�re producing a better looking game than anything else we�ve ever worked on. We�re looking forward to when we can show you what we�ve achieved and we�re sure you�ll agree!
Maff.