Research into Aesthetics: Part 2

Industrial design and architecture: Image analysis

 for this stage of my research i have done some image collecting, i want to look at real world "industrial style designs and take from them common themes of, form, colors  materials ect that i can use in my own designs. i intend to analyse a range of images that i feel typify the design aesthetic.

Picture 1:

i found this picture online of some "grungy" industrial looking structures, i have cropped it to isolate the parts of the photograph that interested me. I thought this section emphasized the no nonsense aesthetic of industrial designs. i have taken particular note of the materials used in the picture, and how they are implemented in the construction. the air duct (if that is what it is) appears to be made from a sheet metal (aluminium or steel- this will be usefull to take into consideration when looking at textures to use for my own concepts and model) simply riveted together. both structures are supported with steel struts or beams. i want to take structural support into consideration in my own creation to help it to feel and look technically feasible. it also shows me an example of how rust forms on surfaces - this will be a useful reference if i wish to add "ageing" detail to the texture of my asset. 

Picture 2

This crop also is simply an example of materials and textures used in an industrial environment, it is also from the same source photo as picture 1. Corrugated sheet is often used in such constructions as it increases the strength of the surface from one direction. This building is obviously very bland and reminds me that i will have to strike a balance between function and form in my own designs, function (so that the assets work in the game, and the aesthetic feels realistic) , but without neglecting form (making sure the environment is an interesting, distinctive, and attractive place for the player to inhabit. 

This kind of design is common among "realistic" first person shooters like the Call of Duty franchise, and is tailored  to appeal to an audience who wants who favors a "gritty realistic" gaming experience. I an aware that this kind of design ethic would, for example not be applicable to a game aimed at a younger audience.

Picture 3

I thought that this image would illustrate the common use of repetition of shapes in industrial architecture. Cargo containers are one of the simplest forms of tessellating shapes, they are designed to easily stack one on top of another to maximize spacial efficiency. industrial design seems to be all about efficiency, efficiency of material (to reduce cost), space (to capitalize on available space), and design, simple designs are easier to produce and manufacture (time efficient) though i will obviously not be putting my designs into production (in the same manner as these) i still want to bare such things in mind as theory to help the believability and grounding of the world i am designing.

Picture 4:

I chose this crop just to illustrate the importance of usability in such designs. accessibility is an important factor, the ergonomics of how a player will interact with my design.The access ladders are my focal point. 

Picture 5:

This photo interested me due to its importance of repetition and symmetry. while a symmetrical design may not create as strong a silhouette  in terms of how a prop may stand out to a player, it does create a strong sturdy looking shape. valves and piping seem to be synonymous with the style of design that i am going to go for. it is something to do with the utilitarian functionality of the shape, i think, that lends itself to looking tough and ultimately functional. 

Picture 6:

As i said with regards to a previous picture, pipes seem to be a common theme in this style of design. they are a good example of modular design as they are often built in sections and bolted together as is appropriate to the site they are being used in. The use of simple shapes and right angles in this construction also shows a no frills attitude to design, in that it uses no unnecessary space and material, the pipes seem to take the most direct route. 

Research into Aesthetics 1

Visual design research:

Extended research for “Phenotype” because I intend to develop my game idea (phenotype) in this new project, I will look back at and expand the research I did as well as correct and amend the design document that we created as a group to better suit my individual goals and learning objectives.

I intend to expand upon research that I started last term, into inspirational sources for my design work. Partly for my own satisfaction to see the design completed to a more thorough standard but also apply that research to my design and work in this project.

The original game setting for “Phenotype” is an “off world research facility” for creating and experimenting on man-made “ bio-weapons” the “weapons” are genetically mutated creatures that are contained within the vast facility. They are also the player’s characters.

Because of the need to contain these potentially dangerous creatures (as explained in the game narrative) the game has an entirely internal setting. This means that for my “scene” I need to create a building from an internal view.  I have no experience in this field, other than some brief asset work but I look forward to challenging myself by stepping completely out of my comfort zone.

My usual favored area of work is 2D concept art and design of organics, characters, creatures and the like. This project will force me to work on architecture and inanimate objects. I need to bare I mind functionality and ergonomics, as well as implication in CryEngine.

The scene I am going to make in CryEngine will be focus on industrial, clinical, architectural design from a science fiction perspective. This means that I need to research these areas and gather information and images to support my own design process later on.

Real world space program design:

The original design for the facility that “Phenotype” is set in was supposed to be a pseudo realistic industrial design, which was fantastical yet believable. I looked at the designs in various science fiction games and films that had a realistic feel. Though this was a good way of establishing mood and themes, I feel that it left our design looking unoriginal and poorly researched. Design decisions were made based on aesthetics and the pseudo-science of the game world which I think made us stray from the realism that we were trying to achieve.

I want to bear in mind a quote by Peter Jackson, with regard to suspension of disbelief in films:

 "We know this is a lot of nonsense, but let's forget about that for a couple of hours and allow ourselves to have some fun" 

- From the Preface to "The art of Avatar" book

I think that this statement is particularly relevant to the genres of science fiction and fantasy in terms of entertainment media. There are many things that i can do as an artist to incite this suspension of disbelief within my audience. I think that, particularly with with sci-fi, some grounding, and real world reference allows the audience to relate to the visuals in some way, even if it is totally subconscious. I is this that allows the audience to relax to this obviously fake world they are seeing, and allow themselves to become immersed and to suspend their disbelief.

To fully understand the design of futuristic, science fiction worlds I think it is most important to look at related designs in the real world, ie designs by NASA and other space programs.

The first place I have started to look is the NASA website. I am trying to find examples of the design process; I think that by looking into these real design ethics I might find a way to make my own science fiction designs feel more grounded. I have found an example of a problem solving flow chart used in “the development of a new product or system” the example is given as part of an educational challenge for students to design a “plant growth chamber” for NASA though this is obviously not directly relevant to games, it is an interesting example of creative problem solving in industrial design. It would be interesting to follow this same design process when designing concepts for my game world, as it would in theory, hopefully produce more purposeful designs that feel like they favor function over from, even in a game world.

If I apply this process to my own:

1-     Identify the problem: - what asset am I designing?

2-     Identify criteria and constraints: - What is its purpose within the game world? What are the limits of the game engine (Polly count ect) does it have to fit a coherent aesthetic?

3-     Brainstorm solutions: silhouette and rough sketch, define key features of what I am designing

4-     Generate ideas: my process is a highly visual one, idea generation is visual and part of the sketching process. For me, stages 3 and 4 effectively amount to the same thing.

5-     explore possibilities: out of a range of quick ideas generated, evaluate which design is most appropriate

6-     Select an approach: as with 3 and 4, 5 and 6 have very similar outcomes

7-     Build a prototype: finalise concept work, orthographic views and denote textures

8-     Refine the design: create the design as a working 3d asset, change shapes and simplify to work in a gam engine.

This scientific journal: (http://coewww.rutgers.edu/~benaroya/publications/Ruess%20et%20al%20ASCE%20JAE.pdf ( F.Ruess; J.Schaenzlin; and H.Benaroya from the JOURNAL OF AEROSPACE ENGINEERING © ASCE / JULY 2006) goes into detail about the various purposes and means of space travel, but more interestingly for me, discusses materials both real and hypothetical (lunarcrete) that can be used in lunar building. It is important for me to think about these materials and their applications when designing science fiction assets with a focus on realism. Recognisable materials help the viewer to relate and believe in the product (asset) they are looking at and interacting with. This is something I need to bear in mind for concept art, but also when I transfer those concepts to 3 assets with textures.

The previous document states that iron, aluminium, silicon and titanium are resources that are available in lunar regolith (a layer of soil, dust, and broken rock). As well as being used in astronautics they are also used in the design of proposed lunar buildings (also see “structural design of a lunar habitat”)

Structural Analysis:

By examining and analysing a variety of images of extra-terrestrial structures I can set drawing conventions of shape, style, and feel of my asset designs.

Picture A:

(sketch by NASA industrial design team for a “modular habitat”)

Picture A is a rough sketch showing a group of “habitats”, that the NASA HDC (habitability design centre) created that simply demonstrates the layout and forms that they intend to use in lunar habitation projects. The shapes of the structures all seem to be designed to provide maximum strength in the vacuum of space. The shape of the buildings (round ended cylinders) is similar to that used in the construction of tanks that contain high pressure air. The shape is designed to withstand the forces of compression acting upon it. Similarly, the tubes connecting the buildings appear to be cylindrical presumably for the same reasons. By being cylindrical, the shape has less structural weak points as stress is dispersed around it.

The building is described as being “modular” the main benefit of which being adaptability. “Modules” can be built, tested and transported separately for ease of production. They use universal, or standardized fittings which allows the structure to be customised and arranged in a site/ purpose specific manner.

Picture B:

(3d model from Structural Design of a Lunar Habitat - F. Ruess; J. Schaenzlin; and H. Benaroya)

This picture is an older design, showing possible methods of connecting more modular structures

Picture C:

Picture D:

This image pretty much supports my observations about structural design consistencies. I will take these findings as references in my own design work.

The biggest thing that all these designs have in common is strength. They are practical buildings designed from an engineering perspective. Little or no concern is given to aesthetics as the designs favour function over form.

I wouldn’t expect anything less from such a practicality driven organisation. This no frills design ethic however is not necessarily the best way to approach my own design, as the products (and by extension the world) I create have to be visually interesting to my intended audience. I have to take into consideration if I want to subvert or support design expectations of the science fiction genre, if I want to embrace more “retro” design ethics, or if I want to contrast popular themes.

Research into Game Engines

This is a bit of a late upload, i started writing this entry up on 13^th of January 2013, but didn’t finish all of my research work until later.

Having received no feedback from my learning agreement I have managed to get myself behind in my work. I have gone ahead and looked back at areas to improve on my work from last team.

BA4 re-work:

In my feedback for our game design of “Phenotype” the game was criticised for departing too far from the source material, though I have taken this in mind there is little I can do at this point, and as this has no bearing on Ba5 I will not worry about it. However I will make more of a conscious effort to stick closer to the criteria of the brief, and keep my focus on creating and implementing assets for a game engine.

I was also told that the overly convoluted back story detracted from the bits of the design that worked well. As such, I will steer away from the unnecessary details of science fiction lore.

Overall, the biggest criticism was the lack of research, this is an area that I can and intend to improve on for this project.

We were commended for our well-considered ideas surrounding game-play mechanics. I think this can transfer over to this project if I look carefully at what the brief demands. With regard to carefully considered ideas in the area of asset design and building, I think that I should take care when I am creating concepts, that the designs that I create are practical when it comes to inserting their 3d models into a game engine. I do not want to design assets that will inevitably require high Polly models and complicated rigs. That would not work when put in the game. It’s all about compromise between aesthetically pleasing design, and practicality.

I also need to go back and re-examine the relationship between my design research, the concept art, and the 3d models that we produced to illustrate our ideas.

Game engine research:

In our game design document from last team the team stated that we our game idea was theoretically designed to be developed for the next generation of games consoles from Sony and Microsoft. We felt that this would give our project more scope, and allow us to design a more expansive, varied, and visually pleasing game, as it is theorised that the next generation consoles (as has been the trend in recent years) will have higher processing, and graphics power to support such games.

Given that the game I am working from is 3d, I will obviously need a 3d game engine to import to.  I narrowed my choice down to CryEngine and UDK (Unreal Development Kit) both of which provide a free SDK.

Given that my practical studio work for this project is predominantly visual showcasing of my abilities. Aesthetic and visual fidelity of the engine is an important factor to take into consideration. I have found some samples of side by side comparisons of environments in UDK and CryEngine.

UDK tech trailer:

CryEngine tech trailer:

Obviously these tech trailers are a form of advertising for each respective companies products, and are not a none biased source of information. Nevertheless it is interesting to look at and compare how each company (Crytek and Epic) chooses to present its engine. It seems that Crytek is keen to show its engine as an impressive tool to create beautifully photo-realistic environments, whereas Epic Games seem more intent on showing how robust their engine is in terms of variety of games and applications.

(http://www.psu.com/a006835/CryEngine-3-vs-Unreal-Engine-3-Comparison)

(Posted March 31^st, 2009 at 20:18 EDT)

These images show that both engines are obviously able produce impressively detailed textured environments. Allot of the comparisons and debates that I have found online focus on particle systems technology and character animation. While these are important to consider when creating a fully working game, they are less important to me as I will not be using these features, as such I will focus more on asset rendering and texturing, and won’t let my decision be swayed by factors that aren’t immediately relevant to this project.

Looking at more side by side comparisons (video this time) gives me a better (and also none biased) comparison of how the same asset looks respective to each engine.

It seems to me (by looking at this clip) that allot of the impressive visuals in the cry engine are largely due to dramatic lighting effects that can be used to stage the game word in the most flattering way. Looking at comparative images of actual games produced in each engine continues to support my finding. I also feel that much of the benefit that comes with CryEngine comes with its ability to create and present realistic vegetation (organics) and soft surface modelling. Due to the interior, setting of my game design, and the industrial/clinical mix of design ethic I do not think I would be able to make use of these features either, within the parameters of my own learning agreement.

(A screenshot of “spec ops: the line”)

(Crysis 3 pre-release promotional screenshot)

Though my research has lead me to believe that my assets would have a higher graphical fidelity in CryEngine (producing a more “realistic” aesthetic), further discussion with my tutors about my own level of experience has lead me towards using UDK to import and showcase my assets. Being told (by CryEngine veteran Lothar Zhou) that as a beginner to the world of game engines, I would most likely pick up UDK quicker faster, was a large influence on my decision to choose that engine. I think that learning to use any game engine will be challenging enough without having to battle against the engine itself

Ba5 project: Production

In Ba4  we were asked (in groups) to create a game design document, sell sheet and 10 minute pitch presentation for a re-imagining of an existing game IP. In a group of 3 (myself, David Allan, and Nathan Russell) we designed "Phenotype" (working title) a 3rd person MMO hack and slash, with RPG, stealth  and creature raising elements. I was fairly happy with allot of the elements of the game, though we lost marks for straying a little too far from the inspirational material, as well as not setting out our research and thought processes clearly enough. Though i was disappointed with my mark, it does leave me allot of room to improve, and i think the game design itself gives me an adequate base to start from with Ba5. 

The "production" project for Ba5 asks us to take the next step in the production pipeline. The project follows on from the development of our design document in Ba4, we have now been tasked with producing an "interactive demo" with a focus on "creation of digital assets" (be they 2d or 3d as the game requires).

The work that we are asked to hand in, however, is subjective to the game that we choose to create, and how we propose to go about it (as a group or alone, using a new design document (-we have been allowed to do this), or using the work from Ba4 as a starting point) 

The fists step in this project is to define our own "learning agreement" to address what we intend to do (in effect, our project idea), our process and technique to complete the work, and our objective in doing so. my proposal is as follows

Proposal:

For my BA5 project I intend to create a playable section or scene from the game “phenotype” that I helped to create for BA4. The section will be only a segment of one playable part of the level that will showcase assets that I have created for the brief, designed from concept up and turned into game-ready assets and/ or set pieces. This is the emphasis of my proposal as I want to work on improving my 3d modelling and texturing. From a 2d concept art perspective I want to develop my skill’s at designing objects that have a coherent visual style and have a useful, purpose within a game. I wish to improve on developing my work from concepts to working game assets. 

Though I am using the group work from Ba4 as a starting point, I will be working alone for ba5 

the next area of the learning agreement concerns specifics of what i intend to produce. 

Assessed work:

my assessed work will be a level section created in and playable within a game engine, as well as all associated concept work. The engine will be a 3d game engine, most likely cryENGINE as I feel it will support the requirements of the game design outlined in my BA4 GDD

2d concept work will be produced using photoshop, or ps elements. I will produce a range of asset concepts and turn the finished concepts to asset sheets, with orthographic and other views to help with the modelling process

my reflective journal will b my blog converted to a pdf format

Schedule of work:

              7^th jan: re-work Ba4 design document to fix problems and make a more coherent game. start of research- work from ba4

 10^th finished research into game engine, style ect

 14^th jan: completion of 2d concept art and design of assets and mood paintings of scene

 18^th jan Create assets and set pieces in a 3d modelling program (continue using maya or experiment with blender)

   1^st feb Make sure assets are “game engine ready” design rough layout/presentation of assets (though level design is not my emphasis)

       15^th feb Import into appropriate chosen game engine- arrange finish off (lighting effects ect)

A New Year (almost) a New Blog

My name is Dom Littler. I'm currently in my second year at Norwich University of the Arts (formerly NUCA) studying Games Art and Design. 

This blog will be my reflective journal, my online sketchbook that will show my research, workflow, thought processes and outcome. For the last project (Ba4) I kept my reflective journal as a word document- which as it turns out wasn't the greatest of ideas, so from now on i'm back and blogging with a vengeance. 

Ba4 is gone now, though not quite forgotten, and Ba5 is here, red faced and eager to get started, so lets.