Changes between Version 22 and Version 23 of ArtDesignDocument
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- Oct 8, 2010, 6:41:31 AM (14 years ago)
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ArtDesignDocument
v22 v23 4 4 It is important to have a cohesive visual theme for the game. Each piece of art will be reviewed by the art department lead and provide acceptance and feedback to the artists. Below are topics of discussion that effects the art department and the artistic theme of the game. 5 5 6 Culture, History, and Realism 7 6 === Culture, History, and Realism === 8 7 The visual designs of the art in the game should hint at a deeper culture than simply what is seen on the surface. It is important that each of the civilizations have a sense of culture and history; that they have and truly did exist outside of the context of the game. The tools, homes and armor of a race should match the unique gameplay that the civilization offers. 9 8 10 9 An example: the Iberians (native to the peninsula of Iberia, modern day Spain and Portugal). They are fierce defenders of their homeland. Strength does not lie in numbers but in the skilled tactics of guerilla warfare. The weapons given to a unit are therefore numerous and versatile. Units often serve a dual purpose role and are equipped as such. Their amour and garments are practical with colors alluding to their ability to camouflage with their surroundings. Their buildings are strong and practically built. 11 10 12 History and its usage in the game are paramount. When in doubt ask a WFG historian. 13 11 === History and its usage in the game are paramount. When in doubt ask a WFG historian. === 14 12 Realism is always an interesting topic of discussion. Realism, while important does take a back seat to a more important player – Gameplay. Gameplay trumps Realism when the two topics disagree. Realism might dictate that a phalanx formation included over 500 soldiers, but gameplay only allows so many units on the screen at one time – not to mention the serious pathfinding and control issues so many units in the game would cause. Therefore gameplay dictates that we limit the formation to 20 or so units. Numerous examples such as this may be found in the game design discussions. We are creating a game after all, not a simulation. 15 13 16 Exaggeration 17 14 === Exaggeration === 18 15 This, at first may seem in direct contraction to our attempt to attain realism, and that may be true. Although all the entities in the game should be based in reality that does not mean that you should disregard exaggeration. These figures featured in the game are many times larger than life. Exaggeration in the game can best be described as a heightened sense of reality. 19 16 20 Phases[[BR]] The game does not advance through Ages (like the Age of Empire series games), but rather phases of growth. In the interests of reducing art workload, building models are not replaced with upgraded versions when a player advances from one phase to another. Therefore only one set of structure models is needed per civilization. 21 22 Citizen Soldiers 23 17 === Phases === 18 The game does not advance through Ages (like the Age of Empire series games), but rather phases of growth. In the interests of reducing art workload, building models are not replaced with upgraded versions when a player advances from one phase to another. Therefore only one set of structure models is needed per civilization. 19 20 === Citizen Soldiers === 24 21 Citizen soldiers are entities (units) that change appearance as they are played in the game. They upgrade based on combat experience. Their appearance changes when this upgrade is complete. Here is the general guide for appearance based on a unit’s rank: 25 22 … … 28 25 * ULTIMATE / ELITE: Veteran warrior, the elite status. They possess the best weapons and the best armor. 29 26 30 Player Color 31 27 === Player Color === 32 28 Colors on the units should be neutral (skin tones, browns, grays, golds, bronze, etc...), because bright and saturated color will be used as a player’s color to show ownership. Player color usually is found on decorative elements of a texture. Learn more about how to create player color in the texture and skin section of this document. 33 29 34 Building Shape Consistency 35 30 === Building Shape Consistency === 36 31 It is important to have the building types of civilizations be roughly the same shapes for easy recognition by the players across civilizations. You will always know that a building is of a certain type because they all have some feature in common. Usually it is they way the buildings are laid out, but we also use size to make distinctions. 37 32 38 0 A.D. Theme 39 33 === 0 A.D. Theme === 40 34 * Above average color saturation (compared to the real world) 41 35 * Contrasting - shadows and highlights within textures … … 64 58 ---- 65 59 == Concepts == 60 ''Concepts are largely done for the game, this remains as a reference for future patches/versions and contains some useful information in general.'' 61 66 62 Concepts are very important to designing a game. One large reason is that we can all view the collective ‘vision’ behind the artwork in the game before it goes through entire art pipeline. This gives it all a sense of collectiveness. After-all this is one game and not a hodge-podge of artistic styles that very from individual to individual. [[BR]] [[BR]] Concepts are the foundation of the rest of the artwork that we will be doing for the game. What is created by the concept artists will move down the ‘assembly’ line to the modelers and skinners.[[BR]] [[BR]] Refer often to the civilization design documents: 67 63 68 * [http:// www.wildfiregames.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=365Carthaginians]69 * [http:// www.wildfiregames.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=323Celts]70 * [http:// www.wildfiregames.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=305Hellenes]71 * [http:// www.wildfiregames.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=343Iberians]72 * [http:// www.wildfiregames.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1098Persians]73 * [http:// www.wildfiregames.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=222Romans]64 * [http://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/Civ%3A_Carthaginians Carthaginians] 65 * [http://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/Civ%3A_Celts Celts] 66 * [http://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/Civ%3A_Hellenes Hellenes] 67 * [http://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/Civ%3A_Iberians Iberians] 68 * [http://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/Civ%3A_Persians Persians] 69 * [http://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/Civ%3A_Romans_PreImp Romans] 74 70 75 71 The historical reference site here is also useful: http://www.wildfiregames.com/users/art/history/ [[BR]] [[BR]] Here are key points to address for concepts: … … 99 95 ---- 100 96 == Models == 101 Models are the next stage. Models are pretty important because they form the shape of the characters in our game world. The key to our models (because this is a full 3d game) is to rely on our skins for the details of the objects in the world and not the geometry. The industry buzz word for this is ‘low poly’. We will try to keep our polygon (tri) count down as low as possible. We can do to this by taking advantage of the opacity maps, removing polygons nobody will ever see (bottom polys), and relying on the skin for detail.[[BR]] [[BR]] Here is what I’mlooking for in models:102 103 * Poly counts - Low as possible! Here are the suggestions:[[BR]] Humanoid Bodies – 500[[BR]] Animal Bodies – 700[[BR]] Humanoid and Building Props – 50[[BR]] World Objects – 150[[BR]] Buildings – 80097 Models are the next stage. Models are pretty important because they form the shape of the characters in our game world. The key to our models (because this is a full 3d game) is to rely on our skins for the details of the objects in the world and not the geometry. The industry buzz word for this is ‘low poly’. We will try to keep our polygon (tri) count down as low as possible. We can do to this by taking advantage of the opacity maps, removing polygons nobody will ever see (bottom polys), and relying on the skin for detail.[[BR]] [[BR]] Here is what we're looking for in models: 98 99 * Poly counts - as low as possible! Here are the suggestions:[[BR]] Humanoid Bodies – 500[[BR]] Animal Bodies – 700[[BR]] Humanoid and Building Props – 50[[BR]] World Objects – 150[[BR]] Buildings – 800 104 100 * Unwrapping - Unwrap your own 3d models as best you can – they can be tweaked by the skinner later, but don’t force the skinners to do your job for you. 105 * Formats – *.max or *.3ds is preferred in a zipped file uploaded to your art FTP – Contact me about other formats. Final approved file will be exported as a *.pmd (Pyrogenesis model data).101 * Formats – *.max or *.3ds is preferred in a zipped file. Final approved file will be exported as a *.dae (COLLADA). 106 102 * Scale – See the http://www.wildfiregames.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=793. Builidngs/trees are about 2/3rds the scale of humans. Props should match the scale of humans. 107 103 * Joints – if you unit is going to be animated, make sure there is enough vertexes around the joint to bend with minimal distortion. 108 104 * Think Ahead! – Try to imagine how you would skin the model and use opacity maps where you can. 109 * Backup – Backup all your work in the art SVN in case something bad happens to your computer – compressed please (ZIP or RAR) 110 * Needed Files - .pmd export plugin for R6 [http://www.wildfiregames.com/%7Eart/pmdexp6.rar http://www.wildfiregames.com/~art/pmdexp6.rar] 105 * Backup – And if you have access to it backup all your work in the art SVN in case something bad happens to your computer – compressed please (ZIP or RAR). 111 106 112 107 ---- … … 294 289 * Color – slightly more saturation than the real world 295 290 * Theme – heighten and enhance the purpose of mesh through your skin 296 * File Formats – Always save your originals in a lossless layered format (PSD, PSP or equivalent). We will be using DDS for the majority of all skins. Refer down below for more information on DDS files.291 * File Formats – Always save your originals in a lossless layered format (PSD, PSP or equivalent). We will be using PNG files for the majority of all skins, see the TextureFormat guide for more info. 297 292 * Size – Power of 2 (2!^n)! must be used for the dimensions of the images. These include 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, and 512. DDS files require this. Both rectangular and square varieties may be used by mixing and matching the widths and heights using the above numbers. 298 293 * 64x64 – unit props … … 307 302 Use Layers! Layers are your friend. Save your layers! You never know when a belt used on one texture might be useful to share with another. Using the texture template you are able to share certain features across textures. If the elements of a texture are separated by layers, this job is much easier. 308 303 309 * Player color – Player color is achieved through the Alpha Channel of the DDSfile. The visual data within the RGB channels should be desaturated (made to black and white). More on this topic further on in this document.304 * Player color – Player color is achieved through the Alpha Channel of the PNG file. The visual data within the RGB channels should be desaturated (made to black and white). More on this topic further on in this document. 310 305 * Backup – Backup all your work in the art SVN repository in case something bad happens to your computer – compressed your source (uncompressed) files (MAX, PSD, BMP, TGA) please, use ZIP or RAR. 311 306 … … 314 309 ---- 315 310 === Preferred 2D Tools === 316 There really isn’t any preferred graphical editing software that is capable of opening and saving BMP files may be used to create textures for Pyrogenesis. Software that is capable of supporting alpha channels and saving files in DDS format would be advantageous.311 There really isn’t any preferred graphical editing software that is capable of opening and saving BMP files may be used to create textures for Pyrogenesis. Software that is capable of supporting alpha channels and saving files in PNG format would be advantageous (note that Photoshop's default PNG saving mechanism doesn't save the PNGs in a way that the game may use, so for texture files with an Alpha channel please see the TextureFormat guide for how to save the correct kind of PNGs or use another application). 317 312 318 313 Recommended 2D software options:
