Bonus Feature: Every Picture Tells A Story

Author: by Staff

In this bonus art feature, published onto Intel's Visual Computing section and originally created for Game Developer magazine, Bungie technical director Steve Theodore looks at how, visually, "although game technology seems to be at the height of information age modernity, the basic challenges of the working artist never really change." As different as the technical challenges of modeling with plastic may to modeling with polygons may be, Theodore argues that the artistic demands of level design and asset modeling are very similar to those facing diorama builders or any other real-world model-makers: "Physical and digital modelers both need to engage their audience in ways that differ from most of the other arts. Temporal media like animation or comics tell stories by controlling the audience's experience of time and sequence. Traditional graphic arts like painting and illustration set the stage with a 2D composition that guides the eye and shapes the viewer's sense of occasion. Physical and virtual modelers, however, must both cope with a viewer who can inspect the finished piece from any angle or distance. Of all the disciplines, modelers face the toughest challenge in reaching the audience emotionally. Just as animators still find value in the works of Seamus Culhane or Preston Blair (even if they've thrown away their pegboards), modelers should ponder the lesson of the pioneering modelers of the 1970s and 80s, artists like diorama builder Shep Paine, miniaturist Bill Horan, or ILM's Lorne Peterson -- even if we never need to know the right way to vacuum-form a new Messerschmitt canopy or how to unblock a dodgy airbrush." The technical director adds that the central task of any modeler, physical or virtual, is to give an object or scene enough life to reach audiences emotionally despite not having the framing devices that other media have: "Most of us deal with subjects that are basically anonymous: mass-produced vehicles, manufactured goods, generic architectural spaces. Only a fraction of our work is devoted to unique capstone designs that are strong enough to capture the imagination based on design alone. For every Death Star or TIE Fighter there are miles of faceless corridors, inevitable period vehicles, and necessary but uninteresting bric-a-brac. Thus every game modeler faces the same problem many times: How can I make my Sherman tank different from all the other 3D Shermans out there? How will my shipping container yard stand out from all the other container yards? Even if I'm lucky enough to work on a strong, unique design, how can I anchor that design in physical reality for the players? Those questions would be equally familiar to earlier generations of model builders." You can now read the full bonus feature at Gamasutra, which includes several lessons that game modelers can learn from real-world modelers(no registration required, please feel free to link to this feature from other websites).