Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Methods for creating concepts for backgrounds depend on a few things:
2D or 3D
Gameplay style
Demographics
Genre
Playback systems
Again, as with the characters, some of your parameters for the concepts are
based on the game's technology and whether it's 2D or 3D.
If you're working on developing backgrounds for 2D games, you'll need to know
if the game background will remain static or will move, as in a side-scroller like
the Mario Bros. games. Backgrounds in games are not only stages for the action
taking place; they can also become an integral part of the gameplay. Characters
or other elements from the game may need to interact with the background, as
in adventure games where doors open or parts of the background move or fall
away to reveal clues. Hidden object games' (HOGs') backgrounds tend to have
dozens of items that need to be found, laced throughout the environment.
When designing backgrounds, come up with the look for the environments:
those concept pieces that often find their way into Oh WOW! rooms. From there,
you can begin to come up with more detailed layouts that the designers can use
as temp art pieces to begin actually building the game.
If the game is 3D, then background designers work with either a 3D package or
the game engine itself. For many backgrounds, especially 2D, creating a pencil
sketch and then painting that in a software package like Photoshop is an ideal
way to go. You can see the result of that approach in Figure 4.9, a background
created by Franklin Sterling III for his Out There project.
Until finished art is
ready to put into the
game, temp art can
be roughed out and
used during game
builds.
Maya, 3ds Max,
and CineMA 4d
are examples of 3d
packages. Crytek
is an example of a
game engine.
FiGuRe 4.9 Out There needed to have a large-world look (the main characters literally travel
the globe) while remaining simple enough to work with the character design.
Search WWH ::




Custom Search