Of Mice and Pen: Pirate Art - The Game Maker's Companion: Game Development - page 219

C H A P T E R 10
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Of Mice and Pen: Pirate Art
So, we have a game design, we have characters, and we have a story. Broadly speaking, these are
the bare bones over which the body of the game is built. The design and story dictate to some
extent the direction the programmers might take, and of course the same is true for the artistic
style, which is where the job of a concept artist begins.
In this chapter, we'll explore the different parts of the art production process for Shadows on
Deck , from first ideas through to implementation of the finished art. Along the way, we will
encounter various problems and explore the methods of solving them, and throughout there will
be lots of advice and tips about creativity and the art process in general.
A Little Art History
The video game artist's job has certainly evolved over the past 20 years. In the 1990s when Zool
was made, it was possible for a team of three people to create a game from scratch and get it onto
the shelves in under six months! Back then, most of the game graphics still involved sprites that
moved against layered 2D backgrounds, but since then, games have become far more elaborate
and complex to develop. This meant the job of the artist expanded to include many roles, such as
concept designers, character modelers, animators, 2D texture artists, and HUD/ front-end
designers. As a result, it became impossible for one artist to perform all the tasks required within
a game's development.
Happily, however, our game Shadows on Deck is to be presented as a classic style of game: an
homage to how games used to be made, which means most of the graphics and art comes from
the hand and mind of a single artist. By the end of this chapter, you should be in a position to pick
up that role and take the game to new places from your own imagination.
Shadows On Spec
Everyone loves a pirate story. As a theme, these swarthy bilge rats have persisted for centuries,
thrilling generations of children and adults alike with their outlandish costumes and the romance
of high-seas adventure. Pirates are perfect computer game material, and a gift for any artist lucky
enough to work on such a game.
As described in the previous chapters, our game is to feature backgrounds and characters
presented in an intriguing silhouetted style. Producing art of this type might seem
straightforward—after all, we don't have to worry about color or the finer aspects of costume
design or the surface detail of the environment. However, presenting everything as a flat, single-
colored shape comes with specific problems of its own: