Of Mice and Pen: Pirate Art - The Game Maker's Companion: Game Development - page 222

The Art of Communication
To begin, the designer, programmer, and artist get together to discuss the art style and design
aesthetic, as well as brainstorming lists of things the game might feature, including characters,
enemies, objects, and environments. Although it is too early in the process for this list of assets to
be definitive, by the end of the meeting, you should have a plan of action that helps to guide the
initial direction for the artistic content of the game.
It may seem strange to sit down with a programmer to discuss the art style, but there are
usually technical constraints to consider, which designers and artists might not be fully aware of.
There may even be technical concepts that need trying out in order to discover whether a
particular style or visual technique is feasible on the target platform.
A Pirate's Brew
I met up with Jake (the programmer) and Nana (the designer) in a coffee shop to discuss the
initial idea for the game. Back then, it didn't even have a name, but Nana had a clear idea of what
she'd like to achieve with the game play and story, and Jake was keen to keep a handle on the
technical and time constraints. I made some notes in my sketchbook as we threw ideas around
and by the end of the meeting, I had some initial ideas for some styles that I wanted to play
around with. You can see some of my initial scribbles and notes in Figure 10-1.
Gaining Inspiration
Inspiration can be a tricky thing to pin down, but it's also a very good excuse to watch lots of
DVDs. One absolutely essential requirement for any artist (or would-be artist!) is a good selection
of books, comics, magazines, and DVDs. As you work through different projects, you tend to
acquire new reference materials along the way, and eventually you'll be the proud owner of a
fantastic selection of imagination-inspiring things. But where do you start such a library in the
first place?
Your house very probably has many interesting books, objects, or DVDs in it to start with,
just have a good look around and see what you can find that looks interesting or that gives you
cool ideas to work from. You might want to tailor your collection according to what you have in
your game design. If you have creatures and natural environments in your game, then watch
some natural history documentaries, look up such subjects online, or get a hold of some cool
natural history topics. The same goes for buildings or vehicles. Check out your local library, too;
there are always lots of interesting things to discover there, just remember to take your notebook
with you! Postcards, weekend newspaper supplements, cereal boxes, pizza flyers dropped
through the letterbox; absolutely anything could spark some amazing response in the
imagination receptors within your brain, so learn to see the potential in everything you come into
contact with.
After a while of reading and studying, your head will naturally fill with all sorts of knowledge
and facts, and it'll stay up there even though you might not realize it! Then, when you're thinking
hard about some design problem, you'll find that stored knowledge will inspire all sorts of ideas
to come flooding out!
Phillip Pullman said the way he approaches writing is “to read like a butterfly and write like a
bee. Any honey in my writing is due to the nectar I found in the work of better writers.” This is a
wonderful sentiment and is as true for art or music as it is for writing. So read, look, listen, learn.
Remember, you get out what you put in, so cram as much cool stuff into your head as you can!