Of Mice and Pen: Pirate Art - The Game Maker's Companion: Game Development - page 223

Reference Material
Nana's starting point for this game was to create a platform game in a silhouette style. The
problem of selecting environments and characters that would “read” well as silhouettes became
the inspiration that ultimately suggested a pirate-themed game. Once they were in the mix, there
were a number of obvious, and not so obvious, places for me to look for further inspiration.
Watching Pirates of the Caribbean and other pirate films was a natural place to start, and helped
to generate numerous drawings in my sketchbook. I also spent some time studying old sailing
ships, familiarizing myself with the way the masts are constructed and gathering ideas for objects
I could produce for the game levels. I even browsed online for fancy dress stores; pirate costumes
are as popular as they ever have been, it seems!
However, the game is not solely restricted to a pirate ship. There are two other levels I had to
design assets for, one is based in a swamp, the other is a village built onto the sheer walls of two
facing cliffs.
For these environments, I wanted to come up with as many ideas for plants, trees, houses,
and platforms as possible, and so natural history DVDs and topics on botanical subjects became
my next port of call. In particular, I drew huge inspiration from fungi for some of the strange
plants and growths that rise from the swamp and cling to the cliff faces, as their fantastic shapes
and forms are nearer to fantasy than reality, distinctive shapes and outlines that lend themselves
effortlessly to our game's requirements!
Other inspirational avenues include browsing through my collection of art topics. In
particular, my 'Art Of…' video game topics and guides, plus movie and animated film art topics.
Titles as diverse as Monsters, Inc., Super Mario Galaxy, The Legend Of Zelda: Wind Waker, Avatar,
The Lord of the Rings, and Aliens vs. Predator all offer a little something to the mix.
Getting Warmed Up
With this philosophy in mind, you can set about developing the sketches and doodles you have
made so far into a series of more detailed exploratory drawings. This artwork should be
experimental; a series of tests just to see how characters and environments might look and work
together, but it is also an opportunity to get a feel for the project and continue the creative flow.
This is all about the creative exploration of ideas, and taking those ideas as far as possible.
Unbridled artistic creativity early in game development is responsible for the way the game will
eventually look, so you want to allow those ideas to be as wild, silly, and outlandish as possible! In
so doing, you may well come up with some unusable stuff, but there will be plenty of material you
can then develop and build upon.
Drawing Tips
My earliest memories involve drawing Daleks, The Incredible Hulk, and Dinosaur-Cybermen
on my bedroom walls with wax crayons. In a bid to save the wallpaper, my mother bought me
paper and pencils and from then on I was hooked. But even though I have been drawing since I
was little taller than those pencils my mother bought for me, it is still difficult on occasion to get
myself into a frame of mind where the work flows. Sometimes it can be a little… sluggish. The
ideas just refuse to come, that blank page is just too intimidating.
Such times happen rarely these days, thankfully, but when they do there is a simple exercise I
use to get going, and all it requires is a bit of faith in your own imagination. With pencil poised
over a blank sheet of paper, close your eyes and make a few marks or scribbles on the page! It may
seem like madness, but the paper is no longer blank, you've made a start! And the best part; those
random lines you've made can become absolutely ANYTHING. Just let your mind relax and allow
your pencil to build upon the marks on the paper!