Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
The game artist
The game artist is responsible for creating in-game art: characters, animations, game
objects, backgrounds, environments, and game interface.
No need to say, artwork is very important in a videogame! Graphics are the most
prominent characteristic of a videogame and they are also important from a marketing
point of view. Most of the time, customers are attracted to a title by its visual charac-
teristics. When judging a game from its preview, if gameplay is unavailable, the game
is judged solely on its visual appeal.
In the early days of computer videogames, a single artist could cover all the graphic
needs of a game. As time passed, it required more people to be involved in the cre-
ation of the graphics for a title, and this lead to the creation of groups of artists as part
of the development team.
In a mobile team it is very likely that graphics will be made by two to three people
with a separation of duties, such as one artist on 2D graphics (concept, sprites, game
interface, and textures) and one or two on the production of 3D assets (models, an-
imations, 3D environments, and lighting).
Brushes and canvas
Game artists need several tools. First and foremost, an artist must be able to draw
and sketch, using pencil and paper. Once the sketches are approved, there comes
the time to create real assets for the game using dedicated software. The most im-
portant tools for a game artist are image editors, such as Photoshop, Paintshop, Il-
lustrator and modeling software, such as 3D Studio Max, Maya, Blender, and Zbrush.
We will talk about them in the chapter on game graphics.
Forms of art
The production of graphic assets for games involves many different activities. We will
delve into the details of the operations related to the production of graphic assets for
mobile games in the next chapter of the topic. For now, let's just have a look at the
main duties of the game artist.
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