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[xix]

So I'll admit I'm a bad TIGSourcer. I'm around sometimes (rarely), and I don't really do anything (finished nothing). I really am a bad at this thing, and I'm really sorry.

BUT! I plan to do better!

"Art 448: Intro to the Art of Gaming"

What the professor has for us so far is an empty Wiki (unorganized) comprising of (partially)

The history of art in videogames
The role of the artist in the game industry
Notable artists in the game industry

And other things. I feel as though that's broad enough to help art students here at the UW (which is primarily a research school, not an art school) get into the industry proper. If I'm wrong, correct me.

The wiki also has stuff like a section on resources and whatnot. The organization is pretty garbage, so I'm not going to list it. But I would like your help for resources and tools and just things in general to get random art kids here at the UW (NONE of whom are familiar with MAKING GAMES although ALL are interested in doing so) getting into making games (e.g. iPhone or whatnot).

I know this is a super broad topic, and I know that I'm asking a lot, but any help would be good. Thanks.

[george]

For tools check this out:

http://wiki.gamedev.net/index.php/Tools:Content

[xix]

Oh come on, guys. As far as I know this is the first class of this type. There are a ton of courses like this for graphic designers or film makers or people who build skyscrapers, but not us! Not video game artists! Any help at all is appreciated. Thanks.

[RhysD]

I suppose you should as a class discuss which part of game art you admire and want to focus mostly on. While also trying to consider which skills and learning you will need if you want to get employment out of it.

In my course at the moment we are studying a range of topics, from script writing and marketing to real life drawing, modelling and animation. Even modding using the UT3 engine tool set. Hell, last year we were working on mobile games using a shitty Java engine a local development studio kindly offered us, just to put our pixelling skills to the test and to learn something.

So yeah, it seems it's quite open at the moment for you guys to discuss what you want to get out of the course and where you think you may want to end up in the future. From there you can pick and choose. Just make sure your projects are relevant and can help you build a strong portfolio for the future. Getting a job in the industry is 99.9% about your portfolio and if the employer sees something in it they are looking for they will hire you.

[xix]

Thanks.

We're also looking into making a game, but I don't know of an easy point of entry to get games made. I have MMF2 Dev, but that's an expensive program and I don't want to be the group "programmer"

I know about GameMaker... is that easy to learn?

[Guert]

I would like it if you could just specify something for me xix. So what is the goal of this course?
Get a job as an artist in the industry
or
Learn the history and evolution of art and its creation within the video game industry?

There's a world of difference between the topics that needs to be studyied depending on the intent. Knowing how to model or create textures for new games is very different than studying how the role of the artist evolved from games like Donkey kong to Assassin's Creed.

So what you want us to help you with?
Thanks!

[xix]

It's definitely more the former than the latter. The reason for the history and notable figures/works section is to glean successful techniques and methods from people who have been successful and avoid pitfalls from people who have not.

Today we've been talking about writing design documents to sell games to execs and such. I think we're really interested in making games iPhone apps and whatnot, but we also are in talks w/ the Computer Science department in some sort of a collaboration.

[Guert]

Hmm, if its about getting a job then I'd suggest topics in the likes of:

Art and interface design: Since a lousy interface can totaly ruin a game and usualy companies hire interface designers for menus, I'd look into that topic. Since Interface design is not 100% art creation, I feel like it can easily be a seperate topic.

Artists within development team: A list of all types of artists that can be found within the idnsutry. From concept artist to 3D modeller to pixel artist. 

Development phases and the artist implication: Since different development phases mean different artistic needs

Development Platforms and their art requirements:  Creating art on PC games is quite different than on Flash or Nintendo DS or PS3 platformes. Maybe look in the major plateforms , like NES, Game Boy, Playstation, etc, an d look how the restrictions of the sytems influenced the art direction. How did the artist creates so many games using so little color and tiles? That could be quite interesting. Just look at how many games have the "flash" look because the restruction of early flash development. Or how many games were created on the Gameboy that had only had 4 shades of grey. 

Japan Vs American Vs European Art direction: Japanese games have an history of being deisgned by engineers. American games come from programmer designs. European game design have a background of coming from an art design philosophy. That's three differnet game design apporach and how the artists are involved in the design process is quite different. Maybe that could be an interesting topic to look at.

Interesting Art Direction list: A list of games that had interesting art direction that influenced other games. Like Gran Theft Auto 3 or Sonic the hedgehog. Or how Dragon Quest mainained a very similar art style depsite going through about 4 generations of consoles. Games like Rez, Vib Ribbon, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Super Mario bros 3, Mario 64, Little Big Planet, The Sims, Street Fighter 2, MegaMan, Mortal Kombat 2, Mad World, Psychonauts, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Rayman, Earthworm Jim, Meroid Prime, Resident Evil, Resident Evil 4, Silent Hill, Crazy Taxi, Soul Calibur, God of War, Viewtiful Joe, Okami, Katamri Damacy, wii Sports or Metal Gear solid are just a few games that influenced the industry with their art direction (among other things)

Teamwork: Since everybody works as a team in development, maybe that could be interesting to see how artists work with other team members.

Well, I hope this helps you spark some ideas that could help you.
Later!