CybrSlydr
June 14th, 2005, 10:55
http://pc.ign.com/articles/624/624502p1.html
Hellgate: London - The Face of a Hero
Art Director Phil Shenk explains the creative process behind the creation of a modern day Templar Knight.
by Phil Shenk - <i>Creative Director, Flagship Studios</i> (http://pc.ign.com/email.html)
June 10, 2005 - After E3… after showing a game… I usually feel a tiny let-down. We had an amazing show, and there's so much immediate, insane, excited energy at the booth that coming home and relaxing feels like a bit of a crash. Not only that, but also leading up to it is almost a month of intense preparation; late nights and weekends of adrenaline (and caffeine) fueled crunch. Working like mad to get every little last bit of love into the game for its big debut. It's definitely all worth it though; it was incredibly fulfilling to see lines of people waiting to play our game. Equally cool were the fans that planted themselves in front of a screen to play through the randomly generated levels for hours. We all came back with a great feeling of validation that Hellgate: London (http://pc.ign.com/objects/737/737992.html) was really starting to come together!
So anyway, the rush of being at E3, of showing a hugely successful game, is a hard act to follow. Now it's back to work and back to the drawing board. Back to the task of creating the minions of Hell, the heroes set on driving them back, and the weapons they use to kick their ass.
As Art Director for the characters, monsters and weapons, my job consists mostly of writing descriptions, looking at designs, approving (and rejecting) work, making plans and schedules, and tracking lists. While all of that sounds kind of boring, the reality of it is much cooler. I'm the guy that comes up with the crazy creatures and butt-kicking characters. Of course, I don't do it alone… far from it. We've got a team of world-class concept artists, modelers, animators and texture artists that do the real work. Mostly, I just smack the figurative horse to get the wagon started, then hold the reigns to keep it on track.
For me, the big push leading up to E3 was getting the male Templar character in the game, in third-person view. Up until then, we only had a first-person view, which also meant that we had no way of seeing character. Being a character guy, that irked me, so I was pretty motivated to get the player model in and running around… and the big challenge… get him looking cool!
Follow the above link for the full 3 page article.
Hellgate: London - The Face of a Hero
Art Director Phil Shenk explains the creative process behind the creation of a modern day Templar Knight.
by Phil Shenk - <i>Creative Director, Flagship Studios</i> (http://pc.ign.com/email.html)
June 10, 2005 - After E3… after showing a game… I usually feel a tiny let-down. We had an amazing show, and there's so much immediate, insane, excited energy at the booth that coming home and relaxing feels like a bit of a crash. Not only that, but also leading up to it is almost a month of intense preparation; late nights and weekends of adrenaline (and caffeine) fueled crunch. Working like mad to get every little last bit of love into the game for its big debut. It's definitely all worth it though; it was incredibly fulfilling to see lines of people waiting to play our game. Equally cool were the fans that planted themselves in front of a screen to play through the randomly generated levels for hours. We all came back with a great feeling of validation that Hellgate: London (http://pc.ign.com/objects/737/737992.html) was really starting to come together!
So anyway, the rush of being at E3, of showing a hugely successful game, is a hard act to follow. Now it's back to work and back to the drawing board. Back to the task of creating the minions of Hell, the heroes set on driving them back, and the weapons they use to kick their ass.
As Art Director for the characters, monsters and weapons, my job consists mostly of writing descriptions, looking at designs, approving (and rejecting) work, making plans and schedules, and tracking lists. While all of that sounds kind of boring, the reality of it is much cooler. I'm the guy that comes up with the crazy creatures and butt-kicking characters. Of course, I don't do it alone… far from it. We've got a team of world-class concept artists, modelers, animators and texture artists that do the real work. Mostly, I just smack the figurative horse to get the wagon started, then hold the reigns to keep it on track.
For me, the big push leading up to E3 was getting the male Templar character in the game, in third-person view. Up until then, we only had a first-person view, which also meant that we had no way of seeing character. Being a character guy, that irked me, so I was pretty motivated to get the player model in and running around… and the big challenge… get him looking cool!
Follow the above link for the full 3 page article.