RuneScape Forum Archive | Art Team Campfire

Mod Honeyboo

Jagex Moderator Forum Profile Posts by user

Q.) Is most concept art done in a digital medium or do you get your ideas down with pencil and paper first? And what is the overall balance like between digital and 'real' throughout the development of a project?

Personally I find it much easier to do everything by hand to start with so I can just focus on being creative rather than messing around with layers and zooming in and out.

A.) As a Environment Artist I when I do textures I work with Photoshop. So the art I do is not normally using a pencil and paper in the traditional sense. For me using Photoshop is much quicker to produce my finished work.

My observation with the concept art team is they do most their work with Photoshop also. They are likely to do a rough sketch with pen and paper. Commonly in the meetings where there are a few minutes free before it starts I often see concept artists sketching away.

I feel as long as the result is good it doesn't matter if the concept/art work has been done digitally or traditionally. Both methods are highly skilled.

04-Jun-2013 17:29:26

Mod Labl

Jagex Moderator Forum Profile Posts by user

Q) I've always heard that the reason the elf finale keeps getting delayed is because y'all didn't have the graphical technology to release Prifdinnas. Is HTML5 going to mean that the delay is no longer due to lack of graphical technology?

A) That elf city. That city.... You've pretty much got it right in one. What we imagined and want to make is far beyond the capabilities of Java. It would just be completely underwhelming if we attempted it with our tech so its better to keep it back until it can be done in all its glory.

Having said that, HTML5 would technically be able to cope with it, the engine is new, and far more powerful and versatile, which is why were making the push for it.

It would be so awesome to be able to create the city in HTML5 as soon as possible, but were not dropping support for Java. So whatever we make in HTML5 must work just as well in Java. So as you can imagine, that sadly means that Prifddinas will be on hold for the time being. :C

04-Jun-2013 17:35:37 - Last edited on 04-Jun-2013 17:35:55 by Mod Labl

Mod Whalefis

Jagex Moderator Forum Profile Posts by user

Q)1. With the advancement to RS3 can we expect to see a larger leap in graphical quality from graphical updates following the change to RS3?

A) Well I can't give away to many spoilers at this point but we all think it's going to/IS looking awesome. I think your in for a treat.

Q3). Do you wish you could design more animal like creatures as there aren't that many and the fauna of the world is limited?

A) Our animation team love animating animals and getting their teeth stuck into the more unusual and quirky side of RS. They NEVER shy away from a challenge and once again with out giving to much away i've seen some great work these last few months.....my lips are sealed though, sorry.

Q4). Would you look at the environment around where animals were situated if you were going to design them so they suited their environment?

A) It all really depends in the animal and what it's purpose is a great example of this is evil Bob, he gets everywhere.

Q5). Many things come from other worlds how do you keep other worlds distinct even with the craziness of Gielinor?

A) Best way i've found to get my head around RS is to think of it as a theme park. Take a look at any theme park map and your see a remarkable similarity.

Q6). What is the thing you want to draw most?

A) Pretty much ever day is completely different working with the RS team and the concept art that's created is so varied everyone's creative hunger is pretty well fed.

Q7). We've seen concept art of some of the gods do you have designs for them all yet?

A) We have a pretty good idea design wise for most of the gods but as for what they look like..well....your going to have to wait and see I'm afraid.

Some great questions there, thanks for those, sorry I can't give to much away at this point.

04-Jun-2013 17:38:16

Mod Aob

Jagex Moderator Forum Profile Posts by user

, the World Guardian Halfingr:

Q)

-Do you ever feel restricted on what you can create by the graphical boundaries of Java and HTML5? Have they ever gotten in the way of a great idea? If so, what did they get in the way of?

A)

YES

That is always one of our problems. Because so many players have different spec PC`s we have to cater for all the different game modes. Java/HTML5 and even SAFE MODE

We could all work towards HTML5 (and thats what we all want to) but some things then will not work at all in the other game modes or not work as intended. So we are limited by some of the older legacy stuff in game.

With HTML5 we can now see further, have better lighting and shadows which help ground eveything, (its amazing how good lighting and shadows changes the look of the game), compared to JAVA, you couldn't see as far, so some areas didnt look as grand when they should have. Plus the big difference i noticed is how flat the world looks. So with HTML5 we will hopefully get some height to the game. But that wll take time

04-Jun-2013 17:39:56

Mod Labl

Jagex Moderator Forum Profile Posts by user

Q) I find the hardest bit of my job is that I can work on something for ages and never get it exactly how I want it. I think a lot of artists are perfectionists and set themselves unachievable standards. Do you guys have this problem? Any advice?

A) I honestly feel this with almost every single piece of work I've ever created. I always want more time, I could spend hours, days, weeks working on projects until I absolutely lothe the project and still will never be happy with it.

I found the best way to counter this is to set specific time scales and to be vigilant when you reach the end of it. For example, when practicing my own 2d work outside of here, I give myself only 1 hr maximum to work. And at first, you do your work, its terrible, you get nothing done in the time, however after practice, you start to cut out the things that aren't so necessary, yet still the work looks okay. Some days you'll do well, some days you'll do not so well, but you do improve and this then translates back into your job.

You get given specific time scales at work to deal with problems or to make things in, you then can have a better overall vision of how much you can do in how long, and what details are and aren't important.

Remember: its the details that you leave out that's more important otherwise you'll run out of steam and never finish.

hope that helps!

04-Jun-2013 17:47:14

Mod Honeyboo

Jagex Moderator Forum Profile Posts by user

Q.) I find the hardest bit of my job is that I can work on something for ages and never get it exactly how I want it. I think a lot of artists are perfectionists and set themselves unachievable standards. Do you guys have this problem? Any advice?

A.) RuneScape is always releasing updates and new Quests so we have to work to deadlines to fit it all in. So this helps up to prioritise where we want to make any changes to our artwork. Also we work with the constraints of the platform we develop for. As I mentioned with Runescape 3 being in HTML5 we are able to do more with the art.

I understand what you mean though, about feeling that something is not exactly how you want it. I can look at a finished piece of my work and think I should have done this and could have added that. For me I have to have a goal in mind for what I am doing and what I want to achieve. When I have done this I step back and review it. I actually find taking a day away from something gives you a fresh view on it, often making you see that it is where you are happy with it.

04-Jun-2013 17:47:49

Mod Whalefis

Jagex Moderator Forum Profile Posts by user

(Q) I recently saw some concept art for the god of order and light, Saradomin. I thought it was incredible - I'm a loyal Saradominist, and I was so pleased to see my lord looking so divine and godly. What I would like to know is how you approach such a big task as designing the appearance of a god, in particular Lord Saradomin. These gods have existed as a part of RuneScape's lore for many years, after all.

(A) Ohhh, good question. First of all, thanks very much we were very happy with Saradomin, and the concept and design teams did a great job on getting the look just right.

It's never easy working on such a high profile character like Saradomin but were lucky enough here in RS that we have people who know the game inside out and back to front. We even have a specialist on RS lore who comes in very handy I can tell you.

So back to your question, with so much lore and RS history to pull from we tend to find that we have some pretty solid building blocks to start with. We try and keep the feedback groups as small as possible so we can really iterate quickly. To get to the final version of Saradomin that we are all happy with you'll find that we go though a whole load of sketches and colour tests to get that final look just right before we commit to the final concept.

04-Jun-2013 17:55:23

Mod Aob

Jagex Moderator Forum Profile Posts by user

Randgriss:

Q) I'm planning to study game design in about a year,
1: What are things that I should absolutely know/look out for?
2: What does a regular day look like for an art team?

A)

1: It all depends on were you want to take your career.
Is it along the lines of Art? if so.. Environment Artist, Character Artist, Concept Artist, Animator etc... which one?
OR more along the lines of game design and story telling.
Most Game Design Courses try and cover EVERYTHING so you would need to read the fine print of the course notes to see what it is they will be teaching you.

For the art stuff:
Its good to be able to do abit of everything, but there are very few people in the world that are amazing at everything.
The best thing you can do is keep learning. IF you truly love what your studying then keep it up in your spare time. There are plenty of tutorials out there. Youtube has loads, or a great one is called Digital Tutors. Its a paid site but they do have some free tuts as well.

2: If we are in the middle of a project like i am, you just come in, get a cupa T, while everything is booting up then, headphones on and get motoring. We would all have an allotted time for each asset and we need to try and get the work done with in that time.

04-Jun-2013 17:55:45

Mod Alec

Jagex Moderator Forum Profile Posts by user

Q: "The player model since it's last update is pretty much not well liked any chance you'd ever consider a full rework of the player model since it is the thing we see most in game with additional customisation like eye colour and such?"

A: For us, the most scary thing to work on are the player avatars as naturally players become attached to their character, which they have been with since the beginning! We are always thinking of new ways to improve the visuals of the player avatars and up until now, with the old engine we have been limited in terms of where we can take the avatars visually.
Now with the new engine, we are open to a whole load of new possibilities, whether it be having more customization tools for the player, or doing a total rework and taking the style in slightly different direction. One thing we do know is that a total rework is a massive investment graphically as we literally have to change every piece of armour/kit in game to fit with the new look/proportions of the base avatar. When updating avatar kit we always strive to keep what the player love's and take it to a new level of quality.

At this point though everything is on the table and anything is possible... Exciting times!

04-Jun-2013 18:00:20

Mod Honeyboo

Jagex Moderator Forum Profile Posts by user

Q.) What applications do you use for your 3D modelling & with your graphics tablets? Are they tailor made applications, contracted/outsourced. Or are they off-the-shelf products you can purchase?

What tools/approaches would you recommend for someone starting in the digital art-world?

A.) We use a mix of in house tools and commercial software. For someone getting into the Digital Art world, say as a 3D Artist I feel as long as you know one 3D package (max, maya etc) and a 2D package (photoshop/paint etc) it shows you know the process. So really it is important to get a demo together that shows your 3D artwork skills. The skills you have in the software you used are transferealble to whichever software is used in the company you go to work for.

04-Jun-2013 18:01:13

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Art Team Campfire - Answers

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