Tracing the contours of Shard

This initial loose sketch for the ShardWay presentation was No.2 marker on layout paper worked over with a 2.5mm fineliner. This method for very free early Concepting is inspired by concept artist and designer Scott Robertson and his excellent "Free Tutorial Friday" Channel on YouTube.

Actually, the original was flipped vertically to obtain the above image. The long "Crystal" was originally drawn hanging down but I decide it looks better pointing upwards.

At this point I comp in a layer of Aurora Borealis for it's shimmering colours and ethereality,

I begin painting in Photoshop, imagining this world as it takes shape.

As the main feature of the crystal structure forms whilst painting I christen it "the Shard".

At this point the idea for a Magic Duelling game with dimension gates still resides in the rummage drawer, this begins purely as an exercise in concept painting; the two are not yet connected. 

As I draw I imagine a vast network of caves and mines with a civilisation built upon the riches found deep within this asteroid.

Then a visceral surge of thoughts. The crystal as a valuable magical source, as a gateway to other dimensions!

Worlds to explore and conquer with magic!

Behold, ShardWay!

With the direction of Lothar Zhou I further develop this initial rough concept into an image to present and pitch this new idea for BA7.

Immediately Lothar mentions the over-saturation and we discuss monitor set-ups which may be an issue whilst working on a laptop in a darkened attic!

He suggests tilting the 'asteroid' and moving it further up the frame to allow it to have space to 'float', and I also increase the canvas size. These changes in value and composition improve the painting dramatically without even touching the brush palette. I take note to think about the context of the image whilst initially sketching in future.

I continue to work, adding a distant planet that blends more into the background to sell the idea and scale of 'Outer Space'. Lothar suggests a darker foreground element. A brain flash occurs and I quickly render a figure enjoying the vista with a vintage wine.

Immediately a sense of mystery is brought to the image as the viewer asks, "Who is that?". We are now related to the image through another human viewing the same scene. The image is now grounded in a sense of reality; without this figure to relate to the subject is too unearthly, almost surreal.

A blazing explosion creates an interest point that links the man and the city. The intense orange against the purple of space is placed using the rule of thirds.

A few tweaks to overall colour and it's done. Although I spent a good while over Summer reading and practising these fundamentals of painting, this intensive learning under direction has improved my 2D skills tremendously, and also given me confidence to continue Digital Painting and Concepting. My 3D skills and workflow will greatly improve when I can more fully express the original ideas and vision in 2D.

Cheers!

Mapping Mundi and Mongo; Cartography of the Unknown

'

Map of the planet Mongo from the Flash Gordon comic strip, created by Alex Raymond and Don Moore (1934)

After an interesting conversation at a pelican crossing and a very productive tutorial, Marie-Claire draws my ever hungry attention to several sources of interest.

Firstly the Self Made Worlds exhibition curated by our Tutor Kim Pace.

"Please find below an invitation to 'Self Made Worlds', an exhibition I've curated for Wimbledon Space, University of Arts that runs between 4th October and 22nd November. 

Self Made Worlds comprises artists and designers who depict tableaux, artificial environments and alternative realities, constructed either as sculpture, props and models, or as subjects for photography, painting and animated film."

http://ual.force.com/apex/EventFormPage?id=a0RD0000008m3jWMAQ&book=true

Secondly, the Mappa Mundi, a 13th Century medieval map of startling richness and detail that is signed by, and attributed to, Richard of Haldingham and Lafford. The Map is displayed in the collection at Hereford Cathedral.

Mappa Mundi, Hereford Cathedral

The Mappa Mundi shows the holy city of Jerusalem at the centre of the world, surrounded by major landmarks and cities. The map is hand drawn on a single sheet of vellum measuring 158 cm by 133 cm, and illustrated with locations from classical mythology alongside Biblical characters and scenes. The Garden of Eden circumscribes the entire map, located outside the world whilst simultaneously enveloping it, and the whole is surmounted by the Crucified Christ.

Like all maps, the Mappa Mundi reflects the social and cultural preoccupations of the time it was created. The centre of the World Map is Jerusalem, the most important religious centre of the medieval world, the Judeo-Christian 'promised' Kingdom on Earth. It has areas of mystery and the Unknown, where wild beasts and strange creatures roam.

The central focus of an important socio-cultural and religious landmark is something I want to incorporate into the design of the WorldMap for ShardWay.
 
The BBC featured this map in their "History of the World in 100 objects" series:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/zrKd-Z0wS7CSYjB_DlRbrA

       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndijfk-ayuI

 Here's a link to an explanation of the Mappa Mundi on Wikipedia Commons:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mappa_mundi_Hereford_1300_explained.png

Marie-Claire also introduces me to a book about World Building:


Mark J.P. Wolf (2013) "Building Imaginary Worlds: The Theory and History of Sub-Creation", Routledge.

I've ordered this book from the library. In the meantime I found a series on Henry Jenkin's blog in which he interviews Mark J.P. Wolf on the subject of World Building.

http://henryjenkins.org/2013/09/building-imaginary-worlds-an-interview-with-mark-j-p-wolf-part-one.html

World-Building is a fascinating subject and, until my discussion with Marie-Claire, I didn't fully realise my natural inclination to create coherent fictional universes is a personal skill that can be translated into a marketable skill.

As Henry Jenkins explains, when pitching Innovative Product and related trans-media content, "a world can support multiple stories involving multiple characters across multiple media platforms." 

the concept of world building has become foundational to discussions of transmedia storytelling. - See more at: http://henryjenkins.org/2013/09/building-imaginary-worlds-an-interview-with-mark-j-p-wolf-part-one.html#sthash.KzL3VBEy.dpuf

the concept of world building has become foundational to discussions of transmedia storytelling - See more at: http://henryjenkins.org/2013/09/building-imaginary-worlds-an-interview-with-mark-j-p-wolf-part-one.html#sthash.KzL3VBEy.dpuf

the concept of world building has become foundational to discussions of transmedia storytelling - See more at: http://henryjenkins.org/2013/09/building-imaginary-worlds-an-interview-with-mark-j-p-wolf-part-one.html#sthash.KzL3VBEy.dpu

Beyond the Dimension of the Fourth Kind...

Aware of how quickly the end of November will come, and also mindful of the time I must allow for researching and drafting the Research Report, I begin work immediately.

Actually this aspect is far from easy. I have avoided buying Grand Theft Auto V, knowing how much "research time" I invested in Tomb Raider and Bioshock Infinite earlier this year. The piratical pleasures of AC Black Flag will have to take a break in the Bahamas. 

The Xbox tray *pings* excitedly when I accidentally brush it's oh so sensitive load button as I reach for the power socket. The revered disc of Skyrim rushes out to greet me like  an overexcited cave bear cub... But, no. 

I prepare for a more distant horizon now.

A First next Summer will secure my future self the reward of a Playstation 4; a gift from my girded self now to the Games Art and Design Graduate Victorious then.

We love the Art of Gaming, and we have to have knowledge of our fast evolving medium. Whenever I play a game I am constantly aware of the Art style and aesthetics of "the work", use of the virtual space and how it effects Gameplay, Navigation and flow. How 3d models are arranged, re-used, textured and lit. The mysterious hidden art of good UI design, only noticeable when exceptionally effective or terribly jarring.

How the design of the Gameplay and progression supports narrative, and vice versa, and at their most effective and emotionally enthrallling when they intermesh and both support the main themes and purpose of the piece.

Rivers of celluloid meander like treacle; the newer emerging forms of digital media are mercurial, living quicksilver moving out beyond the screen.

A student of Film surely has a similar dilemma, as does any Creative. How much time should be invested to appreciate and absorb the history and wider culture of fellow creatives? How to balance being aware of the background radiation with attending to the glowing embers in one's own hands?

For now then, I shall forge a new game with the Fire of Knowledge that burns in me. 

Onwards...

ShardWay Initial Thoughts continued

The initial ideas for ShardWay are a loose collection of notes...

Here they are, collated sometime in September 2013 from several scraps of parchment and nappy wipes...

"Magic duel- 

Summoning higher power:

Currency used is successful service to your higher power

Each higher power linked to dimensional world 

5 worlds: 4 players plus AI

Dominate the worlds!

Each world has its particular environmental properties, ecology, denizens"

I imagine an open world RPG/strategy where a central AI defended hub is defending itself against several fronts. Each player's dimension has gates that lead both to the central hub and also into the adjacent kingdom. Rather like Risk, players can form alliances to defend themselves and their kingdom from other players and the dominating Power AI.

Each dimension is essentially an arena that can be captured or assailed through the gates. Once a player has conquered each adjacent kingdom, and commandeered it's forces, they can advance to the central hub and attempt to wrest control from the AI.

That's the initial idea in an acorn. 

As I rewrite and rethink ShardWay it will undergo many transformations, retaining some of these starting ideas and growing many more offshoots.

It will need regular pruning methinks!

BA07 ShardWay - Initial Concept

ShardWay - Who will Rule the Dimension Gate of Shard?

ShardWay is a Science Fantasy Epic Spacebox RPG, the amalgamation of many ideas over the summer.

I've always been excited by the 'Magician's Duel'. Ever since reading, as a wide-eyed child, how Merlin outwitted Madame Mim in T H White's "The Once and Future King", I have been fascinated with the concept of powerful sorcerors facing each other in an awesome display of might and supernatural power.

The global success of the Harry Potter stories have brought this staple of the Fantasy Genre into the collective conciousness. However, the "Magician's Duel" has deep and enduring roots.

I am also reminded of the apocryphal story of Paul publically defeating Simon the Magus, causing the levitating magician to crash to the ground with lethal consequences.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Magus
 
So, one possible iteration of this Magical Duel idea was to transmigrate the soul of Merlin, or Mad Myrlin (!) into a near future dystopia, pitting him against the tech-wielding fascist dictator Mordred.

I even asked my mate Adi to pose for a quick piece of concept art for the initial BA07 Presentation!

Mad Myrlin

Slightly photoshop-retro scary stuff! I decided not to madden the poor old magical fool any further and leave him sleeping in his green and pleasant mound for the time being...

After all, why use an existing legend. Why not create, or Sub-Create, my own Mythology; build my own World or Worlds to exercise my creativity in a more personally expressive way?

Thus, ShardWay is brought forth, a glittering jewel in the deep dust of the heavens...

World Building...

 

“To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.”

                                                                               ― William Blake, Auguries of Innocence

Infinity. That's how Mind works. Created to be Creators.

Looking up at starlit spaces we connect those far off lights into an endless series of pulsing patterns, a tapestry of night. We strain to perceive the weave that holds heaven together.

So, this is how, for me, inspiration works. It begins with a seed of thought, a moment of speculation.

It can begin with a simple walking tune humming in the air. An unusual pebble, a misheard word, a storm cloud howling at the dawn.

Over the Summer I've had, and continue to develop, many ideas.

What if Merlin was reborn today? How would a First Person Healer game play out? What would an Angel Warzone look like from a human perspective? How could music make a forest grow?

These ideas do not usually begin as well phrased intelligible questions. Like a half remembered melody  tickling at your mental piano the Muse invites a response, a counterpoint. No matter whether it's vividly beautiful or dead fish ugly, prosaic or perverse, the world suddenly presents us something startlingly different and we react and respond to this new experience with a mind trained from birth to adapt and survive, playfully improvise and communicate the experience to our fellows.

So the seed grows and sprouts, pushing out tendrils and roots, stretching out branches of enquiry, more questions that find and feed more detailed responses...

What would the world be like in twenty years hence when Merlin grew into a young man? What if Mordred was also reborn and became a fascist dictator, crushing dissent with a future-tech iron fist?

Would a FPH game be as gory and distressing as a real war, would death be final? Would Triage even be enjoyable or 'entertaining' to play? How would a player choose who lives and dies? 

If you sang out of tune would your world make an unhappy tree?