The Concept

Fallout 3

Stuart Herrington — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 17:11:26 +0000

So here’s some of the artwork made for Fallout 3, I’ve played this quite a lot, and I must say it’s probably the best game of 2008, although with any game I can pick flaws,
The game kinda just finishes without warning, and it indeed ends, where few games like this let you continue onwards to explore etc, I won’t spoil the ending tho if you’ve not come across it yet, the game is a great game both visually and the concept idea of the whole fallout universe is one anyone will love, which is no supprise that they could well be planning a movie of fallout, it wouldn’t supprise me if someone like ellijah wood play the lead, I suppose the chances of a fallout film would be slim lol, bearing in mind projects like, the halo film, gears of war film, and a world of Warcraft film still seem slim chance and far away, we can only hope the magic of fallout comes to the screen.

Anyway, I’m writing this on my iPhone with the magic of technology, so I will add some more things in the near future on fallout 3 artwork, in the meantime I’ll upload some images off my phone, enjoy!!

Halloween Gamerscore

Stuart Herrington — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 11:41:43 +0000

Well I’ve just realized as of Halloween my gamerscore is 8666 lol, only just noticed, had to take a photo because it won’t stay like it!

Happy Halloween lol

Fable 2

Stuart Herrington — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 02:09:23 +0000

Ok, so a few years ago I got my hands on fable for the PC, and played it to absolute death, the game was really good, although it was short, that’s what appealed to me, and my friend loved it too, it was the only game I could play after finishing it the day before.

So last week I got my excited little hands on fable 2 limited edition, which unfortunatley had been scaled down due to microsoft not been able to kick out enough copies of Hobbes and the fayte cards, now this was a little dissapointing, I think an art book was meant to be published too but I don’t know, it was a let down anyway, what came with the game was an extra cd, that contained a handfull of concept art, and the making of fable 2 which I can’t say I’ve watched, I started it but realised that it contained pieces of the lionhead diary, anyway it was only an extra £5 to buy, and it did give me a card with a code to unlock a dungeon with a weapon in it, so that was a nice little exclusive, until I realized the download didn’t work properly and the code was now invalid. Sigh
So luckily for me, and not for the poor americans, but I got an email from gamespot saying “Fable 2 limited edition now not so limited?”
That’s more or less what it said, so I read up on it, and it turns out a lot of fable 2 LE hadn’t even got the code in them, in the North American area that is, so they were offering codes to these people, all they had to do was apply and you’d get an email within 10 working days, so I’m still waiting or that, which let’s me just add the fact I’ve bought my hotmail account so it’s better, but because of microsofts payment department in Luxemburg or something like that, the direct debit I’ve set up for payment just isn’t working, so another gold star for microsoft.

Anyway it’s 2:30am and I’ve spent the night as Edward scissorhands and am very tired, so I will work on a review of fable 2 shortly in the next few days, If anyone reads this

Biohazard 5 aka Resident Evil 5

Stuart Herrington — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:05:20 +0000

If i could understand what he was saying in this video, It would be better, but still, it shows plenty of gameplay and some models for you.

AVI Download

General Update

Stuart Herrington — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 19:29:19 +0000

Ok, so for Anyone looking at this blog, you might’ve noticed ive not updated much in a while. That’s mainly because ive been studying, and i had to do a presentation, where i made a video and had a big A3 sketchbook with pictures that inspire me. so theres not been much time to publish lately. Anyway, I’ve got a lot of work to get done, and I’m heading to Nottingham University Tomorrow, To look around, and also check out the local scene, like Studios and Im going to a Gallery space called “The Moot” (Link) Sorry about that website, worst looking website, you can tell it was made by an artist.

Anyway lol, ive go to make my mind up what sector i want to go into. It’s most likely going to be Design, but not illustration, i dont think thats really the route thats for me, I use Photoshop, like concept art, and want to do photography, so becoming a Games designer using these main interests, hopefully i can get the right criteria. Also the benefits of been in the gaming industry, is having the ability to do 3D stuff, and make Models etc, so the more you work towards been the “Perfect” designer for video games, the more likely you are to get a job, of course you must have the skills not just the paperwork.

So, whilst ive got a couple of days, im going to think about something to Post, ive had a few artists i wanted to post, but havent yet. So whilst that happens, im going to upload some photos ive taken in Photography, i might also post a picture i drew, it was ment to look like Nicole Kidman, but i didnt notice till i stood back that the forehead was slightly too small, and it looks more like Angelina Jolie.

Anyway, If i post any Art, then catch it over at http://arkador.deviantart.com

Artist: Raphael Lacoste – Assassins Creed/Ubisoft Titles

Stuart Herrington — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 16:31:05 +0000

Undoubtedly one of my Favourite Digital artists along with Martin Mckenna, is Raphael Lacoste, who works with Ubisoft Montreal, who’s been the concept artist on such titles as, Prince of Persia, Assassins Creed and also FarCry 2.

Lacoste is now leaving Ubisoft to work with Montreal based Visual effects company, RodeoFX (The Golden Compass).

He specialises in concept art and Matte painting, Matte Painting is painting with the use of Photoshop, 3D software, and using images from a Stock of photographs, most likely taken by himself, as he is an professional photographer.

An example of Matte Painting:

Lacoste was the Art Director for Assassins Creed, hence why look at his work for Assassins Creed and you instantly see the amazing work thats gone into it, Shadows, lighting, atmosphere, and great depth.

I love the technical side of games, like Unreal engine and how it can achieve such detail, with trickery. Gears of War was undoubtedly the best looking game ever made, until Assassins Creed. Gears of War lacked Atmosphere and the Frame rate wasn’t the best at small parts of the game.

Am Interview with Raphael Lacoste can be found at 3DTotal Artist: http://www.3dtotal.com/team/interviews/raphael_lacoste/raphaellacoste_01.asp

Raphael Lacoste’s Website: http://www.raphael-lacoste.com

Raphael Lacoste’s Deviant Art: http://raphael-lacoste.deviantart.com/

And as always, Examples of the artists, Raphael Lacostes work. Also, please note, im not 100% sure all this work is his, but are taken from projects he worked on, and are his style. Its Possible some of the none Landscape Work is done by David Levy

Prince Of Persia

Assassins Creed

Far Cry 2

Artist: Hiroyuki Ito – Final Fantasy – Battle Designer

Stuart Herrington — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 23:39:18 +0000

Hiroyuki Ito, Has worked on Final Fantasy for the whole series, originally as a Debugger, which basically means he played the game and worked out any errors. In his time at Square, he went up as his experience on the Team grew, he became a more valued worker and started designing, his First game he was lead designer on was Square’s Tom Sawyer, based on Mark Swain’s Novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and he then worked on the game Rad Racer 2, as the lead designer.

He continued to work on the Final Fantasy games, and on Final Fantasy 4, he became the Battle Designer and also came up with the Active time Battle system, which has been used in almost every Final Fantasy game since.

His biggest role in a video game could be argued, but personally would be his work on Final Fantasy 9, in which his contributions were Director, Melodies of Life lyrics (credited as Shiomi), Game designer and Tetra master, the original concept for the card game, which also featured as part of the Final Fantasy 11 universe, where you could play the game on-line with friends.

He also worked on the main song for that game, Melodies of life,

[Edit] Here is the Japanese version on Imeem (May need an account) : http://profile.imeem.com/mhNwkP/music/EImBqijB/emiko_shiratori_melodies_of_life_japanese/

I cant share the MP3′s of the English and Japanese, so have this link instead to something you’ll like

Live performed (yay ): http://www.crunchyroll.com/media-144141/Emiko-Shiratori-Melodies-Of-Life-live.html

The following video is an interview with Hiroyuki,

Hiroyuki Ito on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroyuki_Ito

Blog: ISChris, Deviant Art and Rare ltd letter found

Stuart Herrington — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 22:02:50 +0000

IsChris, a good friend of mine, has started a Blogg up, he will update it with random ramblings as he sees fit, and trust me, you will wonder when you see some of the random stuff.

Chris is the Creator of a popular web based game called Gravoor, which started out as Gravoor Robbor, or something like that, i cant remember

But anyway, Be sure to check him out over at his blogg, http//ischris.wordpress.com

Also be sure to check out his Deviant Art at: http://ischris.deviantart.com/

Also check out mine if your interested, due to me at college, i havent had time to do anything i would consider good, so thats something I’ve go to work on. Here’s a link to my Deviant Art. http://arkador.deviantart.com/

Ohh, and Back in the post where i mention i had to find a letter from the games company Rare, they told me the following in 2003… exactly 5 years and 18 days ago.

“Dear Stuart,

Thank you for your recent Correspondence regarding general information on to get into the gaming industry.

If you are interested in a career as an Artist, the courses we recommend for graphics are a Foundation course at Art college, or HND in Computer Graphics, specialising in 3D computer Graphics, then for further qualifications a BA degree in Computer Graphics or a MA Degree in Computer Graphics, (BA is quite heavily programming orientated)

The University we Highly recommend is Bournemouth.

Unfortunately, we can only offer you general advice, so I would suggest looking at the requirements listed for concept artists on our website, which may help you when looking for a suitable course to take.”

Well, I personally think i should get back in contact 5 years on D:

The letter was sent by L.C. Tilston, Personal Manager.

Their HQ is located only an hours drive away, so…. It may bode well for me working there one day

Ohh, and Bournemouth? Wtf is at Bournemouth, i must check it out!

Artist: Yoshitaka Amano – Final Fantasy

Stuart Herrington — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 21:14:51 +0000

Yoshitaka Amano, undoubtedly one of the best fantasy artists in Japan and the world, his work is really inspiring (Also inspired the work of Yoji Shinkawa-MGS Artist) , Amano’s work is a blend of traditional Japanese artwork and a cartoon style.

His work offers amazing colours, with fantastic detailed textures of clothing, and magical scenes that often create part of his work on Final Fantasy game series, which he will have worked on for… 20 years now.

His work is noticeable by the colours and traditional look, but he’s also worked on other things, Like anime, examples are; G-Force, Angels Egg and Tekkaman, and most recently he did some Elektra comics for Marvel. As well as working on Vampire Hunter D, a popular Japanease anime, he did the original artwork for.

Amano currently has an exhibition in Berlin at Michael Janssen Gallery, running until the 29th of February 08.

Make sure you bookmark his site http://www.amanosworld.com/
His Website is partially been updated by the looks of it, mainly the new stuff he’s working on, ceramic medium, which would be really interesting to see, and also, the Final Fantasy Section which could be updated with Artwork from his current project Final Fantasy XIII.

Check the following sites, and carry on scrolling for Media links and pictures.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshitaka_Amano

Yoshitaka Amano’s Work at Michael Janssen Gallery in Berlin; http://www.galeriemichaeljanssen.de/index.php?/artist/yoshitaka-amano/

These videos of him working in front of a crowd, and the speed he does it shows his confidence at painting, granted he may have painted them a few hundred times before, but still, enjoy

Amano Paints Judge

Amano Paints a Moogle

Amano Paints Sephiroth (FFVII)

Amano’s 1001 nights [Stage6] (Stage6 Divx is great but that site can be under maintenence) or Part 1;

Part 2; [Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amC_Y5ORbV8]

Part3;

A Day With Amano, Day 1

A Day With Amano, Day 2 [Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS_qxMsA134]

A Day With Amano, Day 3

And Finally, some images of his work from Final Fantasy IX.

And Final Fantasy X-2.

Gamasutra – Academic Expansion – How Rare Recruits Graduates

Stuart Herrington — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 14:42:22 +0000

On an Article over at Gamasutra, (Thanks Crucifine ) Nick Burton takes an in depth look at the Microsoft Developer Rare, who are UK Based. The Article looks over at Academic Students looking to get into the Industry post graduate, rather than employing people with experience.
(It reminds me I must find a letter that someone from Rare sent me about 6 years ago saying what was a recommended University)

Alot of things have changed in the industry, and its now recognised by Universities to be a course criteria. The Article touches on the courses, and what Rare does when they are looking for New Employee’s.

The interesting and well written Article can be found at the following link:

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3529/academic_expansion__how_rare_.php

Currently my friend is doing a college course that’s similar to a game based course, its Mixed media and Involves game development, which includes Programming I believe, as well as Movie based work and research.

Is this really an advantage to traditional routes? My friend comments on the course not been very organised, a lot of time is used playing games, there’s story development and uses of film making. Now granted this isn’t a specific route for game development, but what about the things its missing.

I’m doing an Art and Design course, where I use different media such as, paint, textile, photography, ceramic and digital mediums (If interested). I benefit from areas that might be more basic to get into the gaming industry, like Life drawing, which can develop characters, Painting (Landscape and Other) can be used for colour development and level design, Ceramics and 3D development, which can be used to create Models of characters, Vehicles, or a Diorama like the one built for Halo 3. 3D flyable version Available HERE

Video of Diorama been made

Overall in My opinion, the gains from working with Traditional Art is probably the best way of getting into the industry, but for specialist roles, a University course for Gaming specifics like Programming and Development is probably the role you should go for.