Ideas Generation

Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a process for developing creative solutions to problems.

Brainstorming works by focusing on a problem, and then deliberately coming up with as many solutions as possible and by pushing the ideas as far as possible. One of the reasons it is so effective is that the brainstormers not only come up with new ideas in a session, but also spark off from associations with other people's ideas by developing and refining them.

There are four basic rules in brainstorming :

No criticism: Criticism of ideas are withheld during the brainstorming session as the purpose is on generating varied and unusual ideals and extending or adding to these ideas. Criticism is reserved for the evaluation stage of the the process. This allows the members to feel comfortable with the idea of generating unusual ideas.

Welcome unusual ideas: Unusual ideas are welcomed as it is normally easier to "tame down" than to "tame up" as new ways of thinking and looking at the world may provide better solutions.

Quantity Wanted: The greater the number of ideas generated, the greater the chance of producing a radical and effective solution.

Combine and improve ideas: Not only are a variety of ideals wanted, but also ways to combine ideas in order to make them better

Group Brainstorming
When it works, group brainstorming can be very effective for bringing the full experience and creativity of all members of the group to bear on an issue. When individual group members get stuck with an idea, another member's creativity and experience can take the idea to the next stage. Group brainstorming can therefore develop ideas in more depth than individual brainstorming.
Another advantage of group brainstorming is that it helps everyone involved to feel that they’ve contributed to the end solution, and it reminds people that other people have creative ideas to offer. What’s more, brainstorming is fun, and it can be great for team-building!
Brainstorming in a group can be risky for individuals. Valuable but strange suggestions may appear stupid at first sight. Because of this, you need to chair sessions tightly so that ideas are not crushed, and so that the usual issues with group problem-solving don’t stifle creativity.

Problems with brainstorming:
Conventional group problem-solving can be fraught with problems. Confident, "big-ego" participants can drown out and intimidate quieter group members. Less confident participants can be too scared of ridicule to share their ideas freely. Others may feel pressurized to conform with the group view, or are held back by an excessive respect for authority. As such, group problem-solving is often ineffective and sterile.

Procedure

1. In a small or large group select a leader and a recorder (they may be the same person).
2. Define the problem or idea to be brainstormed. Make sure everyone is clear on the topic being explored.
3. Set up the rules for the session. They should include
   • letting the leader have control.
   • allowing everyone to contribute.
   • ensuring that no one will insult, demean, or evaluate another participant or his/her response.
   • stating that no answer is wrong.
   • recording each answer unless it is a repeat.
   • setting a time limit and stopping when that time is up.
4. Start the brainstorming. Have the leader select members of the group to share their answers. The recorder should write down all responses, if possible so everyone can see them. Make sure not to evaluate or criticize any answers until done brainstorming.
5. Once you have finished brainstorming, go through the results and begin evaluating the responses. Some initial qualities to look for when examining the responses include
   • looking for any answers that are repeated or similar.
   • grouping like concepts together.
   • eliminating responses that definitely do not fit.
   • Now that you have narrowed your list down some, discuss the remaining responses as a group.

Moodboards

A collection of images put together to create an overall visual image - to communicate ideas visually.
Used within Art and graphics.
Creates themes which can lead to a stimulus, helping to create ideas.




Thumbnail Sketches

An artistic note.
A form of brainstorming.
Helps with composition.




Concept Sketches

Initial Idea for an image
Conveys visual ideas
Saves time and money, as they can be developed before they are processed
Used for marketing

Asset Management & Storage

 Asset management

Strategy - What will the files be named?
                  Where will they be saved?
                  How will they be backed up?

consists of management tasks and decisions surrounding the ingestion, annotation, cataloging, storage, retrieval and distribution of digital assets


Asset storage

Location

Backups - offsite if possible

Compression, Image capture & optimization

  Compression

  

Compression is the reduction in size of data in order to save space.

Graphic image file formats are usually designed to compress information wherever possible (since they have the tendency to be quite large). Graphic image compression can be either lossy (some information is permanently lost) or lossless(all information can be restored).

Photo1 - High Resolution - 504kb

 Lossy - "lossy" compression is a data encoding method that compresses data by discarding some of it. Reduces number of colours within it, reducing the file size.

 Lossless -Lossless data compression is a class of data compression algorithms that allows the exact original data to be reconstructed from the compressed data. The term lossless is in contrast to lossy data compression, which only allows an approximation of the original data to be reconstructed, in exchange for better compression rates.



Photo 2 - Compressed image - 33kb

The images of the owl, show the changes that can occur when a file has been compressed. For example: In photo 1, the file size is slightly larger, and therefore contains more information, so the picture is of higher quality, in comparisson to photo 2, which is a much smaller file size, but the picture has become pixelated and less clear, losing some of the image quality from photo 1.

Image Capture

Ways of capturing digital images:

Digital Camera
Scan / photocopy
Phone Camera / uploading
Drawing Tablet
Capture card
Tablet computer (ipad)

 

 

Optimisation

optimise - make optimal; get the most out of; use best; "optimize your resources"

Making sure that within a game, the size of the graphic is as small as it can be, whilst still maintaining the quality needed, and adhering to the 'power of two' rule.

To the power of 2 rule:
A simple set of rules, that apply to all game related images, which makes sure they conform to a series of regular dimensions. This usually means doubling up or dividing down by two. This makes sure the images are proportioned correctly so they can be loaded into a game, and processed as should be.

 

 

 

Good performance is critical to the success of many games, as computers and consoles can only store limited amounts of data the images need to be as small as possible allowing more information to be added, this means that optimised data helps the game maximize its graphical rendering speed therefore optimizing the overall game performance.

Pixels, Raster + Vector graphics

 Pixels

- Short for Picture element
- Smallest possible component of a digital image
- Each pixel has positional information and intensity information

Intensity Information - the intensity of the colour within the pixel (RBG or CMYK)

Resolution - Number of pixels within a given area

 

Raster Graphics

Example of enlarging a raster graphic

- Made up of pixels
- Also known as bitmap graphics
- Cannot scale up without loss of quality
- Good for photographs
- Larger file size than a vector graphic
- Used extensivley on the internet

Logo produced using Vector Graphics

Vector Graphics

- Based on instructions
- Smaller file size than Raster
- Made up of curves/vectors
- Used for logos/fonts
- Used for illustration
- No Loss of quality if enlarged, regardless of how big








Vector Vs Raster

Artistic Styles

Artistic Styles used in computer games:

 

 There are a number of artistic styles used in games, stretching from cel-shading styles to photorealism. For the game to suceed, the appropriate style must be employed to try and obtain the most from the game. 

 

 

Cel-Shaded

 

 

Crackdown Xbox360 Gameplay - An example of cel-shading

Cel-shading is a type of non-photorealistic rendering, often used to make computer games appear hand drawn even though they are not. Its frequently utilized to recreate a cartoon or comic like style. The result of cel-shading has a very simplistic feel. The name derives from cels, which are traditionally used for 2d animation. Often cel-shading is used to create a unique artistic style for the game.

Photorealistic

Photorealistic graphics are used in games to try and create an environment that is as realistic as possible, by using textures and detail that would be seen in a real environment. Often characters, buildings and surrounding environments are relatable to the real world, which amplifies the feeling of realisticness for the player.



Red Dead redemption gameplay is a good example of photorealistic graphics, as the environment and characters look almost real. The textures used for the environment are lifelike, and the character has been created to appear as authentic as possible.

These two images show how a realistic feel has been achieved, using similar textures, colours and lighting that we see in reality. The Coliseum generated for the game appears virtually the same as the authentic Coliseum. This is extremely important when creating a game that is centred around existing landmarks and environments.

Real photograph of the Coliseum in Rome

Image From Assassins Creed, of the Coliseum in the game

 

Exaggeration

Exaggeration is something represented excess. Often when exaggeration is used in games, the features of a character or aspects of their environment can be blown out of proportion, either slightley or majorly.

Duke Nukem

Duke Nukem is a good example of exaggeration but to only a small extent, as he is still represented as a realistic  character, but with certain elements such as his muscles made slightley bigger than usual.

Dragon Ball Z

Dragon Ball-Z is an example of exaggeration used to a large degree. The characteristics such as the hair, and overall body proportion have been increased by a large amount, so the character no longer symbolises realism, as these arent believable qualities.

Abstract

Often something abstract has no particular style, purpose or theme, and usually has its own degree of independance. In the gaming industry, an abstract frequently consists of random notions, that cannot be related to the real world, or likened to reality graphically, however this does not mean they can't represent reality in their own specific way.






The impossible Game

The impossible game is an example of an abstract game, as there is no real purpose to the game, and it is just made up of shapes throughout. It cannot be likened to any experience in the real world, despite this it is a very succesful and popular game.



Digital Art Types

  Digital Art types

  

Concept art

 Conept art is used to develop characters for a game, environments and items. The reason concept
 art is used is it saves money, by planning and designing it first before it is turned into a final product.
The core purpose of concept art, is to create  visualisations before the production process starts.
  


Assasins creed concept art for weapons

   These examples show some concept art from the Assassins Creed series, displaying the fundamental elements of the item - its texture, colour, shape and purpose.
Concept art can also be used for other purposes - such as marketing, and print media art.



Assasins creed concept art

  

  

Background art

  Backgroung art places images into the background of games to add realism, such as mountains, trees, and the sky. Using background art uses less polygons, by lowering the polygon count it creates available polygons for other uses in the game, such as character development or building detail.
   .
   Background images are usually objects and images that are found in the distance, such as -                 Moutains, trees, water etc..that the player doesnt need to interact with so they can just remain in the background, often these images are repeated.




Assasins Creed - background art

   
These two images show background art being used.
2D images are placed behind the 3D interactable objects in the foreground, creating the illusion of a bigger environment.

  



Skyrim gameplay - example of background art

Texture art

   2D image that is inserted on to a 3D shape, to add colour information and texture to give the desired
   effect. Often textures are used to add a certain amount of realism to a game, by using textures available in the real world, they can be replicated within the game world.



Stone floor texture

   

Assassins creed Image of builing

Stone wall to show texture

These two images show how a texture may have been used to create a building within a game that consists of the same type of textures. Capturing details and shadows from real life.



Pixel art

  Pixel art is a form of low resolution digital art created by Rastergraphics, pixel art is usually found in older computer games, or games wanting to create a retro atmosphere.
Pixel art is preferably stored in a file format utilizing lossless data compression, GIF and PNG are file formats most commonly used for storing pixel art. It uses a low amount of memory, and low resolution, therefore it is popular when creating a game for a device that requires skillful use of space and memory.

Zenonia - Android mobile phone game

Pixel Mario

 

  

 

The two images above show how pixel art has developed, but is still used. The pixel mario is an old game, he looks very simple, with virtually no detail, whereas the game developed for android mobile phones 'Zenonia' is still using pixels, but to a higher quality degree.

Interface art:

   Interface art is usually a 2D image layed over the game, to provide information for the player.
   It is also normally used for any menus or maps in the game.



Assassins Creed User Interface

Assassins Creed Weapons HUD
 

Assassins Creed main menu

        The interface art is often designed to replicate the game as much as possible, for example in Assassins Creed, the HUD is futuristic, this reflects the storyline - The animus is creating a virtual world in which we are playing.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Print media art

Anything related to the game, that has been printed, such as game art, manuals, box art and walkthroughs. Print media art is usually use for advertising, marketing and promoting the game. Manuals and instructions are also included in print media art, this provides the player with the information needed to play the game.

 

 

Assassins Creed Game art for advertising

Assassins Creed box art

These images show the print media art for assassins creed. They are visually pleasing, which attracts people to play the game. They also provide a lot of information about the game with just looking at the image. This is important, as it is a point of sale for the product, and has to sell the game.