Artistic Process Options

[odds]

Giving the wondrously euphoric nature of this game's atmosphere, it'd be fantastic to learn from the minds that brought it to life. If any of the artists from ACE would like to do a stage-by-stage artistic process walk-through, or even tutorials for sketching f$%*ed up creatures and environments, that'd be sick.

Given that I have a decent background of concept art and some matte painting [and I could emagine that other members here also share a similar interest], it's always enlightening to see how other go about their own development process

By the way, if anyone but Carlos answers this I don't even wanna hear it, he wins. (just kiddin <3! all the artists are badass)

[Carlos Bordeu]

Most of the team is ultra-busy with ZC:UE right now... I'm the only one that regularly checks the forums, but maybe you might gets someone else's response. Anyways I'm one of the artists of the game, but definitely not the one with most art background. Edmundo as art director would probably have the most interesting answer.

This might be more reasonable to put in a blog post when we have the time. Edmundo has a lot of weird concept art that isn't even Zeno related that I think a lot of people would love to see.

[Andres Bordeu]

I think that if you browse through the blog you will already find several older posts that have a lot of info that is related to the artisitc process.

Check it out

[odds]

Yeah, the blog definitely has got some of the good stuff . My apologies, I didn't mean to cause a stir, I mainly just mentioned Carlos because I saw your short bio on the staff page on the ACE Team site [and thought it was pretty humorous lol].

[Andres Bordeu]

I saw your short bio on the staff page on the ACE Team site [and thought it was pretty humorous lol].

Hahaha! The forums are being moderated by a mutant!

[odds]

I have a personal question for the art team - Do any of you prefer the Wacom Intuos 4 over the Intuos 3? (if you could explain why then even more awesome points are rewarded!)

-Also, if you don't mind me asking, if you could list any inspiring concept artists that come to mind when you're trying to create such a diverse universe?

-Thanks for your time

[Andres Bordeu]

I have a personal question for the art team - Do any of you prefer the Wacom Intuos 4 over the Intuos 3? (if you could explain why then even more awesome points are rewarded!)

Honestly, I don't even remember which one we have at the office (I'm answering from home). I think it's the Intuos 3. Isn't the Intuos 4 just a newer model? I remember having one of the very first Wacom tablets that came out and it was almost as good as the current ones. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think the tablet size is what you have to worry about, not the model. You may feel more comfortable with a larger or smaller tablet. I use a 6x8 tablet.

-Also, if you don't mind me asking, if you could list any inspiring concept artists that come to mind when you're trying to create such a diverse universe?

Well, John Blanche would be the obvious answer, but you'd have to get Edmundo (art director) to respond if you want a more complete answer.

[odds]

The intuos 4 is a newer model, but some artists prefer the touch wheel for any canvas zooming or brush opacity/size manipulations. Judging from that size that you listed though, that's totally an intuos 3 or earlier (the 4s don't come in that size). Obviously the tools don't make the artist [for the most part], but it can be helpful to know what the officials are using in the industry

Lol, while I'm at it I do have another question, when performing extensive sketch sessions do your fingers ever get cold? Mine do and like... it makes me angryface because I can't find a solution to it

Thanks again for your time

[Andres Bordeu]

Lol, while I'm at it I do have another question, when performing extensive sketch sessions do your fingers ever get cold? Mine do and like... it makes me angryface because I can't find a solution to it

I'm not much of a concept artist. I rarely do concept art because other people do that here at the studio, so unfortunately I cannot sympathize with your problem . Most of my time goes in other areas of game development (and a lot of administration). I mostly use my Wacom for texture editing when I get a chance to produce art.

[Gentleman]

I think Zeno Clash has unique art styles, even though you got your inspiration from certain things.

[odds]

I think Zeno Clash has unique art styles, even though you got your inspiration from certain things.

I think that uniqueness permits the borrowing of ideas, concepts or visions. Uniqueness doesn't necessarily mean that it was brewed up from the void, but what makes a project more unique are the implementation of ideas and the allocation of resources to realistically pull off a project, and still be proud of its outcome. ACE Team had a much smaller budget track for this title, luckily they were able to salvage portions of a previous scrapped title, which did help. The end result of the game being so creative and euphoric in its' atmosphere, and it was successful. Even though the publishers were saying that from a marketing perspective, the players wouldn't be able to connect to the game, ACE persisted on what they wanted to release as their first title.

It's a shame that publishers are making assumptions that just because the game has an different presentation, that the players wont be able to connect to the story, characters or atmosphere. Who are they to judge that there are more players than ones that play Call of Duty or World of Warcraft. ZenoClash can put you in a somewhat uncomfortable place, but that's where the connection is made. All of the, "WTF this is strange," moments in the game are very successful connections to the players. It's just not the same type of connections we see in a traditional fantasy or modern FPS game. I feel it's more intimate than that.

A lot of the uniqueness-game is about presentation and persistence of vision, and maintaining those two by whatever it takes to get there.

/rant off

Apologies for the wall of text

-odds

[Gentleman]

Yeah, you're right, because Zeno Clash definitely has a persistent link to things beyond belief.