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| Behind-the-Scenes with Age II Graphic Artists | |||||
Sean “Lord Soth”Wolff: I was given the responsibility of designing all the buildings for Age 2. That included designing the look for each stage a building goes through, and helping the other artists to build that vision throughout the game. I also did all the final touch-ups to the buildings in the game (2D work such as adding color transforms). Thonny Namuonglo: I sort of moved around. First, I worked on the buildings in the early stages then moved to units. Jeffery Dotson: I handled the modeling and texturing of several of the various building structures. Zone: Tell us, what do you like most about your job? Sean “Lord Soth”Wolff: Modeling is my favorite part. Being able to take my idea, develop it and see the finished work in the game. Thonny Namuonglo: The people I work with. I think if you like the people you work with, you'll like whatever you do. Jeffery Dotson: The amount of input I have in the game. That's the great thing about Ensemble, you can get as involved as you want with the design process. Zone: What do you like most about working in a gaming community? Sean “Lord Soth”Wolff: Mostly being able to make a product that millions of people play and enjoy. It's very satisfying to hear someone say that they love the art in the game. I also like the people in the industry, being able to talk about how we do things and hear how they get their tasks accomplished. Thonny Namuonglo: Seeing and playing all the new games using new technologies. Jeffery Dotson: I get to work on something that thousands of people will see. I also like the fact that you are constantly doing something different. In the movie industry, you will work on a shot for six months, which equals about 2-3 seconds of onscreen viewing. I guess gaming is just more gratifying for me. Zone: Age II is quite different from the previous versions; especially in design. Can you tell us where you get your ideas? Did you collaborate with developers for certain design and animation pieces? Sean “Lord Soth”Wolff: We all worked with the designers. Listened to there ideas and gave our input. A lot of the things in the game are based on history. So we found as much reference as possible to help us flesh out those ideas. Thonny Namuonglo: We have a lot of reference materials (books, videos, each other) and a pretty knowledgeable design team. Jeffery Dotson: Actually, most of the buildings that I did required a lot of research because we were trying to be somewhat historically correct. The wonders were modeled after actual buildings that were built hundreds of years ago. Zone: The graphics in Age II are really outstanding and very detail-oriented. How did you go about designing each building and making each building unique for each civilization? Did you do any historical research? Sean “Lord Soth”Wolff: Tons of research. I would get together all the books and materials I could find and use the pieces that interested me and included them into the buildings until I found the look. Jeffery Dotson: I guess I already answered that. But yes, a lot of time was taken to try to make Age II as accurate as possible. Of course we have taken a few liberties in the overall design. But any changes we have done, are to enhance the Age II feel. Zone: What were some of the challenges in animating the graphics? Sean “Lord Soth”Wolff: Adding as much detail as possible to the buildings without giving it "overkill.” Picking the textures that are in the buildings was also very challenging. Thonny Namuonglo: Getting the timing right for the unit animations. Zone: What was the toughest or hardest artwork created in Age II and why? Sean “Lord Soth”Wolff: The wonders, walls and castles were the toughest because of the amount of detail we put into them. They have probably changed the most throughout the project. Thonny Namuonglo: I don't think any particular [area] was the hardest. I think it was hard getting everyone's acceptance that each piece was good enough. It turned out well. Jeffery Dotson: Some of the Eastern European buildings had to have shingles placed one at a time. This really bumped up the polygon count in the scene that I was working on. Zone: If you had to pick out one feature that is the coolest in Age II, what would that be and why? Sean “Lord Soth”Wolff: I don't think I can pick one thing in general. I'm so very proud of everything that my teammates and myself have done with this game. We (the artists) have pushed ourselves to our limits on this one and have learned tons of new things along the way. Thonny Namuonglo: THE ART! Jeffery Dotson: I really like what we have done with the formations for the units. It really gives you better control of your units and it looks cool! Zone: What advice would you give to aspiring game graphic designers out there who would love to do the things you're doing? Sean “Lord Soth”Wolff: Never stop pushing yourself to improve on what you already know. Work long and hard at it and the rewards will make up for it. Thonny Namuonglo: Don't expect things to fall into your lap. Go out and work for what you want. Jeffery Dotson: Learn as much as you can because knowledge is power. The more you know, the more value you are worth to an employer. Try to stay motivated and keep cranking out stuff. You are only going to get better with practice. The Zone thanks Sean “Lord Soth”Wolff, Thonny Namuonglo, and Jeffery Dotson from Ensemble Studios for participating in our interview. If you have an original content submission or idea for the Zone, please e-mail us at Zidea@microsoft.com. Thanks! |
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