Slashdot Mirror
Oddworld Announces Artbook Retrospective
mibus writes "Oddworld Inhabitants (makers of 'Abe's Oddysee' and the other games in the Oddworld series) and Ballistic Publishing (makers of the EXPOSE' series of CG art books) have announced a joint deal to publish a book with a compilation of Oddworld's artwork, collected over the last ten years. The book is expected to land in Fall 2004." Although Western-developer artbooks seem few and far between, what game title/series would you like to see artbooks for?
Actually, EA too, especially the Apple II days.
Dude, I think I can see my house from here.
what game title/series would you like to see artbooks for?
nethack
I think Morrowind would be a good subject for an artbook, if there isn't one already.
Darkwatch from Sammy Studios. It isn't out yet, but the artwork that has been released is mucho cool. Given the rich background of the storyline, as well as the fact that many of the designers are also ex-Oddworld designers, I think it would make a great book. I wouldn't mind a roleplaying (aka GURPS Myth, GURPS Alpha Centauri, d20 Diablo, d20 Warcraft) version either.
An interesting read for those who admire the series
Doc
Google's html version
Does anyone happen to know where one could obtain the original concept art? I would love to have something like this to spice up my drab apartment.
I'd like to see a series of simple, clean art based on the early sprites of video games. Something that captures the essence of the pixel layout in a high quality glossy print suitable for framing. Most sprites would probably look nice on a solid black background. Something in a vein similar to the Absolut Vodka ads. Not funny, but a series of pieces that could be framed and hung as a grouping.
Now that I think about it, I guess I could do this on my own. I wonder if such imagery is considered public domain yet?
This one gang kept wanting me to join cause I'm pretty good with a bo staff.
No further explanation needed.
Rob
Well I have to admit, I'm STUNNED to see this story posted on Slashdot. Are a lot of you interested in concept/3d work?
I ask because I'm a 3D artist, and every month I have new stuff from concept to finished 3D added to my portfolio. One day, I'll have enough for a book if I decide to go that route. Have a peek here, here, and here
So I have to ask, is this the type of thing some of you would buy? If so, besides pretty pictures, what would you want out of it? Anything? Lots of text explaining in great detail what I did and why I did it?
I'm not so much asking "would you guys buy my book if I made one?", but I would be curious what is behind the decision to buy one? Is it for informational purposes, or is it just cool to see how a game you like is made? I guess I'm just stunned that Slashdot would find it that interesting. I'm curious if it's because art is appreciated, or if there is some general curiosity about how one goes from a paper drawing to a realistic 3d rendered model. Man I'd be happy to share what I know about that topic, for the most part I really have only been able to talk to fellow artists about it.
"Derp de derp."
PacMan. I would love to see the original conceptual art for everybody's favorite pill-poppin' yellow circle. I'm talking the hardcore, underground PacMan, before he blew up and grew legs and stuff. ;-)
"You and your third dimension."
its not quite the same as darkwatch, but its a similar theme: they put out a few GURPS books traslating the Deadlands setting to the GURPS rules. its perhaps one of my more favorite settings, because its western, with all the undead/lurking evil type stuff.... and the magic system using playing cards is just one of the cooler ideas.
On a different note - Interesting thought: Why is Publishing so difficult? What is the Good reason why a community of devoted followers, say slashdot, can't get together and do something like publishing? Copyright and Licensing aside, distributed effort hard copy publishing?
Physics is nothing like religion. If it was, we'd have an easier time trying to raise money!
I think a well done book of various screens shots from modern games would do well. I have collected some funny and interesting screen shots from Enemy Territory and UT2K4.
I think a book of screen shots like this from a broad spectrum of games would do well.
http://www.kubuntu.org/
Sorry for the pun. I was never a fan of the games (a little slow for my liking) but the art was always top notch. I would gladly flip through this book while at my local Indigo and ooh and aah every picture. Heck, if there's enough info in there, I might even buy it.
But that brings up an interesting issue: this work has already brought a profit to the development staff, and as a result, the people doing the concept art. Would it be fair to people who haven't been paid already for the content of a book to buy this and give another revenue stream? This sounds almost like an RIAA tactic (not to sound like a troll). IMHO, I'm much more satisfied when they provide concept art on the disc itself, either through an immediately available library (Metal Slug comes to mind) or as unlocked images as I progress through the game and care more about the characters and plot (I forget specifically what game had this, but I had it!).
Just my opinion.
-Dizzle
"I most likely AM so interested in myself."
Not for another 70 or 80 years. But if you do not sell the image but just hang them on your own walls you are probably covered under fair use.
Just get used to it: you will _never_ see anything that you care about go into the public domain.
I have several of the Star Wars artbooks, and Ralph McQuarrie's original paintings are amazing. So yeah, stuff like that is pretty big among the geek set.
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
Myst, Riven, Uru, are all breathtaking games visually. Wouldn't mind having something nice and glossy in print on my coffee table.
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
While its incredibly unlikely that EA would ever do this, it would be wonderful to see a collection of Ultima illustrations and other historical bits. There's certainly a lot that the public has never seen firsthand and only heard about through 'anonymous sources'... the original plot of Serpent Isle, for example. I'd certainly buy such a book in an instant.
Craig Mullins did some of the awesome artwork for many Bungie titles, incl. Marathon, Myth and Halo. You can view lots of images at his site. Most of them are really, really cool. http://www.goodbrush.com/
That's such a cool idea! I'm thinking, maybe use a NES emulator to generate a low-res Mario 3 screenshot, enlarge it so it's heavily pixelated, print on Gloss at 30"! That would look amazing!
(Cheers for the idea!)
A artbook on the entire Final Fantasy series would be an excellent choice.
A book containing illustrations done for the Crash, Jak, and Spyro games would be pretty cool...
Metroid Prime (which was developed by US-based Retro Studios, btw). It has some of the most detailed, lovingly crafted level design I've ever seen. The game actually has unlockable art galleries that you can get by scanning objects within the game (once you've reached, say, 50% of the items that can be scanned, you get a new gallery). It allows you to zoom and scroll nicely, but it would be even better if there was a printed artbook containing these images.
--- Bwah?
Someone in the thread mentioned the Myst series of games and I think that suggestion reflects exactly what's wrong with the idea of a game art book. The Myst titles have gorgeous artwork - but it's all pre-rendered, non-interactive, and essentially static. The folks working at Bungie, id, Blizzard, etc. have to be concerned about how fast their 3D models render on the average gamer's computer. Please note that little 3D part. Any given picture is only going to get one aspect of the model.
I have no ax to grind against art books. Heck, I just love my book of Hildebrandt artwork. And I certainly think that the work done by these artists deserves recognition. I just think a book is not the right answer. Something more along the line of a DVD or a program (with the scenes already rendered) that showcases the artwork would get the impact across much better.
A couple of years ago I attended an IMAX showing of CG art from a computer animation festival. Now that's how this art could be appreciated! Picture in your mind a 20 foot tall Master Chief!
You could be the coolest abstract artist on the block by making huge pieces and turning them into furniture/conversation pieces/place where you go to cry. Or paint your walls as 1 giant tetris game. Every year add a new piece in.
I would buy an artbook about graphic adventures, because art was really important in those days. Also I had this HUGE Full Throttle poster in my room I had nagged out of an employee at a nearby game store, which was lost. The world is now a little greyer place... oh and maybe a Fallout series artbook?
... Leather Goddesses of Phobos?
;)
No, really, it could be artistic. Really.
Give a man a match, you keep him warm for an evening.
Light him on fire, he's warm for the rest of his life