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alundrigan2
5 min read

Initial Research + Topic Ideation

For my second year on the Game Art (BA) course at Falmouth University, I have been assigned a module within which I am required to carry out art research on a topic of my choice. When I was introduced to this module, my mind was racing with various ideas, therefore I felt it was best that I note down my initial ideas and evaluate their suitability for this project.

First, I created a Pinterest board. This is my go-to for any new module at university as an art student because it helps me visualise concepts and the recommended pins fuel my idea generation. See below a screenshot from said board.


My first thoughts were to research something on the technical side of game art. I came into this course having studied and loved computer science at A-Level, therefore I have a big interest in the cogs and computational processes behind 3D modelling and rendering. These pins represent several different topics, which I will break down.


  • 1) Sims 4 custom content (CC), mods and ReShade

Despite not finding much joy in playing Sims 4, I have an extensive Pinterest board containing loads of Sims 4 CC, purely for the added aesthetic value it adds to the game. I love the concept that artists around the world can forge their own objects, furniture, clothing, makeup etc. and integrate them into the game to enhance player experience. The same goes for scripting mods which customise endless in-game options and augment interactivity, in addition to ReShade (Reshade, 2023) scripts which alter shaders during real-time gaming. These alterations can be highly technical, but have a very prominently appearance-based outcome, which simultaneous satiates my desire to program/script and to create aesthetically pleasing artwork and models. This is a topic I have wanted to research for a while but could never find the time and discipline to do so of my own volition.


  • 2) OpenGL/Graphics Programming

I wanted to research into OpenGL and the actual rendering process due to the technical programming and mathematical aspects it brings. I researched into graphics programming briefly last year, and the topic appealed strongly to me as it gave me a deeper understanding of how rendering software such as Maya and 3DS Max work behind the scenes. I also watched a couple of videos regarding the topic, such as jdh’s channel where he created his own version of Minecraft from scratch with no game engine (jdh, 2023) and a 90s style first person shooter in the same fashion (jdh, 2023).


Although this does interest me intensely, I have a feeling it may not be appropriate for this module due to the requirement of a poster as a final hand-in, illustrating the research carried out in a visual form. This pathway would be enriching from a technical point of view, but I would struggle to create work that is visually cohesive and appealing from an artistic standpoint. So much more work would be required for the generation of simplistic structures with this method compared to how easy it is to generate it in programs such as Maya since the barebones work is already done for you. Therefore, I get the feeling this idea should be put on the backburner for a later date.


  • 3) Shaders and scripting

Researching into shaders and scripting for 3D programs and games engines seemed like a viable choice for this module due to the almost instant visual gratification it gives. Programming shaders provides a deeper understanding of processes I already use in the pipeline for my current work and can be applied in my work for my GAM202 game development module to establish an art style and to bridge the gap between programmers and artists. Scripting would work in a similar way, allowing for automation or tool creation to aid my group and optimise workflow speed, especially for monotonous, repetitive tasks. This would also serve me well for my GAR203 environment art project for automating variation in repeated assets.


These summaries of the three main ideas I have for this module helped me reflect on which topic would be best suited to research further into.


The OpenGL/Graphics Programming option was pretty much instantly eliminated due to the time and scope of the project – such skills would take me a lengthy amount of time to learn and master to produce something worthy of showcasing, and visual gratification is low.


The Sims 4 CC concept is tempting, since it’s something I’ve wanted to learn since I first got the game when I was 12, however I think the usefulness of these skills may be limited due to them being contextually confined to Sims 4. This would be fun as a hobby but more less so as a skill that would enhance my portfolio and skills. Modding and learning ReShade methods would be enjoyable, but as with the graphics programming, yields a low level of visual output and leans more towards the computing side.


Consequently, I have narrowed down my project direction to the realms of shaders a scripting within 3D engines. The skills obtained choosing this path would serve me well throughout my student career and hopefully beyond.


Researching into these chosen skills further online, a keyword came up that linked such fields – Technical Art. The ScreenSkills website (ScreenSkills, 2023) lists 3 main jobs within the Technical Art department – Technical Artist, Graphics Programmer and VFX Artist. Graphics Programmer relates back to idea #2, so I will keep that in mind for later. But homing in on my strongest concept, idea #3, I investigated the role of Technical Artist, defined as ‘The bridge between the artists and the programmers’, often having to figure out the best way of carrying out complex tasks required by both groups (ScreenSkills, 2023).


This job role sounded so intriguing and perfect for the skillsets I want to develop, so I did some further research on YouTube into what a technical artist does. Riot Games has a useful series ‘So You Wanna Make Games??’ which provides context into different roles in the games industry, what each role typically does and advice, all explained by Riot Games employees in said roles. The tech art episode (Riot Games, 2018) provided me with the insight that there are vast amount of specialisations within the tech art umbrella. Some of the tasks of a tech artist are as follows:


- Physics simulations

- Seamless open world generation

- Complex animation systems

- Building custom tools for artists

- Streamline game development pipeline

- Create game exporters

- Optimise implementation

- Rigging characters

- Maintaining file structure

- Sustaining version control

- VFX

- Shaders

- Lighting

- Simulation using maths


As you can see this is a vast topic, which allows me plenty of content and breadth for research. However, some of these specialisms would be difficult to represent visually so I may veer away from focusing primarily on them throughout the project. Despite this though, version control will be a useful skill to learn for GAM202 and is required for GAM203 so I will experiment with that.


To finish off my research for this week, I have conversed with both my lecturer for this module as well as the module leader to ensure this topic is suitable before going all-in, and the feedback has confirmed that this is an appropriate area of research, especially due to its relevancy in my other modules.


I have also started up my blog (as evidenced here!) and I am raring to go into Week 2.


Bibliography








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