Ultimate Game Design : Building game worlds

tapes. How anyone thinks that they can get a game art job by sending in a screen grab
of a sphere with a chrome texture on it, I will never know.
I’ve had woodcut printers send in a resume and a post card showing no “art” material
at all. Game developers are not looking for art exhibitors; they are looking for
people with art skills they can utilize to create game assets that help to sell games.
That’s it. This doesn’t mean that you can’t be an artist. In fact, you should be an artist,
but you’re going to have to know how to navigate the commercial world of the
game industry versus the world of your art.
Primarily, as a game artist, game developers want your modeling, texturing, and
animation skills. Good artists with a solid understanding of how to prepare
game-ready low-poly artwork are in regular demand. However, learning how to
deliver this kind of material reliably takes time.
As a game artist you will be asked to provide many kinds of in-game art assets, so
you need to be able to demonstrate some versatility. Think about all of your favorite
games and the kinds of games you’ve seen made. What do they have in common?
Well, they probably feature either fantasy- or cartoon-style heroes and enemies. They
probably offer a wide variety of vehicles. They are probably set in an environment.
The same boss also told me, “Every game setting can be traced back to outer
space, a desert, a jungle, a castle, or a city.” My point is that you probably already
know what kind of art requirements games demand. Focus on drawing, modeling,
texturing, or animating these exact elements. If you want to have a long and deep career
and enable yourself to make career transitions, you should start with a solid
foundation. Go get a B.A. or B.F.A. in art or design. Draw plenty of humans, vehicles,
and animals. You will never stop learning, so it’s really best to establish a strong
starting point.
Game Artist as a Career Choice
C H A P T E R 1 1
Game developers always need good artists. There are now starting to be more people
interested in and ready for positions than there are positions available. It’s a very
competitive field. If you eat, breathe, and sleep building game-oriented art assets,
you’ll probably do just fine.
If you find work with a game developer, being a game artist can be a fantastic job.
If you love to draw or model and animate, it is rewarding to get paid for doing something
that you love. That feeling will soon pass, and like any other game developer
role, you will have to love what you do in order to make the sacrifices necessary to do it.
Game artists are primarily responsible for creating art assets. Modern games have
tons and tons of art assets. Entire software packages are dedicated to managing the
workflow for all of these assets. These assets regularly must be changed, redone, or
deleted altogether. Sometimes a small art team is responsible for creating hundreds
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Game Development Career Choices