Francis Varley: Games Art 2024-25

Game Ready Character: Pre-Production: For my game ready character I want to create a character with anatomy more closely resembling that of the human norm, unlike my previous Alien Priest who had legs more birdlike in nature and a slightly hunched torso. I already had a fairly narrow idea for my character in mind: a bulky soldier from a far-future science fiction setting, perhaps comparable to the Alien Priest I created previously. As such, I began collecting some reference images that fit my idea, taking inspiration from the character designs of the artists I researched, statues showing togas and flowing robes, illustrations and games art relating to science-fiction armour and examples of real world space suits. I knew I wanted to blend elements of amour with fabric: as such, I began by creating several designs for a human character, focusing on the overarching shape of the body and outline before tackling specific facial features or designs for the body. I wanted to create a characte...

In the following project, I will develop a character for sculpting. Unlike the last project, this character will not be based around specific prompts: I will come up with my own design. The following are two 3D character artists that have influenced my work who have both worked on the same game, Warframe, and utilise the same software: ZBrush. I will use their work as a benchmark when it comes to designing and modelling my own character. Mike Brennan Mike Brennan was an art director who worked at Digital Extremes, a Canada-based games company known for their work on Warframe (Digital Extremes 2013), a free-to-play MMO set in a far-future version of the Solar System. He was the lead Art Director of the game from 2013-2016 and created the first designs and 3D models for the main characters of the game, the biomechanical robots known as the "Warframes", primarily using Photoshop for 2D concept art and Zbrush for 3D character models. Brennan has spoken about the influences for Wa...

CHARACTER DESIGN PROCESS When creating the character designs for my game, I worked in a problem-solving methodology that allowed me to rapidly experiment and create designs based around continual iteration and development. This allowed me to create designs that explored multiple angles of a one concept and allowed me to create a design that consisted of successful elements from multiple different iterations.  My design process for both the Forge Father and Veer-Myn were largely the same in this regard, beginning with a thumbnailing phase that allowed me to sketch out iterations of different elements of the design, then moving on to a final piece of art that illustrated these elements of the design placed together. I could then use this as a basis for my Turnaround and Key Art, which I would go on to edit after receiving client feedback. FORGE FATHER THUMBNAILING: My idea for the Forge Father character was already largely decided when I came in to the thumbnailing phase: I wished to...

Rigging Introduction Rigging is the process of creating an underlying skeleton that aligns to the geometry of a character and allow for movement and animation. Rigs are comprised of two components: Joints, which act as individual points of rotation such as a knee, elbow, shoulder or knuckle), and Bones, which connect Joints together.  Rigging is a precise process in which Joints must be aligned on a single axis. As such, when I have created a practice skeleton rig, I have aligned my view to a side orthographic view: this shows a physical grid in which the Joints can be precisely placed atop. To get a Joint placement to snap to this grid, I hold the 'X' key when using the movement tool.  The Create Joint tool allows for Joints to be placed in the project space. After placing one Joint, if another is immediately placed, the two Joints will be linked with a Bone. Bones are represented in Maya as a pyramid-like shape, which is at its widest at the point of origin and tapers toward...

Production Timeline: 22/10/24: Created initial sketches.  5/12/24: Created a set of varied thumbnails based around the rough concept of my character, informed by foundational research in to the subject matter of self-reflection. I presented these to my group and asked for feedback regarding favoured designs. 28/01/25: Created 9 more detailed character concepts based around ideas for my character that had been agreed upon and liked. I asked for feedback from my group regarding the design and created numerous colour variations based around a dull, beige and orange colour palette. 30/1/25: Created another rendition of the character made to more fit in to the creepy/cute art style of our project.  09/02/25: Created several rough sketches showing how Memory may sit in his scene. 11/02/25: Created final design and turnaround for Memory. DESIGN PROCESS - MEMORY Memory (previously named 'Anemoia') is my character in our project, a 'Spirit' representing the idea of self-reflecti...