SOE was honored by having two works of art selected by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences for the “Into the Pixel” exhibit.

From their website:

“The Into the Pixel exhibit features sixteen works of video game art, selected by a panel of jurors from a field of submissions gleaned from artists around the world. The exhibition offers an opportunity for published video and computer game artists to be reviewed and recognized by the public and by their peers in both the fine art and video game worlds.”

Both pieces are from the TCG Legends of Norrath – Against the Void.  The pieces were assigned and art direction provided by Roger Chamberlain (SOE Denver). 

Radiance by Nicole Cardiff

 

Enhanced Steamsuit by Chris Dien

Welcome back Grayson Chalmers (SOE Austin outsource manager) who just returned from the “Autodesk in Games” tour in China and Taiwan. His subject was: Understanding needs of game companies and how vendors can make themselves attractive candidates for contracts, as well as how these partnerships are most effective.

Original article

Translated article

Mat Broome (SOE’s Visual Director for DC Universe Online) was recently featured in the FXposé section of the May issue of ImagineFX.  The magazine’s website can found here: www.imaginefx.com

A brief bio and two of his cover illustrations are printed showcasing his cover art for “The End League” and “Thor vs Astonishman”.  Nice job Mat!

Jason Smith who works as the Lead Character Artist on DC Universe Online was awarded “First Prize” in ZBrush’s Action Hero creation contest for a personal project.

Jason’s character is called “Overwatch” and you can follow its creation from concept to finished work in ZBrush.

A few weeks ago I spent several days at Brady Games in Indianapolis polishing and revising the final layout for the anniversary book. The team at Brady were great hosts and the three days spent going over the final layout allowed us to make the visual layout triple A.

It was an interesting challenge combining so many different illustration styles in one volume. We approached each page spread as a separate piece of art, sometimes featuring the work of one artist and other times showcasing several styles focused on one theme such as combat or a particular player race. I think everyone will really love the final result.

A few months ago I had the opportunity to visit BYU to give a presentation to animation students on SOE.  We had two interns last summer from their animation program working on Vanguard.  They have been doing some great animation work there.

I also had the chance to visit USC Game Pipe and other top notch programs. I have also been working on a mentoring program with another top school, the Art Institute of California – San Diego, where SOE developers mentor senior students on a game prototype project.  More on this next time.

 

Over the last few weeks I’ve been reviewing and selecting additional book images. Dok Whitson, concept artist for EverQuest II, located some really interesting pieces from the early days of EverQuest- some studies of the various races and size comparison on old yellowed sketch paper. Here’s one:

I’ve been going through 10 years of art from the EverQuest franchise games as we select images for the upcoming anniversary book.

I have a renewed appreciation for artistry of the original print maps created by Rick Schmitz for EQ and its first several expansions as well as for EQOA.

Rick’s style was very influential in the character designs for EverQuest, but the maps were among his most visible contributions to players.

I just returned from a visit to our studio in Taipei: SOGA. I had the opportunity to play the latest build of Kung Fu Hustle and it’s looking great.  The combat is fun and the storyline will certainly please those familiar with the film.  I was there when the initial reference motion capture was shot at a studio in Shanghai.  The animation team has done a remarkable job turning the choreographed moves into some tight combat action.

Part of my visit was a review where we did frame by frame analysis of the combat interactions to make sure they happen fluidly and on the appropriate cue.  Some tedious work to be sure, but the team is dedicated to making sure it’s a solid experience for players. We have a new Art Director at SOGA as well, Ken Nomura, who is helping to polish the look and establish a visual consistency across the game zones. 

As a curious side note: The unusual thing about the SOGA offices is the yellow tinted windows.  There is nothing wrong with my camera settings.

Testing Combat

Art Director Ken Nomura and Studio Head John Laurence

SOGA Office

We just got our pre-publication copy of EXPOSÉ 6.  SOE will be very well represented in this upcoming international annual from Ballistic Publishing.

There were six pieces chosen that were created for Legends of Norrath; five as card images and one for marketing key art.

The chosen entries were:

1. Ariseph, Mistress of Verse, Mayong Mistmoore, and Queen Cristanos Thex by Derek Herring
2. Gnoll High Shaman by Patrick Ho
3. Play Dead by Roel Jovellanos
4. Legends of Norrath – Oathbound ket art by Clint Langley