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Unnatural Disasters: Designer American McGee On Creative Outsourcing
AM: I can say we're going back into the fairy tale world, but this isn't going to be another "dark," Alice-like game. We're going to bring a lot of humor to this new world. I can say that it's based on the world of Grimm's fairy tales and that the game will be developed and released as episodic content. We've been having a lot of fun in the pre-production on this title. It has a lot of unique ideas in it. GS: How important do you feel artistic concept is to designing a game? Do you think good art could save a bad game? AM: I think a great game could live with no textures on the world and characters. I think a beautiful, bad game is still a bad game. That doesn't mean, however, that we shouldn't honor the theme of a world with an appropriate art style. Art style is important to setting the game’s mood and immersing the player in the experience. GS: When sitting down to work on a new project, which elements do you consider first? AM: I usually start with a core character concept that allows for some obvious gameplay ideas. Story is really important to me, but gameplay is critical. Next comes the artwork, the world, music, sound, and other elements. All of these things feed off one another. There is no art without story, no game play without art.
GS: Tell me a little about the Vykarian project. The word "outsourcing" tends to leave a bad taste in many people's mouths. What are some of the pros and cons of outsourcing a game's art? AM: I feel sorry for those people since chances are that 95% of the material content in their lives was "outsourced" to places like China. In the future, 40% or more of a game's budget will be spent on outsourcing. This is the reality created when the art asset demand in next-gen games goes up by 300%-400%. The industry simply cannot meet the demand for content using domestic talent alone. |
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