The Art of Game Design

By Jason DeFronzo Staff Writer

When people think of art, usually the first thing to come to mind is something along the lines of paintings, drawings, or ceramics. However, a largely overlooked form of art is video games. I’ve always enjoyed making art. It's a nice way to decompress and create concepts that mean something to me. In the process, I hope to create something that others can admire, too. I’ve also been playing games most of my life, and over time they’ve become a more and more integral part of my life. Only a few years ago, I started seeing them for what they really are - art. To be specific, art is making something to express oneself with creativity. Painting, drawing, music - they are all different mediums one might use to bring their ideas to life. Video games do that too, and a lot of people neglect that. Video games are often attributed to nothing more than a quick form of entertainment, which I believe to be completely unfair. They take just as much, if not more, time and effort to create than any other piece of art. They deserve recognition. When traditional artists want to create a piece, they need an idea. They take this idea and try to pin down a concept. This is often done with concept or thumbnail sketches. Though every artist does things differently, some may prefer to jump straight into the more detailed parts. Game developers do this too. They take an idea and make a base version. Usually this would be called an alpha version, or on rare occasions, a pre-alpha. These base versions of the game have none of the detail that later versions would have. The next phase of making art is to make an outline. Creating a sketch where you can see the entire piece in low detail. It's likely that changes will be made between this point and the finished product, and that's OK! At this point, the piece will likely look like a sketched-out picture - it's not meant to be finished. There may be lines used for proportions or faint marks from erasing and replacing. Game design goes through a similar process. Usually, it would be at around the same time, though slightly later than the previous segment of development. The characters have base models and the primary mechanics of the game are working. At this point, many games will undergo a lot of changes too! Most of the game's textures will be unfinished, placeholder images are used everywhere, and any descriptions that may be needed are missing entirely. The next step is the biggest for every medium art is made through - the part where they execute their idea. This is the part where it starts to really look like something. Within the context of traditional art, this may be anything from coloring to textures and shading - all of it happens here. It takes time, but where before they had proof of an idea, now they have the real thing. In game design, it's much the same. You take all the unfinished parts and finish them. Finished textures, detailed animations, item descriptions. It’s just the same as in other mediums - the longest part that makes something real. But it's not done yet. Everything someone makes, whether it be a game or an art piece, needs finishing touches. Slight changes in the shading or a little bit of color outside the lines. A few last-minute placeholder images removed or texture changes. After they finish the refinement, they have a product they can (hopefully) be happy with. Whether a painting, a drawing, or a new game for others to enjoy, it took the same process either way. More than that, video games express a person's character just as much as any piece of art. A good game story immerses you with the characters. You feel their losses, and you can feel the passion the creators put into it. Isn’t that great? There's so many different ways to express yourself. With there being so many ways for someone to share their creations, it also allows for just as many ways to experience those same creations. We’re lucky video games are one of those options.