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The representation of Women in games

Today I will be talking about the representation of women in games. I will be answering the following questions. What are the best and worst representations of women in games? What problems do women face in games? And what do you think causes these problems?

Starting off, I have looked at Lara Croft, from the Tomb Raider series. I have chosen her in particular, as I feel she is a character that has gone from being a bad representation of women in games, to a good one. We can see the differences side by side. Her original (1996) design is terrible. Her body proportions, unrealistically tiny waist, huge boobs, and tight fitting clothing are obviously designed for a straight male audience. She is sexually objected. The 2006 version get slightly better, but not much. Her body proportions are better, but she’s even more naked now. Lara Crofts design in 2013; however, is much better. She doesn’t seem to be sexually objectified. She has realistic body proportions, and her clothes look like what a normal woman would wear

Another good example of female representation is Faith from Mirrors Edge. Again, she is not objectified. She doesn’t have obscenely large breasts like the original Lara Croft. Her athletic body type seems realistically suited to her profession and the gameplay, as are her clothes. She looks like someone who would spend a lot of time free running. She is also quite a powerful character- taking down armoured, gun welding enemies with nothing but her bare hands and use of the environment

Another game, that like Tomb Raider, has a mix of good and bad designs, is Overwatch. A few female characters I think look great are Zarya, Pharah and Mei. They all look non-sexualised, and instead, powerful and ready for combat, which is what the game is about. They have a variety of body types. Zarya, is very muscular, which is so rarely seen in female characters. Considering most games involve fighting and combat, muscular women should be more common. She also lacks the “hourglass” figure of most female game characters. Pharah seems like a taller character, which is also fairly imposing, with her full body armour. And Mei is a little chubby. Pharah is Egyptian and Mei is Chinese. So a variety of nationalities are also being represented also

Now, moving onto the bad designs in Overwatch. Again, the skinny, sexualised female characters are present. With armour suctioned onto their bodies and unnecessary cleavage. The focus of these characters is their large breasts and bottoms. Again, these are obviously made with straight men in mind

Moving on, we’ve looked at a few triple a games, do indie games have some decent examples of female representation too? I believe darkest dungeon does. There are 6 female classes in the game, and in my opinion, they all look great. They look prepared for combat, and not like they work at a strip club. There is a variety of female classes, from healers, to ranged attackers to melee fighters- meaning they are not forced into a specific role. However, the female characters are outnumbered by men, as there are 6 female classes, but 9 male ones. The representation is not equal

Transistor is another indie game that features the female protagonist, Red. And while she a conventionally beautiful woman, with a tall, hourglass figure, I do not get the impression that she is sexualised, like the original Lara Croft. She seems to be treated with more dignity. She is not posed in sexually suggestive ways, and her clothes are not suctioned onto her body

Moving on, I have looked at the Left 4 Dead games. Both games feature playable female characters, Zoey in the first game, Rochelle in the second. The characters have great designs, as they just look like normal women that you might meet in real life. However, this game highlights a problem in games; women characters are far outnumbered by male ones. In both games there’s only 1 playable female character, and 3 playable male characters. Why isn’t the representation equal?

Borderlands suffers from a similar problem. While the female character designs are alright, the women are still vastly outnumbered by male characters. On launch, both games only had one female character to choose from. Another issue I have with Borderlands, is that the women all have the same body type. They’re near identical. They’re all skinny, with hourglass figures and are conventionally attractive. The men on the other hand, have a whole range of body types, skinny, fat, muscular, short, and tall. They all look unique, whereas women must fit into an idealised body type

Here are some more examples of female character in borderlands. The only woman who doesn’t fit into the same idealised body type is Ellie the Mechanic. Not to mention, she is not a playable character, she is a minor npc. Fat women are never allowed to be game protagonists. Designing female characters to look the same is straight up boring. Not to mention, alienating to any woman to doesn’t look this way

Lastly, I want to talk about female armour design. As games do a terrible job of it. Here are some great examples of female armour from movies and television shows. The first thing you’ll notice is the lack of silly boob cups. Those are unnecessary, as real armour has a lot of padding underneath, so the contours of the body are obscured. Also, having breast shaped armour is deadly to the wearer- as it directs blades towards the wearers’ heart and lungs, instead of the blade glancing off

However, most female armour in games looks like these atrocities from TERA and World of Warcraft.  Again, designed so that the characters look sexy for straight dudes, not to be practical, or to be appealing to female gamers themselves

However, some games design armour well. This Dragon Age: Inquisition concept art, by Matt Rhodes features many female characters wearing armour. These all look great and non-sexualised. They look powerful and more dignified

In conclusion, there are many problems with how women are represented in games. Firstly. women are far outnumbered by men in games, both as the protagonist and as npcs. In real life, the population is roughly a 50/50 split between men and women, so the same should be true of fictional characters. Adult gamers are also a near 50/50 split between male and female. Secondly, racial minorities have even less representation then white women do. Thirdly, there is far less variety in body types compared to male characters. Overweight or muscular female characters do not really exist, or are shown in a negative way. Women are only shown to be a straight males’ idea of an ideal woman, skinny and conventionally attractive. I have not discussed it in this presentation, but trans women barely have any positive representation too. And lastly, too many female characters are sexually objectified, designed for straight men. This issue is huge and needs to stop

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03/03/16- 3D Technical Art:

I was absent from University today due to sickness. So here are some models that I have created at home today instead- a portcullis and a round tower (which will be placed at each corner of the courtyard). For my project, my aim is to create a castle courtyard, with a well as the centerpiece. These models are made in maya- taken into mudbox to be sculpted, and then textured in substance painter

My next aims are; to make the wall that holds the gate (which is already half way done), and to learn and create the grass

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Indie game concept art

We will look at the following questions: Are there common themes, approaches and ideas within indie game concept art? Is indie game concept art unique to indie games? And how does it differ from concept art for AAA games?

First is Banner Saga, which is based upon Norse mythology. This game features cell shaded characters over more detailed backgrounds. And while the characters are rendered in a cartoonish style, the proportions of the characters are fairly realistic

This style mainly draws inspiration from animated movies. The artist behind Banner Saga, Arnie Jorgenson, claims he was mostly inspired by Disney artist “Eyvind Earle”, who worked on the backgrounds for films such as Sleeping Beauty

(Banner Saga)

(Sleeping Beauty)

By being an indie developer, this has allowed Arnie Jorgenson to create art in a style he wants- drawing upon his own inspirations, and his background in drawing comic books. In contrast to triple A developers- who often change their drawing style, based upon which game they are working on

This style, inspired by 2d animation works well for Banner Saga, as in-game, the characters are also animated in 2 dimensions

Secondly, I have looked at Jen Zee, the artist behind Bastion and Transistor. As with Arnie Jorgensens’ work, Jen Zee does not create photo-realistic concept art. Her work is defined by bright, saturated colours, the good use of lighting, and the visible brush strokes. The characters of Bastion have very cartoonish proportions, while Transistors characters have more realistic proportions. Transistor takes inspiration from various art movements, such as Art Deco and Art Nouveau

(Bastion)

(Transistor)

Thirdly, I have looked at Journey, and the concepts of Matt Nava. Again, photo-realism is not the end goal. The proportions of the characters are not true to real life humans- the characters are roughly 10 heads tall. The large cloak is the largest aspect of the character. The clothes, obscure the human shape, and cover facial features. This leads to a more abstract concept of a “person”

The colours are also simplified, with each level having a specific colour palette. In real life, the colour of a setting tends to be more varied. This simplified colour palette for each level, gives each level a specific mood, and helps in telling a story

 All of these examples of indie game concept art we have looked at, they do not use photo-realism. Instead, they use a unique style to give each game its own recognizable style. Some styles are more realistic than others. Photo-realism, may not be achievable in indie games due to a limited budget- so the concept art reflects this

Moving on, is indie game concept art unique? Or can comparisons be made between it and concept art for triple A games? Here I have looked at Banner Saga again, an indie game, alongside character concepts for Skyrim and Dark Souls. I have chosen these games to look at, as they are all games with a fantasy setting, and aimed at audiences of a similar age. Banner Saga features characters drawn in a style similar to that of animated movies, using flat colours and little shading. Meanwhile, Skyrim and Dark Souls are visually closer to real life, with high detail on each character. In triple A games, realism seems to be more common, while indie games focus on a distinct style that moves away from photo-realism. Looking at these examples, indie concept art seems more unique

(Banner Saga- Arnie Jorgenson)

(Skyrim- Adam Adamowicz)

(Dark Souls 2- Unknown artist)

However, I have also found similarities between Banner Sagas’ concept art, and that of large developers. These character concepts for Dragon Age, are similar to Banner Sagas’ art, as opposed to the concepts for Skyrim and Dark Souls. Similar features are the use of flat colours and little shading. So indie game art may not be unique. However, the style of the dragon age concept art does not carry over to the game. In-game, the characters are rendered realistically

(Dragon Age- Matt Rhodes)

To conclude: indie game concept art tends to steer away from photo-realism, which is seen more in games from triple A developers. Other styles are explored, in order to tell their story in a certain way, like Journey, or because the game is developed in a certain way, that doesn’t allow for photo-realism. Banner Saga draws inspiration from 2d animated movies, because the game itself, is 2 dimensional. Using a distinct art style can be helpful for an indie game- as it provides a unique style to attract attention from potential buyers. Because of this, indie developers may take more risks than a non-indie developer, when exploring different art styles. Photo-realism may not be used in indie games, due to restricted budgets

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A homework exercise for my 3D Modelling class. Each side of the cube has a different facial feature sculpted onto it. Created in mudbox

View in 3D on Sketchfab here

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10/02/16- Mudbox Progress: I have chosen to model the character “Pan” from the movie “Pans’ Labyrinth”. I have chosen this character, as they have human-like features, but also a stylised, animal-like appearance. This week, I have made the overall shape, facial features, eyes, ears, horns and neck. The ears and overall head shape proved to be the most difficult part. Next week- my aims are to merge the separate objects better (i.e. where the neck and ears join to the head), and, to start creating the fur/hair, which I think will be the most difficult feature to sculpt

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Japanese concept artists in games

Are there common themes, approaches and ideas within Japanese concept art?

Here I have looked at concept art for various games developed in Japan. Each piece is visually different from one another. The first are character concepts for Metal Gear Solid. This piece features rough, unclear lines, and a watercolour wash to separate the characters from the background. This focuses on the tone and atmosphere of the game, rather than perfectly expressing how the character will look in game. The lines and colours fade into the background, giving the impression of camouflage. This fits the theme of stealth within the game

(By Yoji Shinkawa)

This second piece of concept art features a colossi design from shadow of the colossus. This piece is uses no colour whatsoever, and seems to be drawn traditionally with pencil. This piece is very sketchy compared to the other pieces, as construction lines can still be seen

This third piece of concept art features a character from dark souls.  In contrast to the metal gear solid concepts- this character resembles the in-game style much more closely. The detail of the characters’ design can be seen. It also uses colours, which the shadow of colossus concept art does not

Next is a drawing of Chun-Li, drawn by Akiman. This piece uses bright, saturated colours, which the other three concepts do not

(By Akiman)

Moving onto more Japanese games, I looked at Okami. This piece shows how different art styles were explored, before settling on the bold, ink brush style, which was used for the game itself. This style mimics traditional Japanese ink-brush drawings

Next is Persona, which uses a style which is influenced heavily by anime. It uses thin lines, cell shading, and soft gradients

The World Ends With You also uses an anime inspired art style, however, in contrast, much thicker lines are used. Pure black is also used for shading. The characters body proportions are also more exaggerated, as opposed to Persona, which has more realistic body proportions

Lastly, is The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. This game uses a very cartoonish art style, with bold dark lines and bright colours

To answer the question, there do not seem to be common themes, approaches and ideas. Each artist uses a different art style. Some use a realistic style, while some use exaggerated, cartoonish characters. Some use bright colours, some lack colour whatsoever. The tone, theme, and target audience of the game seems to have a greater impact upon the art style, than the nationality of the concept artist themselves

 Is Japanese game art uniquely Japanese?

Some games developed in Japan focus on the culture of their own country to inspire the narrative and visual style of the game. Games like Okami and Yokai Watch draw from Japanese mythology and folklore to inspire character and creature designs. For example, the Nine tailed fox is a demon from Japanese mythology and is featured within both games

(Okami)

(Yokai Wtach)

Games such as The World Ends with You and Persona use an anime inspired art style within their games. This art style is developed in Japan, and appeals to the Japanese audience

(Persona)

Alternatively, there are many games developed in Japan that are inspired by western culture. The Dark Souls games feature mythology, architecture and armour taken from a European setting. For example, this monster is a Manticore, which comes from Greek mythology, not Japanese mythology

Medieval European castles can also be seen in dark souls, as well as the final fantasy games. Western style armour is also seen within Dark Souls and the Dragon Quest games

 How does it differ from western game art?

Here I have looked at games of the same genre, made by Japanese developers. Dark souls is made by the Japanese developers “From Software”. Skyrim is made by American developers “Bethesda game studios”. And The Witcher, made by Polish developers “CD project red”. These games are all dark fantasy rpgs, and the concept art reflects this atmosphere. There are strong similarities between the concept art for all these games. The dark colours, the level of detail within the characters, and the way that the character is positioned on the page, Both Dark souls and Skyrim show an armoured figure standing still, from different angles. Visually, both concepts are similar

(Dark Souls)

(The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim)

Moving on, I have looked at games that use a more cartoonish art style. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, was made Nintendo, a Japanese developer and publisher. While Ratchet and clank is made by an American developer, Insomniac games. Both of these games use a cartoonish art style, with exaggerated character proportions, and brighter colours than the games we looked at before. In the concept art for both games, characters are shown in different poses, performing different actions, and displaying different emotions. These concepts are far more expressive then the rpgs we looked at earlier

(The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker)

(Ratchet and Clank)

To conclude, I have found that there is little difference between Japanese and western concept art. The genre, atmosphere and target audience of the game, has a greater influence on the visual style of the concept art, than the nationality of the artist. Japanese artists use a wide variety of visual styles within their art. Drawing from different sources of inspiration

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How have the movies of the 70’s and 80’s influenced the narrative of games?

The first movie we will be looking at is Enter the Dragon, which was released in 1973. This martial arts film focuses on the character Lee, who must take down a crime boss. To do this, he must go undercover, by taking part in a fighting tournament organised by the villain himself.  Lee is also fighting for revenge, as the gang is also responsible for the death of his sister. This plot leads to the main character fighting opponent after opponent, until he reaches the final boss

This narrative can be seen within many fighting games, the first of which is Street Fighter. This game was released in arcades in 1987, 14 years after Enter the Dragon. In Street Fighter, the main character Ryu must fight various opponents within a fighting tournament, just like Lee did within Enter the Dragon

Tekken (1994) is another fighting game that uses this narrative. In Tekken, a cash prize is rewarded to the winner of the “King of the Iron Fist” fighting tournament. Some characters, notably “Kazuya” are also motivated to join the tournament out of a need for revenge

 The next movie, that has inspired games, is The Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). This action/adventure movie follows the story of Indiana Jones, an archaeology professor, as he travels the world in search of rare artefacts. South American jungles and Egyptian tombs are featured within the film

One game that is inspired by Raiders of the Lost Ark, is Tomb Raider, which was released for the ps1 in 1996. This game follows Lara Croft, an archaeologist in search of ancient treasures. The game takes you to jungles and ancient ruins. The similarities are already obvious between Tomb Raider and Raiders of the lost Ark; the occupation and motivations of the main characters, and the settings used

The Uncharted series (2007) is also inspired by this movie- again, having a main character of the same occupation, and using the same settings. This game incorporates platforming and puzzle mechanics in order to reach artefacts, much like those Indiana Jones had to overcome within the movies

The last game inspired by Raiders of the Lost Ark is Spelunky (2008), which again, shares the same similarities to the film as Tomb Raider and Uncharted. However I think this game directly references Indiana Jones, due to the design for the main character of the game. The hat is a prominent feature, and the players default weapon is the iconic whip. Traps shown with Raiders of the Lost Ark, such as the giant rolling boulder, are used as a gameplay mechanic- which the player must avoid

 Moving on, Alien (1979) has also inspired games. Alien is a sci-fi horror movie, following the crew members of a spaceship on their return to earth. At the start of the movie, they intercept an SOS signal from a passing planet. Upon investigating the planet, they find it abandoned, and its inhabitants killed by an alien lifeform. One such alien stows aboard the ship, and soon starts hunting down the crew members

The Metroid series (beginning in 1986) draws inspiration from the Alien films. Metroid is also set on an alien planet, were the player must fight various hostile creatures. Firstly, both star female protagonists, Samus Aran in Metroid and Ellen Ripley in Alien. Visually, the design of the aliens in Metroid resembles that of H.R Giger, who designed the monsters for Alien. Both feature a form a parasitic alien

“I think the film Alien had a huge influence on the production of the first Metroid game. All of the team members were affected by HR Giger's design work, and I think they were aware that such designs would be a good match for the Metroid world we had already put in place” –Yoshiro Sakamoto

And finally, the antagonist Ridley, is named after the director of Alien, Ridley Scott

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How have comics and animation impacted games?

Firstly, we will be looking at techniques used in animation, and how they have also been used in games. Rotoscoping is a technique in animation that involves tracing over real life footage. The result is smooth animation that has the same weight and movement as people in real life. The first example of rotoscoping in games is Prince of Persia, which was released in 1989. This game utilises rotoscoping to animate its characters, as we can see here. This technique was used, as to emulate realistic movement

Another game which uses this technique is Another World, which was released later in 1991. This game uses rotoscoping within its character animations, and within small cut scenes- such as showing the character picking up a weapon from the ground

Another technique in animation is the multiplane camera, which involves the foreground, mid-ground, and background of a scene to be separated into different layers. These layers can be moved separately, in order to give the illusion of depth

The multiplane camera inspired a technique in game development called parallax scrolling, which works in a similar way. Here is an example of how parallax scrolling works, taken from the game, The Whispered World

This technique is used in many games, especially 2d platformers. It has been used within Ori and the Blind Forest, and the latest Rayman games. The background moves at a slower pace than the foreground- giving the sense of space and distance

Another technique is limited animation. Limited animation is used when the goal isn’t to make to make end result look as realistic as possible. Limited animation uses symbolism and exaggeration to produced stylised animation. This is often done on a tighter budget. My first example is the Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. This game was released on the Gamecube.  Because of the limited processing power of the system, realism is hard to achieve. A more cartoonish and stylised approach has been used instead

My second example is Grow home. This game can be completed in a few hours, and is priced at a few pounds. Therefore, spending time and money on making the game look realistic would be a waste of budget for the developers. Instead, a simple, visual style is used, which would be much faster and cheaper to produce. Every single object is extremely low poly, but appears as a stylistic choice

Moving on- how have comics and animation impacted the story and visuals of games? The Walking Dead was developed by Telltale games and released in 2012. This game draws from comics for its visual design and its story. It is based upon a comic of the same name; however it follows different characters throughout the story. The visual style of the comics is mimicked, with the strong, lines and pure black shadows

Another game from Telltale is the wolf among us. This too, is based on a comic, and uses the same visual style as the comic itself

Lastly is Ni no Kuni, which is developed by the Japanese developer, Level 5.  Visually, the style of this game is inspired by Japanese animation, with cell shaded characters upon a more detailed background. The cut scenes in this game were animated by studio Ghibli, who have produced many animated films, such as Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. The style of the animated cut scenes and the in-game world itself match well

(Ni no Kuni cut scene)

(Ni no Kuni in-game visuals)

To conclude, comics and animation have had a large impact on the development, visual style, and narrative of games. Various techniques used in animation, have been adapted for use in games, such as rotoscoping, and parallax scrolling (inspired by the traditional technique of the multiplane camera). The aspects of Limited animation have also been used in games- whether to work around limited processing power or strict budgets. And lastly, the visual style and narratives of comics and animation have been taken into video games, as direct adaptations of comics, or as an inspiration for something new

 Links:

Another World rotoscoping and live footage comparison-  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhGtYfpmxyY

Parallax scrolling- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallax_scrolling

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Current mudbox modelling progress, as of 26/01/16

My goal is to create a replica of Michelangelo's’ David. Continuing progress from last week, this week, I have created the basic head shape, eyes, mouth and nose. Separate objects have been imported from maya to form the eyes and neck (spheres and a cylinder respectively)

My aim for next week is to start the hair and the ears

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How has graffiti and street art influenced the appearance and design of video games?

Graffiti is an art movement which started in New York City in the early 1970’s. The first graffiti was drawn mostly on subway train cars, on both the exterior and interior of the trains. Graffiti was also painted on walls and public property, and so is classified as an act of vandalism. Graffiti focuses heavily on text. Each writer would have their own name, which they would draw over and over again, gaining recognition

A train car painted by DONDI

Here are more examples of graffiti painted on the side of train cars, again, showing the focus on text. Other characteristics are bright colours, 3d effects on the text, and the presence of arrows within the letters

My first example of a game inspired by graffiti is Jest set radio (2000), and its sequel, Jet set radio: future (2002). I feel this is a good example, as it uses graffiti and street art, not just as an inspiration for its visual design, but also its narrative and gameplay mechanics too. Jet set radio is set in a futuristic Tokyo, an urban setting, similar to where graffiti originated. This is a single-player platformer, where the player must explore each level by roller-skating, and tag different areas of the stage. Creating graffiti is an objective in the game, and is used by the characters as a form of self-expression

In this screenshot, we can see similarities between the graffiti shown in-game, and real life graffiti. The quick, messy tags are shown. And also the large, black and white bubble text

Graffiti in this game is also seen as a crime, as it is in real life. The player must achieve their objectives while also evading arrest from the police

Moving on, my second example is Splatoon. Like jet set radio, this game also takes place within urban areas. This game is an online multiplayer shooter. The winning team is not decided by which team kills the most, but by how much ground their team has covered in ink. Paint is used to claim space. It is applied to a public space. Like Jet Set Radio, it also uses graffiti as a gameplay mechanic

Graffiti is also present within the games scenery. Text and murals can be seen throughout each level. In the first screenshot, while not using real letters, it mimics the style of graffiti text. It uses bright colours, jagged shapes, a 3d effect and arrows. The second example shows the smaller tags, which are drawn quickly. This also mimics graffiti in real life, using loose, abstract text and arrows

Another feature of Splatoon is that players themselves can draw pictures, and post them online. These drawings are then shown as graffiti in-game, sprayed on the walls and scenery, within the stages, and the main hub area of the game. Graffiti is focused on self-expression, and is a form of art that is viewed by the general public, in a public setting. So the creators of the game have given the players a way, in which to express themselves in a form that is viewed by gaming community

Finally, my last example of graffiti in games is tag: the power of paint, which was released in 2009. This game is a puzzle-platformer. The player has a gun which can spray various colours of paint. Each colour, has a different property, such as enabling the player to run faster on it, or to bounce off of it. The player must reach the end of the level, using this ability. This game is also set within a city, similar to where graffiti was founded. However, it doesn’t use graffiti to influence its visual style, just the gameplay mechanics. The application of paint to a walls and public space, is how the player advances through the level

In conclusion, many games have used Graffiti as an inspiration to their visual style, narrative, and gameplay mechanics. Other notable examples of games which use graffiti are: Getting Up (2006), Warriors (2005), Sideway (2011), Tony Hawks Underground 2 (2004) and Dead Space (2013)

Links-

DONDI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DONDI

Jet Set Radio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_Set_Radio

A list of games that use graffiti (mechanically) http://www.giantbomb.com/player-controlled-graffiti/3015-5436/games/

 A list of games that use graffiti (visually) http://www.giantbomb.com/graffiti/3015-208/