Fallout: New Vegas Art Interview
Fallout: New Vegas Art Interview
Interview - posted by VentilatorOfDoom on Thu 4 November 2010, 00:02:03
Tags: Fallout: New Vegas; Obsidian EntertainmentGamebanshee had the opportunity to pester Fallout: New Vegas art director Joe Sanabria and lead concept artist Brian Menze with questions about the artistic ideas and processes behind some of the novelties seen in Obsidian Entertainment's latest addition to the Fallout universe.
<span class="question">GB: When I think 50's world-of-the-future architecture, art deco and googie come to mind. We've seen both throughout the Fallout franchise, but titles like Fallout 1 and Fallout 3 had more art deco than they did googie. Am I right in thinking The Strip will feature primarily googie architecture? Is that Vegas heritage showing?</span>
<span class="answer"> Brian: FNV does indeed have a Googie-style influence. We wanted to give the audience a real sense of Vegas and the time period, so we felt it was important to go that route and partially it's what anyone would expect Vegas to be. We pulled (just a little) from the 60's here and there as well, but Googie is what influenced us most.
Joe: The Art Deco movement started in the early 20's, during a period when many of the eastern cities were prosperous and growing. As a result it really influenced the skylines and the design movement moved to other areas, vehicles, furniture and appliances. So in many ways it captures the optimistic 50's period for which the Fallout franchise is known for, it nicely contrasts against the dystopian wasteland.
The west coast development really expanded during the automobile revolution and so not only was it a different time period, the nuclear age, but cities where now designed for folks traveling by car rather than by foot.
Since the real strip didn't really get fully developed until the early 50's, most of the hotels where designed in the Googie architecture style, a futuristic "Meet the Jetsons" type of architecture. In older cities, buildings are the visual focal point and building signs are small in comparison and more aesthetic then functional in their purpose. On the strip, the sign is the focal point and in many cases is as big if not bigger than the building itself. With folks now moving at fast speeds it was important for casino operators to catch people's attention well in advance to lure them in.
This is what we based all of our visual designs on for the hotels, so yes the heritage of Vegas is indeed reflected in the Strip of New Vegas.</span>
Read the whole interview here.
Spotted at: Gamebanshee
<span class="question">GB: When I think 50's world-of-the-future architecture, art deco and googie come to mind. We've seen both throughout the Fallout franchise, but titles like Fallout 1 and Fallout 3 had more art deco than they did googie. Am I right in thinking The Strip will feature primarily googie architecture? Is that Vegas heritage showing?</span>
<span class="answer"> Brian: FNV does indeed have a Googie-style influence. We wanted to give the audience a real sense of Vegas and the time period, so we felt it was important to go that route and partially it's what anyone would expect Vegas to be. We pulled (just a little) from the 60's here and there as well, but Googie is what influenced us most.
Joe: The Art Deco movement started in the early 20's, during a period when many of the eastern cities were prosperous and growing. As a result it really influenced the skylines and the design movement moved to other areas, vehicles, furniture and appliances. So in many ways it captures the optimistic 50's period for which the Fallout franchise is known for, it nicely contrasts against the dystopian wasteland.
The west coast development really expanded during the automobile revolution and so not only was it a different time period, the nuclear age, but cities where now designed for folks traveling by car rather than by foot.
Since the real strip didn't really get fully developed until the early 50's, most of the hotels where designed in the Googie architecture style, a futuristic "Meet the Jetsons" type of architecture. In older cities, buildings are the visual focal point and building signs are small in comparison and more aesthetic then functional in their purpose. On the strip, the sign is the focal point and in many cases is as big if not bigger than the building itself. With folks now moving at fast speeds it was important for casino operators to catch people's attention well in advance to lure them in.
This is what we based all of our visual designs on for the hotels, so yes the heritage of Vegas is indeed reflected in the Strip of New Vegas.</span>
Spotted at: Gamebanshee
