Game News Steve Meister on the Fallout concept art

[Vault Dweller]

Tags: Bethesda Softworks; Fallout 3

There are many discussions about the recently released Fallout concept art. Before you continue to draw all kinda conclusions, you might want to read this (from <a href=http://www.nma-fallout.com/>NMA</a>):
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<blockquote>< MSFD > didn't take the Fallout fans long to find the source photo Craig Mullins used for that concept art
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< MSFD > yeah
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< MSFD > they even identified which carrier it was
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< MSFD > it's funny because people are extrapolating all sorts of stuff from that identification, <b>as though it has anything to do with the actual game...</b>
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< MSFD > nah, it was in Florida for a while but they sunk it in the Gulf to make an artificial reef
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< MSFD > <b>anyway all we did was ask "Hey Craig Mullins, make a painting of a carrier that's run aground on a river bank in a ruined city" (or something to that effect)</b>
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< MSFD > nah, he's freelance
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< MSFD > he's done stuff for a ton of games
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< MSFD > incl. Halo
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< MSFD > he did some stuff for Star Trek for us, too
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< MSFD > once the teaser countown is finished you will have seen the entirety of the work he did for Fallout
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< MSFD > anyway we have an in-house concept artist who's done hundreds & hundreds of drawings & sketches & such for all the Fallout stuff
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< MSFD > haven't shown any of that"</blockquote>Hope that helps.
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[taxacaria]

<b>as though it has anything to do with the actual game...</b>

Concept art of Fallout 3 has nothing to do with the game, of course.
MSFD didn't had his Alzheimer pill that day.

 

[TalesfromtheCrypt]

God damn it Talx.. are you a godamn moron?

I'll quote myself again as some people seem to be to stupid to get it even after VD posted a news explaining the nature of this "concept art".

Although it has been pointed out already, I'd like to say again that this isn't even concept art, but "set the mood" art which has even less to do with the game.

I'm pretty sure the artists worked very independently on them, the only order from Todd being "paint us some postapoc and stuff", so the connection of those pictures to the game is lose at best.

The guy did the similiar work for Age of Empires 3. The pictures were great, but almost nothing in the game nor the actual concept art resemble any of them.

While we can discuss the quality of the images (the last one is really great but now that I think of it that carrier is really way too big) I think its not really possible to draw any conclusions, be it positive or negative from them on the actual game.

Well, maybe the fact that Todd either forgot or didn't care to tell the artists about the retrofuture aspect of Fallout. I guess that already tells us a little about Bethesdas approach towards the scenario.

 

[kingcomrade]

God damn it Talx.. are you a godamn moron?

xedoc gpr didn't get it either.

 

[Julio]

I just hope Ninja Cartographer is a selectable class in FO3.

 

[Jim Kata]

<b>as though it has anything to do with the actual game...</b>

Concept art of Fallout 3 has nothing to do with the game, of course.
MSFD didn't had his Alzheimer pill that day.

Actually it doesn't, because it's not actually concept art.

It's publicity hooring.

 

[Gwendo]

<MSFD> anyway we have an in-house concept artist who's done hundreds & hundreds of drawings & sketches & such for all the Fallout stuff
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<MSFD> haven't shown any of that"

It seems those drawings weren't good enough to tease us, so they hired a freelancer.

Great to know that the game will be based in hundreds of drawings, none of those suitable to tease the Fallout fans, those thirsty people that would suck almost anything.

 

[Vival]

<MSFD> anyway we have an in-house concept artist who's done hundreds & hundreds of drawings & sketches & such for all the Fallout stuff
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<MSFD> haven't shown any of that"

It seems those drawings weren't good enough to tease us, so they hired a freelancer.

Great to know that the game will be based in hundreds of drawings, none of those suitable to tease the Fallout fans, those thirsty people that would suck almost anything.

Those are probably only rough sketches and concepts for their 3d modelers etc. and not something a developer would normally put on their website long before the game's release.

 

[frantic defenestration]

You can whine all you want. But me being a cg artist, I can tell you that Craig Mullins is somewhat a celebrity in the cg world, this guy is definitely first class. Of course that doesn't in no way mean Fallout 3 will suck any less ass.

 

[Roqua]

We'll, I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to preorder as soon as i can.

 

[xedoc gpr]

God damn it Talx.. are you a godamn moron?

xedoc gpr didn't get it either.

They just don't understand, do they? Meanies.

 

[kingcomrade]

You are not a they. You're not really a meanie, either, just kinda dull.

 

[Duodenum]

<b>as though it has anything to do with the actual game...</b>

Concept art of Fallout 3 has nothing to do with the game, of course.
MSFD didn't had his Alzheimer pill that day.

Wait, with the entire quote he says

<MSFD> they even identified which carrier it was
<MSFD> it's funny because people are extrapolating all sorts of stuff from that identification, as though it has anything to do with the actual game...

So people figured out the real aircraft carrier that was used for the painting, but the real aircraft carrier isnt the one in the game. At least thats what I get from what he said.

 

[Brother None]

Also noted MSFD said "Mullins made these pictures for us before Oblivion shipped."

More:

Wow, I am amazed people are looking at these images so closely. At some point Bethesda may release better versions? These seem to be jpeg'd very heavily..

I would have to go back and look through what Bethesda sent me on this job, but as I remember most of the source materials on Stripmall were provided by Bethesda. I was not familiar with the Fallout universe and had trouble "getting it" at first. The capitol was painted on top of a 3-d block model.

This is commercial art, made to illustrate an idea. It is not fine art, nor is it an exposition on my abilities as delineator. Whether or not I could paint some of these objects from scratch is not relevant. What is relevant is it would take more time to do so, and that time could be spent toward the end goal of illustrating an idea or feeling.

The most difficult aspect of repainting from a different angle is the complexity of these objects and scenes. There is a LOT of stuff in there. Constructing them in perspective is very time consuming. The majority of these images are constructed, however.

I prefer not to use photos like this, but I solve the clients problem faster, easier, and cheaper this way. The current method of working in concept/digital mattes is 3-d/photo composites with varying amounts of paint. It has been trending this way for the past few years, and it is very obvious when this technique is used, for better or worse. There is no intent to deceive or misrepresent. If this lessens your respect for work done this way, I completely understand and partially agree. But if I don't use these powerful tools, I will be at a competitive disadvantage in the marketplace. I do ask clients if they would allow a more "painted" look and the answer is almost always no. Maybe if I was a better painter the answer would be different.

Given the purpose of concept art there is little reason to reconstruct things that already exist, other than my (or a minority of others) preference, or an artistic machismo. This makes things more expensive for all involved. The time saved can be put into areas that do have to be constructed, which is the great majority most of the time.

 

[Lord Chambers]

I hope people who complained the capital image wasn't true to Fallout feel stupid.

 

[Brother None]

I hope people who complained the capital image wasn't true to Fallout feel stupid.

...because Bethesda has free license to release bad Fallout art as "teasers" for their game?

Don't forget Matt Grandstaff did note the capitol hill pic "tells a little about the setting"

 

[Spazmo]

This is what happens when something as trivial as a piece of concept art gets overanalyzed. Credit is due to Mr. Mullins for a nice piece of art, but it's still too early to flip out over anything. The only really bad thing we've heard so far about Fallout 3 is the music from the teaser page (oh ho ho "heard" indeed), and that's to be expected when you're dealing with Jeremy Soule.

 

[Spectacle]

Bethesda could easily fix the problem of people overanalyzing the concept art by releasing some real info about Fallout 3. Then the fans would have no more reason to speculate.

Unfortunately, I believe they are going in the opposite direction, and the "teaser" will also be devoid of actual facts. Naturally, it will also be overanalyzed.

All the evidence points towards Bethesda actualy wanting things this way. Of course, they are a private company and are free to do their marketing however they like, but it rings a bit hollow when they complain about the consequences.

 

[Mayday]

See, it's exactly what I've told you.

 

[Excrément]

there si the hype and the anti-hype hype.
that's what the ESF and the Codex are mostly about : marketing tools 2.0 for young lobotomized bored people.

 

[Mayday]

that's what the ESF and the Codex are: marketing tools 2.0 for young lobotomized bored people.

 

[mathboy]

that's what the ESF and the Codex are: marketing tools 2.0 for young lobotomized bored people.

 

[Excrément]

that's what the ESF and the Codex are: marketing tools 2.0 for young lobotomized bored people.

 

[M0RBUS]

that's what the ESF and the Codex are: marketing tools 2.0 for young lobotomized bored people.

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

that's what the ESF and the Codex are mostly about : marketing tools 2.0 for young lobotomized bored people.

So that would make you our target audience.