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Posted on Tuesday, February 21st, 2012 by Malin
This week was the week I was finally going to present my game to the CEO of the company.
Me and my concept artist worked hard, and I must be honest; a little bit of arguments ensued. These turned out to be more like discussions however, and it was one of the most professional and opinion-accepting argument I’ve ever had with someone while working on a project.
The argument at hand was as in most cases, about time. I could not afford having him rendering one image to perfection with different light sources and what-not when I needed 3 more of them for the presentation, but I completely understood why he needed to. It’s his work and he wants to be proud of it, especially if it’s being presented to the CEO! In the end we both made compromises, and I’ve never felt as okay and guilt-ridden after an argument has ended as I did then.
It was a good one, and I realize now more than ever that it is very important to have an open dialogue with your co-workers if you disagree on something. What most people forget is that the respect has to be there though and this time it really was, making it to a perfect discussion without hurt feelings or name-calling.
(There’s lots of crap that can happen if the respect isn’t there, and I bet most of you know exactly what I’m talking about. Thank god for failed game projects during college! You truly learn how to handle and love a “good” disagreement.)
Speaking of the CEO however, he unluckily did not have the time. Nevertheless, I got to present it to the Lead Programmer of the company and the Lead Game Designer. They were kind enough to offer feedback from the presentation, and some time next week I am hoping to present to the CEO as well.
While waiting a guy came up with an idea and asked me if I thought it was possible. I got intrigued, and asked if I could write a few stories with his limitations in mind, and set off to work. Two scribbled stories later, I think I am on to something, but not really satisfied with the stories. I might write a third one. Hmmm!
Posted on Tuesday, February 21st, 2012 by Malin
Some times things don’t really go your way. This is definitely true when it comes to the game industry. Things always change; sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.
What you need to do is to move on, and keep looking forward.
Due to time management, I was not able to write dialogue for a game I thought I could. This sucks, as the most fun with writing character sheets is to put them into good use, but as the game is in German and translating my dialogue from English into German takes a lot of time, I understand completely.
For an artist, I guess it might be as being given a thumbnail, then put line-art to it, and a bit of color. You’re just about to render it with shadows and highlights and alter it a bit, but your program only saves in a file that can’t be used and converting it on another computer would take too much time.
However, I am still thinking of different scenarios for the characters as well as character sheets. One of the most interesting ones made me research Kleptomania and strive against making him the stereotypical character I saw in my mind, since it was so apparent. It was hard, and I hated him at first. However, I worked hard, and was happy with the result in the end. He can stand alone and isn’t confused with other people that are just like him.
Challenge time!
Want to do what I did? Imagine an elf, dwarf, computer… And make them into something original. I know you see a happy, harp-playing elf in your mind, or another Legolas, so how can you change it into something else?
Think of all the stereotypes you know, write them up, take bits and pieces you like, and then either alter them… Or create something that is the exact opposite.
A few of my favorites of this is the dwarfs in Dragon Age: Origins that are scared of falling into the sky, or Marvin the Paranoid Android from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy that is more or less the opposite of happy-going C3PO from Star Wars.
In other news,
This week was an emotional roller coaster not only because of work, but because of the fact that I needed to find a new room to stay at. I sent many many many e-mails, often getting replies as “You sound like a great person, but I don’t speak English very well.” BUT, some of them were kinder. “I don’t speak English very well, BUT, you sound so nice, so let’s try! BTW, I love Sweden!”
I’ve had many discussions with a colleague that went to 3 appointments for a whole week to finally find one room. Only one out of them accepted him. He’s a guy, but he knows German. I’m a girl from Sweden, but I don’t know German.
I think it was the Sweden part that made me win, otherwise we would have been on the same playing field. Thank you, heritage. Thank you, gender parts.
It really felt like job interviews. Very tiring. All of them had people I could see myself living with, but the rent in most of them made my economical heart cry. I decided to go with the cheapest one; not only because of the rent but also because I could really see myself living there. I was a bit early so I walked around in the neighborhood, and it felt good. So did the room mates; two guys who probably knew more English than I did! Their accent was excellent American, and after saying I wanted to learn German they even offered to put notes on all of the kitchen’s supplies, saying “You’ll learn German in no time!” SO CUTE.
One of them even listened to Tool. I mean come on, that has too be a good reason if anything! *wink*
Posted on Thursday, February 9th, 2012 by Malin
You know when your project comes to a halt; everything is planned, everything is written, but you’re stuck thanks to the fact that you’ve done everything you can at your end? That was pretty much me this week. I felt useless and a bit annoyed. There was nothing I could do to push it forward, I just had to sit and wait while others did their work.
And that is the way of a Narrative/Game Designer. In the beginning and the end of a project there is lots to do, but in the middle all you can do is wait.
WELL I don’t like waiting as I hate feeling useless. Instead, I got in contact with a guy at the company and asked him if I could help him out with writing things, and he gave me a shot. I was to create a relationship between two very different people that sell very different things in the same store for his game. FUN. I ended up writing 4 filled A4 pages excluding scribbles and notes I had on a paper, and searching for names.
Thanks to the sketches of the characters that already existed along with knowing some of the scenarios the characters would be put in, it was very easy to get into a mindset and just pump out text.
It does need revision however – first drafts are always a bit “over the place”.
What I do when it comes to characters is this:
There’s probably more I don’t consciously think about, but if I do, I’ll give an update.
Posted on Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 by Malin
This week I did an artifact list – this means writing down what’s going to be on every screen; every sound, every animation, every image. I had forgotten what a pain in the ass it is to make one of these; and this one is only for a short story. Think of an epic RPG that takes weeks to finish. OH MY GOD. -head explosion-
After that I wrote and designed a Powerpoint for the pitch I am to be making to the CEO (if I forgot to mention it, my project isn’t green lit yet) though all images were made in Photoshop first as the company’s equivalent of PowerPoint isn’t really that great.
My concept artist was very busy this week, so I did a priority list for him so that he knew what to do once he had the time – most of it being images I needed in order to finish my presentation. My top priority was for him to draw a strap differently on one of the characters as it was too sexy (even though it looks gorgeous if it were to be a pinup picture!) Others were just more thumbnails for all pages.
We also got down a concept and a sketch of the Grandmother of the story this week, and she is looking beauuuuutiful!
Posted on Friday, January 20th, 2012 by Malin
This week I had a meeting with the Lead(?) Programmer for the first “game” that has the same structure as my “game” has. He wrote me an English “Lessons Learned” paper for reference, which was very kind. After that meeting I decided to have the same GUI for my game, as it is kind of a part of the first one and all the others. It only makes sense since those who might want to buy all games will be invited with a familiarity they trust and understand. (And the risk for the project lessens even more; the programmers don’t need to change as much.)
I have also tried keeping my interactions as familiar as possible to the first game but with a few twists, of course. Risk even more lessened!
More importantly I have started planning the project and calculating the assets needed. Backgrounds were planned to be re-used on many occasions (risk: people “playing” might get bored if they actually notice the repetitions), but in order to see how many images of characters/animations could be re-used I needed to know all the frames’ composition. I drew stick figure-mockups of the scenes, but I also wanted to know how much of the text would actually fit on each page, and I realized I didn’t want to composite every background; I know the concept artists are better at that and I trust them completely.
The text needed another revise as one question arose from a few people who had read it. “Why does this character react the way it does?” Questions left unanswered after finishing a story is never good! I decided to cut one page that in reality wasn’t needed. I deleted a background in the process, and gave the page for an already-made background together text with character development for the character in question. The beginning and ending were also modified, and the story is more solid now.
Bye, bye, playground! Bye, bye, children!
I have two days a week to make use of one concept artist so this week I asked him to make thumbnails for the 20 pages of my story. This is so my own work-flow would go on without having to wait for him. I sat beside him telling him what I wanted in the picture and poked him when he was getting too detailed. A few pages I didn’t exactly know what I wanted in them, but while watching him draw I got some ideas. Great experience!
Next week I am hoping to be completely done with the thumbnails and planning all the assets. Maybe even have a concept of my favorite character: The Grandmother.
Fingers crossed!
Posted on Friday, January 13th, 2012 by Malin
This week I was scheduled to have meetings for 2 days with a concept designer that was borrowed from another project, but I was lucky enough to get him for 3! In these meetings I brought up a Character Sheet with description of the characters, what was important in their look for the story, along with reference pictures of how the feeling of the character was to be. 2 characters were created to set the tone and style for the game; one being the main character. The other was free of choice, and I had a hard time deciding between a very whimsical and hilarious old guy, and a beautiful “damsel-in-distress”-type female. Needless to say, the young beautiful woman was created. I wish I could show the images, but I am not sure I am allowed, so… better safe than sorry!
I made what hopefully is a great ending and beginning and for a short while even tried writing the story with rhyming parts. I didn’t like it and went back to the main idea: a beginning, a middle, and an ending. It needed to be something to first peak your curiosity and drag you into a world that you can portray as believable, and then leave you satisfied once it’s over. To understand this I had some discussions with intelligent people, read a book about writing fairy tales on a website where anyone can publish their PDF’s (which means the book itself was self-published and was… so-so) and also read fairy tales that already existed.
After that hard part was over another came along; while slicing up the text into iPad pages I realized I had nothing less than 26 of them instead of 15-20. I tried to ignore this fact, but after researching other iPad storybooks I realized how I got bored out of my mind to flip page after page after page… I had to face the fact; cut down the story as much as possible, even if it is heartbreaking.
“But what about all my pretty sentences!!!”, I winced. Well, they don’t even matter if your reader is too bored out of his/her mind to even turn the page. “Ohhh you’re right, brain…” Yes, I know.
All my pretty dialogue was to be summarized and shortened, but some other time I would love to create a tale that is nothing but pretty sentences; to see just how much you can tell with imagery and how little you can tell with text. A little bit of artsy-fartsy stuff has never hurt anyone, right?
In the end I merged and compressed 3 pages while the other 3 pages was to be an optional feature. All of them feature 1 or 2 sentences being said about how awesome the main character is with a very specific image. It’s nice and you understand the character’s decision easier if you read them, but the story can be understood without them. You just need to read between the lines a little.
It might just be my stubbornness, but I refuse to delete them completely. With a little bit of game design I am hoping people will want to read them instead of being forced, and that’s always good.
Other than that I created a small PowerPoint presentation for those who do not have the time to read the whole story, and also went on the hunt for music that fit the story along with a theme tune for each character.
This is the song that fits the damsel-in-distress; a Nymph who I wanted to look like something Alphonse Mucha would have done:
Next week I’ll be meeting with my project manager and am hoping this game will be starting real production! Fingers crossed!
Posted on Saturday, January 7th, 2012 by Malin
This week has been amazing. I get to work from 9 am to 6 pm on something I love.
Writing.
^That could be this whole entry, but I’ll continue for more detail.
Monday morning a nice room mate went up early to show me how all the buses worked and how to get to the Game Studio, and showed me to the Human Resource Manager’s office. I had no idea what time I was starting, and as far as I know, I still haven’t been told. Most people get there at 9-10 and go home at 6-7, so I do the same.
I just have to say I am so lucky to have room mates that are willing to help and socialize with me. I even spent New Years Eve with one of them!
(First day I was going home alone from the Game Studio, and without thinking about it I went on the wrong bus. This is one of my greatest fears; not knowing where I am. Of course panic ensued as I went off it, trying to find my way to an U-bahn and localize how to get on the right one. I swallowed my tears as they tried to push their way out on multiple occasions, saying to myself “You have to get through this”. I think also started humming “every little thing is gonna be alright” to keep my cool. It was one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had. Forced into chaos, and then coming home realizing it all went okay.)
All the people I’ve met at the Game Studio are very welcoming, and very happy. The atmosphere is – to put it into one word – Friendly.
The first day was confusing to say the least, but after reaching out to people who walked past, and setting up some ground rules to my project, and receiving a project manager (who’s very kind and let’s me do what I want, but if I have some questions, he tries his best to find answers. So far, he’s found out most of them!), it all started falling into place.
What I’ve also found out is that it’s okay if I don’t understand the lingo at the office – in fact it helps my work. The German sentences people say to each other becomes white noise, but the happy tone the comments have still stay with me. When they’re going out to lunch they ask me if I want to join, and if they’re making tea they ask me if I want some, so I’m not left out at all. Yesterday our room made a salad. Team building in its truest form, while being healthy!
I am sitting in a room with a few animators, concept artists, game designers and one writer. The same writer that wrote the dialogue for A New Beginning in fact. He gave me feedback on my first draft. Dat’s kewl bro, amirite?
Needless to say, my first draft kinda sucked. It was cynical, there was no moral and it was just… Not Good. Without realizing it I made the young female character run away from an evil world together with a much older man she didn’t even know. Do you see anything wrong with that picture?
I was missing a lot to say the least, and so my whole week consisted of re-writing, re-writing, and re-writing. My main problems were these:
And boy, did I struggle! I had four or five drafts where I just couldn’t figure out an ending. All felt forced and not heart-warming at all. Asking for advice from my mentor, he told me amongst a lot of other things, to watch the Pixar movie Up!
I watched the intro. It was enough to make my heart tender and my eyes filled with tears.
Posted on Friday, December 30th, 2011 by Malin
As a part of my internship, my job is also to write about what I do. Now, I haven’t started yet, but I have just gotten settled in in my new room! Well, sorta. Still have to sort some things out.
I accidentally had Oreos for dinner, too. ANYHOW.
The vaccuum cleaner I borrowed was one of those fabulous old retro ones. Super-heavy, but so COOL. Not to sound like a silly little housewife (those who know me well know I’m nothing of the sort), but I’ve always dreamed of vacuuming with one of these!
Posted on Monday, December 26th, 2011 by Malin
Before I even went into the cinema I knew I was going to hate the american version of “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”. I had just seen the three Swedish films (long overdue, I know) – but since Americans did a splendid job of destroying “Let The Right One In” – this film couldn’t have done better.
I was wrong.
They did everything right.
But here comes the unfathomable error that I never saw coming.
Lisbeth Salander.
The wardrobe for this gorgeous creature was fantastic, as well as the actress herself. Everything is so aesthetically pleasing I just couldn’t find myself hating her, even though Noomi Rapace is a good Lisbeth.
However, her dragon tattoo compared to the Swedish version is… TINY.
This shows EXACTLY how different she is in the two versions. She’s not a flaming dragon here. She’s squeaking and tiny; a baby dragon.
The reason why I mention this in my blog is because I want to acknowledge how easy it is to fuck a character up if you’re not careful – not only through dialogue but also with the small things as appearance and make-up.
In the Swedish movie – Lisbeth doesn’t only cover her face with a thick fringe, but also covers her eyes with black soot – ALL the time. It is only after a few weeks with Mr. Blomkvist at the cabin that this starts to disappear, as if her layers are peeling off – even though she always manage to push him away as soon as he tries to get close.
The make-up is her shield*, but for the aesthetic value alone the American version chose to get our grungey alternative girl keep her black soot rubbed off – tiny hints of it still being underneath her eyes. They’ve even rouged her cheeks with a cute pink colour and cut off her heavy fringe and put up her hair in braids and other various cool hair do’s – showing off her pretty face.
It is indeed pretty. But it’s not Lisbeth.
This is Lisbeth, in all her glory:
And this is the only reason why I’ll always prefer the Swedish version, with all its flaws.
Noomi Rapace, I am sorry for doubting you.
…and another thing. Why would such a kickass hacker as her use Google?
*(Make-up is very present in the Swedish version’s third movie during the trial – every day Lisbeth walks in with a full costume; mohawk, black eyes and darkened, menacing eyebrows. Maybe to put the judge’s prejudice to the test, or in my opinion; to feel protected from those who mean her harm)
Posted on Sunday, November 6th, 2011 by Malin
Made two posters for two events at my university. Nothing too fancy. SO EXCITED about the Game Jam. Hopefully I’ll be able to attend!
Click for a bigger view!
