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We've been hearing a lot about this RPG for quite a while now, and we
know that visual designs play an important role in helping a game in the
genre attain the whole fantastical "Je ne sais quoi".
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Morrowind Art Designers
Interview
Questions
answered by Matt Carofano, Lead Artist
Armchair
Empire (AE): What kind of research was done before you start compiling
preliminary sketches?
Matt Carofano (MC): An overall look was established early in the
production of Morrowind. Since then any art work that has been
created must match in style to the initial design. Generally we
get an idea for something that needs to be created then look up real
world examples for references. As for creatures and some of the
more unusual designs, they are a combination of fantasy inspirations and
the creativity of the artists.
AE: Do you have much freedom to create what you want or is there an
overseer that rejects designs as, "Not fitting in?"
MC: As lead
artist I will decide if certain artwork doesn't match with the look of
the game. We do allow a lot of freedom with each artist to create
his or her own work. Each artist has introduced entire styles of
art to the game. The trick is to allow this freedom and still keep a
unified look.
AE: How did you get involved with Morrowind?
MC: I was a big fan of the previous Elder Scrolls games and was really
excited about working to create Morrowind. Todd liked my previous work
and thought I had the right art skills to help make the kind of game
Morrowind needed to be.
AE: Are there areas in Morrowind that will make gamers pause and just
look at the view?
MC: I hope that every area will make the gamers pause for a minute or
two, at least the first time they come across them. We have worked
really hard to make this game visually amazing. Whether the gamer
stops to admire the sunset, look out across a large city, or squint to
see through the darkness of a cavern, they will have a nice view.
AE: Did you have any input into other aspects of Morrowind?
MC: One of the great things about working on this project is that
everyone has the ability to give their input into other areas of the
game. I've been able to critique anything from game design to
sound. Everyone here is really interested in creating the best
game we can and values the opinions of the rest of the team.
AE: Everyone who reads or plays fantasy have notions about how
certain mythical creatures are supposed to look. Is it difficult
to walk the line between making the creatures your own and making them
recognizable?
MC: With Morrowind we have been conscious of making a game that is
artistically
different from other role-playing games but still recognizable. We
have some really unusual creatures like the corprus monsters, diseased
creatures with horrible fleshy mutations, and then some more typical
fantasy creatures like skeletons. The combination of the more
fantastic creatures with some more recognizable creatures creates a nice
balance and keeps the look of the game from becoming too strange.
AE: A lot of games today emphasize "jaw-dropping" graphics
that turn the game into a jittery slideshow. Have you put any
effort into avoiding this
problem for Morrowind? Or is that someone else's problem?
MC: We have had to create a balance between the artistic design and how
it will
function in the game. We want to push our design to look as best
as it can while still being playable. It is an aspect of the game
where effort is given from both the artists and programmers to get the
best result.
AE: How much play testing have you done? What can you say about
the gameplay?
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MC: At this point in the development the artwork is finished and aside
from a few minor corrections all the artists are devoted to play
testing. As for game play, Morrowind is incredibly fun. I
have been really impressed with the complexity of the quests and the
huge amount of them. There is so much to do it the game that I
don't know if I will be able to see it all.
AE: How much does audio (music, sound effects, etc.) complement the
visual experience?
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MC: I think the two will compliment each other very nicely. Before
writing the music, Jeremy
Soule - the musician who is doing the soundtrack for Morrowind -
played the game and checked out all the different parts of the world.
So, he's created the music for Morrowind having experienced all of the
things you will be looking at while hearing the music. As for FX and
voices, much like the art we've created, it was all done with one goal
in mind: making this game look and feel as real as possible. You're not
sitting at your desk or on your couch; you're actually in this world
doing this stuff.
AE: Has the Morrowind development team gelled as a group? Does
everyone see the goal and work toward it or are there some hot doggers
that don't think they need to work?
MC: I think everyone realizes that in order to make this game the way we
would
like it requires an enormous effort. If they didn't have the
desire to make this game great than I don't think they would be here.
AE: How important is a large color palette to creating a believable
world? (I remember CGA graphics that had my head spinning!)
MC: For Morrowind we really tried push what we could do graphically.
We decided early on to put a large focus into how good we could make the
game look. Gamers expect a lot more visually than they used to. Now CGA
graphics are more likely to make your stomach spin rather than your
head.
Thanks for your
time Matt! :)
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