This is Paul. In today’s blog post, I’d like to share my recent insights into what a Riot game artist entails. Riot’s headquarters in Los Angeles is also one of the game companies I’d really like to work for.
As a game artist at Riot, to quote Riot Art Director Lisa Thorn, “the game artist can be broken down with clarity, satisfaction, and style.” Starting with clarity, a game artist needs to convey what’s happening in the game, such as the main direction of the game, “who I am,” “what my goal is,” who are the enemies and who are the teammates, and so on. Clarity is about enabling players to digest a large amount of information in a short period of time.
Regarding “satisfaction,” to quote Riot Art Director Sean Coleman, “satisfaction is providing players with clear and responsive feedback.” For example, the button interactions in Cyberpunk 2077 feature a sci-fi UI design grid, and the interactions are also immediate.
In a competitive game, victory can feel joyful, while defeat can feel sad. For example, the feedback from defeating an opponent in Street Fighter 6.
Even simple actions like Mario’s jump in Super Mario Odyssey demonstrate how different game artists use different methods to create clear feedback and satisfaction for players.
Next, let’s discuss Riot Art Director Tyson Murphy’s statement that “different art styles determine the direction of a game,” which is the third point: “style.”
PUBG and Fortnite convey distinctly different messages through their art. PUBG emphasizes its tactical nature through realistic color palettes and characters, while Fortnite emphasizes a relaxed, social experience. Despite similar gameplay, these two games…
Riot’s game artists all control the overall art style and content of their games based on these three principles. I believe a company with such a comprehensive and excellent game art design system is something I aspire to work for.
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