The Art of SketchUp - part 1: Fantasy

[pilou]

Modern and fantasy style!

[solo]

Ken,you live my dream life, what I'd give for this gig.

Awesome work as always. My kids are so excited about the new Sim City, release date in May right?

[pilou]

@unknownuser said:

release date in May right?

Seems from Ken

@unknownuser said:

It is coming out on March 5th.

[ken28875]

@unknownuser said:

Modern and fantasy style!

LOL....yeah well, it's either in the Fantasy thread or my other Sci-Fi thread.

@solo said:

Ken,you live my dream life, what I'd give for this gig.
Awesome work as always. My kids are so excited about the new Sim City, release date in May right?

Thanks, Pete. I really appreciate your kind words. It is quite a compliment coming from a talented artist like you.

Simcity 5 is coming March 5! http://www.simcity.com/

Here are a few more screenshots from the game and some corresponding concepts.
Good day to you all!

_KN

Sketchup for Sci-Fi Art:
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=27030
My interview with Sketchupartists.org :
http://www.sketchupartists.org/spotlight/artists/sketchup-art-in-the-online-game-industry/

[solo]

I see Simcity 5 finally released, what a disaster (not your graphics) the always online issue and the sucky servers.

EA games are shooting themselves in the foot, claiming that online play prevents piracy is just stupid as it restricts game play experience for those that buy legitimately.

What i do not get is why not just rent the damn thing then, why spend $60 for something you do not really own as 4-5 years time when the servers slow down they just axe the game to use the servers for a new title meaning your purchase is now invalid and you can no longer play the game.I still play games like C&C generals (10 years old) when I'm in the mood, heck I even play Simcity 4 (10 years old) but this will not be possible with Simcity 5.

Simcity has always been a single-player game, why change this?

I see Amazon suspended sales this weekend due to bad reviews and server issues on EA's end.

Another thing, why such small cities? 5 miles is the biggest size 1/10th the size of previous versions, this should be called Simtown.

[ken28875]

Hi Pete,

I apologize for the late reply. I am always busy like crazy and somehow can't find time to catch up with all my emails and replying to everyone. Although I do read people's posts regularly, it might take days for me to be able to reply.

I am sorry to hear about your bad experience with Simcity.

Some of your questions are mostly about the design, and being in the art team, I don't know much about why it is now a multi-player game instead of single-player game, or why the biggest size is 5 miles.

Actually, the past few years have seen the boom of online games (MMO) as well as Facebook games. Maybe that's why Simcity follows the trend.

As for as the server problem, one of my friends from EA/Maxis wrote to me:
*We knew server stability would be extremely important since playing the game requires you to be online, but the exact opposite happened… First there was an issue with Origin and people not being able to download the game, then the server load issues hit and lots of people couldn’t play the game for several days. The online and server teams worked feverishly last week to try to solve the problems. They added more servers towards the end of the week to handle the traffic, but by then, the internet was totally fired up about our botched launch. Amazon stopped selling our game for a time because there were so many irate people who’d bought the game and couldn’t play and wanted refunds. Words I’ve heard from gamer friends and reviewers alike characterize our launch as the “Worst Launch Ever.”

Anyway, server situation aside ( I believe it’s better now) most reviewers are really liking the game (once they can play). Hopefully this will blow over and people will see the game for what it is, rather than what the launch has been. On the bright side, I haven’t read a review yet that has mentioned anything negative about the art- all seem to praise it.*

For more information, you can read the article in Gamasutra (that's where I get all the industry news):
Opinion: SimCity launch debacle comes down to mismanaged expectations
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/188575/Opinion_SimCity_launch_debacle_comes_down_to_mismanaged_expectations.php#.UUNECxyTiKU

Latest news:

‘SimCity’: Big sales numbers despite online backlash
http://herocomplex.latimes.com/games/simcity-big-sales-numbers-despite-online-backlash/

Your Complete Guide To The SimCity Disaster
http://kotaku.com/5991077/your-complete-guide-to-the-simcity-disaster

Maxis attempts to explain why SimCity is always-online as players discover code for 20-min offline force-shutdown timer
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-03-18-maxis-attempts-to-explain-why-simcity-is-always-online-as-players-discover-code-for-20-min-force-shutdown-timer-for-offline

Please be patient and try the game again and I am sure you will enjoy.

By the way, I just received my free copy from Maxis a few days ago. But I don't think I will have time to play.

Have a great week!

_KN

Sketchup for Sci-Fi Art:
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=27030
My interview with Sketchupartists.org :
http://www.sketchupartists.org/spotlight/artists/sketchup-art-in-the-online-game-industry/
My interview with Nomer:
http://sketchupvrayresources.blogspot.com/2012/05/q-and-with-our-featured-artist-ken.html

[ken28875]

Hi there,

I have been busy again working on a new game. I got this contract job last month.

I am working for Activision/Toys for Bob. For those of you who have kids or you play the game yourself, you probably heard about this big hit video called Skylanders. The company I am doing concepts for created Skylanders (http://www.skylanders.com/ ). I am now working on an unannounced game.

I got an email from the Art Driector telling me he was looking for an environment concept artist. After the first phone call interview, he told me he would get back to me as he was also talking to other candidates. Each night for almost a week after we talked, I worked on some personal concepts to show him what I can do. Knowing they created Skylanders, I did some concepts in the same style. The Art Director got back to me and asked me to come to the office. I thought it was for a second interview. But actually when I came to see him, he wanted me to work right away.

Here are the samples of concepts I sent him to convince him to hire me. All of these are Sketchup + Vray + Photoshop.

Take care,

_KN

My interview with Sketchupartists.org :
http://www.sketchupartists.org/spotlight/artists/sketchup-art-in-the-online-game-industry/
Sketchup for Sci-Fi Art:
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=27030
My interview with Nomer:
http://sketchupvrayresources.blogspot.com/2012/05/q-and-with-our-featured-artist-ken.html

[hellnbak]

He would have been a fool not to hire you.

Someday they're gonna have to do a study of your brain to see where all these amazing ideas come from. And then hopefully clone that portion and have it implanted in my poor little excuse for a brain.

[cotty]

Congratulations! I would hire you too if I were a company.

[ely862me]

You are a true artist, I love your imagination ! Keep it up !

[ken28875]

@hellnbak said:

He would have been a fool not to hire you.

Someday they're gonna have to do a study of your brain to see where all these amazing ideas come from. And then hopefully clone that portion and have it implanted in my poor little excuse for a brain.

Hi Mr. M. LOL, thanks for your comment. Yes, please do study my brain. I would also love to find out what's in there. I keep hearing voices in my head telling me to build crazy Sketchup models. The more fantastic, the better.

@cotty said:

Congratulations! I would hire you too if I were a company.

Thanks for your kind comment, Carsten.

@ely862me said:

You are a true artist, I love your imagination ! Keep it up !

Thank you, Elisei. Much appreciated.

Good day/evening/or night to you!

_KN

[pilou]

I suppose some are yours ?

[ken28875]

[quote="Pilou"]I suppose some are yours ?

Oui, oui. Some of them are mine. Do you play the game, Pilou?

@ Pete (Solo): in case you read this post, were you finally able to play and enjoy Simcity?

Good day to you.

_KN

[pbacot]

Love all of your work, Ken. I appreciate the artistry you used in using the Skylander style in various ways, so all the models carry the same graphic and fantasy world character! Then you are doing all the composition and coloring for a finished presentation-- all with the same feel.! Wow!

[pilou]

@unknownuser said:

Do you play the game, Pilou?

No Sorry, I had play the old versions in the past!

I prefer now more zen game!
10 minutes for learning rules, 9 lives for arrive to the nirvana!
(it's not me

[ken28875]

@pbacot said:

Love all of your work, Ken. I appreciate the artistry you used in using the Skylander style in various ways, so all the models carry the same graphic and fantasy world character! Then you are doing all the composition and coloring for a finished presentation-- all with the same feel.! Wow!

Thanks for your kind comment, Peter. Glad you like them. It really enjoyed working on them. Something whimsical and fun, kind of different form the realistic hardcore fantasy style I always do.

@unknownuser said:

I prefer now more zen game!

Interesting game. Maybe you should build that in Sketchup and render it.

Here are some older stuff from Rift.

This tree is huge, spanning hundreds of meters. You can actually walk inside the trunk to go from one side to the other.

Have a wonderful weekend!

_KN

Sketchup for Sci-Fi Art:
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=27030
My interview with Nomer:
http://sketchupvrayresources.blogspot.com/2012/05/q-and-with-our-featured-artist-ken.html
My interview with Sketchupartists.org :
http://www.sketchupartists.org/spotlight/artists/sketchup-art-in-the-online-game-industry/

[ken28875]

Hi guys,

I hope you had a great weekend.

Here's something different from the other conceptual sketchup models. Instead of doing detailed Sketchup models, I sometimes sketch on top of simple Sketchup models to add details that would take a long time to do in Sketchup.

Have a wonderful week!

_KN

Sketchup for Sci-Fi Art:
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=27030
My interview with Nomer:
http://sketchupvrayresources.blogspot.com/2012/05/q-and-with-our-featured-artist-ken.html
My interview with Sketchupartists.org :
http://www.sketchupartists.org/spotlight/artists/sketchup-art-in-the-online-game-industry/

[pilou]

@unknownuser said:

add details that would take a long time to do in Sketchup.

But forms are yet massively present

[ken28875]

@unknownuser said:

But forms are yet massively present

Thanks for your comment, Pilou.

Here are some more sketches of fantasy architecture done for the MMO Rift.

As usual, they are sketched on top of Sketchup models.

Take care,

_KN

Sketchup for Sci-Fi Art:
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=27030
My interview with Nomer:
http://sketchupvrayresources.blogspot.com/2012/05/q-and-with-our-featured-artist-ken.html
My interview with Sketchupartists.org :
http://www.sketchupartists.org/spotlight/artists/sketchup-art-in-the-online-game-industry/

[hellnbak]

It's completely inconceivable to me that one person could churn out so many fantastic creations. You are like an amazing-idea factory, and in comparison I'm like a guy puttering in his garage.

WOW