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Graphics Software Entertainment Games

Oddworld Announces Artbook Retrospective 42

Posted by simoniker from the no-word-on-money-hats dept.
mibus writes "Oddworld Inhabitants (makers of 'Abe's Oddysee' and the other games in the Oddworld series) and Ballistic Publishing (makers of the EXPOSE' series of CG art books) have announced a joint deal to publish a book with a compilation of Oddworld's artwork, collected over the last ten years. The book is expected to land in Fall 2004." Although Western-developer artbooks seem few and far between, what game title/series would you like to see artbooks for?
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Oddworld Announces Artbook Retrospective More

Oddworld Announces Artbook Retrospective

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  • Halo. (Score:2, Interesting)

    by iocat ( 572367 )
    Halo. I would like to see an art book for Halo. Actually a full Bungie retrospective would be cool.

    Actually, EA too, especially the Apple II days.

  • Morrowind (Score:2, Insightful)

    by irby ( 780146 )
    I think Morrowind would be a good subject for an artbook, if there isn't one already.

  • Darkwatch (Score:5, Interesting)

    by The Importance of ( 529734 ) * on Saturday June 12, 2004 @07:52PM (#9409731) Homepage
    Darkwatch [darkwatch.com] from Sammy Studios [sammystudios.com]. It isn't out yet, but the artwork that has been released is mucho cool. Given the rich background of the storyline, as well as the fact that many of the designers are also ex-Oddworld designers, I think it would make a great book. I wouldn't mind a roleplaying (aka GURPS Myth, GURPS Alpha Centauri, d20 Diablo, d20 Warcraft) version either.
    • its not quite the same as darkwatch, but its a similar theme: they put out a few GURPS books traslating the Deadlands setting to the GURPS rules. its perhaps one of my more favorite settings, because its western, with all the undead/lurking evil type stuff.... and the magic system using playing cards is just one of the cooler ideas.
  • An interesting read for those who admire the series

    Doc [gdconf.com]
    Google's html version [66.102.9.104]
  • Does anyone happen to know where one could obtain the original concept art? I would love to have something like this [bungie.net] to spice up my drab apartment.
    • "Does anyone happen to know where one could obtain the original concept art? I would love to have something like this to spice up my drab apartment."

      I can't help you there, but go see http://www.cgtalk.com. VERY talented professionals there doing 2D and 3D art. It's all posted in the forums. Here's [cgtalk.com] something I made to give you an idea of what the work-in-progress pieces are like. I wouldn't say I'm exactly at the top of the talent pool here, either. You'll see what I mean. [cgtalk.com]
      • Thankfully we've all heard of deviantart.com (sorry, I have no clue how to post urls at this point in time.), another amazing resource for art.

        By the way, that second picture is fscking amazing.
    • Does anyone happen to know where one could obtain the original concept art? I would love to have something like this [bungie.net] to spice up my drab apartment.

      Concept art hardly ever leaves the developers, and Bungee's art department is going to need all of the concept art that they have for Halo 2 and / or 3. Unless they go under, I seriously doubt original copies of the concept art will ever go outside of the developer. It's probably hanging on a wall of Bungee art department right now.

      You could try

  • I'd like to see a series of simple, clean art based on the early sprites of video games. Something that captures the essence of the pixel layout in a high quality glossy print suitable for framing. Most sprites would probably look nice on a solid black background. Something in a vein similar to the Absolut Vodka ads. Not funny, but a series of pieces that could be framed and hung as a grouping.

    Now that I think about it, I guess I could do this on my own. I wonder if such imagery is considered public domai

    • I wonder if such imagery is considered public domain yet?

      Not for another 70 or 80 years. But if you do not sell the image but just hang them on your own walls you are probably covered under fair use.

      Just get used to it: you will _never_ see anything that you care about go into the public domain.

    • That's such a cool idea! I'm thinking, maybe use a NES emulator to generate a low-res Mario 3 screenshot, enlarge it so it's heavily pixelated, print on Gloss at 30"! That would look amazing!

      (Cheers for the idea!)

  • No further explanation needed.

    Rob
  • Well I have to admit, I'm STUNNED to see this story posted on Slashdot. Are a lot of you interested in concept/3d work?

    I ask because I'm a 3D artist, and every month I have new stuff from concept to finished 3D added to my portfolio. One day, I'll have enough for a book if I decide to go that route. Have a peek here [cgtalk.com], here [cgtalk.com], and here [cgtalk.com]

    So I have to ask, is this the type of thing some of you would buy? If so, besides pretty pictures, what would you want out of it? Anything? Lots of text explaining in g
    • Perhaps some notes about what you were thinking whilst you were drafting . Spur of the moment type, a bit raw. Not something that you go back and pen in the next day.
    • It depends on the games on which you work. That is: your art may be great, but if the game is nothing special for me, I'm not likely to get the book. Also, structures and devices don't mean much to me, it has to have -character- design!

      Me, I'd like to get a Sega art book - because I love their games, and they have some awesome character design.

    • Not just games... (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Cyno01 ( 573917 )
      I have several of the Star Wars artbooks, and Ralph McQuarrie's original paintings are amazing. So yeah, stuff like that is pretty big among the geek set.
    • To answer your question, I think gamers would want to buy artbooks from games they've enjoyed. You know, kinda like buying the soundtrack to a movie. They aren't inclined to buy artbooks generally, and perhaps not even that often for popular games (I am bereft of sales figures).

      Regardless, one should only consider publishing an artbook if:
      A) The game (or series) is popular.
      B) The art is good, and you have drafts from multiple stages.
      C) The book in question is laid out nicely. I can't emphasize this enou
  • PacMan. I would love to see the original conceptual art for everybody's favorite pill-poppin' yellow circle. I'm talking the hardcore, underground PacMan, before he blew up and grew legs and stuff. ;-)
  • To answer the question directally - I think that All the Blizzard games, the Hitman Series, and Deus Ex (the Original) would all make fantastic books - only if in large format and high def. The concepts should be there too, and re-render some of the stuff with high end machines.

    On a different note - Interesting thought: Why is Publishing so difficult? What is the Good reason why a community of devoted followers, say slashdot, can't get together and do something like publishing? Copyright and Licensing asi

  • I think a well done book of various screens shots from modern games would do well. I have collected some funny and interesting screen shots from Enemy Territory and UT2K4 [digitalwreckage.com].

    I think a book of screen shots like this from a broad spectrum of games would do well.
  • Sorry for the pun. I was never a fan of the games (a little slow for my liking) but the art was always top notch. I would gladly flip through this book while at my local Indigo and ooh and aah every picture. Heck, if there's enough info in there, I might even buy it.

    But that brings up an interesting issue: this work has already brought a profit to the development staff, and as a result, the people doing the concept art. Would it be fair to people who haven't been paid already for the content of a book
  • Myst, Riven, Uru, are all breathtaking games visually. Wouldn't mind having something nice and glossy in print on my coffee table.
  • While its incredibly unlikely that EA would ever do this, it would be wonderful to see a collection of Ultima illustrations and other historical bits. There's certainly a lot that the public has never seen firsthand and only heard about through 'anonymous sources'... the original plot of Serpent Isle, for example. I'd certainly buy such a book in an instant.
  • A artbook on the entire Final Fantasy series would be an excellent choice.
    • There's been a good number [yahoo.com] of these published. The best multiple-FF books I've seen are the three Final Fantasy Complete Works volumes. There's also numerous art books for individual installments, Yoshitaka Amano illustrations (check out Amano: The Complete Prints [animebooks.com]), etc.

      I agree that one single artbook on the entire series would kick-ass, but it would also be huge (not to mention prohibitively expensive).

  • A book containing illustrations done for the Crash, Jak, and Spyro games would be pretty cool...
  • Metroid Prime (which was developed by US-based Retro Studios, btw). It has some of the most detailed, lovingly crafted level design I've ever seen. The game actually has unlockable art galleries that you can get by scanning objects within the game (once you've reached, say, 50% of the items that can be scanned, you get a new gallery). It allows you to zoom and scroll nicely, but it would be even better if there was a printed artbook containing these images.
  • I just don't see how a flat, 2D, static book can possibly do game art justice.

    Someone in the thread mentioned the Myst series of games and I think that suggestion reflects exactly what's wrong with the idea of a game art book. The Myst titles have gorgeous artwork - but it's all pre-rendered, non-interactive, and essentially static. The folks working at Bungie, id, Blizzard, etc. have to be concerned about how fast their 3D models render on the average gamer's computer. Please note that little 3D part.

  • You could be the coolest abstract artist on the block by making huge pieces and turning them into furniture/conversation pieces/place where you go to cry. Or paint your walls as 1 giant tetris game. Every year add a new piece in.
  • I would buy an artbook about graphic adventures, because art was really important in those days. Also I had this HUGE Full Throttle poster in my room I had nagged out of an employee at a nearby game store, which was lost. The world is now a little greyer place... oh and maybe a Fallout series artbook?
  • ... Leather Goddesses of Phobos?

    No, really, it could be artistic. Really. ;)

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