The Artistic Technology Behind Video Games

I would by no means call myself a heavy gamer, however I do find myself hooked every now and then. I am a huge fan of a company named Naughty Dog. For those of you familiar with the company, you know that unlike a lot of developers, their games are very story driven–they play out almost like a movie. Perhaps it is that they haven’t released a game in a while, or maybe that they are currently working on one that looks absolutely incredible (Uncharted 4), but I found myself watching a few documentaries showcasing how the company works. Unsurprisingly, it is through a perfect marriage of the artistic and the technical.

Video games have come a long way, however with new next-gen systems recently released on the market, they are bound to make some major leaps in the next few years. For several years now, animated movies have been able to essentially mimic reality, in fact movie CGI is to the point where people can genuinely be fooled, however games are still not to that point. While movie animation studios have dedicated rendering farms–entire rooms filled with computers used to render scenes, games rely on everything being rendered in real time on the console. Basically speaking, the technology to make photo-real games is already available, it just depends on consoles that aren’t. However, as showcased in the video posted below, developers are finding work-arounds, and using a variety of programs to “cheat” there way to better graphics.

One thing I find especially neat about Naughty Dog, as is showcased in this video, is that artists, costume designers, scenic designers, actors, animators, and programmers all work together. It is mentioned several times in the video how closely together everybody works regardless of their job title, and it really makes for a cohesive and well polished end product. Every detail is accounted for, from the type of holster the character is wearing to how the main character’s chest hair will move in the wind–it is all well thought through and intentional. If you have a whole lot of time to kill, check out the video here, otherwise just check out the trailer below. It is certainly impressive!