l'arpenteur

Started up on my Arzak sculpt; going super lanky on this one. [shocker, I know.]  I got the base mesh and high-rez body here for viewing.  Really can't wait to get some armor on this dude, though. Scroll down a few weeks back for the concept.

 

 

dc dress-up

 

Kotaku's recent "flawless"cosplay gallery features Dance Central's own Dare; courtesy of MishiroMirage. Pretty sweet.

big in japan

Dance Central finally got around to launching in Japan last month, and with its release comes another round of press coverage. Emilia, Angel, and Miss Aubrey party down on the July issue of Famitsu's XBOX 360 Magazine. Dance Central scores an incredibly high "9/8/9/10", making it the best reviewed game of the month. Even a french maid gets in on the action.

In addition, I realized that I never posted links for the last two DC character sketchbook features from dancecentral.com. So here they are with some accompanying concept art and character renders below. [sketchbook #4 / sketchbook #5] I hope everyone enjoyed getting a behind the scenes look at the creation of the DC cast; if we're lucky maybe we can do something similar for the sequel.

métal hurlant

Between reading various comics, and nightly viewings of the HBO series "A Game of Thrones", I've had a little fantasy on the brain. Thinking about starting another sculpt soon; so I decided to draw up this concept of Moebius's Arzak. [some leatherwork and weapons might be fun]  I remained pretty faithful wardrobe wise, added some details and changed some of the clothing construction around, but that is pretty much it. Just wanted to get the mood of the character down first.  I'll probably start blocking something out over the next few weeks, but this is guaranteed to be a slow burner.  [click to enlarge]

you guessed it

We revealed Dance Central 2 last week at E3 2011; here is the announcement trailer and some additional screenshots highlighting both new and returning characters. I'll definitely be posting some artwork as we get closer to launch, but in the meantime click here to learn more about the new multiplayer features and Kinect functionality.

c'est bon

I was in Paris this past week on vacation and returned yesterday afternoon jet-lagged and broken from nearly 8 hours on the plane and an inflight viewing of "Skyline". However, I quickly perked up this morning as I unpacked my suitcase full of French comics and art books.  The city architecture was amazing, and the food was great of course, but the real highlight may have been all the sick comic shops [and even a vintage game store] that I came across on my day to day travels.

I picked up an issue of the French graffiti magazine "Blazing" for an extended train ride that my wife and I took. There is such a jaw dropping amount of graffiti in the outskirts of Paris, it would seem that 1 in 5 citizens was a writer!  Along the RER rails from the airport into the city, it just goes on for miles and miles. Lots of shitty stuff, but some really amazing pieces too.

I had to get some Moebius while I was in Paris, and apparently just last year he released a new Arzak book entitled "Arzak L'arpenteur"; which is kind of an origin story of his most famous character. His line work is incredible as always, though this time the pages are colored digitally.  This certainly gives the book a different look, but still very cool . I also just added a comparison image of his mid-90's "Panzer Dragoon" cover illustration, as there are undeniable parallels between his Panzer and Arzak works.  Not sure how widely known this is, but Moebius collaborated with Team Andromeda during the development of "Panzer Dragoon" and its sequel "Zwei".

Above a short comics compilation by French artist Enki Bilal entitled "Memoires D' Outre-Espace" and an art book featuring my favorite Italian artist Tanino Liberatore. [concepts, illustration work, early comics] I was pretty psyched to find this one because most of the work I hadn't seen before.

So I guess I'm late to the party on this one, but Hugo Pratt was [and still is] a huge deal in France.  His black and white work is gorgeous, and I'm really into his main character and comic, this badass sailor and adventurer "Corto Maltese". I picked up this new art book "Le Voyage Imaginaire d'Hugo Pratt" which is a collection of his work from various comics throughout the years; also a little postcard. As soon as I saw Corto on the shelf, I was instantly reminded of Jotaro from "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure". Anyone else think that Araki was possibly influenced by Pratt's character? Loads of similarities, not just in his dress, but also his vibe and attitude.

Finally, I got my hands on a copy of the Tekkonkinkreet "White Side" hardcover art book which features all the background matte paintings from the animated movie. Legendary stuff in here.  I was cursing the weak US dollar all the way on this bad boy, but well worth the money. Now to track down it's companion, "Black Side", which features all of the character design.

road to the final victory

The Polycount Brawl competition has come to a close after an exhausting 7 weeks. Putting in 10 hour days at the office and then working literally every minute of my free time [nights and weekends] on this thing has been incredibly taxing. I've posted my final renders, construction shots, and textures below, and thanks to my wife Julia for supporting me during this whirlwind ride.

Public voting starts next week, wish me luck.

again...legendary men...return!

With Dominance War V being a little too disorganized for my tastes this year; I've decided to jump ship and participate in a different [yet even more up my alley] competition: Polycount.com's "BRAWL". Here is a little excerpt from the brief...

"BRAWL is a 3D Character and Environment Contest where you as artists are required to choose a FIGHTER or a STAGE from a fighting game of your choice (think Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Guilty Gear, Tekken, etc) and you are required to re-imagine your selected FIGHTER or STAGE. What does this mean exactly? Well, imagine if Street Fighter was based on the Wild West. What would the characters and environments look like? What if Mortal Kombat was set in a Victorian Steampunk setting? The possibilities are only limited to your imagination."

 

I've posted some work in progress of my character entry, a mid-40's Terry Bogard who has joined the local builders union. [above, the 3D sculpt in it's early stages, and below my 2D concept] The BRAWL ends May 6th. I'll keep you posted as things progress; it's going to get HECTIC.

doesn't get killed or betray the player

Destructoid's Ashly Burch gives a hilarious mention to Dance Central's resident home girl, Taye, in her latest episode of "Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin'?". [In which she discusses the "best" videogame characters of 2010.]



In addition, the appropriately timed Sketchbook #3 featuring Taye & "DJ" Maccoy went up just yesterday.

twenty one UX

The "New Perly's Cove" is up and running; and just in time for the start of Dominance War V. [we are now less than one week away] I finally bit the bullet and threw down for the beautiful Cintiq 21UX. Using one in the office for the last several years has really spoiled me, [to the point of not wanting to draw without one] so here's to hoping I start drawing more stuff outside of work.

Speaking of work, the next installment of the Dance Central Sketchbook series is up. You can check it out here.

cut’n rugs: episode 1

The first part of a new "Dance Central Sketchbook" series launches today on dancecentral.com. It's a kind of loose interview format that takes a closer look at the art and inspiration behind the big personalities of the DC character cast.  Rough 'n tough Emilia, kicks-off the feature alongside the "King of Flash", Mo. So if you were ever curious about the details of Emilia's police record, or wondered what the hell Mo's blood type was, look no further. We've got more statistics than a G.I. JOE file card.

See below for related design images, and remember to stay tuned to the Dance Central official blog and Destructoid for future write-ups.

cover dude

I've got in my hands [hot of the presses] the January 2011 issue of "Game Developer Magazine" featuring a seven page postmortem on Dance Central. Main man Mo graces the cover with his trademark smile and charming good looks. The article is heavy on design and tech talk, but a few of my early character concepts make an appearance, along with a snippet of the original intro cinematic storyboard that I drew.

From "Game Developer Magazine":

"For the dev team, this was the perfect opportunity to break from the Rock Band paradigm and craft a new universe of characters and venues. We were confident that the controller-free, body tracking, and fully immersive capabilities of Kinect made it the right technology for our game. Further, the opportunity to work with choreographers and dancers on a daily basis injected a new energy into an experienced and seasoned team. However, like any team working on  a new IP, we made mistakes along the way, many of which were important learning experiences for us. The following is a selection of our most notable successes and missteps..."

For anyone interested in reading the entire article, a digital download will be available shortly at Game Developer Magazine's official site.