Gabby DaRienzo is a Toronto-based game artist and UI/UX designer whose raccoon racing game, Trackoons, will be appearing at TIFF digiPlaySpace this March. We chatted with DaRienzo about what it's like being a game artist.
SDTC: Can you give me a bit of background about yourself?
GD: I'm the co-founder and artist of Laundry Bear Games — a small, independent video games studio I founded with my partner. We're working on two game projects right now: Trackoons (which will be featured at TIFF digiPlaySpace in March–April) and an upcoming game Mortuary Simulator. When I'm not developing games for Laundry Bear, I work as a freelance game artist and UI/UX designer, working with independent game developers and studios on their video games.
I've always been interested in game art — it was my dream job as a kid, playing games like Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Tomb Raider, and The Sims — but I really got into game art, as well as user interface and user experience design (UI/UX), while I was studying graphic design in college. The intractability of video games makes it an especially good medium for storytelling, and designing the way a user navigates and interacts with games has always been particularly fascinating to me. There are so many stories told through video games that just do not work with any other type of medium for this reason.
Fun fact: I'm also very interested in how death is used in video games. I've written several articles about the subject, and I host and produce a podcast called Play Dead, where I talk with video game developers on how they're using death in their games.
Why raccoons for the racing game? Have you had personal run-ins with Toronto's enormous raccoon population?
My partner and I work out of Bento Miso — a collaborative workspace for independent video game developers in Trinity Bellwoods. There's this huge window in the space and we constantly see cats, skunks, and families of raccoons go by (we also see the white squirrel on a daily basis).
When our team was trying to think of animals to feature in our game — which we had already decided would take place in Toronto — raccoons felt like the obvious choice. They were also the inspiration for my and my partner's studio name and logo ("laundry bear" is the translation for the Swedish word for raccoon). Apparently raccoons are a big part of our life!
Can you walk us through your process in designing a game like Trackoons?
Trackoons was actually developed during a Dames Making Games game jam last spring. Game jams are events where you're challenged to make a game over a short period of time, usually a weekend or a week. The loosely centre around a theme (they're also very low key, and a lot of fun to participate in!). The theme for this jam in particular was sports, so our goal was to develop something vaguely sporty in a short amount of time.
My partner had thought about this idea of making an uncooperative hurdles game where you can't jump over hurdles, only throw the person adjacent to you into them. We spent the weekend of the jam developing the game alongside our friends Maggie McLean (music), Robby Duguay (sound effects), Robert Peacock (programming), and Yuliya Boublikova (art). Because of time constraints, we had to make a lot of decisions regarding art and programming in order to get a proper prototype done by the end of the jam. For example, we decided it would be easier to develop the game with 3D art instead of 2D, so I spent the days working up to the jam teaching myself how to do 3D art.
After the jam weekend we were able to spend a bit more time adjusting the game: polishing the art, fixing any programming bugs, adding sound effects and music, etc. We were invited to show it off at DMG's Arcade + Tournament during the Pan Am games, so we adjusted the game to work better in a party atmosphere. For example, the game was originally only playable with 4 players, but it wasn't all that challenging, so we bumped that up to 8. Instead of using 8 separate controllers though, we decided it'd be more uncooperative if you made the players share controllers — physically messing up their friends in real life while they mess them up in the game. These decisions made the game extra fun at parties and events like the Pan Am tournament, and the upcoming digiPlaySpace (where the game will use a custom 8-person arcade cabinet).
Is there anything about game artistry that would surprise most people?
People are always surprised when I tell them what my role is and how much programming and technical art I do. I think people have this idea that as a game artist you are strictly doing just art, but it's extremely important that a game artist is aware of how the game development pipeline works. If you have a bit of programming knowledge or are willing to learn, it makes it a lot easier to work with a developer and make your game truly look and act the way you want it to.
What has been the biggest challenge you've faced as a game artist?
The biggest challenge for me so far is trying to find time to work on personal projects. I'm very lucky in that I frequently receive offers to work on very cool game projects, and am constantly busy working on neat things, but often my personal work suffers for it. I'm actively trying to make time for my own projects, and making sure I prioritize it alongside client work.
What is the best part of being a game artist?
Technology changes constantly, and creating art for those technologies is a fun challenge. I made a virtual reality (VR) game for the first time in October, and creating the art for it was so different than everything I had ever done before. Being a game artist is never boring, is often rewarding, and I can't imagine myself doing anything else.
Catch Gabby and Trackoons at digiPlaySpace in the TIFF Bell Lightbox from March 5 to April 24.
Laundry Bear Games is a Toronto-based studio founded in 2015 by Andrew Carvalho and Gabby DaRienzo. They collaborated with Maggie McLean, Robby Duguay, Robert Peacock, and Yuliya Boublikova on Trackoons, and are currently working on various game projects. trackoons.com | @laundry_bear
The post Game Artist Gabby DaRienzo Dishes on Death & Raccoons appeared first on Shedoesthecity.
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Game Artist Gabby DaRienzo Dishes on Death & Raccoons http://ift.tt/1Y5mhJA shedoesthecity
Gabby DaRienzo is a Toronto-based game artist and UI/UX designer whose raccoon racing game, Trackoons, will be appearing at TIFF digiPlaySpace this March. We chatted with DaRienzo about what it's like being a game artist.
SDTC: Can you give me a bit of background about yourself?
GD: I'm the co-founder and artist of Laundry Bear Games — a small, independent video games studio I founded with my partner. We're working on two game projects right now: Trackoons (which will be featured at TIFF digiPlaySpace in March–April) and an upcoming game Mortuary Simulator. When I'm not developing games for Laundry Bear, I work as a freelance game artist and UI/UX designer, working with independent game developers and studios on their video games.
I've always been interested in game art — it was my dream job as a kid, playing games like Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Tomb Raider, and The Sims — but I really got into game art, as well as user interface and user experience design (UI/UX), while I was studying graphic design in college. The intractability of video games makes it an especially good medium for storytelling, and designing the way a user navigates and interacts with games has always been particularly fascinating to me. There are so many stories told through video games that just do not work with any other type of medium for this reason.
Fun fact: I'm also very interested in how death is used in video games. I've written several articles about the subject, and I host and produce a podcast called Play Dead, where I talk with video game developers on how they're using death in their games.
Why raccoons for the racing game? Have you had personal run-ins with Toronto's enormous raccoon population?
My partner and I work out of Bento Miso — a collaborative workspace for independent video game developers in Trinity Bellwoods. There's this huge window in the space and we constantly see cats, skunks, and families of raccoons go by (we also see the white squirrel on a daily basis).
When our team was trying to think of animals to feature in our game — which we had already decided would take place in Toronto — raccoons felt like the obvious choice. They were also the inspiration for my and my partner's studio name and logo ("laundry bear" is the translation for the Swedish word for raccoon). Apparently raccoons are a big part of our life!
Can you walk us through your process in designing a game like Trackoons?
Trackoons was actually developed during a Dames Making Games game jam last spring. Game jams are events where you're challenged to make a game over a short period of time, usually a weekend or a week. The loosely centre around a theme (they're also very low key, and a lot of fun to participate in!). The theme for this jam in particular was sports, so our goal was to develop something vaguely sporty in a short amount of time.
My partner had thought about this idea of making an uncooperative hurdles game where you can't jump over hurdles, only throw the person adjacent to you into them. We spent the weekend of the jam developing the game alongside our friends Maggie McLean (music), Robby Duguay (sound effects), Robert Peacock (programming), and Yuliya Boublikova (art). Because of time constraints, we had to make a lot of decisions regarding art and programming in order to get a proper prototype done by the end of the jam. For example, we decided it would be easier to develop the game with 3D art instead of 2D, so I spent the days working up to the jam teaching myself how to do 3D art.
After the jam weekend we were able to spend a bit more time adjusting the game: polishing the art, fixing any programming bugs, adding sound effects and music, etc. We were invited to show it off at DMG's Arcade + Tournament during the Pan Am games, so we adjusted the game to work better in a party atmosphere. For example, the game was originally only playable with 4 players, but it wasn't all that challenging, so we bumped that up to 8. Instead of using 8 separate controllers though, we decided it'd be more uncooperative if you made the players share controllers — physically messing up their friends in real life while they mess them up in the game. These decisions made the game extra fun at parties and events like the Pan Am tournament, and the upcoming digiPlaySpace (where the game will use a custom 8-person arcade cabinet).
Is there anything about game artistry that would surprise most people?
People are always surprised when I tell them what my role is and how much programming and technical art I do. I think people have this idea that as a game artist you are strictly doing just art, but it's extremely important that a game artist is aware of how the game development pipeline works. If you have a bit of programming knowledge or are willing to learn, it makes it a lot easier to work with a developer and make your game truly look and act the way you want it to.
What has been the biggest challenge you've faced as a game artist?
The biggest challenge for me so far is trying to find time to work on personal projects. I'm very lucky in that I frequently receive offers to work on very cool game projects, and am constantly busy working on neat things, but often my personal work suffers for it. I'm actively trying to make time for my own projects, and making sure I prioritize it alongside client work.
What is the best part of being a game artist?
Technology changes constantly, and creating art for those technologies is a fun challenge. I made a virtual reality (VR) game for the first time in October, and creating the art for it was so different than everything I had ever done before. Being a game artist is never boring, is often rewarding, and I can't imagine myself doing anything else.
Catch Gabby and Trackoons at digiPlaySpace in the TIFF Bell Lightbox from March 5 to April 24.
Laundry Bear Games is a Toronto-based studio founded in 2015 by Andrew Carvalho and Gabby DaRienzo. They collaborated with Maggie McLean, Robby Duguay, Robert Peacock, and Yuliya Boublikova on Trackoons, and are currently working on various game projects. trackoons.com | @laundry_bear
The post Game Artist Gabby DaRienzo Dishes on Death & Raccoons appeared first on Shedoesthecity.