Art Informed Game Design Framework

(2020-25)

When I first started graduate school, I was in the Department of Art, using games as a frame for creating paintings, drawings, and sculptures. As I continued creating, I realized that I needed this frame to transition into a design practice, one that considers users and their interactions. The process of making art about games was generative, often leading to unexpected outcomes. I’m now developing this framework as a set of lenses that can be applied and influence the video game development cycle. While my current project focuses on environment simulation, this framework can be applied to any set of values or interests.

This project is still in development; however, the initial framework involves the above lenses or stages. While they can be completed in a linear or cyclical manner, they can also be applied at any stage of the project.

I rely heavily on my sketchbook(s), as it serves as the catalyst and grounding space for my art and design practice. Notes are scrawled, and thumbnail drawings are made. All of the following artwork can be attributed to parts of these treasured sketchbooks.

Drawing and oil painting were my entry into the art world. It wasn’t until my senior year of undergraduate studies that I began making art. Up until that point, I had always been told I’d never be an artist, and I believed it, but my curiosity persisted. When I started learning game development, I drew and painted to create a world. I found myself drawn to a top-down perspective, wanting to paint the ground. I invented motifs and inserted stories. The buildup of paint gunk on a panel reminded me of lichen and pixels. The game world, when applied to art, became a space for emergent narrative. However, I found myself directing my attention to systems of representation (e.g., tiles, grids, pixels).

If I were to truly learn how to develop games, I would need to understand what constructs them. The images above are studies I made within p5.js while learning to program. My fascination with top-down perspective continued, and while these works lean more functional, there were various instances where my intention led to something else that was interesting.

What I gained from learning to program, I began to apply to the creation of art games in Unity. At the time, I was still uncertain whether I would become a full-time artist. These games were made to provoke conversation.

I created tools that generated assets, specifically a ground tile generator. The tiles produced by this generator were used to create these maps. Wanting to return to thinking about game narrative, I used abstract level design as a way to get there.

At some point, I found myself making sculpture from the collection of broken asphalt, concrete, and forgotten planters. One concept I work with is an (un)breakable surface.

I took a printmaking class and rigged my 3D printer to hold a pen. My goal was to take each pixel from my digital maps off the screen and place it onto paper. While I could have painted or drawn it, I wanted to create something quick that would allow me to generate new maps. I saw each dot as a piece of data, similar to soil aggregate.

Conclusion, for now

The framework is still in development. The amount of art created to inform the game design doesn’t need to be as extensive as what is shown here. Even a single, genuine art object may provide enough generative fuel to inform the game design process.