The Art in RPGs - Daniel Dociu
(Guild Wars 2, Lion's Arch, a concept by Daniel Dociu)
Every time I play a game I try to see beyond the graphics and environment, reaching the scratches, the original ideas that led to such a mesmerizing surrounding. Sometimes I am looking for references from a certain era, other times I notice some features from buildings around the world I had the chance to visit. The most important thing is to keep my mind busy with that, to find as many analogies as possible because this is process is my ideas generator when I have to make a concept. The best thing is that most of the games are so art heavy that you don't even know where to start from when it comes to references. Fortunately, you don't have to struggle that much, as the artists are very willing to talk about their source of inspiration and the artistic process they have been through in order to bring us the final result.
One of my favourite video game artists happens to be the art director for one of the best RPGs I have ever played: Guild Wars 2. I know Guild Wars 2 is also a MMO and I should have picked a more relevant game for this gender, but the art in this game is so significant to me that I cannot just turn my back on it, especially now, when I finally have the chance to talk a little about art.
Daniel Dociu has not only been art director at ArenaNet, creating Guild Wars, but he has also had the same position at Square and Zipper Interactive and has been environment artists at Electronic Arts, so he has behind the experience required to talk about different kind of arts. He has been working on RPGs for a couple of years, making concepts that suit this gender.
I remember the first thing that struck me from Daniel Dociu's portfolio was called Skybridge. The request was for a tribe that decided to isolate itself from the political unrest and other tensions which ruled the world. In their struggle, they found this canyon in the mountains (about which the artist said he was picturing them kind of like the Andes: really steep and shard-like) which allowed them to build a structure that's floating above the valley below. I love this premise of removal from the entire world by simply deciding to live up in the air, between mountains, like you're living between worlds. Moreover, the atmosphere is breathtaking. I can almost feel the colours floating due to the warm light and the airy tones of blue, grey and white that, together with the shapes used by the artist, remind me of the grace and quality of wings. Everything is very thin, supported by a rather minimalist structure of cables. After all, it is supposed to be the habitat of a tribe that is slowly heading to existentialism, far away from society, so they are turning back to their true selves.
Skybridge by Daniel Dociu
One thing I am sure about is that every kind of art has its cliches. Whether you are a master or a novice, there is some point in your daily routine when you have to create a concept based on something that you are very tired of. I believe that when it comes to video games (especially to RPGs), the massive cliche is the floating castle. Two thirds of the games I have played have that and apparently, every concept artist hates this, with Daniel being included. I really like the idea of structures in the sky, like airborne utopias, but I have to admit that it is very hard to see something original on this theme that can take you by surprise.
Floating Temple by Daniel Dociu
When I saw Floating Temple and Floating Mosque in Daniel's portfolio, I wondered about the similar concept behind these two images. I found out that the Floating Mosque was his "attempt to deal with what is a rather obnoxious cliche in games - which is floating castles. Every game has a floating castle and I really hate that". I find his elegant way to recreate this overly request concept really inspiring, as it proves that you can always change the rules of the game even though you are sometime pushed to a "dead end" for your sense of innovation.
Floating Mosque by Daniel Dociu
Rooftop by Daniel Dociu
Looking over his portfolio, my attention was drawn to a series of images that seem to be parts of the same city. Digging deeper in his concept for those pieces of work, I found out that they all have roots in a fascination for the Walled City of Kowloon, a densely populated city in New Kowloon, Hong Kong, which was demolished in 1994. The city wasn't large, but it expressed the Chinese gigantic vision of architecture. After googling for some pictures of this former city, I could easily make some connections with Daniel Dociu's work.
Kowloon Cross Section Plan; source: visualnews
Urban Canal by Daniel Dociu
Walled City by Gilles Maselli
Urban Collapse by Daniel Dociu
I really enjoy digging into artists' work, discovering their sources of inspiration and the scratches of their concepts, interpreting their visions, even though it is a really harsh work without having a proper art book. The best thing is that there is a lot more room for your opinion, but you still need to rely on some interviews and personal comments on their Flickr pages or blogs.
Daniel Dociu remains one of my favourite contemporary artist because he knows how to bring into the lime lights his architectural knowledge and moreover, how to bring it to another level, creating strongholds, Gothic forests, cities, maps and worlds that make you wander.
I will end this post with my personal choice from his portfolio. It is a concept of the gates of Ebonhawke, a fortress between mountains that has been through a lot of incursions but is still able to inspire a sense of justice and honour. The wing-like gates make me think about the ideals that warriors from Ebonhawke have, to unleash their true potential in battle and never leave behind the virtues of their kind. The human presence is suggested by the little fire from the bottom left corner, but despite the lack of any human figure, there is still so much life in this concept that is very hard to for me to explain. All I can wish for is to be able to bring in this allure of life in my concept art and in my portfolio, when I am ready to have a professional one.
