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Developer Journal part 5: I get interviewed plus Disaster Report!

Posted by Amber Ahlborn



The tables are turned this week as Will and I switch places with him playing interviewer and I the interviewee. In this delayed issue of Developer Journal I answer some questions about my history as an artist, show off a few pieces of in-game art for Beat Me Up Too, and finally tell the harrowing tale of the Night of the Big Wind...

WP: How long have you been doing art and why?

AA: Well, I've been drawing since I was a little girl. I always drew to entertain myself. I also drew pictures as presents for family members: Refrigerator art. I also drew to pass the time in math class. At a rough guess I've been scribbling for around 25 years.

As for professional art, I started taking commissions when I was in high school I think...maybe a little before even. I've done drawings and sculptures for people over the Internet as well as local businesses. Not much though. I didn't heavily pursue art as a career until I finally decided, at the tail end of high school, that I wanted to make video games.

WP: When was it that you got into digital/game art?

AA: After high school I went to DigiPen, that would be from 2000 to 2002. DigiPen was my introduction to digital art and animation. Prior to going there I was only semi-computer literate and I'd never touched a computer art program more advanced than Windows Paint. There was a lot of information to absorb in a rather short period of time so it was quite the crash course for me.

Before that, my medium of choice was colored pencil, and I still love to use them, but it's been a while since I last colored anything major. I also sculpt using a rather funky material called Crayola Model Magic. I swear the stuff smells like Elmer's school glue while it's still soft.

WP: Hah; so you do sculpting as well. What do you prefer then, 3d or 2d art and what type?

AA:
Hmm...though I draw a lot more than I sculpt (or do CG modeling) I prefer 3D. Sculpture, whether in physical form or digital is my strongest talent. My focus is on character design. The irony here is that, for my day job, I'm a graphic artist for a company that does environmental restoration and landscaping, so I mostly draw landscapes in Photoshop. If nothing else, I have a much greater appreciation for landscape now.

WP:
Interesting, so will you be drawing backgrounds for Beat Me Up Too as well as characters then?

AA: Heh, yes indeed. Every character will get an appropriately themed background, so that will be 10 pieces in all.

WP: Cool. A lot of people have had strong reactions to Beat Me Up; what was your first impression of it and why did you decide to sign on as the artist?

AA:
Well, I signed on because this guy named Will asked me. My first impression of the game was "Wow, look at the fountains of blood." After tossing the anonymous little ragdoll dummy around a bit and successfully impaling it a few times I though it was cute and over-the-top enough to be pretty funny rather than gory. This was at work where I have the sound off on my computer so I have a separate "first impression" when I got home and heard all the screaming. Let's just say I preferred the volume really low. The new game will be getting a more varied audio treatment.

 



WP: What factors led you to use this particular style of art for the game?

AA: Bugs Bunny and friends get horribly beaten and abused, but it's okay because they are cute cartoon characters. Characters from all manner of anime end up bleeding oceans, but it's not horrific because it isn't going for realism. If you think about it, this is an incredibly violent game, and could be more than a little disturbing if taken too seriously. I didn't feel that was the right atmosphere to promote.

Beat Me Up is a very simple but fun time waster, good for relieving a bit of stress. It seemed to me that a light hearted approach would be the best way to convey the intentions of the game. This is why I went for cartoon stylings. As for the characters themselves, I made a cast of "types". You have your ninja and your pirate and a glasses wearing office worker and a politician. They're all representative of things seen in media and popular culture and hopefully demonstrate a sense of humor...while you beat the snot out of them of course. They're sort of a like a cast of "Busters", the dummy from MythBusters. He's just a mannequine but you love him because you know he's going to end up in pieces before the show is over.

WP: That's great! Well that's all of the questions for today. Thanks for the talk!



WARNING***you are crossing into non game related territory***WARNING

Yeah okay, so for the curious among you I have a tale to tell about the Night of the Big Wind. I live in the Midwest so really, we don't see too many hurricanes here. On the evening of July 10th we did get about a five minute slice of one though. A thunderstorm was rolling through the area and during the storm an area within town of about 3 square miles experienced something akin to a microburst or downburst.

I was actually inside a local restaurant at the time this happened. The power went out shortly after I had arrived and while pondering whether to stay or go, The Wind hit. I watched it through the large window I was next to. One moment it was raining heavily but not unusually so, the next it was a total white-out as the wind drove the rain horizontally and reduced the visibility to zero. It only lasted a few minutes, but that was enough to produce some dramatic results:













I think there was maybe one neighborhood street in the area that wasn't blocked by tree limbs. The power stayed out until around 2 in the morning. Since I couldn't do anything else I played Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings on my DS...when I wasn't using my DS as a flashlight and a clock. Remember folks, always keep your DS fully charged in case of emergency.

If you didn't get enough carnage from my photos, feel free to head over to our local paper's coverage and check out a crushed car or two. Thankfully, nobody was injured.



Developer Journal part 1

Developer Journal part 2

Developer Journal part 3

Developer Journal part 4


+ DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT

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About Amber Ahlborn

Artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

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John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a Led Zeppelin/Talking Heads/Police/Replacements-covering power trio called Shovel, and will gladly rock your world if you so desire.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Hooksexup, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

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