Hi, everyone! Mat here once again.
One of the areas we want to polish up a bit more is VFX. This includes getting some eye-candy for the cool Guardian Spells, specially for the upcoming ones. To that effect, we are currently onboarding a new member of the Room-C group, straight from Bristol, UK: Will!
I wanted to take the opportunity to follow in MarkoP’s footsteps a bit and give him the round of questions we usually give our newest additions.
Q: Hi, could you introduce yourself?
A: Hello, I’m Will. I am a Real-Time VFX artist hailing from England. I love the natural world and nothing keeps my interest more than watching the forces of nature play out in that landscape. Whether it’s paddling in the powerful surf of the Ocean, catching a sunset looking beautiful or the low glow of a campfire set against a starlit night sky, I am happiest when I find time to spend time in the world. It is also an excellent chance to gather reference for when I try to recreate such effects within the dark sorcery of a game engine's powerful particle editor.
Q: When did you start messing with VFX? What got you into it?
A: I first became interested in VFX when I was in my final year of university. I was initially compelled to try it as I realised there was a high demand for RT-VFX artists in the games industry. I quickly fell in love with the process as making effects requires a lot of creative problem solving and design thinking to best represent important gameplay features to players.
Q: What was your impression of The Hand of Merlin?
A: When I first looked at The Hand of Merlin, I thought it looked like the kind of game I’d normally play. I initially thought it was a unique re-theming of a well trodden genre that I enjoy. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the game had some very interesting differences to contemporaries I’ve played; while still being easy to pick up for a veteran strategy rogue-like player such as myself.
Q: How do you make a specific VFX to fit a specific ability or spell?
A: The most important job of VFX in my opinion is gameplay. So the first thing and last thing is always to make sure that the effect I am working on shows the player a visual embodiment of their inputs. This is achieved by working closely with design and programming to ensure that the effect is aiding player understanding of mechanics they are interacting with.
Q: Can you tell me more of the challenges of being a VFX artist?
One of the biggest challenges I face often when I am creating VFX for any given project is the number of options available. Often a VFX artist has many different ways to tackle the problem at hand. They must then pick the method that will give the best result within the constraints of the project they are working on. The answer to how to solve any given problem again goes back to strong communication about the gameplay purpose of an effect and understanding which workflow is best suited to tackle it.
Q: What things do you do when not making rad visuals? Any hobbies?
A: I like to try and get outside as much as the weather allows. Camping and hiking are things I highly enjoy. With a job like mine, there’s a lot of sitting at a desk. So to stay active I generally try to do some yoga every day and go climbing 1-3 times a week. I would also say that I often get lost in my guitar and music is a fun hobby I’ve been engaged with and I am always learning something new about.
And there you have it! Will is now present in our Discord server under the handle Badfish, so feel free to drop by and ask him any questions!
Mat