Army of TWO: Tattoo [production behind the scenes]

Goood morning everyone,


Today, we would like to share some behind the scenes approach of producing and working behind the scenes on production in games. In this instance, Inkedmag collaborated with a variety of the worlds best tattoo artists including our Opus Artz studio.

Here is a small snippet of the actual process & feedback shared by EA/inkedmag/Opus Artz for the production of one of the original tattoos.

Army of Two Tattooers

STEP 1: Produce a variety of sketches based on an aquatic theme

STEP 2: An Octopus based design is settled on, and considerations of how it is applied on a flattened  arm texture is considered.

"The actual tattoo starts with a sketch. In this case, EA asked the artist for an octopus tattoo. After receiving a draft, EA gave design edits."

STEP 3: Further worked up variants are explored

CHOICES: The artist came back with a few quick thumbnail sketches to explore different ways they could treat the octopus tattoo. One was an animated octopus in its habitat, another was a nest of tentacles curling around an eye, and the last was a a mess of tentacles.

Step 4: Further refinement

EXPLORING THE TENTACLES: EA then decided to hone in on the image of tentacles. Note how the depth, created from shading, adds to the ominous feeling.

STEP 5: BASIC INK WASH & CLEANUP:
After some more back-and-forth between the artist and EA, the designers decided to stick with having a full octopus graphic. Here it is with some color added and the line work cleaned up.

STEP 6: Texture placement & adjustment (including actual feedback for further adjustments)

PLACEMENT: They then applied it to an arm in 3-D and tinkered with its orientation. “This is where making game tattoo art differs a bit from the real thing,” says Robert Clarke. “We have to ‘warp’ the art in the flat version so that it will look correct on a 3-D surface.”


FINAL INTEGRATION & IMPLEMENTATION IN-GAME

APPLY TO THE CHARACTER: Our warrior has his ammunition and gear, but the finishing touch is the tattoo. The refined skin and tattoo texture is wrapped around his arms and pops out of his vest. The colors of this particular design double as camouflage when hiding in flora. He is finally fully kitted out and battle-ready.

TATTOO SHOP: Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel is all about customization. In the game’s Armory you can browse through different tattoos, trying each on (you can even rotate the arms to see how the image looks from different angles), so you can wear the tattoos that best connote your fighting style.

For the full article, check it out at INKEDMAG.com
Hope you enjoyed that tiny snippet into teh practicalities of production artwork