Some Torchlight 2 Art By Sirio Brozzi

Original Pitch For the 'Collect Robot Parts' Quest

So Torchlight 2 is finally out! Have you guys been playing it? It seems like the response has been overwhelmingly positive, which has been really fantastic, especially considering that the game only cost $20. Some of you might not know, but AwesomeRobo was founded around the time that I was working at Runic Games as a concept artist for Torchlight 1 and 2. The team was small, ambitions were astronomically high, and the project turned out to be one of the most challenging (Yet ultimately rewarding) experiences in my career so far.

I left Runic halfway through Torchlight 2 to pursue other opportunities, but in the 2 or so years at the company I must have cranked out a few hundred concepts to accommodate the breakneck schedule of creating an epic game with a fifth of the team size typically associated with such a production. The biggest struggle was maintaining a good balance between quality and quantity when time was the biggest detractor, and when we'd only have a small handful days per concept. Considering that this game is an ARPG, the asset list for the sequel especially, which was about 5-6 times grander in scope was mind boggling. Yet at the end of the day, it all came together into a game which exceeds the original in just about every way imaginable..And which I hope you've had a chance to pick up at this point to support the folks and families at Runic.

After the break you can check out a ton of art for used and scrapped concepts I had a chance to work on during my time at Runic. Enjoy, and feel free to shoot any questions my way!

The Art Of Justin Murray

Samus (Via)

Justin Murray is a games and movie industry veteran with a fully decked out resume, having contributed to projects including God Of War, Magic The Gathering, Mortal Kombat and a slew of feature films. The first time I heard about Justin was while working on a the Carlo Arellano article back in June, when I noticed he had collaborated with Justin on a God Of War illustration for the PSP installment of the series, Chains Of Olympus.

It kind of makes sense, due to the fact that they both share a very similar art style, which definitely puts an emphasis on letting the lineart shine through, similar to Paul Richards of Autodestruct. Nonetheless, this man puts out some really cool work, and I appreciate that he tries to resolve how things work mechanically, adopting a function over form mindset. Check out more goodness after the break!

The Impact Of Previsualization In Hollywood By Hanoun Safi

This was one of the most insightful documentaries I've probably seen all year, with Hanoun Safi lifting the veil on the previsualization industry. Previsualization entails visualizing complex scenes ahead of time to answer questions for people like the directors (Does this shot work?) and investors (Is this scene worth a million dollars?). Previsualization is also a term used for any process that helps visualize any aspect of a videogame, movie or creative project and answer questions for the people involved about aspects like style, color, shots, sound and a plethora of other aspects.

This 25 minute doc goes into the aspects of previsualizing shots in the movie industry, and takes a look at just a few of the incredible tools these guys use to save most of all, money and second of all, time. Its a fascinating watch, with plenty of interviews from industry people explaining the purpose of what they do in the grand scheme of things. Prepare to learn a thing or two!