After all, beauty was subjective.
Therefore, the designer had to be as detailed as possible while stating their requirements. The best would be if they could describe the sort of clothes, caps, weapons or any defining traits et cetera.
If they had a similar image for reference, that would be even better.
There’s always a joke within the games circle.
Designer tells programmer, “I want a function that can do xxx. The design concept of the function is xxx and it should achieve an effect like xxx!”
Programmer replies irritably, “Just tell me the function of a game you want to copy. Let me have a look at it.”
Designer tells artist, “I want a character that looks like xxx. This character must look like xxx and have xxx personality, giving off an xxx feel!”
Artist replies irritably, “Just tell me a character you want to copy. Show me an image of it.”
It wasn’t because they want to slack off. The main point was that too much information gets lost through texts to images.
Therefore, when making similar requirement forms, it’s naturally better to have the descriptions and reference images as detailed as possible. That way, it would ensure that the work produced by the artist doesn’t differ too far from what the designer imagines it to be.
Now, let’s take a look at Ma Yang’s requirement form.
It’s complete self-entertainment!
Take Guan Yu for example.
“He’s a dragon. Human shaped dragon.”
“As the Martial Saint of the Dragon clan, he’s seen as the pinnacle of fighting strength.”
“He spends his life walking on a blade and his comprehension of battles and killing differs from the layman.”
That’s it.
Now, take Ma Chao for example.
“He’s a half human half horse and that’s why he’s called the Other Race.”
“Ma Chao is different from the other centaurs and he bears clear traits the Dragon clan’s bloodline, such as having dragon horns on his head.”
“It’s also precisely because he has half a bloodline from the Dragon clan that Ma Chao possess an incredible strength similar to those of the Dragon clan.”
Now, Zhuge Liang next.
“When he was young, Zhuge Liang was hailed as the greatest inventor, physicist, mechanical and electrical engineer of the three kingdoms period.”
“His research include man-made lightning, environmental weapons, aviation equipment, automobiles, robots and various other cutting edge fields.”
“At the same time, he was known as a poet, philosopher, music connoisseur and linguist amongst many other titles.”
Zhuge Liang’s description was much longer than the previous two – it was clear that Ma Yang must have been lost in his own enjoyment as he wrote on.
Other than that, there was the Dragon Lady Guard Zhou Cang; Phoenix Orphan Pang Tong; Ice Crystal Maiden Xu Shu; Robot Puppet Huang Yueying; Blood Realm Overlord Guo Jia; Lolita Dragon Hunter Lu Meng; Night Ranger Taishi Ci; Shadow Swordsman Zhou Yu so on and so forth.
Basically, other than their names and some vague characteristics, all of these characters did not resemble those of the three kingdoms anymore!
The content would not serve any purpose for the artist’s creative input as well.
Besides, even though he could have written all of this simply such as just stating that Guan Yu is a human shaped dragon, he had to add in all the gibberish at the back!
However, for Pei Qian, this was a perfect requirement form!
In fact, he was so happy that he thumped himself.
Ma Yang was reliable indeed!
There was no way Pei Qian would be able to write all this himself!
He had truly made the right choice by getting Ma Yang to be his employee!
Pei Qian did not change a single word and sent the requirement form to Ruan Guangjian just like that.
After five minutes, Ruan Guangjian replied.
“Isn’t there too many things missing from this requirement form?”
“This is going to be difficult for me to draw. There’s no clear standard to gauge from.”
Pei Qian was prepared for this as he replied right away, “It’s fine, just draw and design as you wish to! In fact, if you think that these requirements aren’t reliable, you can choose not to follow it entirely! I trust in your professional judgment!”
Ruan Guangjian: “… No. Since we signed a contract, there has to a standard. Wouldn’t things be complicated if no one wants to take responsibility for this later on?”
Pei Qian answered hastily, “For real! I’m completely trusting of your capabilities! Don’t worry, no matter what you end up drawing in the end, I won’t make you change it repeatedly! You can take a screenshot of this conversation as evidence. Or if you truly feel the need, we can add this clause into the contract.”
“There’s no need for that… alright then, I’ll see what I can do about it,” Ruan Guangjian said.
Pei Qian was relieved.
He was afraid that Ruan Guangjian might insist that they provide detailed specifications so that he can go about drawing it earnestly.
The way things are right now, it was a win win situation where both sides would have less problems.
Pei Qian had some money left that he did not intend to keep. He proceeded with buying music, sound effects, other art resources and cloud rental service equipment et cetera.
All of those did not cost too much. Pei Qian had planned it perfectly such that there was only around 10,000 yuan left in case of any emergencies.
As for marketing fees for the game… he naturally reserved no money for that!
He had no intention of marketing it at all! It’d be best if no one knew about the game at all!
Pei Qian could foresee his bright future as he continued to get busy at spending money.
…
A certain finance university in Shanghai.
A dormitory in the arts course.
The dormitories here had a much better environment than back at Pei Qian’s Handong University.
There were individual tables at the bottom of every bunk bed and the dormitories were air conditioned as well apart from being new and spacious.
Thanks to the resource website set up by ESRO, many of the arts students are able to take on side jobs online during their university days which helped to improve their lives slightly.
Not only that, these projects would help them in seeking employment post graduation as well.
Ruan Guangjian put his mouse away and yelled, “Old Huang, Old Zhou! Hurry and get the others here! We’ve got work!”
Before long, the other five people in the dormitory scurried over.
“Three weeks, 50 sets of original arts with four pieces each. 3,000 yuan! How’s that? Great, right?”
Ruan Guangjian was an energetic young fella with short hair, fair skin and exquisite features – he did not look like an artist at all.
The same can’t be said for his roommates where some of them kept long hair while others had tattoos – they all had distinctive traits.
Old Huang, a guy with a short beard, was the first to head over. “3,000 yuan for four pieces? Holy shit! That’ll do! For that price, I’ll even do cartoonish designs! Just for the sake of survival!”
Ruan Guangjian shook his head. “Cartoonish? That’s not the case this time round! The client made it clear that he’s fine with any styles as long as it’s not cartoonish!”
Old Huang was stunned. “Huh? But I recall you only uploaded cartoonish art on your portfolio previously? This client came looking for you while insisting that he doesn’t want it to be cartoonish? Is he braindead?”
“F*ck you! This is called being insightful on his part!” Ruan Guangjian rolled his eyes. “I had drawing cartoons. But what can I do when all the mobile games are trending with cartoon characters? Previously, I could only receive jobs for drawing cartoons, so I had no choice. Now that he doesn�
��t want any cartoons, I can finally show my true worth!”
“You’re going to draw in that style of yours? I don’t think that’ll fit…” Old Huang was hesitant. “Taking the client’s money to draw something that you want, that’s…”
“The client has made it clear that he trusts my artistic skills and professional judgment and he gives me complete autonomy over the design!”
“Besides, look at that requirement form! It’s completely in line with my thoughts!”
Chapter 17
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Everyone looked towards Ruan Guangjian’s screen where Ma Yang’s requirement form was being displayed.
“Guan Yu… is a dragon?”
“Ma Chao… is a centaur?”
“So, Zhuge Liang is a pig1 then?” Old Huang deduced logically.
Ruan Guangjian threw a sharp glance at him. “Pig your head! Zhuge Liang’s a famous inventor!”
“… That’s worse than being a pig,” Old Huang dissed.
As he looked through the requirement form, Old Huang found himself going blank.
This was a requirement form?
Other than giving some extreme modifications to the description of these historical figures, there was nothing else written!
At this point, asking for reference images would be an ambitious dream. However, there weren’t even any basic sketches to refer from!
Also, the modifications were in all forms!
There were those that were turned into animals, those who had their genders changed and even those who somehow were highly skilled in technology.
This was a complete hodgepodge!
“Is the client dim-witted?”
“What a lousy requirement form, this…”
Old Huang was confounded – he had not thought that Ruan Guangjian would have actually accepted such a job.
Wasn’t he afraid that the other party might be dissatisfied with the end result and end up falling into an argument?
They were all poor students of the art course. While they might be slightly better off than students from some other courses, if they really had a conflict with the client and neither side wanted to take responsibility, that would still be really difficult to deal with.
“What are you worrying about? He’s already made payment to the resource website,” Ruan Guangjian showed Old Huang the status that indicated payment has been made on the client’s side.
ESRO’s official resource website was sort of like a middleman with the platform being a guarantor such that the freelancers could start working right after the clients state their requirements.
During that period of time, the clients would have to settle payment with the platform holding the money in escrow. Once the job is done and the client is satisfied with the product, the freelancer would receive the payout from the platform.
If both sides come to a disagreement, the platform will serve as the arbitrator.
If it came to that, Ruan Guangjian had the conversation history. The platform also had a copy of the requirement form and job demands – no matter what, Ruan Guangjian had the upper hand.
“Guangjian, I still don’t think the job makes much sense. How about trying to confirm the requirements with them again and have them send over more details…” Old Huang still felt that the entire thing seemed unreliable.
Ruan Guangjian was displeased. “Old Huang, have you gone mad?”
“Do you want to continue drawing those cartoon characters? Are you not sick of it yet?”
“Right now, the market’s filled with cartoonish games. While the money is good, ask yourself – do you really fancy those soulless things?!”
“Where is your pride as an artist?”
“Right now, there’s such a good opportunity with liberal demands on the style. Look at the creative space we’re given!”
“If we were to get famous thanks to this series of original arts, our future would definitely be smooth! Who knows, we might even be able to rent a studio ourselves right after graduation!”
“Or do you want to be a nobody after graduating, joining some outsourcing company as hard labor to continue drawing in that style that you do not like at all?”
The others exchanged glances. Clearly, they were moved by Ruan Guangjian’s words.
They were all students, not experienced artists who have been out and about in the corporate world.
In terms of art, all of them had their own ideas – they were at a phase where their inspirations were overflowing.
Who would want to be a laborer drawing those traditional pieces based on a client’s frameworks?
All of them wanted to draw in a style that they loved and was good in!
The fact that they had a client who had no demands was an extremely rare opportunity!
Old Huang was moved as well. “Alright, you’ll make the decision then, Guangjian. We’ll help you out. How do you intend to go about it?”
“That’s the way.”
Pleased, Ruan Guangjian opened up an image on his computer.
“I intend to go with this style.”
“Epic ink oil painting style.”
Old Huang felt his mouth cramping up.
This was a style that was created by Ruan Guangjian previously through a stroke of inspiration.
The photo depicted a tall, bulky minotaur with one of its horns snapped and wore a black armor that was heavily damaged.
Its shoulder pad left a deep impression with a huge monster’s head resting on it while its body had many chains coiled around it, giving off a feeling of a relentless warrior.
The color scheme leaned to a darker shade as the pitch black backdrop and battlefield gave off a feeling of despair and sorrow.
If one were to just look at the image, they would associate it with the minotaurs in Fantasy World.
However, if they were to look carefully, they would notice the many differences between this minotaur and those of western culture.
Ruan Guangjian had used a large amount of details to accentuate the eastern elements of the minotaur. For example, the facial features of the minotaur bore traits that appealed to eastern beauty as was the design of the armor and weapons such as having a red battle robe et cetera.
The reason why Ruan Guangjian named it as epic ink oil painting style was because it contained the three traits of being epic and resembling ink and oil paintings.
The art wasn’t so detailed that every single pore of the character could be seen. It was smudged using oil painting techniques such that the blurry background could easily create a unique atmosphere to it.
At the same time, there was also ink painting techniques added to it, giving off a strong Chinese feel.
Other than that, the character itself gave off a sorrowful feeling. That was the foundation of the epic feeling as though the minotaur had just been through an apocalyptic war between gods and demons.
Old Huang and the other roommates had long known about this painting.
They were extremely impressed with Ruan Guangjian as well. After all, the techniques and shadows along with other details of the painting was something that most other art students wouldn’t be able to match up with.
However, could this be used as a game’s original art?
No one could tell.
Right now, all the trending mobile games had cartoonish original arts. The jobs that they had taken on earlier were all for cartoonish original arts as well.
Even the games that made use of a realistic style basically leaned towards original arts that were extremely detailed with bright colors.
While Ruan Guangjian’s style was definitely impressive, it could also lead people to feel like it was too gloomy and they might feel depressed while playing the game.
That was the reason why Ruan Guangjian had not posted it on the resource website as he was afraid that it might affect his job offers.
Old Huang hesitated. “Two questions. First, can this style really f
it the client’s demands? Second, you’re the only one good at this style. The rest of us can’t do it…”
Ruan Guangjian was prepared for this as he replied with aplomb, “That’s exactly why I said the requirement form is in line with my thoughts!’
“My initial concept originated from those myths about immortals and deities!”
“What I want to display is a sense of epicness and the most important element for that is style! Righteous immortals and monstrous demons; clashing these completely different styles is the best way to create sparks!”
“So to say, the more the style deviates from human form, the better!”
“Strictly speaking, most three kingdom games are not suitable for this style because the three kingdoms revolves around a group of people. How can we give off such a feeling based on that?”
“But, the requirement form has completely overhauled the images of the characters! That’s a perfect fit for this feeling!”
“Guan Yu’s a dragon, Ma Chao’s a centaur with mixed blood while Xu Chu’s a tiger…”
“Isn’t that just a heavenly match with my style?”
“Also, you guys don’t have to worry about matching the styles. I’ll do the design and sketches while you guys refine the details. I’ll clean up the loose ends thereafter. Don’t worry, with me heading the direction, the style will definitely be aligned!”
Chapter 18
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Old Huang looked at Old Zhou. “What do you think?”
Old Zhou pondered for a moment. “I think there’s something to it.”
The others nodded their heads as well.
Old Huang thought about it further. “Alright, let’s take the job! Since the client’s footing the bill, we’ll use it to test the waters.”
“If the style isn’t well received, the client’s the one losing money anyways. It’ll be a timely reminder to give up on the style as well.”
“But if the style gets popular, we might truly be able to set up our own studio. Once we get famous, everything’s possible!”
Ruan Guangjian nodded his head. “Exactly my thoughts!”
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