gameishard.gg: In the fast-paced world of video game development, every detail matters. From compelling narratives to stunning graphics, game designers strive to create immersive experiences for players. One often overlooked aspect of game design is costume design. However, it plays a crucial role in bringing characters to life and enhancing the overall gaming experience.
12 comments:
We don’t often talk about games here, but there are many similarities and overlapping characteristics in the work we theatre people and game designers do. I don’t know a huge lot about game designs, and they probably have positions with different titles, but they are also trying to tell a story through their designs, just like us. I guess it’s more challenging for them in a way that, after gathering all this information, they have to digitalise the costumes and put them on fake people. In my opinion, trying to replicate the texture and movement of the fabric is very difficult. The similarities that are shared include communicating, understanding the character and assisting the storytelling with visuals. Although I’m not a designer, I’m sure they also have someone in their field responsible for group communication and the game's production. I would love to know what it’s like to design when technology plays such a big role.
I feel like this is a field that is often overlooked and forgotten about. I have always wondered if costumes for video games are designed much like they are for theatre. Because I feel like some games have really intricate and well thought out costumes and others seem to forget about costumes and just have very basic things. Reading this article was really eye opening to see all that goes into Call of Duty character design. It is nice to see that each character is painstakingly created as if it was a real person being costumed. Costumes can make the difference between a character being recognizable and distinct and just being there. But knowing the game Call of Duty I can imagine the sheer undertaking that designing for a game that size would be. Especially while trying to make it as realistic and believable as possible which provides an overall more immersive experience for the gamer. I am excited to see how this field continues to grow as high quality animation becomes more and more common in films and games.
Something I’ve never really thought about before was costuming in game design. It makes total sense now, that you would need to clothe characters, and to do that you'd need someone to design a costume, but I never really put two and two together that a real human was doing that work. I wonder how the constraints of designing for a video game affect the process of design, because obviously you’re not fabricating it for real, so you could create more complex and complicated designs with marginally more effort. I wonder if they ever produce those costumes for real to get a better understanding of how light and external factors affect the look of the fabric and how real gravity affects the curves of the garment. It would be interesting to see a more detailed breakdown of the process, and design for video games is something that really interests me.
Costume design in video games is not something that I think about a lot, and I am sure that is the case for many people. I do occasionally play video games, and I don't know if I've ever had the thought "Wow, that's a cool costume that character is wearing." However, this does not take away from the importance or how impressive the job of video game costume designers is. Many aspects of design, in theater and elsewhere, should aim to not necessarily be noticed but instead flow perfectly into the aura of the show as a whole. For many years, I would barely notice costume design in theater since it was not one of my main interests, but it would still inform my experience in the show as a whole. Since I started being around more costume designers this has partially changed, but the overall point still stands that design can elevate an experience without standing out, and this undoubtedly applies to video games.
that is so insanely cool?? i've NEVER thought about costuming designs for video games. Like, yes the thought has crossed my mind because obviously in video games, characters are clothed, but like I just never fully thought about it. It also makes you wonder how many jobs there are in the design industry. What I love is that designing for a video game is almost the same as designing for a tv show, a movie, a stage play, musical, music video, etc. Designers need to take account as to who the person is who is playing the character, who the character is as a person, what their vibes essentially, what the history of the work is, where it was set, who are the surrounding characters, and so much more. it really makes you think deeply about this art form, because it is just so versatile and can be used in so many different ways. A character’s accessories also account towards their costume design, and if you think to any game, like fortnite for example, all their accessories match their costuming and that is so cool.
This is a super cool article. Video game development and design is such a fascinating thing with so many different pieces, and the game industry as a whole is something that just develops and evolves so quickly, like most technology things today. It’s pretty cool to me that the standard today for major new video games (if we ignore the piece of the video game industry where stylised art styles are purposeful and a creative choice that compliments the game well - which still needs a lot of effort to be designed well) is hyper-realistic environments, people, and clothing where each and ever fold and wrinkle on the clothes is perfect. I think the piece in the article about how one of the major struggles for the Call of Duty clothing designer is trying to make military equipment that looks realistic, but not too realistic is fascinating. That’s a really interesting conundrum to be in.
This was such a fascinating read! I find costume design so cool, and reading about a designer’s process is so interesting. I haven’t really thought much about costume design in the world of video games however, so this was really fun to learn about. It’s so intensive all of the work they do, it was interesting to read that she ‘scans’ some of the clothing, I wonder how she does that and the technical aspects behind doing that? Also the details of having to create extremely lifelike clothing, however not copy any clothing due to copyright laws - that is something I think also happens in film/theater as well sometimes, though could be a little less strenuously specific. I wonder how Tasha Valdez got into this side of the costume design world, and what she enjoys about designing for video games versus for film/theater. I suppose going digital gives you a world of opportunities that you might not have otherwise, however also carries it’s own constrains and challenges that could be quite exciting to tackle.
I would have to agree that I think this aspect of game design is very much overlooked! Unfortunately I cannot say I have put much thought into what game characters or wearing much less even thought of it as costume design. That is why I am so grateful to have clicked on this and learned more. I had no idea they went into such depth to do things like consult military experts or go through the same research we tend to follow as theatrical designers. I cannot imagine how difficult it would be to create clothes for digital humans. I am so curious to know how they design it so that it looks realistic and like the clothes are moving and behaving like they do in real life. I applaud all designers that do costume design for video games. They have to go through the same design process and then figure out how to make it look flawless in a video game. I would be incredibly interested in seeing that process and how it works!
My knowledge of video games as a whole is low. I don’t think I’ve touched a video game since playing Wii Sports in elementary school. This being said, the role of a costume designer for video games is super fascinating; especially how the right costumes can greatly shape the world-building in video games. One curiosity I have with video game costuming is how the lack of function required in the costumes changes the abilities of the costumes. As they are ultimately animated, the costumes don’t need flexible fabrics, specific stitching, and function. I found this line really interesting, “ Instead, they strive to make the costumes as close to real as possible without directly imitating existing military equipment.” I really struggle with video games and how they glorify warfare, and didn’t consider how this glorification can be seen down to the costume. By not imitating existing military equipment, it is my understanding that they are able to avoid the legal implications of this war glorification. This article really made me ponder both the technicalities of video game costume design, but also the ethos of them.
I love video games. I’ve always loved video games. They are such a huge part of my life and design in video games is so amazing. In video games you aren’t confined by the real world. You make the physics engine. On stage gravity is a constraint but in video games it is a tool. I’m currently seeking to get a minor in game design because this is something I love to much. As a designer my designs do not have to be confined to the real world. I would love to be able to apply my skills to the video game world as well. What the person in this article does is something I would love doing, however maybe not for call of duty, they’re too confined to reality. I think the monster designs in the Last of Us are gorgeous and Resident Evil can honestly be a beautiful game with a very cohesive design, the world of Horizon Zero Dawn is one of the prettiest things I have ever seen. It’s so sad that video games are looked down upon as they are one of the most pure forms of art. They do interactive storytelling better than any other medium can dream of.
I really love diving into the world of game design, and watch a lot of video essays about popular or small indie games and how and why they were designed, and theories about the lore of the games based on the designs and small details. With the progress in graphic technology in the past decade as well it has allowed artists to fully be production and costume designers for these stories as much as you see in film and theater. Just like a ballet costume designer will have to decide what kind of skirt to put on an outfit to optimize the shape of the dancer with specific choreography, in video games you have to think about what climate your characters are in, and what they have access to, and animate it to work with physics properly. I think with video games as well the costumes are extremely important as many people will associate a character with a specific “look” and that look is part of the brand of your game.
I never realized the parallels that costume design for the stage and film had with video games. Although I do feel like there is more of a connection between film and video game design. I think it is really interesting how video character design is making the characters try to be real and “authentic”. The designer of this video game seems to have a hyperfocus on realism I think it is because the goal for design for the stage and for a video game is slightly different. I think for the stage while it can have a realistic goal for the costumes a lot of the time shows are more whimsical and abstract and the costumes are used to reflect the character's inner desires. Whereas the video game is desperate to immerse the audience in a way that makes the player feel like they reside within the world of the game and the way to achieve that makes the characters feel real, and the way to achieve that is if the character's outfits and accessories feel real in the environment they are playing in, essentially it keeps them in the game.
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