I want colour gradients!

… is that one sentence my teammates hate meanwhile. Sometimes as an artist you come up with requests no other department can understand but you have a vision in mind and the unbreakable will to see it in your game! This is the old discussion about what needs to be done and what could be, but that’s another story.

Why colour gradients?

For me adding gradients is a cheap way to modify a scenes mood and colour, similar to lighting. It adds detail where is none and can improve the visual impression without affecting the assets itself. Therefore it is absolutely not necessary that this effect can be actively be noticed by the player, otherwise it can be disturbing while playing.  It's more about a kind of feeling that will be missed if turned off - the “certain something”.

To give you an idea what it looks like,  have a close look at these comparison pictures.

For Net.Attack() we not only added it to the game scene but also to every User Interface:

In some cases it can be useful to strengthen the effect with the intention to connect the different asset colours a little bit more and harmonize the overall look.

How I got them (or any other “fancy” art feature)

Besides from including ideas into backlog, I always try to mention features that I want to have seen implemented whenever I get the chance. Especially when there is a time spot for “Nice to haves”, after builds are done or the team is in the mood of “adding something cool”. That’s the first way it won’t be forgotten in the deeps of the backlog.

By knowing that the ones who i want working time from can not truly imagine what I have in mind, it is important to make sure they will understand what there is to win. Therefore I try to show modified screenshots, concepts and references. If you’re lucky you have that one passionate technical artist who supports your vision with convincing hacky solutions directly in game.

On the long run I gained the trustment from the team that my ideas are not completely that crazy art stuff no other human can appreciate and that I myself priorise what is worth the efford. Achieving this is the best!