Daniel Dociu: Eye of the North
Great art is where you find it - and the world of electronic gaming has always been the place to find it. The latest and greatest generation of technology has brought even more spectacular graphics to computer gaming - and a company called ArenaNet has ridden that cresting wave with a game series that features accessibility, elegant game mechanics, an insane level of customization - and stunning visuals.
The game is Guild Wars. Its first true expansion, Eye of the North - a dungeon-crawling maniac's dream aimed at high level characters who've already survived a previous game or two - is due out at the end of August.
If you like the way that game looks, Art Director Daniel Dociu is the man to talk to. Dociu has worked in the gaming industry since 1993, when a chance meeting with a friend aimed him in the direction of a new field that was building a reputation for big money.
"I hate to sound materialistic, but the smell of money drew me to the industry," says Dociu, who earned his degree in Industrial Design and worked as a product designer for several years. It didn't take him long to decide where the grass looked greener. "Within two weeks, I had my portfolio together and I was out the door." He landed a job at Squaresoft and never looked back.
ArenaNet's work on Guild Wars began with resource and technology development, but soon transitioned to conceptualizing the look and feel. "Once the tools were in place and the technology was mature, they brought me in to define the visual aspects of the game," Dociu says. "None of the art assets had been developed. We replaced placeholder art with new visuals that were in line with the style and vision that we defined."
Dociu, who worked as an Art Director at Squaresoft and EA, continues to bring solid team building skills to bear on the new expansion. "My philosophy on art direction and generating a style is that a style does not have to come from one person. I don't try to define the style by myself. We have a very open environment - physically and literally," Dociu says, describing large, open spaces in which seven to ten artists work collaboratively. This ethic "gives the project the depth, layering and complexity that makes it interesting."
Although ArenaNet considers Eye of the North to be the first true expansion in the Guild Wars series, they've released extensive new content twice since the game's original release: Factions in the spring of 2006, and Nightfall in October of that year. Each of these standalone additions to the Guild Wars mythos included new environments, character classes and creatures - major content creation for Dociu and his team. Now, less than a year later, Eye of the North is on the horizon. No rest for the wicked - or the overworked.
Dociu is placid about the workload - principally because he knows what his team is capable of accomplishing. "We've all had time to get to know where everybody comes from in terms of backgrounds and expertise," Dociu says. "We know each other's strengths and weaknesses. We live and breathe this style now. It's a really cohesive team."
Here there be dungeons. Noticeably absent from past Guild Wars outings, Eye of the North reverses the trend and avoids "dungeon crawl" cliches by creating huge, sprawling networks that stretch beneath entire continents. Environments alternate between the more traditional maze-like warrens and antechambers so enormous you feel like you're outside.
Asked where the creative direction comes from when pursuing the vision for a new project, Dociu says it's best to stay open and prepared - for anything, from anywhere. "We take ideas wherever we can get them," he says. "More often than not, they come from the art team as far as where we want to take the next game visually. But there's an ongoing collaboration with the writers."
Dociu's own role is to take the longview and kickstart the creation process. "The key word is inspiration," he says. "I try to create pieces early on that get the writers and game designers excited, as well as the artists. My level of interest is not in the details, but the big picture. Early on, I create a few pieces that will get conversation started. If things change beyond recognition once we start working out the details, that doesn't bother me. The important thing is to get things going."
Dociu employs the familiarity and universality of place to propel imagination in those early phases. "I always start with environments. They define the tone of a game. There may be times where your character is reduced to a few pixels on the screen, and involvement is down to the environment you're immersed in."
The massive in-game environments are quite easy to get lost in - both figuratively and literally. The places your characters move through start as static images - all created digitally, regardless of how much they might look like oil on canvas.
"I'm not trying to duplicate traditional media," Dociu says. "My background is traditional art. Just being yourself, following your instincts, eventually you will end up with the same look and sensibility regardless of the medium. It goes beyond technique. The results are a representation of honest, direct expression."
Dociu is reluctant to discuss technical details of how he works - not from any desire to withhold information, but because he considers it irrelevant. His reasoning, while sound, is frustrating to some young artists looking to him for mentorship. "They
Welcome to The Depths - a labyrinthine underground rich with plant life, decorated with ornate carvings and massive statues, and home to some of the nastiest beasties you'll ever clap an eye to - all of whom want you planted and pushing up daisies. Who's game for a pleasant afternoon spelunking expedition?
prefer to talk about technique and tools - what brush do you use, what settings do you use," Dociu says. "It really doesn't matter. You shouldn't worry and obsess about technique. Technique should evolve organically - an extension of your sensibility."
Just one example of the game's fantastic character models.
Working with digital tools versus organic medium "isn't as different as you might think," Dociu says. "There are more similarities than differences."
The sophistication of these tools further blurs the line between commercial art and fine art. Dociu works in the one field that leans over that line consistently - and pushes the state of the art ever forward.
Ironically, he didn't always see it that way. "At first I was philosophically opposed to video games as an art form. I wouldn't even allow my kids to own a game console. But once I jumped ship, I realized it would be pretty hypocritical of me to object."
Joining the ranks gave Dociu new perspective. "I learned to appreciate the talent employed by the industry, and the fact that the technology is progressing so rapidly," he says. "It's allowed artists to take this craft to a new level."
New levels - many of them underground - are what Guild Wars: Eye of the North is all about. The expansion boasts 18 unique multilevel dungeons, each with its own monsters, traps, and treasures. Fresh, unique content, a new spin on an archtypal concept, and serious challenges for seasoned players abound. Under level 20? Don't bother. If you're a casual player like me, it'll be worth taking the extra time to power-level a character in time for the release at the end of August.
Whatever else might be on offer in the new expansion - new characters, skills, and creatures - Daniel Dociu and his team have made sure everything's gonna be beautiful.
