Dishonored Designer: It's Been a Poor Five Years for Game Fiction
Art directors should take more risks in creating more imaginative worlds.
Dishonored's visual design director, Victor Antonov, doesn't like the current state of storytelling and design in the video game industry, lamenting a lack of variety and environments in which players can engage in. Simply put, "It's been a poor, poor five years for fiction in the video game industry."
So, what's the problem exactly? "There have been too many sequels, and too many established IPs that have been ruling the market. And a lot of them are war games. And they're great projects and great entertainment, but there's a lack of variety today," Antonov opined in an interview with Eurogamer.
"There's a place for thousands of different sub-genres and genres. Imagine the times when you were in the '40s and there were Westerns in Hollywood cinema: there were so many of them that none will be compared with another one, because there was a genre."
Although Dishonored has been compared to BioShock in the past, Antonov does not see this as a detriment. In fact, he believes that the two games are the only ones in their particular 'genre' of design, and wonders why that is the case.
"We're doing a historical piece, a retro-futuristic piece, which has pretty much nothing to do with BioShock except for the fact that it doesn't take place in the far future, but has references to the past. And, unfortunately, BioShock and Dishonored are the only two games that go into that fiction for the past - how many years?
"So, lack of variety in what's in the market leads to associations like this. There should be more historical realistic worlds out there. And too bad there are not; I was expecting there to be 20 games like this."
While "extremely happy" with the advancement of technology in the industry to do bigger and better things, Antonov declared that game creators should be more imaginative with their scenery, locations and setting, to truly wow the player. "Artists and art directors should make their own life a little bit harder by pushing management to take more artistic risks, and use the technology to a better, higher level.
"Graphics used to be an excuse 10 years ago, that we can't make great worlds. Right now, we have a lot of New Yorks, we have a lot of war games. Please everybody," he pleaded, "let's do more science-fiction and more crazy worlds out there."
Much more in the Eurogamer interview, here.
So, what's the problem exactly? "There have been too many sequels, and too many established IPs that have been ruling the market. And a lot of them are war games. And they're great projects and great entertainment, but there's a lack of variety today," Antonov opined in an interview with Eurogamer.
"There's a place for thousands of different sub-genres and genres. Imagine the times when you were in the '40s and there were Westerns in Hollywood cinema: there were so many of them that none will be compared with another one, because there was a genre."
Although Dishonored has been compared to BioShock in the past, Antonov does not see this as a detriment. In fact, he believes that the two games are the only ones in their particular 'genre' of design, and wonders why that is the case.
"We're doing a historical piece, a retro-futuristic piece, which has pretty much nothing to do with BioShock except for the fact that it doesn't take place in the far future, but has references to the past. And, unfortunately, BioShock and Dishonored are the only two games that go into that fiction for the past - how many years?
"So, lack of variety in what's in the market leads to associations like this. There should be more historical realistic worlds out there. And too bad there are not; I was expecting there to be 20 games like this."
While "extremely happy" with the advancement of technology in the industry to do bigger and better things, Antonov declared that game creators should be more imaginative with their scenery, locations and setting, to truly wow the player. "Artists and art directors should make their own life a little bit harder by pushing management to take more artistic risks, and use the technology to a better, higher level.
"Graphics used to be an excuse 10 years ago, that we can't make great worlds. Right now, we have a lot of New Yorks, we have a lot of war games. Please everybody," he pleaded, "let's do more science-fiction and more crazy worlds out there."
Much more in the Eurogamer interview, here.
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