Task 20: Creativity

Creativity, A difficult word to define if nothing else, but this word also happens to be a very important part of today’s society and also of the evolution of man. Without creativity would humans have discovered the wheel? Maybe by a complete fluke perhaps, but would we then have been able to have come up with all the unique ways in which it has been used since? In some ways it seems that creativity is a problem solving tool of sorts, hm?

I could quite easily go ahead and say that creativity is the process of creating something, (well, duh) but I’m pretty sure it’s a little deeper than that. I think for something to be creative it needs to have at least been thought about, even for the smallest amount of time, otherwise it isn’t creativity, it’s just a good (or sometimes bad) accident.

I think that sometimes technical methods can actually smother the creative process. For example, a good few years back after watching the first episode of Pokemon, I decided I really wanted to draw in a manga style (like, it seems, so many others did). For years I learnt the technicalities of this style and could draw little else. At the beginning of my foundation art course I realised that this style was playing a part in hindering my creative ability that I used to and could potentially have. Since then I’ve been trying to break the style into something that I could call my own.

Games, like most other things, incorporate a lot of creativity into themselves. Look at the vast range of different stories, characters, settings, musical scores, graphical styles, user interfaces, etc! Each area is (usually) unique in its own right, with even a few alterations here and there sometimes making a huge difference in a game’s style, feel or atmosphere.

I think there are few companies that really show creative talent above all others, with games that are far more original in certain ways.
Sony’s Shadow of the Colossus’ unique take on the usual layout of play is certainly very unique, as was ICO, the forerunner to colossus. ICO brought visuals that had never been seen on a PS2 before and showed what the console was capable of while also allowing the gamer to solve puzzles on a large scale. Colossus brought around the concept of games filled solely with bosses, something that I don’t think had been done before, not on this scale at least.
Other companies that stand out creatively to me are those like Lionhead, Maxis and Nintendo as each one continually strives to deliver something new and interesting to their consumers. Take Maxis’ Spore, a game in which you help an entire race grow from a simple, single-celled organism to an entire culture; even going as far as taking them into space to colonise or destroy, all along the way customising the way they look and walk etc.

As a game artist our creativity will generally have to be shown as a 3d model or as drawings/sketches. In the industry unique and interesting ideas will most likely be valued the most for obvious reasons. This will require an open mind, filled with a wide variety of content while some technical knowledge will obviously be vital, such as knowing how to draw the human figure accurately and having a competent knowledge of how to use 3d programs.