TenTonHammer.com - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

A: As the art development director I oversee all of the art that is created at Cryptic Studios, whether it is for our web sites or the entire Champions Online universe. I am lucky enough to work with the most talented art team in the business. And with their skill and talent, we are creating amazing new worlds with interesting characters.

A: I have been in the industry of videogame development for approximately 400 years. It is amazing to look back to when this all started, and say that I went to high school with Yoda. Wait … that's not me, that's Bruce Rogers (Cryptic Studios' chief technical officer). I have been in the industry for 13 years and counting. During that time I have been lucky enough to work on some awesome games including Tribes, Escape from Monkey Island, The Godfather, and of course the hit game Ski Racing 1998 (featuring Picabo Street).

A: I was watching an episode of Dastardly and Muttley and thought to myself, "Why are you drinking Pine-Sol and watching cartoons at 1 p.m.? Isn't Michael going to be mad that you aren't at work?" And that was it! I had the idea for the art style.

Wait, that isn't what happened. We spent a lot of time thinking about what jumped out at us when we look at comic books and superheroes. This game had to feel like it jumped out of the panels of a comic. To get there, we needed to have a certain style of shading, so we developed what we are calling "comic shading." By combining comic shading and some interesting post-processing tricks, we are able to achieve Champions Online's vivid color range.

When it comes to creating the Champions Online universe, we decided to marry two very different art concepts. The first is based on basic art and design ideas, including asymmetry, strong silhouettes, smart usage of color theory, etc. The second concept is to take what we think looks realistic, whether it is an animation pose or a character's costume, and then push it to extremes by exaggerating it. Everyone knows what a punch should look like in real life, and everyone knows what an exaggerated punch in a comic book looks like. It is my goal to make that comic punch feel as natural as the real-life punch.

A: Comic shading is somewhere in the center of cel shading and more realistic shading. We place all of the art details into the geometric mesh instead of using the traditional method of applying details in the 2D normal or diffuse maps. Our rendering engine uses the edges of polygons to render the awesome black outline found in comic books. The more geometric detail, the better the outlines look.

A: Wow, tough question. I am a photographer at heart, so I have to split this between painting/drawing and photography. As far as painting/drawing goes, my favorites are probably Zdzislaw Beksinski, Phil Hale, Raymond Pettibon and Degas. As far as the photographers go, I would have to say Andre Kertesz, Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Lee Friedlander, and I love all the work from Hamburger Eyes.

A: Well, there is a new character that we just created and I just about married one of the animators for doing such a good job bringing him to life. (Don't worry Danny Southard, you will be mine!) But if I have to pick an old Champions character I would pick Grond … four arms, baby!

A: Mind control, so I can avoid speeding tickets. My wife wishes I could avoid these.

A: Connect Four, Boggle, Mousetrap, er, wait … Lately I have been playing Bioshock, Assassin's Creed and Skate. Skate has been my focus for the last week or so.

A: I have two sons who keep me busy as heck. I travel a lot and I shoot about 10,000 pictures a year. I love museums and art. I also enjoy break dancing and eating cheese.

A: I cut my finger off like 12 years ago in a car accident. Dr. Macha, I still owe you for doing a bad @$$ job reattaching it.

A: Please learn everything you can about the foundations of art. Learn traditional ideas and mediums. Drawing is pretty much free, now go do it!

A: Look up the word "man" in the dictionary and you will see a picture of Johnny Cash. Oh yeah, if I ever get a dog I want his name to be Clint Eastwood. 

Do you like the art direction for this upcoming game? Does it feel "super" enough? Let us know on the forums!