This illustration idea came to my mind by recalling some great moments of my childhood. Yes, it has to do with video games; not any video game tough, but a deer classic, Space Invaders.
In part, it happens due to my nostalgic mood at the moment, and by remembering such a great stage of my life. Maybe some of you know what I mean.
On the other hand, I wanted to explore about the contrast between the visual capabilities at the time, versus the amazing graphics that anyone can create at home this day’s. More specially, I wanted to answer a question, how this game would look like, if anyone made it again with current technology?
Of course, I’m not a developer, so I only can give my artistic view, my vision as a visual artist.
The composition didn’t represent any struggle, since I had all the inspiration I need from the original game. You can say that I just add an extra dimension to the original design.
The Construction.
For the modeling, I started with Invaders’ characters and apply some volume. Then, I took the liberty to re-imagine the cannon. The inspirations for this vehicle came from the mining giant trucks. That helps me to give a reference of scale, so that the invaders looks as giant objects, falling from the sky, but in formation, like in the game.
By taking the basic shapes from this giant machines.
I model this version of the cannon. Imagining it as giant machinery.
I use basic shapes, as in game, for other elements like defensive blocks, but with volume and the background. This way I try to mimic the Pixel-Cubic style from the original title. Though, I didn’t add any further detail since they will be far away from camera.
The Layout.
The camera’s point of view is from the floor level, with a wide lens. Again, trying to give the dimension or giant proportions by extending the horizon and the view from the ground.
The layers or elements are few; the cannon and wall at the front, then the blocks, then the invaders, and some extra details in the background for support.
Embellishment.
I create simple shaders, and even just base colors for all the back scene and the front blocks. The cannon, since it has several elements, needed several shaders on it, but I didn’t add any texture because of the distance from the camera. On the other hand, I took more care in placing the lights, which helps to represent the big scale of that vehicle.
For the invaders, I created a metallic material in green, but didn’t want it to look perfect. Instead, some imperfections were added by creating masks inside the shader and then mix two kinds of materials. All materials remain procedural, meaning no image texture were used.
Before
After
Lights.
In the search to add some drama, I added giant spotlights and a sunset environment light. Though, I couldn’t avoid adding a volumetric atmosphere to the set-up, in order to see the lights cones. That cause some issues at render, like fireflies and extra noise, so I did several iterations until I get the right one.
Post.
As a final step, I did some final touches by using a compositing app. For that, I render in layers, as 32 bits float OpenEXR multi layer file, so that I access those layers at the compositor and then adjust until get the desire result.
And, how do I call it?
A funny thing, after all the process to create this illustration to this point, and I still struggle to giving it a name. Since I have to decide, I will call it “Space invaders Tribute”.
The Final illustration “Space Invaders Tribute”
Wrapping it up.
So, here you have it. This post was short, a good thing, right?
Though, I will be glad to know your comments and discuss with you more about it. My hope is that showing the process, even in a light way, help, educate or inspire you in some way. What do you think?
I hope this piece please you, and honor those wonderful moments for those, like me, who had the pleasure to play the original version, as well as those who play the early versions.
At the same time, I hope that showing this post, helps, educate or inspire you in some way. What do you think?
Thank you all!
Until next time.
