Bringing the Universe of Alien Arsenal to Life w/ Mario Duarte
For many new players, the colorful cast of alien critters that make up the world of Alien Arsenal: Battle for the Blockchain serve as the first impression point. Before they even install the game, players are growing attached to the likes of Tidbit and Gillian, and it’s all thanks to 8 Circuit Studios 2D Artist and Designer, Mario Duarte. We spoke with him about his inspirations, the game itself, and growing up an artist in his native home of Brazil. Enjoy!
8 Circuit Studios: This is your first role working in the video game industry. What led you to pursue games?
Mario Duarte: I worked as a designer and illustrator for clients in the toys and board games industry for 8 years, so going from print to digital was not only a natural evolution as a designer but also something that I personally wanted to pursue being a longtime gamer. Nothing beats being able to work with something that you are passionate about.
8CS: What were some of your favorite projects back when you were working on toys and board games?
MD: During all that time I experienced a wide range of projects, from simple packaging design to a full development of a board game designing the playability around a certain concept. But if I had to pick something it would be the time when I was the senior designer at a studio chosen by Hasbro to enter the Brazilian market back in 2007.
It was a colossal effort by an awesome team that had to launch around 60 games in a few months adapting, redesigning and adjusting content for the local market, as well as creating a whole range of marketing and promotional materials. I remember how funny it was having to adapt things like this card from the Simpsons Game of Life that featured the professional trait of being a “brown-nose worker”.
8CS: You originally came from Brazil, but now you call Canada your home. How has living internationally inspired your creative work?
MD: Experiencing different cultures definitely adds something to your work and the process of “becoming local” in a new country is a determinant part of that experience. In my case, this process gave me a renewed connection with my creative side, either from learning landscape photography and enjoying the beauty of the Pacific Northwest or going back heavily into illustration trying new styles and techniques.
8CS: What about living in Brazil inspired you to take up art?
MD: It’s funny that you ask that because it actually had nothing to do with Brazilian culture per se but everything to do with the pop culture that was available to us during the 80’s, from comic books to action hero movies. Later, with a proper art education, came the awareness of how rich that culture actually was, so I started to look into other things for inspiration. But still, loving comics.
8CS: Tell us about your art style and how has it evolved over the years? What is your favorite medium to work in?
MD: I started drawing as kid mimicking and copying the comic book artists from the 80’s and 90’s like John Buscema, John Byrne and Walt Simonson. By the time that I was around 14, my mom noticed that I was really into it and took me to an art school where they had this contest giving out scholarships. I remember drawing this “G.I. Joe” inspired fighter jet and somehow got the full scholarship there.
From that moment on, the kid’s hobby turned into something serious culminating years later in a bachelor of arts and a career as a designer and illustrator. Right now I’m having a blast illustrating characters for video games, so that would be my favorite medium.
8CS: In your experience, what has been the biggest difference between creating art for interactive games as opposed to marketing materials?
MD: Both roles have their own quirks. Design work is very diverse and requires a big toolbox with constant evolution in practices and applications. Artist work is a completely different animal, being more focused on an art style often developed for years by the artists. Working as a character artist in a game like Alien Arsenal is an awesome experience because you get to take all the wacky suggestions from the team and “give life” to a new being, that at the same time is cute and deadly, of course.
8CS: The creatures in Alien Arsenal definitely match that description! What do you think the secret is to blend the cute with the dangerous?
MD: We had a week-long team meeting in San Jose (California) where we got to do an immersive workshop on Alien Arsenal, including character development. It was an incredible brainstorm where everyone gave cool and funny suggestions that made the finished characters. The biggest challenge was to create a personality within a 2-D art that have 5 steps of evolution, so we approached this task creating character sheets featuring a backstory for each alien, its name, sketches, equipment and evolution traits.
8CS: What are some of your favorite games, and what have you been playing recently?
MD: I’m an odd type of gamer. I don’t play every single thing out there but rather play the same few titles/franchises for years. Strategy games were always my favorites so imagine the fanboy moment that is to be around people who worked on all-time classics like Age of Empires and Warcraft. Recently I’m addicted to franchises like Far Cry, Borderlands, and Grand Theft Auto as well as indies like Planet Base.
8CS: What are some of your favorite games when it comes to art direction? Any particular inspirations?
MD: There’s definitely a lot of games pushing the boundaries in terms of art these days. I love Monument Valley and how refreshing that was especially being a mobile game. One big AAA franchise that has an interesting story behind the art development is Borderlands, where they scrapped a whole standard 3D look to redesign the game using a cel-shaded style that emulates a cartoonish look.
8CS: What is your advice for anyone who is looking to pursue art as a career?
MD: Well, the first thing is to practice. Art is always portrayed as a raw talent as if this was something that you are born with it or not. But there’s a lot of training, learning and experimenting behind that “talent”. It’s the same with musicians, artists, performers, etc. You see someone that is good at something but we always forget that he or she have been doing that every day for years or even decades.
When it comes to art as a profession, an education in fine/plastic arts is a must, regardless of your style. Before being worried about setting your style of art, learn about composition, anatomy, lighting, art history, painting, print and digital mediums, etc.
Thanks so much to Mario for taking the time for this interview! If you’d like to learn more, please visit http://alienarsenal.com and http://8circuitstudios.com.
