As we get closer to the October 21 release date for Ninja Gaiden 4, one of the studios working on the title – PlatinumGames – has revealed some details about its development with a new dev blog. Focusing on the concept art that was used to then create the world of Ninja Gaiden 4, art director Tomoko Nishii has written about the role of concept art in development, and how it was used for Ninja Gaiden 4.
Discussing some of the types of concept art that were created for the game, Nishii wrote about three distinct types: imaging art, design sketches, and overpainting. While imaging art is used to “establish a shared vision of the overall atmosphere,” design sketching are used for the creation of characters and backgrounds. Overpainting is then used to “refine the appearance of created assets and screens”.
“While the artwork created here often doesn’t remain in its final form, it serves as a crucial reference point for the entire team during the production process, making it a role with significant responsibility,” she explained while talking about imaging art.
Some concept art work tends to also revolve around envisioning how the game will look while it is being played. To do this, the concept art also has to take into account enemy placements and interactive areas. The process of doing this is called whiteboxing. Some of the examples shown for this show off the differences between whiteboxed concept art when compared to a design sketch depicting the same area in more detail.
Further in the post, when discussing the eye-catching red effect when the player pulls off a big move, Nishii wrote about how the effect was created by an animator, and how the process went from establishing the flow of action, figuring out camera angles, key frames, adding overpainting and decorations, and then handing it to the VFX team to then be implemented in the game itself.
Ninja Gaiden 4 is shaping up to be a visually striking action game from what we’ve seen so far. Most recently, the title was available at Gamescom 2025 in the form of a playable demo. The video of this demo was released by publisher Koei Tecmo just last week, giving us a look at 13 minutes of gameplay, which included fast-paced combat and enemy variety.
The gameplay video showcased a host of different weapons that can be used by protagonist Yakumo, including a bo staff, a pair of shurikens, as well as the drill spear. Capping things off, we get to see a tougher fight with a group of enemies, including a pair of massive, armoured opponents whose designs seem to have been inspired classic depictions of samurai wearing heavy armour. These enemies are able to make use of larger weapons of traditional Japanese weaponry, including a naginata with long reach that can potentially cause a lot of damage to the player.
Ninja Gaiden 4 is being developed for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. For more details, check out how much content it will feature at launch.
Ninja Gaiden 4 Developers Explain Concept Art and How it Helped With Development
Source: Buzz Trends Updates
0 comments:
Post a Comment