Interview with Clint Wallace, Artist for Plutonium, Part 2

This continues the interview series with Clint Wallace, 3D Artist and Animator for Plutonium Games, with Part 1.

Today we get down to the details surrounding Clint's work with Plutonium and Cleric.

Mystery: What have you been working on in Cleric?

Clint: I've been modeling and animating a couple of adversarial characters, as well as some harmless townsfolk. My favorite accomplishment has been seeing all the characters interact in the game. When the characters animate smoothly and everything runs the way it should; it's a good day.

Mystery: What sets your game apart from its direct competitors?

Clint: I'm most excited about the way the game plays. Cleric is so different. I mean really different! There are similar characteristics in other games, but as a whole it is so unique that it stands out.

Mystery: Since you're not only drawing 3D art, you're working out how that art will move, how do you go about modeling the movements and actions of the model to make it appear natural in its environment? Do you try and use models or video to assist your personal vision?

Clint: That's a good question. I do use models and videos to assist while animating sequences. The best way to know how a character interacts with an object is to animate the character with the object. Likewise, I use videos of movements to assist in creating animations. Sometimes it isn't that easy, there are some things that don't look as planed in the game. Then I have to go back and tweak things, but I try to take the guess work out as much as possible.

Mystery: As you're involved in a game that's incorporating supernatural characters, how do you determine the line at which movements and actions of a character have fallen from alien into looking outright fake? Is there a definite line, or are you running by instinct after you see the characters in action?

Clint: I try to make them as believable as I can. I just try to be as logical as possible with how a character looks and moves. This is an area where feedback from the rest of the team is very valuable.

Mystery: One of the hardest things to do in games like this is to maintain a realistic atmosphere. A common element that breaks this atmosphere is poorly developed facial expressions for the characters in the game(i.e. it's hard to really impart horror to the player if everyone has a blank stare).

Clint: I agree. That's why the characters that have facial features (most of the zombies don't really have facial features) are created so that they can have facial animations with a full range of emotion. Also when they speak; they look like they're talking, not chewing.

Mystery: What are you doing with your characters to try and facilitate The atmosphere of a Survival Horror genre game through the use of facial expressions and gestures?

Clint: All the characters with facial features have bones that animate throughout their face. The facial bones control the movement of the major parts the face. This includes the eyebrows, eyelids, eyes, cheeks, lips, and jaw. This gives me the ability to create a full range of emotion.

Mystery: What resource materials do you reference to properly stage old world Russia?

Clint: We have a lot of reference materials. Matthew has done a lot of research on 16th century Russia. He deserves a lot of the credit for the information we have. We are also working with a Russian Orthodox Priest who is a great help on customs, traditions, and general information about the church at time.

Mystery: Many of the characters in this game are based on folklore and myth. Do you have a particular style or vision in mind when trying to implement what's been done graphically through history time and time again?

Clint: We're trying stay close to our references while maintaining a look that is cohesive with the style of the game. Some of the mythical characters will look like ordinary people, and others will be noticeably different. That's about all I can say right now.

Mystery: What's unique about your vision?

Clint: Actually, it's really Matthew who maintains the overall vision of the game. He tells me how he wants things to look, and I try to deliver. He's the one who really has the final word on how the game looks. [ Editor's note: We spoke with Matthew Doyle, CEO for Plutonium Games, in a previous interview -- parts 1 and 2 ]

Mystery: What's your impression of the fans of Cleric?

Clint: I haven't had much interaction with our fan-base. We've got some dedicated fans, and I can't say enough about them. I've talked to some of them while browsing the forum on our site (www.plutoniumgames.com), but nothing really interesting to mention.