this is my university graphic design dissertation I chose to do on the topic of team fortress 2. since it is a long essay I have split it into three parts. this first part is based on the graphical analysis of the art of team fortress 2 itself.  it was written for someone who has never heard of TF2 until now and with a limited number of words, so please forgive me if I have missed some details because they were not constructive towards my argument.

Introduction

Since the graphical capabilities of video games have increased technologically, so has the need to live up to its advancements with more complex art direction. This has lead to more creative uses of textures and styles taken from classical artistic influences. But, in my opinion, no other game submits itself to artistic style quite like Valve’s Team Fortress 2, with its artistic influences breathing life into the very game itself instead of just being a small part of it.

Set within the early 20^th century, the two opposing forces of “Red” and “Blu” fight an undefined war against one and other. This is the basic concept behind the game Team Fortress 2 and it can be best described as a team based arena style war game with an armada of nine different classes to choose from, each with their own unique weapons and skill. You play a class of your choice in first person perspective combat along side a team of real life players where you must fight the opposing team who have exactly the same classes to choose from as you do.

Ever since I first played this game, I have been captivated by the uniqueness of its style and over time I became more aware of the world around it, where classes became characters and the weapon you wield or the class you play became a cultural statement. This is where I noted the artistic and cultural significance Team Fortress 2 has to offer and why over the course of this essay, I will explore its journey from game to culture and prove that its unique graphical style is what helped drive not only its game dynamics but the creativity of its community making it more than just a game.

Chapter 1: Style and Influences

In 1999 Team Fortress 2 was first announced as an ultra realistic team based war game with dark, gritty textures and uninspiring camouflage which was fairly typical of realistic war games at that time. During development numerous flaws were found with this style, not only from a visual perspective but within the game play itself. “The differences between our player classes were hard to expose satisfactorily. Weapons firing anything other than bullets were hard to visualize. Our maps didn’t make a lot of sense in the real world, where two opposing forces rarely build bases within fifty feet of one another. In addition, the game wasn’t visually distinct from our other products” WICKLUND (2009). Since the primary focus of the games development wasn’t visual style but to create a dynamic and engaging gaming experience that was also fun, it was very fortunate for the future of Team Fortress 2, that the original visual style was hindering its development.

In 2002, art director Moby Francke joined the team at Valve and set about helping create a new style direction that would not only complement the game dynamics but also give it the original instantly recognisable aesthetic that set it apart in the gaming world. This style was extracted from the art of the early 20^th century, primarily from such influences as J.C. Leyendecker, Dean Cornwell and Norman Rockwell for the design of the characters and further influences of War time ephemera and American impressionism for the arenas.

The artistic influence of J.C Leyendecker is clear from the initial concept art of the game, which was hand rendered to maintain the painterly textures. But, as it develops into the final concepts, the textures become less visibly painted giving the character design more of a modern homage to early American illustration rather than just a replica of it whist also simplifying its design to fit better into game dynamics. Furthermore, not only is it clear to see the influence behind the visual appearance of the characters, the movement of their animations appear to take some inspiration from classic work as well. Most notably you can make a comparison between the movement captured in the painting “Volunteer Fireman” by Norman Rockwell and the running animation of the scout and pyro, however there is no evidence that this was intentional.

Volunteer Fireman by Norman Rockwell: 1931

Most importantly were the positive effects the style had on game play. As well as the cartoon like appeal of the characters complementing some of the more unrealistic game dynamics, the read hierarchy that developers had in mind intended to make the most important aspects of the characters more identifiable to the players. The first identifier in that hierarchy being what team the other player is on, which is recognized through the use of colour (MITCHELL, FRANCKE & ENG 2007). Red and Blue were fitting in the fact they are primary opposites, being warm and cold in contrast to one another and are immediately recognisable in their differences. Coincidently enough, red and blue also holds nostalgic reference because, being the colours of most of the allies during both the World wars, they were used as a common colour theme within a number of war time posters and ephemera.

(United we are strong. United we will win by Henry Koerner 1943)	(Wake Up America Day by James Montgomery Flagg: 1917)	(Magill-Weinsheimer company 1942)

The second identifier was intended to help the player determine what class the other player is. This is achieved through the use of silhouettes and is one of the primary influences J.C Leyendecker had on the game play  “Leyendecker’s rendering of clothing and material provided a great example of how to add detail to a character while keeping the clean, sharp silhouette shapes that were key to our class identification” FRANCKE(2009). Looking at all the characters, they can be identified clearly with no additional features required. This allows the players to recognise classes at a distance so they don’t have to get close enough to have their face blown off before they can realise that they’re going to have their face blown off.

The final most important identifier is distinguishing what weapon the other player is wielding. The highest contrasting areas of colour are focused on the weapon which is typically held around the chest area, this draws the players focus towards identifying the weapon. There is also a slight gradient used on the characters model that draws the eye upwards from the darker shaded feet towards the chest, (MITCHELL, FRANCKE & ENG 2007) as well as the use of diagonals across the body in the form of sashes and other clothing details also leading towards focus on the chest. You can see the hierarchy indicators by looking at the concept art of the heavy firstly the colour stands out immediately identifying he is on the red team. Secondly, his shape is large and accented by the folds around his small feet. Having nothing on his head and broad shoulders gives him roundness unique to his class allowing the player to identify his silhouette. Finally focus is brought to the gun when the eye follows either the gradient from his feet upwards, or the sash that falls across his chest downwards.

The new romance: Harvey Dunn: 1914 The landscapes took on a more painterly impressionistic appearance and clearly take some influence from work by illustrator Harvey Dunn with its heaviness of its brush strokes and vibrant colour . This sets the scene for more rugged yet playful looking surroundings that fit in with the intended colour division of the architecture within the arenas. The three main colour schemes red, blue and neutral, in order to identify whether you were in friendly, enemy or neutral territory. The general theme of the maps doesn’t vary much from the idea of secret bases hidden in industrial or agricultural setting where the red scheme was designed to look more natural and warm with wood texture, and the blue, on the other hand is cold and industrial, using concrete and brick (MITCHELL, FRANCKE & ENG 2007). This provided an automatic natural identification of your surroundings, so it wasn’t something new you would have to get used to when you first started playing the game. Although in later map releases, there was more diversity used in the location theme of the maps, but the team areas still maintained some identifiable diversity.

white truck: Harvey Dunn Alpine concept One of the few problems brought on with the stylised approach was the softness of the figures blending too much into the similar styled scenery and with the abandonment of pure black getting the figures to stand out was difficult. This was overcome by using rim highlighting on the figures, another feature of early American illustration. This commercial illustration of the heavy, designed to parody a series of illustrations by J.C Leyendecker (Fig. 12), shows how the rim highlighting can make an otherwise two dimensional image look three dimensional.

the heavy weapons guy: Moby Francke	Gentlemen and seated lady by LC Leyendecker: 1929

Beyond the improvements of game play, the combined influences rebuilt the feeling of the early 20^th century almost like opening a portal into the living world of an impressionist painting. But, in the most part, the strongest and more significant artistic gesture is that of industrial war posters, since the game as a whole has a very industrial feel about it through both the landscape and the design of the characters. In my own opinion, this makes the games direction feel less about the physical war but more of a manifestation of the perspectives back home, where the nature of the war was caricatured by propaganda. Although this is just an opinion, it also fits in context with the idea of the game play in which players don’t know why they’re fighting for their objectives within the game but are still very passionate to do so. My main reasoning behind this opinion is the notable similarities between some of the designs and commercial art from Team Fortress 2 and famous war posters. For example, the design of the “heavy” class somewhat resembles the iconic imagery of Norman Rockwell’s Rosie riveter, right down to the sandwich which was later released as an in a game add on. Although this point can be disputed due to the fact that Rosie riveter was intended to inspire the women’s work force and the game is filled with men.

	Serving the Nation by Dean Cornwell Pennsylvania Railroad 1943 Calendar

One of the clearer similarities can be found in the commercial art for the “Sniper vs. Spy” update of May 2009. When compared to Dean Cornwell’s poster “Serving the Nation” it’s clear to see a strong reference. The art by Dean Cornwell portrays a sense of urgency and movement with its angular lines drawing towards the focal point of Uncle Sam, rolling up his sleeves ready to get stuck into some industrial action. Those lines are used to invoke the same response in the Team Fortress piece, portraying the epic battle of the sniper and the spy as they wrestle over the bomb cart. As players, it makes us want to be part of that excitement therefore an effective tool for getting people to play the game, borrowed from an early 20^th century tool to get people to be inspired to help the war through industry. The entire game has the feeling of this poster and some other generalist comparatives extend on that even though they are not directly linked to the game the feeling of them is quite clear within the architecture and motives.

(Leslie J. Trevor,production poster, 1941-1942)	(poster for the Americanfederation of labour: 1944)	(Together we win:James Montgomery Flagg 1918)

Part 2 is about the story of the game and the art that tells it in the outside world.
go to part 2 or part 3

Disclaimer: this essay is an original piece of written information by Adele Waldrom for her final university dissertation. Copying this and claiming it as your own would be a great act of stupidity, even more so if it is copied with the intent of replacing genuine hard work. all references, however, have been posted for anyone interested in writing their own essay on video game art.

the references i have used can be found here in the Bibliography

Tags: Article: Gaming Culture, Game: Team Fortress 2, Soul Grafitti