September Monthly Update

Hey Neighborville residents!

First off, a big thank you to everyone for such positive feedback and interest in our previous blog where we interviewed Cory, our Design Director! We’ve got lots of cool stuff planned and taking the opportunity to be more transparent about decisions like ‘Choose Your Seeds’ is something we’re going to be doing more often going forward!

This past month was our 20.0 release which included being able to manually activate Grapes of Wrath! Our team playtests have been a lot of fun with this change and we’re hoping that players get the same sense of satisfaction and enjoyment that we did! If you haven’t already, be sure to check out all the cool new things that have come to PvZ3 recently!

In this month’s blog, we wanted to take another peek behind the PvZ3 curtain and chat with Ryan, our Senior Concept Artist! Plug in and get comfy, folks!

Hey Ryan! We’ve been chatting for MONTHS about bringing players closer and closer to our creative processes, and I’m so excited we have time to chat in this blog! Before we kick things off, tell us a little bit more about yourself! How long have you been working on PvZ and what are some of your first memories of the franchise?

Ryan: Oh man, well, this will show my age. I’ve been doing concept art for games for the last 16 years and have been working on some iteration of PvZ for about 6 years! The first experience I had with PvZ was back in art school when it was released on Xbox Arcade. I’m a huge fan of irreverent humor so, it instantly hooked me with such a masterful mashup of seemingly mismatched themes - Plants and Zombies? How in the heck?? But, it definitely worked and I was hooked. 

Let’s start with inspiration! What inspires your creative process when it comes to working on PvZ3 characters? Do you have any unique sources of inspiration you tap into when working on the designs?

Ryan: Well, first and foremost - I’m a 90’s kid. So, Saturday morning cartoons were incredibly influential and inspirational to me: TMNT, Toxic Avengers, DuckTales, Ren & Stimpy, Rocko's Modern Life, and more. PvZ’s aesthetic and references tend to be straight outta that time line, so it kind of matched up perfectly. That being said, there is also room to bring my own personal preferences to the current style and treatment. I dig things that AREN’T symmetrical, so I like to push asymmetry wherever I can. It just feels more human to me. ‘Pobody's Nerfect’, right? One major influence I should mention that I always follow is from Nintendo’s design philosophy - design with gameplay in mind first, character second. There’s always room for a character first, gameplay second design, but this mantra keeps the visuals as a clear read for the player to recognize what that character does by way of its visual design.

Could you walk us through the process of designing some of the more iconic PvZ characters within the context of PvZ3? With a different art style, what are some of the key decisions you have to account for when redesigning these fan-favorite characters?

Ryan: HA! PvZ is quite the beloved franchise, so it’s a bit of a tightrope to walk. We want to +1 the already rad designs from 1 and 2, but don’t want to lose what makes the established characters so iconic. Basically, we want to follow the conventions set from 1 and 2, but update the style and sometimes push the zaniness!

PvZ2 established a great look, so one question I ask is: ‘How do we push that even further’? Since we are aiming for more of a Saturday morning cartoon vibe, we push the shapes to be a little simpler, bolder, and more playful. Same with the line weights. The colors are a bit more vibrant - not all over, but definitely to punch up important parts of the character designs. I like to push the asymmetry of the designs as much as I can; not to a point of being out of balance, but to increase the cuteness and silliness. That can range from the angle and contrast of size of mouths, eyes, overall silhouettes, and odd numbers of elements wherever possible.

There must be times where you were presented with unexpected challenges in designing a character: maybe the output didn’t quite match the initial design, or the character was changed due to a game design request. As an artist, how do you overcome these kinds of challenges?

Ryan: Trying to maintain the established conventions of previous designs can make designing 3’s characters easier, but it can also present some interesting challenges. I think back to when we were implementing the mowers into the game. The designers posed a challenge of taking down the number from 5 mowers to 1 mower and how do we present that so it still covers all rows. We went through some iteration, but we ultimately landed on a brand new addition to the PvZ roster: MO! Dave’s friendly neighborhood smart-mower. Fans seem to enjoy them AND they are rather handy as they track and gauge the biggest zombie threats as they approach your house. They are single use, but very dependable. Not to mention LOVABLE.

We stand by Mo appreciation here! What’s the most rewarding part of seeing characters the team (and yourself, of course) have brought to life in the game? Do you enjoy finally being able to see the feedback from the community?

Ryan: Coming from a 2D Illustration background, I didn’t often get to see my drawings come completely to life. Initially, I would do a lot of concepts, turn-arounds, and other informative art for other artists to reference and interpret. So, having something like this in PvZ where it’s more 1:1 with what I drum up has been very satisfying! I’ve been dabbling in animation myself, but that pales in comparison to working with a team of professionals. So, when I see them moving, attacking, reacting, etc. it still blows me away that I had a hand in making something real - well, real enough in a video game.

In terms of getting feedback from the community - it can be a little intimidating. It’s full of a bunch of brilliant artists and PvZ aficionados, so I try to stay away from too much of it!

On an unrelated note, I know that players love to seek out and find potential hidden Easter eggs, or references in the game to the rest of the franchise: are there any hidden details in any of the designs you’ve worked on that you could tease for our players?

Ryan: Oh those Easter eggs! There are a few - they are generally kept to the backgrounds and combat boards, but there are a few zombie designs. There happens to be quite a couple in the front yard, some upcoming combat boards as well (remember ZUMA??). They range anywhere from more PvZ references, other PopCap games, and even pop culture that we think is silly!

Do you have a favorite Plant or character from the franchise that you’ve already contributed to, or would want to work on in the future? What makes them so special to you? 

Ryan: Maaaan - that’s a hard question. I love all the characters! If I had to pick a non-plant it’d probably be Dave. I relate to his disposition and overall disheveled look, since I can be a bit of a slob. Plant? Squash or BONK usually meets the mood, like a good metal song. I would love to make a game where Bonk Choy or Squash could just punch or stomp everything. Zombie? I really like drawing the Imps! If there is a composition of a bunch of zombies, chances are I’ve drawn in a couple of Imps being purely chaotic. They seem like they are always having such a blast, which is relatable because I tend to be a big kid in many respects.

Being a big kid definitely has its advantages for connecting with the Saturday morning vibe! Finally, Ryan, I can imagine that a lot of our community members who are passionate about art as well as PvZ would want to know if you have any advice for aspiring character artists who hope to one day work in the video game industry (especially for a beloved franchise like this)?

Ryan: This industry is a lot about talent, but also a good amount of luck. I’ve seen so many talented artists not get the breaks they deserve, but when they do, they thrive. Until that happens, KEEP CREATING and KEEP TRYING. I always recommend bringing your own style, voice, and opinions to the table. That will help you stand out. Any good artist can adapt to a style, but there is also so much value to bringing in something of your own that’s new, fresh, and human (for lack of a better term).  

Awesome. Thanks again, Ryan! Really appreciate you taking the time to do this! We can’t wait to show you folks more, soon!

Thanks as always to our incredible PvZ community for their support! Be sure to follow us on our social media channels for up-to-date announcements and notifications, and until next time…

Plant on!

The PvZ3 Team

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