Ghoulish Graphics: The Art of Voodoo Vince

We caught up with Clayton Kauzlaric, founder of Beep Industries and the creator of Voodoo Vince, who graciously agreed to answer our questions about the game’s unique graphic design.

Xbox.com: Tell us about the graphic design of Voodoo Vince. What makes this game look so darn cool?

Kauzlaric: The goal was always to build a world where you might want to hang out and spend some time. We knew going in that the world would have to have an exaggerated, stylized look, but we also wanted a thread of believability running through it. The approach our art director Gary Hanna took was to model the world with lots of strange cartoony twists and bends, but to texture it with material from the real world. This creates a setting which is both fantastic and yet familiar.

The art staff for Voodoo Vince is an incredible group. Doug Williams deserves a lot of credit for the look of the game, too. He did amazing concept art for every level, every monster, every doorknob and lamppost.

I think the art team had a great time developing for the Xbox. It’s a great platform for a content-driven game, both because of the hardware’s capabilities, and the relative ease of development.

The muted tones of the Voodoo Vince palette help create the game’s eerie atmosphere.

Xbox.com: How did the design for the title character, Vince, change throughout the game’s development?

Kauzlaric: Vince evolved over time, but his basic look has been the same since the early days of Beep. He has always had a big head, one big eye (his right one), and a missing eye (his left one). Vince has always had the same number of pins in his head (three). He has kept the same hapless “Who, me?” look from my first sketch onward.

The birth of Vince.

Vince started as a quick doodle in a notepad. I started writing a concept document almost immediately, so my first “real” picture was made just a few days later.

“Who, me?”

This was the basis for the different portrayals of Vince that I sprinkled throughout the first pitch we showed publishers in the summer of 2000. I wanted to show Vince doing lots of fun things, so he was portrayed in all kinds of outfits and situations. Some of these things actually ended up in the game, although we didn’t vary Vince’s wardrobe much in the final game.

This doll has more outfits than Barbie!

We realized after a while that people needed to see Vince on a screen and in 3-D. Not everybody believed we could pull off the look we were going for. The Vince which appeared in our demo is based heavily on these early drawings.

In unliving color: the first 3D Vince.

Once we signed a deal with Microsoft, we started a prototype phase, where we saw the final tweaks to Vince’s character design. I worked closely with Gary and Doug to get something more refined and less blocky than the proto-Vince. At the same time, there is a certain crude charm to Vince, which I think we retained in his final incarnation. Our lead animator, Mary Ann Flaherty, did a superb job of modeling and rigging Vince.

Ready for action!

Xbox.com: Many of the locations in the game, such as the Quarter and the Square, seem vaguely familiar. Why is that?

Kauzlaric: Ever been to New Orleans? Every part of the game is based on real settings and locales in and around the Big Easy. Before we started pre-production, 10 Beep Industries staffers went on a photo safari down there. Using a place so rich in history and atmosphere as a starting point had a big impact on the game’s visual flair.

Big talent in the Big Easy: Beep Industries in New Orleans.

Xbox.com: What was the most challenging graphic element of the game to design? What went through the most visual changes?

Kauzlaric: Apart from the voodoo powers, I’d have to say the levels themselves. Lighting was a perpetual challenge. Many of our environments are big and complex. Gary and his environment artists created some really intricate spaces for Vince. I think that made throwing lights into the levels a little more of a challenge. Keeping the shadows right where you want them can get pretty hairy when all those lights get fired up.

Xbox.com: What is the best thing about what you do?

Kauzlaric: Getting paid to never grow up.