Marmoset Presents: Cubed, an Isometric Art Contest

EarthQuake

Welcome to Cubed, an Isometric Art Contest!

Have you ever wondered what Uncharted would look like if it was designed by M.C. Escher, or if The Division was a tile-based, fixed-camera masterpiece? Now’s the chance to shift perspective and challenge yourself to re-imagine the game of your choice in magnificent isometric style.

Marmoset Hexels makes it easy to create colossally cool artwork in multiple styles and offers a wealth of fun features to bring your work to life. Explore a range of geometric shapes such as Pixel, Trixel, Voronoi and Classic Hexagons. The perfect palette, swanky animation editor, and gradient embellishments are just a few of the features that come together to complete the harmonious bundle that is Hexels.

We've put together an inspiration board to get your creative juices flowing.

The contest runs from May 19th to June 19th at 11:59PM CST.

Any art application (2D and 3D) can be utilized, but the use of Marmoset Hexels must play a predominant role in the final visual design. Marmoset will provide an extended trial so that all contestants have access to Hexels for the duration of the contest. Download the trial here: http://www.marmoset.co/shop/hexels

All artwork created for the contest must be original. Animation is allowed but not required.

Submission Guidelines:

• Please post your final entry in the submission thread.

• Include your name and a link to your portfolio (optional) in your submission post.

• A high resolution image (PNG or GIF), no smaller than 720px and no larger than 1080px along the widest dimension, is required.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in this thread.

Our panel of experts are ready to judge your entries on a very complex set of criteria, such as how cool it is, and… that’s pretty much it.

Danielle Kruse, Senior Artist at Gaia Online.

Edouard Caplain, Concept Artist at DONTNOD Entertainment.

Emma “etall” Talley, Freelance Artist and Research Assistant in Physics at Harvard.

Jack “Gauss” Monahan, Concept Artist/Designer and Co-founder of Stellar Jockeys, currently working on Brigador.

Saskia “sasj” Freeke, Freelance Interaction Designer, Visual Designer, Artist and Teacher.

1st Place:

• Artist's choice of Microsoft Surface Pro 4 or Wacom Cintiq 13”

• Marmoset Hexels 2 license

• Marmoset "Hexels" t-shirt

2nd Place:

• Wacom Intuos Pro Medium

• Marmoset Hexels 2 license

• Marmoset "Hexels" t-shirt

3rd Place:

• $100 Steam Wallet Code
  

• Marmoset Hexels 2 license

• Marmoset "Hexels" t-shirt

4th Place:

• Marmoset Hexels 2 license

• Marmoset "Hexels" t-shirt
  

Kid.in.the.Dark

Sounds fun, I'll try knock out something in my spare time !

PyrZern

I don't know what to make........

/gg

jfeez

Awesome! Since you say predominately Hexels, but mention the use of 3D, does this allow for making a model in 3D, texturing it with hexels? 

Magihat

jfeez said:

Awesome! Since you say predominately Hexels, but mention the use of 3D, does this allow for making a model in 3D, texturing it with hexels? 

I am wondering the same. Would be interesting to try this.

Joebewon

Oh man, this has made my day.  
Pretty excited to throw my hat into this one!
I was wondering though does this have to be a 3D game?  Or can it any any game? 

EarthQuake

jfeez said:

Awesome! Since you say predominately Hexels, but mention the use of 3D, does this allow for making a model in 3D, texturing it with hexels? 

Yes, as long as the use of Hexels plays a prominent role, we will allow this.

Port-Seven

Is there any documentation for a 3D workflow with Hexels? All I can find are speed paintings and short 2D overviews.

EarthQuake

Port-Seven said:

Is there any documentation for a 3D workflow with Hexels? All I can find are speed paintings and short 2D overviews.

Not at this time, any incorporation of 3D into a Hexels workflow would be a bit experimental, but we're interested to see what people come up with if they decide to go down that route.

camilabisson

Can I send more than one art?

Nolt

Stoked for this!

EarthQuake

camilabisson said:

Can I send more than one art?

Yes, multiple entries are allowed.

EarthQuake

Joebewon said:

Oh man, this has made my day.  
Pretty excited to throw my hat into this one!
I was wondering though does this have to be a 3D game?  Or can it any any game? 

It can be any game, it doesn't have to be 3D.

thechocokirby

Oooh, if anyone's interested, a little while back I made a little script for photoshop that creates an isometric grid and bundled it with some brushes. It might be good for someone just getting started.
You can get it here (it's free)
https://gum.co/mjpc

gorkema

"Include your name and a link to your portfolio in your submission post."

I don't have an online portfolio(yet). Does this mean that I can't join the contest? Is it obligatory?

EarthQuake

gorkema said:

"Include your name and a link to your portfolio in your submission post."

I don't have an online portfolio(yet). Does this mean that I can't join the contest? Is it obligatory?

No, that's fine, that requirement is there so that we can credit the winners properly and link to their portfolio. If you don't have any sort of portfolio, I would suggest starting an ArtStation page, but you will not be disqualified for not having a portfolio.

gael

Hi,

The contest is awesome. I've been dying to get back to Hexel for so long and this look like the best opportunity to do so.

I have a few questions regarding the contest, if that's okay.

1 - Is it mandatory to use an existing game for our submissions ?

The submissions said "A high resolution image (PNG or GIF), no smaller than 720px and no larger than 1080px along the widest dimension, is required."

2 - Can we, then, do a gif that goes beyond the given resolution but keep a canvas / final shot between 720-1080px ?

2a - If so, care to share how to do a high resolution GIF (I've been doing a lot of GIF and hit a limit in width when doing them) ?

2b - From my experience, I couldn't do a quality GIF that went beyond 600 pixel wide (considering a complex scene with a wide palette of color), is the "no smaller than 720 pixel" set in stone ?

2ba - If it is set in stone, can we do a... presentation shot that fit the given resolution and a showcase shot that is below the resolution (I'm thinking about doing a gif moving upward revealing more)?

Thank you for the contest, I hope I'm not showering you with too many questions,

best regards,

Auldbenkenobi

I could do with a distraction from works projects. Sounds like fun, I'm in!

EarthQuake

gael said:

Hi,

The contest is awesome. I've been dying to get back to Hexel for so long and this look like the best opportunity to do so.

I have a few questions regarding the contest, if that's okay.

1 - Is it mandatory to use an existing game for our submissions ?

The submissions said "A high resolution image (PNG or GIF), no smaller than 720px and no larger than 1080px along the widest dimension, is required."

2 - Can we, then, do a gif that goes beyond the given resolution but keep a canvas / final shot between 720-1080px ?

2a - If so, care to share how to do a high resolution GIF (I've been doing a lot of GIF and hit a limit in width when doing them) ?

2b - From my experience, I couldn't do a quality GIF that went beyond 600 pixel wide (considering a complex scene with a wide palette of color), is the "no smaller than 720 pixel" set in stone ?

2ba - If it is set in stone, can we do a... presentation shot that fit the given resolution and a showcase shot that is below the resolution (I'm thinking about doing a gif moving upward revealing more)?

Thank you for the contest, I hope I'm not showering you with too many questions,

best regards,

1. Yes, your entry must be based on an existing game.

2. If you like, you can upload a high resolution still image, and a lower resolution gif. The gif portion is completely optional, so feel free to experiment here.

GrimWillows

should the final image look like an ingame - gameplay 'screenshot' (like x-com with hud and highlighted characters) or can it look like concept art also ? 

gael

Thank you a lot, I will play with Hexel then

EarthQuake

GrimWillows said:

should the final image look like an ingame - gameplay 'screenshot' (like x-com with hud and highlighted characters) or can it look like concept art also ? 

This is completely up to you! Both styles sound interesting.

dieselJunk

 Just read the contest name again, is it specifically a contest for isometric perspective/styled scenes?

EarthQuake

dieselJunk said:

 Just read the contest name again, is it specifically a contest for isometric perspective/styled scenes?

Yes, the essence of the contest is taking a game you love and recreating it (or a scene from it) in isometric perspective/style.

We posted a bunch of examples of isometric art created in Hexels in our inspiration board: https://www.pinterest.com/marmosethexels/cubed-inspiration-board/

Note: these are examples of isometric scenes but not necessarily guides for art style. Art style is completely up to you!

namo

The downloadable trials says 14 days, how do we get the extended trial.

EarthQuake

namo said:

The downloadable trials says 14 days, how do we get the extended trial.

Yes, that is correct, the standard trial is 14 days. However, there is no need to worry. What we're going to do is reset everyone's trial counters (we can do it remotely) to make sure everyone has access to Hexels for the duration of the contest.

MrsNomingtons

Hi everyone! I'm very happy to share my new tutorial with you all on how to animate in Hexels 2. We've also created a section for tutorials on our website, check it out here! http://www.marmoset.co/hexels/learn

And of course, feel free to ask any questions. I'll be happy to answer 

Joebewon

MrsNomingtons said:

Hi everyone! I'm very happy to share my new tutorial with you all on how to animate in Hexels 2. We've also created a section for tutorials on our website, check it out here! http://www.marmoset.co/hexels/learn

And of course, feel free to ask any questions. I'll be happy to answer 

Was actually wondering about this myself! Really looking forward to diggin' into this!
Thanks!

Zocliac

I love the style of Daniella Zeman's submission, but is that still considered isometric or does it not fit the criteria? I wanted to make mine with a similar angle. Either way, it's amazing!

namo

Zocliac said:

I love the style of Daniella Zeman's submission, but is that still considered isometric or does it not fit the criteria? 

--Even I need an answer to that?

EarthQuake

Zocliac said:

I love the style of Daniella Zeman's submission, but is that still considered isometric or does it not fit the criteria? I wanted to make mine with a similar angle. Either way, it's amazing!

Daniella's entry is indeed fantastic! Unfortunately, it is not isometric so it does not fit the criteria.

ElGregos

Can we revisit old games that already were isometric, like Landstalker or Marble Madness, or that have been later adapted as isometric game, like Sonic? Not to remake them as they were of course, but with a twist: modernized, imaginary behind the scene, etc.

EarthQuake

ElGregos said:

Can we revisit old games that already were isometric, like Landstalker or Marble Madness, or that have been later adapted as isometric game, like Sonic? Not to remake them as they were of course, but with a twist: modernized, imaginary behind the scene, etc.

Yeah that's cool, you can take inspiration from any game no matter what the original art style was.

NitroBA

1080px would be quite small for what I have in mind, can I link a higher res submission along with my contest entry?

EarthQuake

NitroBA said:

1080px would be quite small for what I have in mind, can I link a higher res submission along with my contest entry?

Yeah, that's fine. The reason for the 1080 limit is that PNGs get re-compressed when uploading to Polycount and the file size baloons quite a bit. Feel free to add a link to a higher res image.

ayoub44

Awesome tool , is there any change for (32-bit) version ?

EarthQuake

ayoub44 said:

Awesome tool , is there any change for (32-bit) version ?

Sorry, no, we're developing strictly for 64-bit operating systems.

gael

Hi,

Even though it is a contest, will there be a post about our work in progress where we can get critic to further developp our piece of art ? (I'd like to take your challenge as an opportunity to do better isometric art)

Thanks,

GrimWillows

gael said:

Hi,

Even though it is a contest, will there be a post about our work in progress where we can get critic to further developp our piece of art ? (I'd like to take your challenge as an opportunity to do better isometric art)

Thanks,

hi, hope I'm not stepping on anyones toes by adding this reply?
there is an area just for 'work in progress' it has WAYWO (what are you working on) in the topic name.
here's a link to the 3 topics related to this competition:
http://polycount.com/categories/hexels-contest-forum

EarthQuake

gael said:

Hi,

Even though it is a contest, will there be a post about our work in progress where we can get critic to further developp our piece of art ? (I'd like to take your challenge as an opportunity to do better isometric art)

Thanks,

Hey, we've got a work in progress thread which you can find here: http://polycount.com/discussion/170514/marmoset-presents-cubed-waywo#latest

You can also create a thread in the main forum if you're looking for feedback: http://polycount.com/categories/hexels-contest-forum

LenasTeapot

EarthQuake said:

Zocliac said:

I love the style of Daniella Zeman's submission, but is that still considered isometric or does it not fit the criteria? I wanted to make mine with a similar angle. Either way, it's amazing!

Daniella's entry is indeed fantastic! Unfortunately, it is not isometric so it does not fit the criteria.

Hey! Can you clarify this a little bit? The entry looks to me to be build on an isometric grid, why is it not considered isometric? Is there some other factor? It doesn't look so different from some of the things on the inspiration board... maybe more painterly but isn't the camera view whats important? 
Just looking for clarification as someone mentioned mine might not fit criteria either and I don't understand why.

ElGregos

@LenasTeapot
You can check my answer in the other post.

EarthQuake

See response here: http://polycount.com/discussion/comment/2454164/#Comment_2454164

roboy

Quick question - can we take artistic liberties with this? As in, can we create an art piece that is part of the lore but not actually present in the game?

I have an idea where I want to blend two separate games (of the same series) together - it's not valid in the game world but I thought it would be pretty fun to do (if I manage to pull it off!)

Cheers!

EarthQuake

roboy said:

Quick question - can we take artistic liberties with this? As in, can we create an art piece that is part of the lore but not actually present in the game?

I have an idea where I want to blend two separate games (of the same series) together - it's not valid in the game world but I thought it would be pretty fun to do (if I manage to pull it off!)

Cheers!

Yeah, this is fine, as long as it's inspired by the game universe. It doesn't have to be an exact copy of part of the game.

Chimp

whats the final deadline? really want to get involved, hope i have time left!

EarthQuake

Chimp said:

whats the final deadline? really want to get involved, hope i have time left!

The deadline is June 19th at 11:59PM CST. Make sure to give the OP in this thread a read if you haven't, as it covers the deadline, rules, etc. There should still be plenty of time to get an entry done.