Benjamin Spiss from gaming graphics experts Rabcat Gaming explains why he thinks the AWP sector has held onto its roots for so long, "I think this is because they had something very lucrative, already working (but maybe decreasing) in their hands and the sector was very cautious to change a proven formula.

"At a certain stage the industry had no other choice than to look into new technologies to continue growing. Another element is also that the skill set to produce high quality 2d and 3d graphics and videos was simply not available within the gambling industry, so they had to acquire it from somewhere else like the video gaming industry and they had to learn how to adapt these methods and technologies for their purposes. This is also where Rabcat sees itself in a very favourable position, as we are actually coming from the video gaming industry and have been able to enrich that with great gambling expertise over the last 8 years."

There is no doubt that the technology needed to produce video involves quite a different skill set to that needed for mechanical reel-based play. This is why some companies have made the crossover from video into gambling. One such company is the Austrian touchscreen game giant, TAB Austria. Managing Director Siegfried Dattl Jr believes that the slow uptake of video in AWP gaming was partly down to cost.

"Video screens basically are much more expensive than mechanical reels," he says. "However, what many people forget to consider is the fact that mechanical equipment is much more susceptible to errors. Additionally, troubleshooting is more difficult and timeconsuming, since every single component has to be inspected and tested. With modern equipment, the hardware can be replaced much easier, which saves time and costs."

TAB has entered the AWP sector with its platform Golden Island. "Every single game developed for our Golden Island platform was drawn and animated by hand with loving care," adds Dattl. "We are particularly proud of that, because this attention to detail can be recognised - it creates an unmistakeable world of images and an individual game experience. This is also reflected in our two latest games, "Aloha Hawaii" and "Hot Fruits", which are characterised by particularly beautiful and happy graphics and animations."

For companies wishing to develop their own graphic content for gaming, the challenges are immense. "Today's current generation places a huge emphasis on graphic realism and it is no longer acceptable for objects to be simply recognizable, they have to be 3D or interactive if they are to entertain an audience brought up on complex home computer games," points out Roland Connor from Taiwanese specialist Astro Corp.

Indeed, advances in technology and design have been largely responsible for Astro Corp's contentdriven direction. The Taiwan-based manufacturer enjoys worldwide recognition for producing cuttingedge graphics which support and complement gameplay.

The process of producing the graphics for a video AWP is a lengthy one. Benjamin Spiss explains: "For an average AWP-style game we need 4 to 8 weeks, depending on the level of detail, amount of symbols, background graphics etc. and what type of animations a customer requests. Very ambitious and complex projects can of course take longer. Due to our experience with art production for triple-a (blockbuster) video game titles most of our client's book us to create premium 3D art which of course takes significantly more time."

One of the biggest challenges can be that of choosing a theme. "If we don't receive a briefing for the theme we brainstorm internally, analyze the market and trends, the existing portfolio of the client and then propose several themes and different art styles to our clients," says Spiss.

"If we receive a briefing with a theme outlined or having agreed on an idea coming from Rabcat, we produce a mood board and concept art for logos, symbols etc. and discuss them with our client. As soon as the client gives us green light, we then start the production of a detailed storyboard that provide both the client and our production team with a decent overview about the entire game. Based on that storyboard, the final artwork - ranging from 3D graphics to animations, videos and interactive special features - is produced. The final artwork production makes full use of 3D production techniques like modeling, texturing, rigging, skinning, animation, rendering and postproduction," he adds.

TAB Austria has clear ideas of the themes it likes to portray in its games. "It is important for the games to transmit a positive general mood - laughing faces, happy themes, bright colours," says Dattl "Not for nothing does AWP include the word "amusement" after all. The people are playing machine games in their spare-time, when they want to unwind, relax and amuse themselves. Therefore, we attach particular importance to offering the players the entertainment they wish for."

"From our experience everything with cute animals works very well," offers Spiss. "Also very popular are magic related themes like witches, magicians etc. We also think that every casino must have some very common themes like pirates, ancient Egypt, a treasure hunt and fruit machines. In general we believe that the media presence of certain themes like in new blockbuster movies etc. is also a good indicator of what might work well with players- at least for a certain period of time."

There are of course, some images that are best avoided in gaming graphics. "Everything possibly triggering negative emotions in the player should be avoided," points out Dattl. "For example in our reel game "Indian Treasure", we intentionally avoided symbols like tomahawks."

"Anything too childish must be avoided because no legitimate casino or arcade wants to create the perception that they are targeting minors," adds Spiss. "Also religious themes shall not be used in slots, because they touch a very sensitive, very personal area of people. Beside of that we believe that you can turn almost every theme in a successful slot game as long as you are creative and skilled enough."

The biggest challenges for a graphic artist include something common to us all - the human body. " Realistic images/portraits, animations and complex facial expressions of existing people are the most difficult (to portray)," says Spiss "There is nothing more complex than a realistic human being - especially females. From an artist's point of view, it´s a true challenge to sculpt a digital beauty that looks believable and pleases the eye."

"Photo-realistic graphics and animations are a big challenge," adds Dattl. "One single movement involves much more time and effort than one would believe. The most important condition for that is that the movement appears smooth and realistic."

Finding skilled graphic artists to handle such detailed work can also be a challenge. Astro Corp. has invested in the industry by becoming actively involved in the education, development and recruitment of students in the digital content sector, thus ensuring a flow of skilled artists for the future. Astro's commitment to the importance of gameplay is evident with more than 320 of the company's 376 staff employed in games development, 100 of which are in the graphics division.

In 2007, Astro began a co-operation with the Digital Content Institute (DCI). The DCI is a nonprofit organisation funded by the Industry development Bureau with the objective of cultivating talent and the sharing of Knowledge in Taiwan's animation industry.

Several of the DCI's instructors are Astro employees and programmes are overseen by the company's Software Engineering Director and the Art Director. Typically, students receive training in 3dsMax, Advanced Photoshop, Modelling, Skeleton Rigging, Texturing, Lighting, Animation, Vray Rendering, Anatomy for the Artist, Illusion and Special Effects.

Rabcat's Benjamin Spiss believes that gambling games will in future be so advanced that they will closely resemble the graphic standard seen in the video game industry. "We truly believe that the visual quality will keep increasing and get close to the quality of animation movies and triple-a video games," he says. "We are also convinced that gaming and gambling will get much closer together in the future not only from a graphical perspective but also from a business perspective and we will see way more, graphically much better (because close to the original video game) slot spinoffs of popular video game brands."

For an industry that has only just taken its "reels" off - this will either involve a steep learning curve or some wise collaborations. One thing is for sure, however, graphics are what will set the gaming machines of the future apart from the rest of the field.

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