"Venture into Kipbury Chasm, a land like many others tarnished by the Dhymire, a toxic sludge-like substance. As a Filterer, your duty is to purify this land's water sources with the aid of your giant elemental companion, Genhu. Within these treacherous lands lies the threat of an oppressive regime of raiders who have staked their claim on the chasm long before you arrived." |
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Project Overview
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Made with:
Down Current was the final project for my Master's of Professional Practice at Abertay University. It was created by a team of nine over the course of eleven weeks under the mentorship of artists at BAFTA award winning studio The Chinese Room.
I was one of two environment artists on the team. My responsibilities included creating modular architectural kits, and props, as well as asset optimization, foliage management, and cinematics (in game and trailer). |
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Project Breakdown
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The pitch
Visual Research
Pinterest played a large role in the art team's collaborative process. We filled our Pinterest board with a wide variety of reference images. Sharing images this way was an important aspect of developing the visual language for key locations, factions, and architectural styles. Referencing the board was common in art meetings, and it's use in tandem with the VSG helped keep everyone on the same page artistically.
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Our design pulled heavily from real world influences for almost every aspect of visual development. Since our clients wanted the game to evoke Scottish nostalgia, I chose to pull from ancient Scottish Pictish relicts, traditional Scottish architecture, and regional foliage. Even the more fantastical elements, like the brackish sludge, are designed to evoke various species of real world fungi.
I also developed cursory visual language and symbology for aspects of the game that were cut early on due to scope limitations. The cut ideas include visual language for the barbaric, imperialistic Clearwater Raiders that fused tribal architecture with brutalism. The style was intended to reflect their cultural ideals such as their disregard for the natural world and their desire to dominate everything in their path. It was also to function as a foil for the fluid shapes and more naturalistic appearance of the Old World architecture that appears in game. Aspects of this visual language make their way into the game in small aspects like the faction's logo and the portcullis. |
Modular Kits
I created two modular architectural kits for the project. The first is for the inside of the Hall of Maecos, a temple set piece, and the second is for the Parched Congregate, a ruined village.
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Hall of Maecos
The Hall of Maecos is an Old World temple that has been reclaimed and maintained by the Filterers Guild. The inside has been trashed as a result of aggressive negotiations with the Clearwater Raiders.
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The hand drawn details in the temple are based on ancient Scottish relicts, Pictish stones.
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parched Congregate
The Parched are a faction of people displaced by the Clearwater Raiders who have taken up residence in the broken remains of an simple ancient village. The old village once catered to travelers on pilgrimage to the Halls of Maecos, but now acts as meager housing for the Parched.
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Since the game takes place in a post-apocalyptic Scotland, I took inspiration from traditional Scottish cottages for this modular kit. |
UVs packed for efficiency and seamless tiling between pieces
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Architecture
Props
Optimization
Like this project?
Check out the rest of the team
Production - John Venters
Level & Gameplay Design - Neve O'Neill
Narrative & Sound Design - Jak Knowles
Character Art - Emily Blane
Environment Art - Aaron Petherbridge & Elena Severson
Technical Art & Visual Effects - Innes White
Programming / Engineering - Linxiao "Damien" He & Mingyang "Morgan" Wang
Audio Consultants & Contractors - Avery Mullen, Robbie Peden, and Jan Huss
Level & Gameplay Design - Neve O'Neill
Narrative & Sound Design - Jak Knowles
Character Art - Emily Blane
Environment Art - Aaron Petherbridge & Elena Severson
Technical Art & Visual Effects - Innes White
Programming / Engineering - Linxiao "Damien" He & Mingyang "Morgan" Wang
Audio Consultants & Contractors - Avery Mullen, Robbie Peden, and Jan Huss
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