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Sr - Lead Environment Artis  THQ Kaos Studios
Roles and Responsibilities 

My primary role before transitioning into the Lead Environment artist position was that of the Sr. Level Artist.  Our environment staff structure consists of Sr Level artists that are supported by a strong prop artist team.  As a Sr level artist I am responsible for managing entire SP and MP levels assigned to me, from initial concept of high level layout, to finaling, polishing, bug fixing and ship… and everything in between.  This often includes Site location R&D, reference gathering that will influence, inspire, and support the initial design brickout and serve as the foundation of the level.  This initial R&D was critical to homefront in establishing believable urban planning of the space as this was the basic building blocks of our “familiar becomes alien” theme.  It was important at these early stages to collaborate and iterate with the design teams in establishing something that was both believable in the American landscape and also worked with core design philosophies.  Beyond this, as a level artist, I was also responsible for gathering reference for all the assets that would bring our levels to life in the world of Homefront.   Establishing asset lists that were both story driven as well as design driven and would ultimately influence the schedule and art development time.  Beyond design lock, level artists were busy “arting up” their levels.  Beginning with bulk asset placement of structures and foundations, sidewalks, walls, and terrain painting, to establish the base art pass, further refinement of placement with story driven viniets continued while also supporting the design team along the way.  Beyond making our environments rich in detail and design friendly, they had to perform well too.  As a level artist I was responsible for adhering to established budgets, both performance and memory related.  Texture streaming issues had to be minimized by keeping texture budgets under control and PS3 and Xbox performance issues were addressed by keeping draw calls in check, aggressive culling passes, shadow passes and simple object count reduction if necessary.

As a lead, at the height of production, I managed a team that was comprised of two contract artists, two prop artists and four level artists.  I work closely with art production management to establish scope and art estimates for each map.  I work with design and the Sr Level Artists to provide detailed asset lists to bring these maps to fruition and prioritize for the time allotted.  I’m currently overseeing the development of our DLC maps to support the launch of Homefront’s multiplayer campaign.  Beyond the responsibilities of owning my own DLC map, I communicate daily with design and serve as a conduit between design and art to solve daily challenges that may come up in the initial phase of achieving design lock.  Working with the art director, we establish high level direction for each map, through color keys, and concept to define mood, atmosphere and basic lighting direction.  I work closely with our props and statics team to ensure assets are built to design and budget specifications, and communicate general constructive aesthetic feedback when necessary.  Beyond our establish set of standard FX, I communicate with the technical art and FX team for any additional FX needed for the maps or any technical art challenges that may arise.

HomeFront: Oasis-SP

The oasis compound was a key story driven, non gameplay moment in Homefront.  I worked closely with the art director, design, and concept to craft a story driven environment that was true to the world of Homefront.  I created the center piece Fall tree in the scene with speedtree.  Other elements such as the hoop house, pumping station, and canning station, were created through collaboration with art direction, design and concept.  Once reference material was gathered and concept was generated,  I created phase 0 models for scale that ultimately served as templates for our in house static artists to create the final props, and animators to create custom looping animations where needed. Ultimately the Oasis comprised of the wake up room, a green house, the second house interior with planning room,  and the outdoor oasis compound. (conept credit: Jason Bennet)

HomeFront: Crossroads-MP

Crossroads was one of our large scale open Multi Player maps.  Essentially a typical highway intersection found anywhere in the American landscape.  I was responsible for the initial layout and collaboration with design establishing the various objectives and capture points of the map.  Beyond design lock I refined terrain painting and integration, created terrain textures and basic materials. Asset placement and general “arting up” of the level to completion, collaborating with design to solve design challenges such as line of sight issues in a visually convincing manner along the way.  I was fortunate enough to be able to create a few statics for this map.  That being the bait shack as well as the gas station structures. (concept credit: David Greco)

HomeFront: Hour-SP

Hour was another Single Player map that consisted largely of a typical suburban street that transitioned into a more urban section of the city.  I collaborated with design beyond their initial brickout, establishing a layout that met both and art and designs needs.  Designs initial layout was too confined and visually unrealistic of a typical American suburb.  Sidewalks and streets were narrow and Houses were butted right up against the sidewalk, leaving no room for a driveway, or front yards.  We compromised with a visually believable space and scale that also respected engagement distances needed by design.  Beyond design lock, I was able to art up freely with my established library of assets at hand. (conept credit: David Greco)

HomeFront: Harbor-MP

The Multi Player map Harbor or Green Zone as it ended up in the shipping game was a large scale ground control map based off of a typical commercial area among the American landscape.  Capture points included a gas station, car dealer, repair garage, a small park and the center point of the map, a large bombed out crater splitting a major highway in two.  Similar to Crossroads, I was responsible for the initial layout and collaboration with design establishing the various objectives and capture points of the map.  Beyond design lock I refined terrain painting and integration, created terrain textures and basic materials. Asset placement and general “arting up” of the level to completion, collaborating with design to solve design challenges such as line of sight issues in a visually convincing manner along the way. (concept credit: David Greco)

Samples

Large Projects or slums building. 10k poly limit, AO baked into the diffuse

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