3D
I joined Blackout Games in 2017 as the studio geared up to build a cross-platform multiplayer rugby management game.
I was responsible for almost all in-game graphics, UX, and UI layouts, but I also contributed some 3D assets—often ones which were relevant to UX/UI.
Booster Packs
One of Blackout Rugby's monetisation features is collectable cards which provide boosts and buffs when played in their respective areas of the game. These cards can be earned though play, or bought from the store.
I put together a booster pack asset to make the feature feel more complete. I created some opening animations, and a material setup that allowed for custom artworks and finishes to be effortlessly swapped in for limited editions and seasonal runs.
An elaborate fan game based on Westwood's classic RTS, Command and Conquer: Tiberian Sun. I joined the project as a teenager and have been contributing to it on and off for a decade and a half across all visual disciplines. I occasionally lead the project too. The name is very appropriate, it has been quite the journey.
Faction Buildings
I came into the project when a portion of the artwork was already complete, and took on the substantial task of expanding the aesthetics that had already been laid out into full building sets for all major factions.
This required some extrapolation and the addition of a few new visual ideas to help set key structures apart from the group.
For the Nod set I began to add more loose cables and pipework to convey their combination of high-tech and rugged, post-apocalyptic desperation.
I didn't need to add as much for the other faction, GDI, whose golden armour and industrial style was more or less locked in. It was more a case here of completing the set in a way which kept each silhouette readable and roughly analogous to its Nod counterpart.
I also did the bulk of the animation for both building sets, working with my own work and the work of others. I'm especially happy with my work on the "buildup" animations, which are often a fun opportunity to give more life to the sprites and explore their inner workings a little.
Civilians
The game's setting is a post-apocalypse beginning in the mid 1990s, but its crater-strewn radioactive deserts are scattered with high technology. This contrast is really compelling to me, and I've created a huge quantity of buildings to serve this dystopian mish-mash.
I'm especially proud of a recent set of hydroponic towers which help to bridge the gap, their futuristic curves and metallic finish beginning to build up dirt and wear as they weather the harsh conditions.
Miniatures
You can see more in the dedicated Miniatures section.
I have experience with 3D printing and miniatures. This is a unique application of digital design, with unique challenges and benefits. The work is often relatively high poly, with the level of detail limited by the resolution of the print rather than how much it taxes rendering.
A lot of the tricks we're used to in games aren't available here either, since the geometry needs to be treated as closed, physically-possible volumes.
There's something extremely satisfying about holding your work physically, and it can be quite freeing to texture your work with genuine pigments and tools.
I have recently begun publishing my work, rather than hoarding it all for myself. You can purchase some of my 28mm scale work over at Cults3D.
Roman Culture Mod
A Roman building set, fan content for Ensemble Studios' Age of Mythology. I wanted to create something which fit the same stylistic conventions and silhouettes as the game's official content without directly retreading it. The challenge here was avoiding duplicating the game's Greek buildings given that the two cultures share so much in common in real life.
Since buildings change in appearance between levels I needed to find a look and feel that worked for each.
This was the colour palette and collection of building materials I assembled; designed to expand and increase in quality from age to age, and to be unique to the culture. Demonstrated on one of the three house models.
A Fantastical Bastion
Work in progress. Designed to be modular and upgraded, players begin with a sparse town and add recruitment buildings over time, in the style of Heroes of Might and Magic. Key elements of this block-in are establishing key shapes and colours to match faction flavour, and making sure limited space is used efficiently.
The main themes are of proud, angular shapes with a contrast against ramshackle patchworks in between them. The general layout is inspired by the real world monastery at Mont-Saint-Michel, but with its scale and harshness turned way up.
This is an ongoing experiment with a planned 14 separate buildings, all working from the same texture sheet.
The curtain walls take up a significant chunk of the sheet due to their sheer physical size, even once optimised down to the minimum number of transitional sections.
Fortunately, since the goal is to keep a common style from structure to structure, this has been fairly easy to work around so far and the stonework has been easy to re-contextualise for different buildings.
It's a lot harder to put together good wooden sections, since the bulk of the woodwork has to come from the walkway textures which run along the top of the curtain wall.
