Apex Legends S11 | Storm Point - Dry Mountain Style Exploration (Pre-Production)
I had the opportunity to lead one of the main styles used for Storm Point, the "Dry Mountain" style. This style is used in all the zones at the highest portions of the map. During pre-production, I was able to develop this style by gathering references, doing style exploration, and creating several new materials and assets, including foliage. I worked closely with our Environment Art Director, Robert Taube, as well as the Environment Art Map Lead for Storm Point, Jose Zavala, to refine this style and find something that would work with our needs.
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The images here are from a test map I created during pre-production. A lot of iteration went into nailing down the final look. Many of the materials and assets in these shots were not fully final and a lot of tweaking happened throughout production. This is especially true when it came time for optimization as a lot of compromise has to be made when working on a battle royale.
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I worked closely with Jobye-Kyle Karmaker when working on the foliage for this style as well.
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This process was a lot of fun for me and probably my favorite part of any new map. Pre-production and experimentation is exciting and seeing every artist on the team's ideas and style work is always inspiring!
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Level Design: Rodney Reece
Environment Art Direction: Robert Taube & Jose Zavala
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Environment Art Team:
Robert Taube
Jose Zavala
Lewis Walden
Mike Altamirano
Kristen Altamirano
Tri Do
Jake Virginia
Austin Arnett
Tragan Monaghan
Paul Tran
Brooke Olson
Hans Myaard
Eugene Kim
Richard Rude
Leah Augustine
Jobye-Kyle Karmaker
Marcos Shih
Jude Lee
An overview of the zones I worked on for Storm Point. The bottom zones use the "Dry Mountain" style, while the isolated zone uses Jake Virginia's beach style.
Exploration on ways to break up large swaths of dirt while retaining clear sight lines.
Foliage placement exploration, combining different artists' assets.
Material blending exploration, using decals to add break up.
Material blending exploration, using decals to add break up.
Exploration on using decals to help transitions between dirt and rock.
Exploration of color break up and erosion inspired by Haleakala Crater in Maui.
Material exploration combining new grass I created for the style with an old grass texture used in past Apex maps.
Dirt road style exploration using new materials and decals I created for this style.
PureRef board of inspiration. This acted as a living document with new images being added based on feedback and art reviews.