An open-world driving/action game set entirely within a fictional Las Vegas - driving, gambling, fighting and partying were the core features. Unless stated otherwise, all content featured here was authored by me as senior world designer/artist on the project.
VEGAS STRIP
The most iconic buildings are of course the casinos. These thumbnails represent our fictional strip - some of which I based on actual locations. I often wrote backstory to develop a story about the place - its characters, condition, etc.
I took several of these through to final blockout, including the Millenium and Olympus shown here.
Custom blockouts like this were built in Maya, then textured and lit in Unreal
INFO
MODULARITY
The Olympus was one interior I developed. Unlike the casino exteriors, interiors were built entirely from modular components.
The scope of Vegas was ambitious calling for perhaps hundreds of city blocks of varying density, style and layout. A modular system would be crucial for production.
I developed several prototype sets as we explored the best way to assemble building . They were iterated on several times before arriving at 5 architectural styles in an assortment of ‘lego’ pieces.
5 styles x 10 types x multiple heights allowed for a great deal of variety in the landscape. Pieces could be rotated to make for endless configuration.
Everything snapped to a common grid making iteration easy. Even roads and sidewalks were built from a base 10 tile system.
WORLD DESIGN
Other neighborhoods were developed, each with their own unique identity. I put together an art bible, which was intended as an all-inclusive resource for content - from building styles to neighborhood descriptions.
Many locations - bars, nightclubs - needed their own backstory. Before a writer came on board, I and another designer developed much of this content. For the rest of the world, I found specific urban references for each block.
Different communities were assigned to different neighborhoods, even specific corners.
All interior locations would have their population types as well. I wrote several documents describing the ambience of different locations and what types of characters you would find there.
MAPPING THE WORLD
Over 4 years I would develop over thirty distinct versions of the world map.
Initially, we attempted to mimic real-world scale and see how we could force the strip into the 3 x 3 mile worldspace of Unreal.
The concept of neighborhoods was introduced, and we began to explore ways to differentiate them through building scale and type, types of businesses, etc.
The world grew until we did some serious production estimates, after which it was pared down again. This would happen more than once as we struggled with the optimum means for producing assets in a streaming environment.
Ultimately, optimum streaming and memory allocation dictated we respect a rigid grid of square maps each with identical budgets.
DIRECTING DESIGN
By 2008 there were well over 100 individual maps, each with their own art and design concerns. I rejoined the art team to oversee this process, handling multiple responsibilities of both design and art direction.
We developed an interactive map that everyone on the project could access through their web browser. It was a very useful way to track changes as well as post tasks.
I posted hundreds of notes, designs and revisions with this tool. I would call out prop locations and planting patterns along with driving routes or other information as it was important to communicate why I made certain changes. That way the artist could own the map and know how to run with an idea.
Prior to a comprehensive polish pass, I put together detailed design/style guide as a reference tool for the artists.
