Module 5 - Rise of Tiamat

For this milestone I was responsible for creating this modules adventure zone; Well of Dragons. I am responsible for the aesthetics, all world building including terrain work, prop placement, lighting/atmosphere, skydome/skyfile, and subsequent polish passes. The cliff mesh were created by another artist. Final terrain textures were created by another artist.

This adventure zone followed the same regulations as our previous open world maps, however, this adventure zone was completed in 6 weeks, unlike the others which were on a 12 week schedule.  This posed a new set of challenges and issues, with the tight deadline we really had to plan ahead and think outside the box. With diligence, we were able create a new biom and still manage to hit our aggressive schedule on time.

Well of Dragons

At the completion of the adventure zone, I was then tasked to relight one of the three attached instances; Thayan Magical Shelter.

Thayan Magical Shelter (Lighting/Atmosphere only)

Module 4 - Tyranny of Dragons

I was responsible for creating this modules Epic Dungeon; Lair of Lostmauth.  I was responsible for level design/layout, all world building including terrain work, prop placement, lighting/atmosphere, skydome/skyfile, subsequent polish passes, and the liquid gold materials. Supporting assets created by another artist.

I wanted to clearly communicate that the lair was on the same island as this module's Skirmish. I used the design language and terrain/foliage/prop palette from the Skirmish map on the exterior portion of the dungeon, than created a contrasting interior section using a combination of pre-existing assets and the new Dragon Empire architecture kit.

For this dungeon, I pushed hard to integrate more game play elements into the environment. This was the first dungeon to incorporate alternating player paths, and the first zone to have threatening environmental hazards.  With the use of both environment and well placed critters we were able to really hone in on the player pacing. This is held as the best paced dungeon currently in Neverwinter.

Lair of Lostmauth

After completion of the dungeon, at the request of my Art Director, I completed a lighting overhaul on a pre-launch adventure zone; Icespire Peak. The lighting overhaul was complete in three days.

Before and after images. Old lighting on the top, new lighting on the bottom.

Icespire Peak (Lighting only)

Module 3 - Curse of Icewind Dale
For this module I was responsible for one of the two new adventure zones; Dwarven Valley. Due to the positive feedback from module 2, these two adventure zones were designed to be as open world as possible (up to this point adventure zones had been very linear). I was responsible for the aesthetics of the zone, level design/layout, all world building including terrain work, prop placement, lighting/atmosphere, subsequent polish passes, and the PvP capture point assets. All large structures were kit bashed by myself using a module kit created by another artist.  The terrain material pallet was created by another artist.  

These adventure zones are 4x bigger than other maps in game, and posed a new challenge for the team.  With longer open site lines and non-linear level layout, we would run into issues that weren't present in other zone creations. By use of a good texture pallet and increased terrain tessellation, we were able to use the terrain much more effectively, letting us use few meshes and achievement much better draw calls when viewing an extreme site line (which are everywhere).

Originally this was to be our first open world PvP zone. however, the idea as turned down and the adventure zone was to be scrapped.  After a one week conversion, the existing PvP layout was altered to something much better suited for an adventure zone, which was than green lit. Dwarven Valley & Icewind Pass would be the first adventure zones to feature PvE w/ an open PvP section of the zone. I would also use this map to also test player feedback on seamless exterior to interior spaces; the results were very positive.

Dwarven Valley

Module 2 - Shadowmantle

For module 2 I was tasked to create the modules adventure zone, The Dread Ring. I am responsible for the level design/layout, all world building including terrain work, prop placement, lighting/atmosphere, and polish passes. The large structures and supporting assets were created by another artist, due to personal leave the artist was also responsible for the final terrain paint work. This was the second approach to Daily Quest loops within the game; the main challenge was to move away from the more linear style of game play, and give a better feel for exploration.  Due to positive feedback this would lead us into a new direction for our adventure zones.

The Dread Ring

Module 1 - Fury of the Feywild

For Fury of the Feywild I was tasked to create the modules Epic Dungeon; Malabog's Castle and the introduction map Portal to Sharandar. Due to the smaller team size, each of us are usually responsible for the completion of the zones from beginning to end. I was in charge of creating the aesthetics for the map which was then transferred to the exterior zone.  I am also responsible for layout (partial), all world building including terrain, prop placement, lighting/atmosphere, skydome/skyfile, and polish passes (including some texture polish). The base assets were created by other artists, and re-purposed by me throughout the creation of the map.

At the request of our Art Director, I completed an overhaul on the Realm of Malabog section of the adventure zone in one week.  This pass included: a drastic visual balance of color, lighting/atmosphere overhaul, a full terrain pass (paint and sculpt using Malabog's Castle terrain kit), and significant re-propping for better composition, player guidance and player spaces.

Malabog's Castle

Portal to Sharandar

Sharandar: Realm of Malabog