LANDFALL
RELEASE: February 21, 2017
PLATFORM: Oculus Rift
FUNCTION: Lead Artist
Landfall is a tactical VR RTS for the Oculus Rift where players act as a commander hovering over a miniature battlefield. The game features a mix of panoramic third-person strategy and immersive first-person combat. This was our studio’s first move into VR, focusing on a unique “diorama” perspective.
AVERAGE TEAM SIZE: ~65 total, ~17 Artists
ENGINE: Unreal 4
MY CONTRIBUTIONS:
- 3D Art Direction: Responsible for translating the concept art into the final in-game look. I directed the visual execution of all levels and the overall world to ensure everything was technically sound and visually consistent.
- UI & Menu Direction: Led the art direction for the UI and menus, ensuring the interface felt natural and readable within a VR environment.
- Production & Team Leadership: Managed the planning, prioritization, and task distribution for the art team.
- Outsource Management: Supervised and reviewed all art assets from external partners, ensuring they met our quality standards and were properly optimized for the engine.
INTERESTS & CHALLENGES:
- The Move to VR: As our first VR project, we had to solve many new problems regarding scale and player comfort. A major highlight was developing the “god-view” perspective and making the world look detailed and “magical” when players leaned in to see the tiny units.
- Adopting Unreal Engine 4: Transitioning from a proprietary engine to UE4 was a major shift. Having access to modern tools like the material editor and terrain systems allowed us to create much more complex environments than our previous tech allowed.
- Performance Targets: Hitting the strict frame rate required for a comfortable VR experience was a constant challenge. We had to be very disciplined with asset creation and optimization to keep the battlefield smooth, even during intense combat.