Activision

Pitfall 3D / 1998

I was hired 6 months after an initial pre-production, when it was potentially going to be cancelled. The artists on the project were very talented, but lacked a central lead and a method of working from sketches to production. Within 2 months, there was renewed faith in the project based on demos illustrating a new visual direction, features and art pipelines. Due to many engine constraints, all disciplines (art, engineering, design) worked in harmony to get the most out of the visuals and game-play. The Terrain System had only consistent sized polygons, with each texture mapped on each poly one-to-one. All objects sorted “on top” of the terrain so props couldn’t be placed on the back edge of a terrain path. This is what gave Pitfall 3D its unique look. To add more depth we played with foreground elements to help frame the space and give more parallax – many elements were “just” above the camera view. It was challenging to create environmental variations – jungle, ziggurat, interior tombs, and caves, just by painting different terrain textures and augmenting the terrain with props. In my sketches you will see all of my designs sat on the edge or front face of the terrain.

◦      Responsible for: Art Direction, Concept Design, Boss Level  design, prop/building design, level layout concepts, both ext. and int. modeling/texture/lighting
◦      PS1 Proprietary 3D Engine