Hoth (Copy)
Again, everything starts with the concept art. Clint Young‘s beautiful paintings echoed the work of Ralph McQuarrie, with aggressively saturated blue hues, illustrating the oppressive climate of the planet.
I wanted to use color and saturation to delineate space and aid the story, while paying respect to the rich storytelling of Star Wars. We also added something not seen on previous iterations of Hoth: ice.
Additionally, I developed a texture painting technique which allowed us to create “Hothified” versions of every asset in the game that would be placed on the planet, ensuring that everything would be icy and packed with snow.
Interior lighting is warmer and less saturated and, when contrasted with the exterior, exemplifies the constant combat between the (slightly) livable interior space and the harsh exterior wasteland.
We employed techniques to best blend assets with the editable terrain geometry generated by our game engine.
Emissive textures applied to modular assets combined with particle generators, created the illusion of broken ceiling geometry to provide lighting scenarios for unexplored interiors.
Color was important in separating experiences on one of the largest and time consuming planets in the original game.
Contrasted lighting helped build suspense. The broken ceiling illusion employed a simply low-poly, modular asset which enabled artists to light effectively and efficiently.