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Splinter Cell Blacklist Spy-VS-Merc Art Dump

polycounter lvl 11
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Matroskin polycounter lvl 11
Hi guys,
last time I posted here was probably at least a year ago :P

So now when Splinter Cell Blacklist is done, finally I can post some of stuff which i worked on.

Since I am not alone from polycount who worked on this game, check out some other awesome posts by my peers, such as danjohncox and his art dump thread nearby (http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1917337#post1917337) and probably other ones which I haven't seen yet but hoping to ;)

I worked on Multiplayer levels, where we had to face various related challenges, but in the end it was a huge fun and I enjoy playing the game after it's release :)

We had quite a harsh tech restrictions for everything you can think of (many materials don't even have Normal and/or Spec maps). On top of that the fast-paced competitive on-line gameplay posed serious layout and visual language requirements, so obviously sacrifices were made, but we tried to do our best.

As a Level Artist I had to work closely with Level Designer and Art Director in order to come up with solutions that both satisfied gameplay and visual aspect in my map, followed by required tech optimization and bug fixes in the end.

First, is a map called Silo which was my "main" assignment. Here I started working with my LD on a basic layout. Did most of architecture / structure modeling from blokout to final, mapping, all the art layout following LD restrictions, did some of the props and some of the textures. I've got a big help from a fellow Modeller and several Texture Artists as well as a Lighting Artist. I also recycled few of the props / textures from SinglePlayer assets to save some time.

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Replies

  • Matroskin
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    Matroskin polycounter lvl 11
    Second one called Virus Vault.
    I worked on it only partially though, mostly finishing up some of the areas or cleaning up some parts of it. Probably everyone in the art team has touched this map at some point due to quite difficult dev life of the level, filled with constant LD and Art changes. Well, all those changes eventually were for the best, and the map improved a lot with time.
    Here I was finishing up some of the structure meshes as well as staging the "terrorist attack mess" in the lobby (props, layout etc.)

    pap0.jpg

    Here I passed over most of structure meshes by cleaning and optimizing existing ones and adding some new elements + did some prop layout and polish.

    3uz4.jpg

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  • Matroskin
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    Matroskin polycounter lvl 11
    And just in case for guys who are not very familiar with Spy VS Merc game mode (like I was before starting on this project:P), here is a cool reveal trailer which was made some time ago:

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhhx2qk5cgI"]Splinter Cell: Blacklist - Spies vs. Mercs Reveal Trailer - YouTube[/ame]
  • leleuxart
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    leleuxart polycounter lvl 10
    Awesome environments. I've yet to play the game, but seeing these art dumps is making me want to change that. I love the outside lighting on Silo. :thumbup:

    How come you guys had such a tight budget for these?
  • danjohncox
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    danjohncox polycounter lvl 7
    Dude, silo was my fav multiplayer level. You guys had awful tough restrictions! But I thought Silo still turned out real nice man, real good work. The critics responded best to that mode too ;) Silo had a really cool sense of place too. Super nice work!
    You shoulda tossed these up on my post! Feel free to cross post too imo, my post was meant for others to dump into as well so don't feel like you're not welcome in it :D
  • fatihG_
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    fatihG_ polycounter lvl 14
    Looking good man. GG. =D
  • nathanbarrett
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    nathanbarrett polycounter lvl 6
    This is so awesome!
  • RILKE
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    RILKE polycounter lvl 12
    Awesome work! Great job and very inspirational.
    I like this a lot!
  • Brygelsmack
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    Brygelsmack polycounter lvl 11
    I honestly think the lighting in most of the screens there look sort of dull. But the assets all look pretty nice! Shame with the harsh tech limitation but I guess it comes with the job with hardware so old. Despite the lack of normals and spec on some assets, I still holds up very well. Huge fan of SC and it seems like you all did a great job!
  • Lee3dee
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    Lee3dee polycounter lvl 18
    awesome work! what engine does the new splinter cell use?
  • spectre1130
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    spectre1130 polycounter lvl 6
    Game looksm great and so does your work. I haven't played or bought a SC game since like #2, but might change that as well with this iteration. The MP looks really fun and tactical.
  • Razorb
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    Razorb polycounter lvl 15
    Solid work Matro!
  • Matroskin
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    Matroskin polycounter lvl 11
    Hey guys,
    sorry, wasn't replying here for a while -> vacation :P

    Thanks a lot to all :)

    @ leleuxart - I was surprised too, but generally its due to player customization (should load all the customizable parts in-game, so it reduces available memory for the level itself ), and ideally in every part of the level it should run not less than 30 fps in worst conditions, e.g. when all 8 players get together in one spot and start shooting and tossing nades:)- that poses performance limitations on the level again... Plus all lighting is realtime, so it kinda affects how much stuff we can place in a level as well:P

    @ danjohncox - haha thanks man, I should have thought of that. Will do ;)

    @ Brygelsmack - I see what you mean. Well, the lighting was quite strictly game-play oriented to give enough stealth for the spies, so many areas are just dark. In Classic mode most of the map is actually pitch black ;) I agree that some areas could have been bit different, but gameplay comes in priority ;)

    @ Lee3dee - I am not sure how detailed I can reply to your question (though I'd love to:) ), but I'd say it's quite old actually. At least in multiplayer case there were lots of work-arounds and "cheating" to do in order to get the result which, for example, in UDK is much more straight-forward and simple. The engine does have its cool aspects too to be fair though ;)

    @ spectre1130 - you totally should ;) I am still learning better ways to play it, lol. There are quite a lot of moves and tactics, so when you get good opponents, it will take you long time before u get bored:)
  • Uly
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    Uly polycounter lvl 15
    Matroskin, killer work man. I wish we'd had better communication practices between our two teams during development. Our maps were really similar, and it would've been interesting to see how much reuse we could've gotten out of eachother if we had kept tabs on eachothers' levels.

    Great lighting and mood in all the shots. Love your treatment of the hacking terminals and the environmental storytelling & detail scattered around them.
  • Matroskin
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    Matroskin polycounter lvl 11
    thanks Uly, indeed, 2 teams were kinda "on their own":P We did scan through SP maps from time to time though, but it was more in a random occasional manner, so I could have missed your map :( Oh well, now we know, and knowing is half the battle lol.

    To be fair, i should also give credit to our concept artists, thanks to whom satging was made easier in some key areas and helped making it look believable. The "bomb in a train" terminal for example was 90% replication of a concept. Sometimes LAs approached terinal areas by themselves, but sometimes (where it looks better lol) it was based on a concept.
  • Arqus
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    Arqus polycounter lvl 3
    You guys did an amazing job squeezing every last drop out of the art despite the technical limitation you had!

    Congrats!
  • chrisradsby
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    chrisradsby polycounter lvl 14
    So you're the one I blame for me not finding all the cool hiding spots when playing I've been waiting a long time for you my friend


    Haha :D Just joking man, great work ! Really loved the environments in the spy vs mercs game-mode. Had some really cool stuff! They seem a little bit brighter on this monitor than I remember them to be on my TV. The dark areas were really dark then xD
  • Matroskin
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    Matroskin polycounter lvl 11
    @Arqus - thanks man!
    @chrisradsby - lol, then it should be LD to blame haha.
    I guess you got me there - I have actually birghtened up (but just a bit) my screengrabs. Otherwise it would be hard to see half of stuff :P Still, its a Blacklist mode screens, I didn't even attempt to take Classic mode images because they would be 80% ptich black:P
  • DougClayton4231
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    DougClayton4231 polycounter lvl 3
    Fantastic work! I can't wait to play the game :P
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