Last art for Apex before bye bye (shivering with emotion and memories)
Broken Moon Skybox is one of the most ambitious, technically
challenging, and fun skyboxes I’ve worked on.
I left Respawn while the Moon map is 6 months from ship, so lots has changed by the time the map was released to the public. (Mod may take my Respawn Dev status away.
After 12 yrs with Respawn, I needed a break rejuvenate my health and
art passion, and to spent more time with my son and soon baby boy.
What you see here
1. early production work and ideation of Broken Moon sky, set extension, and fx animation
2. Encore moon sky
3. finished production of World’s Edge season 13 skybox (team up with Marcos Shih)
Hope you guys enjoy! More details and concept art here or other Apex and Titanfall Art
I'm here in advance just to say:
Respawn artists are NOT responsible for the games constant freezing and other issues. Please do not harass this dev for those issues.
Thanks Doc
My favorite work of yours is still World's Edge S10. The rainfall where the volcanic air and climatizer air meet is such a neat touch, and shows you gave genuine attention to the weather implications of it - a real treat for a meteorology student. The whole skybox really sells the idea of two airmasses colliding.
Also, if you're still in contact with them, please tell the artist(s) who did Storm Point's skybox that I love them.
Thanks, you are too kind. To be honest, the rainfall was more of a aesthetic touch, didnt even think about the effects of climatizer meets volcano. Some people refer to it as ash rain from the eruption.
Marcos Shih did the storm Point's Skybox
Last art for Apex before bye bye (shivering with emotion and memories)
Broken Moon Skybox is one of the most ambitious, technically
challenging, and fun skyboxes I’ve worked on.
I left Respawn while the Moon map is 6 months from ship, so lots has changed by the time the map was released to the public. (Mod may take my Respawn Dev status away.
After 12 yrs with Respawn, I needed a break rejuvenate my health and
art passion, and to spent more time with my son and soon baby boy.What you see here
1. early production work and ideation of Broken Moon sky, set extension, and fx animation
2. Encore moon sky
3. finished production of World’s Edge season 13 skybox (team up with Marcos Shih)Hope you guys enjoy! More details and concept art here or other Apex and Titanfall Art
Tu you're a legend and it was such an honor watching you pump out amazing art over the years T_T
(Also don't worry about them taking away your Dev status, they'll probably just adjust it like they did mine :P )
Did you make Olympus’s most recent skybox, with the city below? That’s my favorite view in all of Apex and Titanfall, it’s amazingly done. This new skybox is also really great! It reminds me a lot of Avatar, with the sky waterfalls and stuff
That would be Marcos Shih - lead skybox artist, you can check out more of his work here
Tu you're a legend and it was such an honor watching you pump out amazing art over the years T_T
(Also don't worry about them taking away your Dev status, they'll probably just adjust it like they did mine :P )
No legend, your are just too nice Chin. It was fun while it last heh
Great job on this. You can ask my teammates, I'm constantly admiring the sky on Broken Moon.
cheers, thank you
really love the skybox on broken moon, so complex and beautiful.
just wondering, was there a gameplay reason to not go for a darker / more extraterrestrial color? for example like the sky on the Encore arenas map. curious what the reasoning was for going with brighter blue skies here if that’s something your able to share. assuming it might have to do with player visibility? thanks again for your incredible work.
Great Observation
Most of our art is dictated by game play - if player cant see well or being distracted by a visible entity - artist will adjust their art accordingly. Another major visual dictator is game engine limitation.
Our engine doesnt render night scene very well. Dark scene also (most of the time) is bad for MP shooter gameplay. Like you mention, it's purely for player visibility. That's why you dont see many night multiplayer maps in Apex/Titanfall.
Extraterrestrial colors sky - One of the reason why most of our Multiplayer maps are blue sky is because human are use to see blue sky, it is ingrained into our expectation of how the sky looks. When players sees NON blue sky for long (1+ hours) they get eye fragtige. Single player maps sky can be any color.... why do you think that is?
It looks cool. But I'm curious why the decision was made to make the skybox look nothing like how the sky would actually look like on the moon. Was it solely for player visibility?
Why would it always be bright and sunny with a rich atmosphere on the moon?
Wouldn't a night sky illuminated by the sunlight reflected off of Earth be cooler and more fitting to the moon setting?
A starry night sky with light poles, flood lights, and other light fixtures illuminating the ground and it's POIs and paths would've looked amazing.
Skybox aside, the map doesn't resemble the moon. Too much greenery, not enough gray dirt, no low gravity POIs, no big craters, no meteor showers, etc. It looks like Earth everywhere and it being sunny daytime everywhere doesn't help.
I really thought this map would be more eerie and sullen like Seer.
Was it solely for player visibility?
Sadly yes...... and game engine limitation.
Look at my youtube video and compare that to the actual game visual, what do you see differently?
I'd say the skybox in the video is darker and more nightly in some scenes. So I appreciate where you guys wanted to go creatively and, after you confirmed it, I understand why you guys had to go with more function over aesthetics.
Was visibility also an issue when designing the "After Dark" skyboxes? I assumed Broken Moon would have a similar dark tone.
Exactly
It suck as an artist to work on MP titles. It limits our creativeness down to the drain. It is what it is.
Single player maps sky can be any color.... why do you think that is?
Those games are meant for storytelling and building up a setting, they have the leeway and creative freedoms to make the game look more aesthetically accurate even if it messes with the players' senses. The people playing those games also do so at their own pace, they can pause any time.
MP shooters are more about competitive balance, the playing field, and clear visuals. And, like you said, you can't have a map that makes your players drowsy after playing it for an hour, especially in a game like Apex.
Unfortunate about the engine limitations but it is what it is. I didn't know for sure, but I'm glad I don't have to wonder anymore.
Thanks again for your answers.
dude, you are dead on target!
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