Samson: A Tyndalston Story

For this role, I stepped in as a Senior Environment Artist to help bring the handcrafted city of Tyndalston to life in Samson. I was originally brought on for my specialized background in foliage, vegetation, cinematography, and composition. However, I quickly expanded into a generalist role taking on Principal Artist responsibilities. I worked closely with art direction to explore and mold our level art and set dressing so we could hit the right quality mark. Building dioramas and vertical slices became a great way to help direct and inspire the rest of the team. During my time there, I also ran workshops covering asset production, composition, and core art fundamentals like color theory and lighting.

I worked closely with other disciplines to really nail the style, tone, and lore of Tyndalston. Because we were a small team, I ended up touching nearly every little stone in the city. The greatest challenge, and honestly what I enjoyed the most, was that the environment is entirely handmade. There is no generated or procedurally placed level art here. We built these districts by hand, one trash bag at a time, and I am incredibly proud of what the team and I accomplished together. Beyond the day to day art creation, I also helped develop advanced pipelines for asset production and level design workflows. It was great to be involved across the entire project lifecycle, from early R&D and planning straight through to full production.

On top of my main responsibilities, I also got to step outside my usual zone and help with the game trailers. I provided creative oversight and got very hands on with storyboarding, recording, editing, and giving feedback.