Project Description & Responsibilities
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Aegis Descent demonstrates the collaborative efforts of a passionate indie team at Traega Entertainment, where I served as the Art Director. Developed by a team of around 25 individuals, this roguelite, vehicle arena shooter marks the studio's second published title. Aegis Descent not only showcased the studio's growing capabilities but also solidified Traega Entertainment as a contemporary 3D development studio, laying the groundwork for future successes.
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Responsibilities include:
Art Direction
IP Development & Creative Direction
World Building & Level Design
Lighting and Post Processing Artist
UX/UI Designer & Artist
Outsourcing Manager
​Project Planning & Production Management
Recruiting and Team Development
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Creative Direction
As the Art Director for the small yet ambitious indie project, Aegis Descent, I wore many hats, spearheading our creative direction and driving the development of the game's intellectual property. Collaborating closely with both our internal team and external partners, I orchestrated a creative visual direction that revolved around three key themes: diesel punk, retrofuturism, and mecha, all within a fictional post-World War II setting.
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Art Direction
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To ensure a cohesive and immersive experience, we imbued the game with a gritty tone that echoed its thematic opportunities. Through crafting color theory, shape languages, and refining art styles I prioritized direction that enhanced the user experience while effectively communicating our visual pillars.
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World Design
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Leaning into previous experiences, I devised strategies to synchronize visual world progression through contextual biomes that echoed our creative direction with desired gameplay, seamlessly aligning narrative elements with the player's journey.
This not only enriched the player experience but also provided clear scoping expectations for our content creation capabilities on the production end of the project development plan.
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I also worked closely with our internal development team to ensure our central hub game space was meeting all creative, design, and technical requirements throughout the arc of the player experience.
User Experience
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Beyond my role in visual creative direction, I took charge of sculpting the user experience journey from application launch to frontend interaction and seamlessly into the gameplay loop. This involved directing the cadence of user experiences, ensuring a smooth transition and immersive engagement throughout.
Moreover, I laid the foundation for intuitive UI/UX screen space strategies that not only complemented gameplay but also enhanced user immersion and usability, enriching the overall gaming experience.
Cinematics​
Expanding on my visual creative direction responsibilities, I additionally led the charge in orchestrating the cinematic elements of Aegis Descent.
Working closely with our internal team, I organized concept and storyboard-driven efforts to ensure a cohesive cinematic experience. Aligning with the product's IP and marketing strategies, I developed clear creative and visual direction to maintain consistency and style. Additionally, I provided direct visual feedback to external partners on a frame-by-frame basis, ensuring that our cinematic remained true to our creative vision.
