Global Agenda’s FX and Environment artist, Scott Warren talks with us how he got started with Hi-Rez Studios, lighting environments and his excitement for AvA battles.

Scott, tell us a little about what you do at Hi-Rez Studios.

I’m an FX and Environment artist. While I don’t directly build environment assets, I focus on adding the final lighting and effects passes to the playable maps of the game.

How did you get into the gaming industry? How did you get to Hi-Rez Studios?

This is my 3rd year at Hi-Rez Studios, which has also been my first industry job. I found out about the studio in late 2006 thanks to a website called Beyond Unreal. They had a tiny little one-sentence blurb about a new startup developer in Georgia that was using the Unreal Engine who were looking for artists of all kinds.

I was working at Old Navy at the time and going to Kennesaw State University but I had very much wanted to work in games. I sent an email to Todd and basically said, "Hire me, I’m awesome!" I didn’t think he would take me seriously but a few days later I had an interview at the studio where I had an opportunity to speak with the small group of artists who were there at the time. And a few days after that I got an email telling me to show up for work the next week, and I’ve been here since :).

Describe your video game experience; when did you start playing/making games?

My first real gaming experience was with Super Mario and Duck Hunt on the NES console. I can’t remember how many ducks I shot out of the air but I remember having a great time doing so! From then on I moved onto the Sega Genesis and wasted many afternoons playing VectorMan and the Sonic and Knuckle games.

When Resident Evil 2 came out (I first played it on the N64) I was starting to become interested in how developers were creating game environments. Especially with Resident Evil 2 since, to me, it’s still one of the most interesting story lines in a video game that happens to take you to interesting locations. So I did some research but didn’t really pursue it. But when Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec was released, I couldn’t believe how real everything looked. The cars, the camera effects, everything. That was the point at which I downloaded a trial version of Autodesk’s Maya to see what the whole 3D thing was about.

What is your favorite class/character to play in Global Agenda?

Robotics. I get a cheap thrill out of watching my machines kill people. The idea that I can inflict harm from a safe vantage point is hilarious to me. Fight smarter, not harder!

What are you most excited for in Global Agenda?

Definitely the large scale Agency-vs-Agency territory control aspect. It seems like it will play similarly to a continent-sized king of the hill game. Who doesn’t enjoy king of the hill on a large scale?

What experiences do you draw from when creating content for the game?

For my lighting reference I use tons and tons of reference photographs of the real world. Light really only behaves in a certain way, and it’s useful to study how those interactions work in different environments. There’s a reason why a dark wine cellar feels different than a sunny day at the beach. When you learn why they’re different from each other, you can better understand what light is doing. Through everyday observation and educated guesses, you develop a good sense of how spaces should feel even though the locations you’re lighting may not actually exist in the real world.

And on the FX side of things, videos are invaluable. Making fire look like fire is relatively straight forward, but if it doesn’t move like fire, then the effect will look all wrong and will be strange to see in motion.

What advice do you have for someone who wants to break into gaming?

I would say that the best thing you could do for yourself is to pick the one aspect of game development that interests you and to become skilled in that one thing by actually doing it. Want to be a character artist? Study anatomy. Build some character models. Want to be an environment artist? Study architecture and machinery. Learn how things work and how they’re put together. Develop a curious attitude toward the natural world and then be keen on making observations. There’s always something you can be learning from!

Favorite game(s)?

Resident Evil 2 - Great story and fascinating locations. Tons of atmosphere and lots of creepy moments.

Red Faction - I played this for over two years on my PC when it first came out. Being able to destroy the environment was a new technology at the time and it made the multiplayer so much fun!

Left 4 Dead - It’s a co-op survival horror zombie shooter game. What else needs to be said?

What do you do in your free time?

Traveling, taking photographs, learning and playing my guitar, listening to music and recording little riffs of my own, cooking, bike riding on the weekends… I try to stay off my computer when I’m not at work but I just bought a Mac so I feel like I’ll be on it more than ever!

What is on your iPod/MP3player?

The entire Incubus discography, Muse, Coldplay, The Bravery, Leo Kottke, Weezer, Red Hot Chili Peppers, No Doubt, Aphex Twin, Bloc Party, Matt Costa, Melodium, Metric, Movits!, The Raconteurs, TV On the Radio, 311, U2 and a lot more.

Some Personal Art From Scott.

“World geometry constructed by Eric Hartz and Rick Ruiz, lighting and FX done by Scott Warren” –Scott Warren