Posts Tagged ‘Voeltner’

In our continuing series of "Meet the Team" interviews, we sat down this week with Senior Environment Artist Jeff Voeltner.

What do you do at Hi-Rez Studios?

I’m a Senior Environment Artist. I design and build the areas or "sets" that the players run around in. Most of my time working on Global Agenda has been on designing and developing the social spaces for the game (cities, agency headquarters, etc.).

How long have you worked in Gaming, and what did you do before Global Agenda?

I’ve been working in the industry for about seven years now. The first game that I worked on was Call of Duty: Finest Hour. I also worked on the games Legendary and Turning Point: Fall of Liberty during the beginning stages.

Prior to working on games, I’ve had the fortunate opportunities of working within feature film, advertising, and in comic books where I began my career as a color artist with Image Comics in the 90s.

Describe your video game experience, when did you start playing, etc..?

Now I’m starting to feel old! I first started playing video games on the Atari 2600, playing Pong, Pac-Man, Frogger, Q-Bert… I’ve had my hands on all the systems since then, but definitely have some great memories playing Super Mario Bros. and Zelda in elementary school when Nintendo made their debut..still among my favorite games to this day! My video game addiction slowed down a bit though throughout my high school and college days, but I eventually came back to my senses when I started working in the industry and picked up the controls again!

I actually never really pursued becoming a video game designer when I was young. Growing up, I always knew that I would eventually become an artist or an architect and I really had my eyes set on going into feature animation. However, my path towards working in the entertainment industry took a different course when I was offered an internship with Image Comics right after graduating high school. My time with Image helped me gain some great professional experience early on in my career, as well as the opportunity to establish connections in the industry which have opened up other opportunities.

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

Recon

What are your Favorite Games?

• Favorite games for Art Direction: Assassin’s Creed, Oddworld, Prince of Persia
• A favorite character-driven game: Super Mario Brothers 1-3
• Favorite game of all time: The Legend of Zelda

In my free time…

Draw, read, movies and games with the family.

What is your favorite aspect of Global Agenda?

The Cities!

What inspirations do you draw from when creating the art/levels/environment you do for the game?

I’m most passionate about designing custom environments that are big on personality, have character to them, and anything with unique architecture. I would say most of my inspiration comes from exploring real world places and memories from all the different places that I went to as a child. Sometimes, just imagining the places that I really wish existed! I try and gain as much knowledge as I can from other professionals and designers in entertainment design, including many of the colleagues that I’ve been blessed to work with in the past who continue to push my work further.

Name three things you can’t live without?

Books, friends/family, and my art supplies.

What superpower would you want, and why?

Flying. Flying is something most people probably dream of doing. For me, that wish begun as a child and has has never left!

What is on your iPod/MP3player?

U2 and…my entire music collection from home. Man that took a long time to get everything imported into iTunes! No more buying CDs, its all about the download now!

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

Pursue what matters most to you and what you are most passionate about because without passion…you won’t get very far or your efforts will be short-lived! Don’t pursue a particular area of game development just because it’s the most popular or because it’s what is in demand. If you follow your heart, everything else will fall in place! I recommend developing your own original ideas as much as possible. "Brand" yourself, coming up with something which is unique to you and something which comes from your own imagination. And, for artists…round out your portfolio/demo with a variety of different subjects and mediums.When you build your demo reel and portfolio, give it a unique look and something which represents you (your "brand").

Personal Art