Entropia News: The Work of Eduardo Altamirano

This is the latest in the "The work of..." series, previous installments having been about the works of Ulla Jamira Braun - and Todd Verdeyen.

Participants of Entropia Universe will have used teleporters to get to buildings, landmarks and arenas of all kinds, deployed state-of-the art weaponry and body armour against fearsome creatures and other colonists, will have explored amazing landscapes and vistas and will have traveled using fantastic vehicles of all types throughout this ever persistent virtual arena, but who are behind these creations that we perhaps take for granted.
This series introduces the highly skilled artists and designers who were instrumental in bringing some of these concepts to fruition and who kindly gave EntropiaPlanets permission to feature their works.

This third installment features Eduardo Altamirano whose craft as a computer graphics artist is firmly grounded. From 2003-2007 he studied for and then attained a Graphic Design Degree at Universidad La Salle in Mexico City, Mexico which paved the way for his eventual assignment as a computer 3D graphics artist and designer for Ilunova between 2008 and 2011, a wholly owned subsidiery of MindArk PE AB based in Playa Del Carmen, also in Mexico. There he designed and implimented static models as well as animated props, creatures and characters for Entropia Universe using various CG software, including CRYTEK's physics engine, CryEngine 2.



Who can mistake the formidable horned Armax with menacing swinging club-tail found in various locations on Planet Calypso, the current incarnation of which is Eduardo's redesign of the VU-9 mesh. The image above is a sketched design for the Armax which indicates where the editions or adaptations were to be made - the addition of tusks and extra horns for the head area. The second image below shows the end result in some detail. Two Armax in in-world setting.



He was also the creator of the re-vamped Opalo laser carbine available via Trade Terminals, also on Planet Calypso, that features a skeleton stock and a more rugged, functional design. Applied texturing, scratches, shading, lighting effects and other artifacts makes it all the more realistic and believable.



Another of his creations is the Megingjord heavy battle tank (Megingjord Mk1 (L) )that was introduced to players of Entropia Universe in December 2010. This armoured behemoth features a fully animated twin-gun turret (when equipped) and caterpillar tracks; four of them - and working lights for use in low-light conditions.



He also created various static or 'fixed' works including architectural renderings, such as the huge and unmissable Fortress Invincible in S/E Eudoria on Calypso. Particular attention is given to life-like physics effects, such as persistant ambiant lighting and dust particle volume inclusion.



To see more of Eduardo Altamirano's works please visit his website at cgmodelers.com and also take a look at EntropiaPlanets wiki section - http://www.entropiaplanets.com/wiki/Eduardo_Altamirano

He was also happy to answer some questions that were put to him...

EP: You have developed your own professionally designed website depicting the types of works that you did for Entropia Universe as well as for other platforms. Are the examples or samples shown representative of all of the works that you did for Entropia, or are they just some of them?
Eduardo: They’re just a small sample of the work that I’ve done not only for Entropia but for several clients, I tried to show as much diversity as possible, however due to licensing and NDA’s sometimes is not possible to display everything. Here are some more samples of Entropian work: http://www.cgmodelers.com/entropia-universe-work/

EP: Thank you. When studying graphic design at Universidad La Salle in Mexico City from 2003-2007, were you aware of Ilunova or was it just coincidence that they were also based in Mexico?
Eduardo: Actually I just got back from a short stay in Electrolux Brazil after I graduated from the University and while googling I found that there was a game studio in Playa del Carmen. Ilunova was founded a couple months before I just got there so it was a bit of timing and coincidence.

EP: I understand that you extensively used CRYTEK's CryEngine 2 for a lot of the physics requirements for in-world locations or scenes on Planet Calypso, but can you also tell us the titles of other software that you used for creating actual game assets such as weapons, buildings, vehicles, characters?
Eduardo: Sure... 3DS Max, Crazybump, Bodypaint, Zbrush, Photoshop, After Effects.

EP: Of all the static assets or models that you created, which would you say was the most challenging or most difficult to complete and why?
Eduardo: The aquarium, it was from scratch and the whole idea was to bring something more organic and designed to be adapted to a shopping mall.



EP: Which was the most challenging vehicle that you created and why?
Eduardo: The tank which is not that static but the technical and detail requirements were quite extensive and since we were doing a lot of prototyping at the time it was a lot of trial and error

EP: And the same question for creatures and or characters - which was the most challenging and why?
Eduardo: Didn’t have the chance to do many creatures however the Armax was particularly fun since it was a very well known design for a creature and I wanted to bring some real life real life prehistoric references to the shape.

EP: This may seem an odd question... One of the screenshots on your website, '3d_horiz__0004_Environ_021.jpg' - the one featuring fake light for cell ambience and dust particle volume, reminds me of a corridor in a section of the perimeter walls of Fortress Invincible in S/E Eudoria, Planet Calypso. Is this the case or is it another location?
Eduardo: It is indeed the Fortress, this was one of the early prototypes for the lighting I did, I wanted to bring as much depth as possible and since by technical reasons the textures weren’t very detailed, I tried to give some ambience to the environment.

EP: At Ilunova did you also write or devise scripts for creature, avatar, vehicle interaction as well as doing the actual 3D modeling work itself or were others responsible for scripting?
Eduardo: There are programmers involved directly into that, however I had the chance to work with a great programming team and we brought the destructable system on board with a mixture of tweaking and code. Also de FX system, I did a lot of prototyping with the programmers before the final stage so It was a little bit of both.

EP: The re-vamped model of the Opalo that you did has a high level of detail and really looks the part. Which software did you use to create it and what technique did you use to achieve the light-blue 'glowing neon' effect?
Eduardo: Photoshop and After Effects besides 3DS MAX, the FX were drawn frame by frame, also lots of texture references as well as AR-15 parts if you take a closer look at the back of the weapon its almost the same as the AR-15 whereas there are some parts of an AK-47 in some weapons ;)

EP: Do you have an Entropia Universe account and if so, when did you start playing?
Eduardo: I began playing after I was working in Ilunova since I wanted to test out the features of the game. However I wasn’t able to play as much as I would’ve liked. I no longer play videogames, since now I’m working for the films industry.

EP: What was your favourite profession in Entropia (if applicable)?
Eduardo: I enjoyed a lot driving the hovercraft and the Helicopter, just playing at the fort. Spent most of the time at the trade terminals and sightseeing.

EP: Were you a member of an in-game society and what was it called (if applicable)?
Eduardo: I think it was Argentropicos

EP: Is there any art or artist that influenced you?
Eduardo: Hisko Hulsing, Garry Bardin, Tim Schafer, Feng Zhu, Some of my coworkers in Electrolux Brazil, Alexandre Drummond, Marcos Oliveira, The Campana Brothers

EP: What type of art do you like personally?
Eduardo: Impressionist, Renaissance, Figurative art mainly

EP: What type of games do you like to play?
Eduardo: Grim Fandango

EP: And finally, is there anything you'd like to add or say for the readers of EntropiaPlanets about anything in particular? This could be about computer graphic work, any aims or goals in mind, anything at all.
Eduardo: It’ll be nice to hear feedback from the players on an organized manner, this means suggestions for the game, UI, maps, characters, gameplay. And send them to the artists and game designers working for the game, this could really enrichen the playing experience for the game towards the players. I was always surprised of how much detail the players know by heart, I thought all the time that there should be some sort of gathering between the game designers and the players to bring up their knowledge of the game into the table.

end

 

I like the response to the last question wanting to hear feedback from players such as suggestions for the game.

 

True, but he gives the distinct impression that artists and so on for the game; including himself I assume, are precisely asking for this type of feedback and I would be surprised if MindArk wasn't aware of this.
So although suggestions in the past may not have got very far, we can still try again. If a new thread is put up asking players how they think the game can be improved and these suggestions are sent to MA as a formal letter, not email, they might take some of it on-board.

 

Yes, and something on paper would carry more authority than just an email. There could be a series of suggestions followed by a list of players that would like to see them carried out - the more players in the list the better.