Max Freeman

Environment Pixel Art

As Lead Environment Artist, I created 2D pixel art assets for all the game’s levels, including tile sets, props, and backgrounds, while directing other artists on environment art and level dressing. I drew most assets at pixel scale using a tablet, and occasionally drew props in high-resolution before downscaling and tracing them into pixel art.We decided to draw inspiration from backgrounds of ‘90s cartoons, which often used minimalistic suggestions of materials. For example, a brick wall can be indicated by drawing sparse clusters of bricks on a surface, instead of defining every brick. This approach resulted in less noisy in-game environments, giving more focus to important gameplay objects.In ANTONBLAST, players can jump between foreground and background layers of levels. To maximise readability between the two layers, we often gave them contrasting hues, with each layer’s environment being nearly monochrome and background environments using a narrower range of brightness values. For example, Boiler City features a deep red foreground, which contrasts clearly against the lighter toxic-green background. Additionally, we tinted gameplay objects in the background toward the background’s colour palette and reduced their contrast to integrate them into the scene at the correct depth.I'd like to shout out our other environment artists Tyler Olson (Fanamel) and Antonio Patiño (Snappy), as well as sprite artists Juniper Bradley (JuniPinPan) and Dan O'Hare (ToadDan) for jumping in to help with environment work.

Environment Concept Art

Before starting on level design or art assets, we explored the game’s worlds through tons of concept art, ranging from rough inspirational sketches to clean concepts imitating in-game perspective. In total I produced over 300 environment concept pieces for the game. Some pieces below were made before we had the final art style in place, leading to some variation in shape language and level of detail.

Level Design

I designed, built, and art-passed two of the game’s 12 levels, Slowroast Sewer and The Big Bath. Slowroast Sewer received additional work from other designers in the form of the Sewer Shark vehicle rooms and the silhouetted fire rooms, although I was responsible for the visual design of the silhouette rooms. I also performed final revisions and art pass on the apartments / underground area of Boiler City, adapting the existing level geometry to strengthen flow and readability, and to more closely resemble architectural structures.In Slowroast Sewer, I aimed for a feeling of descending deep into a place you’re not supposed to be in. I’ve always loved the “so close yet so far” level design trope, where the player’s goal is visible nearby but they must traverse a long indirect path to reach it, and I used this several times in Sewer to give the impression of a sprawling facility that extends past the bounds of the game. Art-passing this level was extremely fun; I gathered many reference photos of abandoned industrial basements and utility tunnels to aid in making it feel like a somewhat believable, purposeful space, and I loved working on the many cables, pipes, and air ducts that twist through the tunnels. There's lots of subtle visual detail in this level, like the coloured lights on the electric switchboards that flash to the beat of the music.

The Big Bath is set in a haunted bathhouse, whose layout changes behind the player’s back to create a confusing, unpredictable space. I wanted to leverage the unsettling elements of liminal spaces within the constraints of a 2D action-platformer to create an eerie, desolate atmosphere that would stand out from the game's other levels. As the level proceeds, it becomes more abstract, with infinitely-looping hallways and floating pools of water. We achieved the spatial tricks in the level via a combination of directly rearranging the level geometry off-screen, and silently teleporting the player to near-identical copies of rooms. The latter method required some of the level’s rooms to be conjoined within the game engine in ways that aren’t apparent while playing, in order to teleport the player smoothly without the engine loading or offloading discrete rooms.

Having specific design goals was integral to my level design process. Before building a level, I wrote an outline of its gimmicks and moments arranged in a rough order. This allowed me to start building each room of the level to meet a specific goal, for example, teach an enemy’s behaviour, iterate on a previous mechanic, or feature a particular cinematic or atmospheric moment. Playtests allowed us to see how successful each part of the design was, and I iterated the level design if it didn’t have the intended effect.In my view, ANTONBLAST levels are characterised by facilitating both high-speed flow-based gameplay and slower exploratory gameplay. We aimed to create levels with linear paths that could be completed quickly by skilled players, as well as optional side areas for players who are more interested in their surroundings. Because the levels are fundamentally linear, scripted moments and set pieces were important to break up the overall level flow. I think balancing these different approaches was our key to building interesting and engaging levels.

Character Design

Character design on ANTONBLAST was highly collaborative and almost every design in the game was a combination of takes from different team members. One of my duties was specifying the final looks for Annie and Satan, although it took the combined effort of the whole team to produce all the ideas I blended together for their final designs. Some designs where I played a more foundational role include the Jewel Ghoul heart, Bonny (the parrot pirate), and Slackjaw (the Glasshouse koi fish monster). I also really enjoyed working on the Freako Dragon, even though we decided to go in a different direction for his final design from what I submitted. For many of the common enemies, I did subtle refining to exaggerate certain elements and bring them in line with the game's bold angular art style.

Storyboards

Responsibilities for storyboarding different cutscenes were shared among team members, and I ended up with (begged for) the task of storyboarding the opening cutscene. These are my original thumbnail storyboards for the second portion of the cutscene, set in Anton and Annie's apartment, which I adapted from a provided script.

Some bonus stuff: First, a detailed reference for the street-view shot of Anton and Annie's apartment during the opening cutscene. In this shot, we specifically wanted to integrate the car Anton smashed in the ending cutscene of Antonball Deluxe, to create a fun sense of continuity with the previous game. Second, my initial pitch for the save file menu design, which ended up translated directly into the final game. Third, some variants on a background plate concept for the ending cutscene showing Satan amid the wreckage of his castle; and last but not least, Annie as a goblin shark.

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ART

Environments

Characters & Creatures

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ABOUT

I'm an artist, designer, and composer, with 6 years of experience as a remote contractor working in video games. I specialise in 2D visual development and concept art, and also have experience in art direction, pixel art, and level design.I have a passion for creating memorable worlds and characters for games with strong artistic identities, and love the feeling when all the elements of a game come together to create a super immersive, holistic experience. I try to approach my own work from this perspective, keeping in mind the bigger picture of the game and what would work best to convey or enhance its direction, and create the most impactful experience for players.Having worked as a remote contractor, I've developed the ability to independently manage my work, and I'm quick to adapt to new software and workflows. I have actionable understanding of programming languages including C# and Java.In addition to my experience in game art and design, I also have an honours degree in music composition, ranging from orchestral scoring to electronic production, and specialising in film and game music.

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CONTACT

If you want to get in touch with me about work, or just have some questions, I'd love to hear from you!