The Art Director and I wanted the worlds in Battlezone II to be incredibly alive and lush. We wanted it to feel as if you were exploring a really cool looking Sci Fi painting, where you could interact with all the objects on the planet. We also wanted the worlds to have different personalities, distinct enough for each to deliver a feeling to the player. So the next time he thought of playing on the planet Bane, say, a shiver would go down his spine as he thought of the abandoned ruins of the subways distinct to that planet. These personalities would come forth in differentiating the two sides in the game, the ISDF and the Scions. Since the ISDF and the Scions use different materials and methods for creating and powering their vehicles, we wanted the look of the units to reflect these different approaches to war.

How long does it take to create textures for your average BZ unit? Which unit from original BZ took the longest/was the toughest to texture? Why?

Each unit took one day to texture. The most difficult structures to texture were the ruins on the planets. Since they were textured using tiles, it was a struggle to get the textures to look interesting yet non-repetitive. It rocked my brains for some time, but I had a blast creating them and I hope you guys enjoy them.

What's the biggest challenge in creating textures for a game like Battlezone II? (What's the biggest frustration?)

Outdoing what we did in the first game. However, we had a little more leeway because the textures did not have to be palletized and we could really go off on the colors. But what is still frustrating to me is that the textures are shrunk down to a 128 X 128 map and so much detail gets lost.

What's the coolest looking game that you haven't worked on? Is there one in particular that has inspired you?

Half Life, but what else is new. It really is a great looking game. Unreal is pretty sweet looking too and so is the new Quake Arena. I guess when I look at game art I look for homogeneity in the world. All the objects in the world should really work together. This includes color, values, materials, and structures. This creates that incredible atmosphere and mood that really great looking games have.

Any tips or words of advice for new and aspiring 3D texture artists out there?

Polish your drawing and painting skills before you even start working on a computer, and collect as many art books as possible. You can never have too many. They help you get the creative juices going. If you're looking at attending college, try going to a school that has traditional art classes and then pick up a few computer courses. It's much easier to learn a computer program than it is to learn how to draw, paint, design, and mostly importantly see.

What was the inspiration for the look of the character drawings for BZII?

The characters were a real joy to work on. What I really tried to focus on with the drawings was conveying their strong personalities. I wanted the characters to be as unique as possible since they each play an integral part in the story. In the game the player will now be able to visualize all the characters.

How have you and the art team approached the problem of creating a look for units and buildings that is at once familiar for Battlezone players and yet not the same as original Battlezone?