01 — Apocalypse Rising 2

Beta Map

A large open-world map for Apocalypse Rising 2, an established Roblox survival game, spanning dense cities, farmland and wilderness.

Overview

A map of this scale and detail depends on an efficient pipeline. Modular assets are essential: the team works from a shared palette of furniture and environmental assets, all formatted so they can be swapped out retroactively for optimization passes and graphical upgrades. Asset placement, terrain, loot distribution and lighting cycles are all handled through proprietary tools. Over the years, I've also designed and optimized this pipeline myself.

As lead environment artist, I designed every location on the map and was directly involved in creating most of its assets. For each location I concepted the spaces, sightlines and gameplay dynamics, then modeled and formatted the assets and surrounding terrain it needed. We set the broad strokes and guidelines for furnishing and interior design before handing locations off to contractors for fine detail work and loot placement.

The Beta Map launched fairly unoptimized and has since been the focus of a large-scale optimization effort to reduce scene draw calls and server memory: cutting instance counts, clamping down on unnecessary texture use and reworking models to take advantage of draw call batching.

Project overview

Role: Lead environment artist
Game: Apocalypse Rising 2
Scope: Large open world
Team: 2 senior designers, 5+ artists

Designed & built

Design of every location on the map
Sightlines and gameplay spaces
Most of the map's assets
The development pipeline

Contributed to

Furnishing and interior design guidelines
Large-scale optimization effort

Team context

Contractors for fine detail work and looting
Proprietary tools for placement, terrain, loot and lighting

World Design

In an open-world shooter, every location and corner of the map is a potential battleground. Gameplay dynamics shape every decision, from the layout of a town to the sightlines across it.

In-game map of the Central Halsey Archipelago, with location names and hand-drawn annotations — Central Halsey Archipelago, the in-game map.The hand-drawn marks are part of the game's narrative.

Suspension bridge leading to the town of Fairview — Fairview, a beach city inspired by the architecture and urbanism of Los Angeles.

Lighthouse above a coastline with beaches and a river mouth — Lighthouse and coastline.

Riverside town of Salem with a canal and stone bridge — Salem, a small town inspired by European architecture.

Military airfield with a runway, hangar, control tower and radar dome — Military Airfield.

Dense swamp with willow trees and a crashed helicopter — Swamp.

Points of Interest

Each location takes its cues from real-world architecture and urbanism, from the beach cities of Los Angeles and Miami to small Midwestern and European towns, giving every area its own identity within one cohesive map.