UNNANNOUNCED MMO
Role: Art Director | Tencent | 2012
​
When I had joined Tencent they were already well underway in the development of an ambitious MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) title. The primary challenge for the studio was being a split development team between Boston, USA and Shanghai, China (a 12 hour time difference).
There were communication challenges that stemmed from a split org and having very little overlapping times for leadership to align on vision, aesthetics, and key gameplay features.
In addition to my duties as the Art Director/Art Manager, I was asked to take on the role of a Product Owner (aka Producer), and create a vertical slice proof of concept with a team of dedicated artists, designers, and engineers.
UNNANNOUNCED MMO
Role: Art Director | Tencent | 2012
​
When I had joined Tencent they were already well underway in the development of an ambitious MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) title. The primary challenge for the studio was being a split development team between Boston, USA and Shanghai, China (a 12 hour time difference).
There were communication challenges that stemmed from a split org and having very little overlapping times for leadership to align on vision, aesthetics, and key gameplay features.
In addition to my duties as the Art Director/Art Manager, I was asked to take on the role of a Product Owner (aka Producer), and create a vertical slice proof of concept with a team of dedicated artists, designers, and engineers.
UNNANNOUNCED MMO
Role: Art Director | Tencent | 2012
​
When I had joined Tencent they were already well underway in the development of an ambitious MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) title. The primary challenge for the studio was being a split development team between Boston, USA and Shanghai, China (a 12 hour time difference).
There were communication challenges that stemmed from a split org and having very little overlapping times for leadership to align on vision, aesthetics, and key gameplay features.
In addition to my duties as the Art Director/Art Manager, I was asked to take on the role of a Product Owner (aka Producer), and create a vertical slice proof of concept with a team of dedicated artists, designers, and engineers.
UNNANNOUNCED MMO
Role: Art Director | Tencent | 2012
​
When I had joined Tencent they were already well underway in the development of an ambitious MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) title. The primary challenge for the studio was being a split development team between Boston, USA and Shanghai, China (a 12 hour time difference).
There were communication challenges that stemmed from a split org and having very little overlapping times for leadership to align on vision, aesthetics, and key gameplay features.
In addition to my duties as the Art Director/Art Manager, I was asked to take on the role of a Product Owner (aka Producer), and create a vertical slice proof of concept with a team of dedicated artists, designers, and engineers.
UNNANNOUNCED MMO
Role: Art Director | Tencent | 2012
​
When I had joined Tencent they were already well underway in the development of an ambitious MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) title. The primary challenge for the studio was being a split development team between Boston, USA and Shanghai, China (a 12 hour time difference).
There were communication challenges that stemmed from a split org and having very little overlapping times for leadership to align on vision, aesthetics, and key gameplay features.
In addition to my duties as the Art Director/Art Manager, I was asked to take on the role of a Product Owner (aka Producer), and create a vertical slice proof of concept with a team of dedicated artists, designers, and engineers.
UNNANNOUNCED MMO
Role: Art Director | Tencent | 2012
​
When I had joined Tencent they were already well underway in the development of an ambitious MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) title. The primary challenge for the studio was being a split development team between Boston, USA and Shanghai, China (a 12 hour time difference).
There were communication challenges that stemmed from a split org and having very little overlapping times for leadership to align on vision, aesthetics, and key gameplay features.
In addition to my duties as the Art Director/Art Manager, I was asked to take on the role of a Product Owner (aka Producer), and create a vertical slice proof of concept with a team of dedicated artists, designers, and engineers.
UNNANNOUNCED MMO
Role: Art Director | Tencent | 2012
​
When I had joined Tencent they were already well underway in the development of an ambitious MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) title. The primary challenge for the studio was being a split development team between Boston, USA and Shanghai, China (a 12 hour time difference).
There were communication challenges that stemmed from a split org and having very little overlapping times for leadership to align on vision, aesthetics, and key gameplay features.
In addition to my duties as the Art Director/Art Manager, I was asked to take on the role of a Product Owner (aka Producer), and create a vertical slice proof of concept with a team of dedicated artists, designers, and engineers.
UNNANNOUNCED MMO
Role: Art Director | Tencent | 2012
​
When I had joined Tencent they were already well underway in the development of an ambitious MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) title. The primary challenge for the studio was being a split development team between Boston, USA and Shanghai, China (a 12 hour time difference).
There were communication challenges that stemmed from a split org and having very little overlapping times for leadership to align on vision, aesthetics, and key gameplay features.
In addition to my duties as the Art Director/Art Manager, I was asked to take on the role of a Product Owner (aka Producer), and create a vertical slice proof of concept with a team of dedicated artists, designers, and engineers.
SHOW NO TELL
This video that was directed by myself (and produced with the efforts of a number of key people on the team), and served as a proof of concept for a major milestone/exec review.
The key differentiator was an instance that would dynamically scale its content and difficulty based on the number of players in your raid group.
We utilized picture in picture to illustrate the differences between 1 player and 3 player groups within the same instance. By differentiating the time of day, spawned monsters, combat triggers, and spawn locations, we were able to offer a dramatic alternative to the look and feel while maximizing the same environmental and core assets.
UNNANNOUNCED MMO
Role: Art Director | Tencent | 2012
​
When I had joined Tencent they were already well underway in the development of an ambitious MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) title. The primary challenge for the studio was being a split development team between Boston, USA and Shanghai, China (a 12 hour time difference).
There were communication challenges that stemmed from a split org and having very little overlapping times for leadership to align on vision, aesthetics, and key gameplay features.
In addition to my duties as the Art Director/Art Manager, I was asked to take on the role of a Product Owner (aka Producer), and create a vertical slice proof of concept with a team of dedicated artists, designers, and engineers.
SHOW NO TELL
This video that was directed by myself (and produced with the efforts of a number of key people on the team), and served as a proof of concept for a major milestone/exec review.
The key differentiator was an instance that would dynamically scale its content and difficulty based on the number of players in your raid group.
We utilized picture in picture to illustrate the differences between 1 player and 3 player groups within the same instance. By differentiating the time of day, spawned monsters, combat triggers, and spawn locations, we were able to offer a dramatic alternative to the look and feel while maximizing the same environmental and core assets.
UNNANNOUNCED MMO
Role: Art Director | Tencent | 2012
​
When I joined Tencent they were already well underway in the development of an ambitious MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) title. The primary challenge for the studio was being a split development team between Boston, USA and Shanghai, China. Along with a 12 hour time difference, there were communication challenges that stemmed from a split org and having very little overlapping times for leadership to align on vision, aesthetics, and key gameplay features.
​
In addition to my duties as the Art Director/Art Manager, I was asked to take on the role of a Product Owner (aka Producer), and create a vertical slice proof of concept with a team of dedicated artists, designers, and engineers.
SHOW NO TELL
This video that was directed by myself (and produced with the efforts of a number of key people on the team), and served as a proof of concept for a major milestone/exec review.
The key differentiator was an instance that would dynamically scale its content and difficulty based on the number of players in your raid group.
We utilized picture in picture to illustrate the differences between 1 player and 3 player groups within the same instance. By differentiating the time of day, spawned monsters, combat triggers, and spawn locations, we were able to offer a dramatic alternative to the look and feel while maximizing the same environmental and core assets.
WORK PRODUCT
Below is a collection of directed concept art, visual targets, and gameplay screenshots of our MMO project.
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |
CELEBRATING WINS
One of the things I like to do as an Art Director is celebrate our wins. The team and I had worked very hard to hit major milestone where we could show off our first raid instance highlighting content scaling based on raid (group) size. I wanted to acknowledge that achievement in some small way. I set up a company meeting for a "screening event" and made a fun movie trailer to call out the efforts of some key people who aided in the production of the instance video. I used iMovie and had a bit of fun with it (even got a popcorn machine so everyone could have some munchies). Everyone had a great laugh and set the perfect tone to watch the real gameplay video. In the end, the trailer nailed the desired effect... A super charged studio ready to get back in the trenches and kick butt!