Rise Of Industry 2 - Maps / Biomes / Foliage

I worked as the sole 3D Artist on Rise of Industry 2, a city- and factory-building game developed by SomaSim. The game uses a top-down camera, so all assets were optimized for readability from above, balancing fidelity with clear visual identity. Rise Of Industry 2 is set during the 1980s, so buildings were designed with a post-modern look.
Responsibilities
• Modeled, textured, and implemented all buildings, props, vehicles and foliage, complete with varying levels of detail.
• Collaborated with the art director to translate concepts and sketch art into consistent in-game assets.
• Designed all buildings with several modular layers with prop randomization to help break repetition of buildings.
• Designed all maps using hand-painted height maps to account for play space and world design.
• Implemented props, trees, vehicles, and people into scripts designed for randomization and world generation.
• Animations applied to various buildings, props, and people to create a living world.
• Used Unity's PFX system for particle effects, smoke, and various other effects for buildings.
• Utilized Unity HDRP's lighting system to help create a dynamic day / night cycle with weather effects and seasons.
• Optimized with a single texture atlas, dynamically colored with a color palette image file, custom shaders for performance and animated textures.
Big thanks to SomaSim for the opportunity to work on such a cool project!
Art Director: Benn Marion
https://www.artstation.com/benn
Studio: SomaSim
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2532490/Rise_of_Industry_2/

Rise Of Industry 2 | Launch Trailer

Foliage seasonal color change study

Foliage seasonal color change study

Main terrain materials used for temperate biomes. Colors were altered per-map with different blending amounts to give each scenario its own look.

Main terrain materials used for temperate biomes. Colors were altered per-map with different blending amounts to give each scenario its own look.

Temperate biome foliage study. All foliage had billboard imposter versions created for extreme out-of-bounds cases. Most plants used normals that faced upwards due to game camera angles.

Temperate biome foliage study. All foliage had billboard imposter versions created for extreme out-of-bounds cases. Most plants used normals that faced upwards due to game camera angles.

Desert biome foliage study.

Desert biome foliage study.

Main terrain materials used for desert biomes.

Main terrain materials used for desert biomes.

Substance Designer graph for desert cliffs

Substance Designer graph for desert cliffs

Desert biome color / plant generation study

Desert biome color / plant generation study

Tropical biome water blending / height map study. Water maps were separate and had to be manually adjusted to blend with land height maps.

Tropical biome water blending / height map study. Water maps were separate and had to be manually adjusted to blend with land height maps.

Tropical biome foliage and lighting

Tropical biome foliage and lighting

Synthwave biome lighting / material study.

Synthwave biome lighting / material study.

Each scenario needed a hand crafted height map for play area and surrounding geography. Green values were used for "buildable" heights. Separate maps were used for terrace edge blending and water punchdown.

Each scenario needed a hand crafted height map for play area and surrounding geography. Green values were used for "buildable" heights. Separate maps were used for terrace edge blending and water punchdown.