Interview Brandon Cook

After interviewing Aaron, I was able to get in contact with an environmental artist that also works on Siege of Inaolia, I asked him very similar answers knowing that he held a different position I got some very different responses:

First off could you explain a bit about yourself and your work? (Name, a bit of background info, Position, Title of the game, and what the game is)

                My name is Brandon Timothy cook, I am currently a self taught artist who loves to work on any work that deals with scenery, Landscapes, Cityscape, Surrealism, and many other forms of three denominational or two denominational art. I'm currently a environment modeler for an indie group called Siege Of Inaolia. My job as a environment modeler is to create the props and textures that give the game its theme or setting. Siege Of Inaolia is a game were the land of Ilastria is divided in two by a great barrier of mountains. One side of the land the humans live peacefully and blissful of what the other side has done. The nasty creatures of the north are the Orcs who have taken once a neutral part of the barrier and had made it their own. This place is called Iniolia.

As an Environmental Artist what is your job as a whole?

                My job consist of working with the level designer to create an environment for the person who is playing the game to enjoy.  This line of work usually takes a lot of patience and time. An Environment artist takes the level that a level designer creates and turns into some thing that the player understands while playing the game or story that is in front of them. Players usually want to see a setting not just blocks and flat surfaces.  

What is the hardest thing that you have overcome so far?

 The hardest part that I had to overcome was setting up a collision model on a massive gate that was created by a team member that left a while back. This project nearly drove me insane and left me wondering why the model was not split up into individual pieces. The way the model had an interior were the player would cross to get to the other side of the gate. 

What is the best experience you have had making your way to where you are now?

                I would say that I have some time to go but so far the best time I've had is when I went to a competition to test my worth as a 3D modeler. I had about two hours to make the next cellphone that a company would sell to their customers. A friend and I work in sync to get this cellphone done and rendered before time was up. In the end we made it to second place in the state of Virginia and received a award for our achievement. I can tell you this was a thrill that I will never forget.

If you could give advice to new students who are pursuing a career in game design what would it be?

                I would say patience is a main factor of any art style. Not every one has the patience to be an artist but sitting there is going to be nearly 80% of your job but don't let that get you down. But that 80% is doing what you love and having fun while you work. Also make sure to consistently look for new inspiration and keep up on periodicals on art and game design to keep your imagination refreshed.