Hello, Truckers!
We’re continuing our series of interviews with the devs with
Sebastian Strzeszewski, our graphic designer. The previous ones you can read
here and
here.
Hi, Sebastian! Tell us, what do you do in Road Studio?At Road Studio I’m a graphic designer and I do all things 2D. 2D icons, concept arts, now I’m making trucks skins, a variety of textures, pictures and motifs both Alaska-themed and not.
How does the process of making textures look?I start with a draft. I look at the truck, decide what to place where, and make a sketch. Next, I create a drawing or a pattern which I place on the 3D maps.
At all times I have a 3D model open in Blender. I rotate it and check the curvature, what should be in the front and what should be in the back. Next, I take a snapshot from the side of the truck and I place my pattern on a sketch. Let's say it's a river – it will start on the hood, go across the door and end at the back of the car where the sleeping compartment is. It's not a quick process. Everything needs to be carefully planned out and designed so patterns won't clash or that some element won't get cropped by the door, for example.
It’s a long and tedious process. 3D maps are pictures with a marked grid and elements placement, so when you place there a new pattern, you need to cut it, spread it out and see if there are no visible borders between different parts. I do it partly in Photoshop, where I place the patterns on the map, and then I check it in Blender to see if everything fits. It takes some time, but the effect is brilliant.
So what patterns are you making?In the game, we’re driving our trucks through Alaska, so it would be awesome if the patterns and pictures mirrored that. The seasons in-game are changing, just like in the real world, so it doesn’t matter if I create a summer landscape or a winter one, but I won’t make some random zigzags, it’s not a racing game after all. I take into consideration what would the players want – some prefer minimalism, like a single line, and sometimes they want entire landscapes painted on their trucks. I’m trying to accommodate the tastes of different truckers.
Do you research the patterns?Sure I do. I browse through pictures of actual paintworks, look at what paintings are available for which truck models, what truckers place on long hoods, and what’s popular on short hoods. And with all that I focus on the American trucks and Alaska in particular.
Right now I’m focusing on decorations, I’m not making stains, rust or any additional textures.
So what does making textures look like?The timelapse was created in 3 working days from the moment the sketch was made to putting it all together. I have a 3D model and even though I’m not a 3D artist, I can check the model myself. I put the texture on and go to Blender to see if it looks alright.
The great thing is that I am my own art director – I have full creative freedom and decide on the patterns myself, and the team has very much artistic freedom, as long as it fits the tone we’re going for.
The first general sketch takes about 2 hours and then I move on to the actual drawing and checking out different elements. It takes about 1 day and then some more for fitting and adjustments. I don’t know how many skins there will be in the end. Currently, I’m approaching 30, and the idea is to have them be available on all the models.
Besides the truck skins, what more are you working on?I’m don’t just do trucks. At Road Studio we’re task-oriented, now I’m making skins, then I’ll design icons, and after that, there will be key arts to make to promote the game. There will always be something new to do.
As I mentioned, I make some additional UI elements and many icons, for example menu icons, shop and products icons, icons for different roadblocks and so on. It’s an addition to my main job.
Icons have to be clear and legible. They cannot be too complex, otherwise, no one will know what they’re supposed to mean.
The icons must be clear, they cannot be big, I don't know what icons, because you won't see them. The player's screen focuses on what is happening in the truck and you need to see where you're going and what you're doing, so the UI cannot dominate your field of view. The point is to make the UI as simple as possible: not three-dimensional, one-coloured, readable, and clear. It cannot distract the player.
It’s a realistic game with realistic trucks, so I cannot make cartoonish icons, the UI has to fit the realism of the trucks and the world. I can’t go overboard with my designs.
How did you start working in Road Studio?I saw the job offer on Skillshot. Before that, I worked with mobile games for Android, mainly the ones targeting the younger audience. You know, animated animals, puzzles. Also some 2D and 3D elements.
I always wanted to be a part of the main gamedev because here you can actually evolve, develop your skills further. It’s a great environment and you can show off your accomplishments. Most of my friends are in gamedev and I wanted in. I did it, and it’s fantastic.
What do you like about the game you’re working on?The greatest thing about Alaskan Truck Simulator is the game’s realism. It is not an idealised racer or simplistic sim. In our game it’s not easy to drive around – there are obstacles on the road, weather conditions can seriously impact your experience, you need to put the chains on your tires when the road’s ice-covered, and so on. The gameplay is not mindless driving but you actually have to think about what you’re going to do next.
What more can you say about yourself?I’m not really a gamer myself, I don’t have the time for it. I also don’t focus only on gamedev. I can animate and draw. I did start with drawing, then turned to digital painting. I have great respect for talented painters. I was interested in comics and mangas, I even drew some comics myself. There is no one person who inspires me. With comics it was Rosiński. But my interest in that kind of art is already in the past. Now I’m into animations and 3D.
Regardless of the season, I ride a bike to work, even in winter. Cycling is my second passion, right after graphic design. I cannot imagine driving a car every day. Today it’s a blizzard outside my window but it doesn’t matter to me, I just love riding a bike. I used to participate in cycling marathons in Mazowsze where you race at a distance of several kilometres through a forest. I got bored of it eventually but I still keep riding a bike for fun.
Did you enjoy the interview? Stay tuned for the first part of an interview with Iwona Blecharczyk, the Trucking Girl!
