Matthew Trevelyan Johns
Principal Environment Artist - Naughty Dog
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The Last of Us: Part II...The chase

This gallery another in a series that showcases my work on The Last of Us: Part II.
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As well as being the vehicle specialist for the duration of the game, I also continued my role as a texture and shader artist with my usual level responsibilities.
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For this particular area, I worked in partnership with Edgar Martinez (modelling and layout) and Scott Greenway (Lighting) as well as the rest of the fantastic Naughty Dog team, without whose contributions none of these levels would be possible.
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My main responsibilities included the creation and adaptation of textures and shaders for application to the environments and contained assets. The levels ended up being so huge that I also did quite a bit of modelling and additional set dressing, working back and forth with Edgar, to continually push and improve each other's work. I also spent a lot of time in researching a new asset pipeline for which these levels became our testing ground.
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Working on The Last of Us: Part II has been an incredible experience and as always, it takes a monumental team effort in order to make such amazing games. Without the hard work and dedication of the entire team, across all departments, none of this would be possible.
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I would also like to take time to thank our incredible outsource studios who time and time again prove to be so vital to our development of these worlds, their contributions are incredible and I am incredibly grateful to have worked with them.
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Edgar Martinez portfolio, please check him out! https://www.artstation.com/edgar_a_martinez

After making her way through the hospital, Ellie confronts the infamous Nora. In the heat of the moment however, Nora escapes and a thrilling chase ensues...

After making her way through the hospital, Ellie confronts the infamous Nora. In the heat of the moment however, Nora escapes and a thrilling chase ensues...

We spent a long time making these areas as rich in detail as the rest, it's a challenge to work on chase areas...knowing many of these details will go unnoticed by the player as they race through the environment as fast as possible

We spent a long time making these areas as rich in detail as the rest, it's a challenge to work on chase areas...knowing many of these details will go unnoticed by the player as they race through the environment as fast as possible

There were a lot (!) of door styles in the hospital, at the bottom of this gallery i've shared a little information on how we went about creating so many different styles to suit our requirements for the hospital

The entire layout was built around timing and sight-lines. Edgar and I had to be very adaptive to design and layout changes based on playtest feedback, another challenge that chase sequences can throw at you as an artist

The entire layout was built around timing and sight-lines. Edgar and I had to be very adaptive to design and layout changes based on playtest feedback, another challenge that chase sequences can throw at you as an artist

This skybridge would have two layouts in the end, one for the chase that had more obstacles and another that was a little clearer for when Abby would pass through. Revisiting the same level with different looks is something we do often

This skybridge would have two layouts in the end, one for the chase that had more obstacles and another that was a little clearer for when Abby would pass through. Revisiting the same level with different looks is something we do often

Kudos for the animation and design team on this 'unseen' animation sequence. Though the player can never be fast enough to see Nora race through this space clearly, her movement and animation is still present

Keeping our areas optimal was really important throughout the hospital, knowing that the player would race through them gave us less time to load and drop levels. Being able to manage memory for these sequences is another challenge in itself

Keeping our areas optimal was really important throughout the hospital, knowing that the player would race through them gave us less time to load and drop levels. Being able to manage memory for these sequences is another challenge in itself

Often times the 'default' look for assets would be heavy age and rust. However I like to push more reflectivity and spec response in materials and so many assets, like this wheelchair I would re-texture in Substance Painter to achieve my desired look

Often times the 'default' look for assets would be heavy age and rust. However I like to push more reflectivity and spec response in materials and so many assets, like this wheelchair I would re-texture in Substance Painter to achieve my desired look

Edgar did an awesome job of dressing this shelf with a lot of small props, then our foreground department would ensure that these would all react correctly to physics as Ellie is thrown against it

Set dressing spaces like these was a lot of fun once we had a full library of medical props. Spending the time at the beginning to outsource or create the props and shader libraries you need pays dividends later on when time gets tight

Set dressing spaces like these was a lot of fun once we had a full library of medical props. Spending the time at the beginning to outsource or create the props and shader libraries you need pays dividends later on when time gets tight

(Sound on) visuals are one thing, but the sound design in the game was really incredible

John Sweeney's vision for the red area beneath Ellie and Nora here made this drop into the unknown feel all the more perilous. That deep red lighting was my favourite of themes to work within

John Sweeney's vision for the red area beneath Ellie and Nora here made this drop into the unknown feel all the more perilous. That deep red lighting was my favourite of themes to work within

A little information about the type of pipeline the doors used

A little information about the type of pipeline the doors used

Here's a selection of the doors created for the hospital, including my favourite 'quarantine tent' style at the back which we used for a certain terrifying encounter later in the game

Here's a selection of the doors created for the hospital, including my favourite 'quarantine tent' style at the back which we used for a certain terrifying encounter later in the game

Making these double doors was fun, they played a significant role in this level, barring Nora from her escape and needing to be much higher detail due to the close proximity of the cutscene camera - more on that sequence soon...

Making these double doors was fun, they played a significant role in this level, barring Nora from her escape and needing to be much higher detail due to the close proximity of the cutscene camera - more on that sequence soon...

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