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

The Last of Us: Part I is a particularly special project for me, my enjoyment of the original game inspired me to pursue a career at Naughty Dog and this was the first project for which I was promoted to the position of Principal Artist. I fulfilled this role for the duration of the project and it was an incredible learning experience.
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As Principal, I was tasked with expanding upon, and developing new art pipelines that would help empower the environment team to create a visual experience that could truly harness the full potential of the PS5. I also took ownership of some very technically challenging sequences and was responsible for creating many of the modular assets and shaders that would be shared across the project.
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I continued my roles as the Vehicle Specialist (asset creation, art/technical pipeline, management of library) and as a level artist (textures, shaders, modeling etc).
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This has been my third Naughty Dog title and it 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. Please do check out all of the posts from the other incredible Naughty Dog artists!

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For 'The Lab' I worked alongside Todd Foster (modeling and layout) and Bethany Lo (lighting) as well as many other people across all departments, as always. I always enjoy the mass collaboration involved to bring a level like this to life, it's not only enjoyable, but essential to the development of such engaging experiences for the player.

Please enjoy this small gallery and stay tuned for more very soon!
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Something a little different for this video...a small taste of both the environments within this section as well as a glimpse of the type of frantic, fast paced game-play the player experiences here. (Please note it's a little gory)

This section continues directly from my previous gallery, Joel pushes into the tented area of the Firefly Lab. These tent sections became integral to the look of the area and were challenging to create...

This section continues directly from my previous gallery, Joel pushes into the tented area of the Firefly Lab. These tent sections became integral to the look of the area and were challenging to create...

I first started by building a small 'example' area, it included a complex scaffolding frame and the tent material elements. I completed the shader work and used 'block-mesh' versions of the curtain rolls, knowing that we would eventually bake these

I first started by building a small 'example' area, it included a complex scaffolding frame and the tent material elements. I completed the shader work and used 'block-mesh' versions of the curtain rolls, knowing that we would eventually bake these

I wrote a detailed breakdown of how the example area was made as well as how best to model and bake the high poly 'roll' meshes. We then sent all breakdowns and supporting files to our amazing outsource vendors, who completed the bake workflow

I wrote a detailed breakdown of how the example area was made as well as how best to model and bake the high poly 'roll' meshes. We then sent all breakdowns and supporting files to our amazing outsource vendors, who completed the bake workflow

For the floors, I used marvellous designer simulation - zbrush refinement and substance painter for base textures. Some of you might recognise that I borrowed these floors from the ER level I made for TLOU : Part II

Even in combat heavy zones, detailing is so important to sell the narrative. We spent a lot of time on the signage and propping for the lab/hospital areas to ensure that even though it was abandoned for a long time, the original purpose was still clear

Even in combat heavy zones, detailing is so important to sell the narrative. We spent a lot of time on the signage and propping for the lab/hospital areas to ensure that even though it was abandoned for a long time, the original purpose was still clear

Here you can see my wireframe which shows how I use a decal strip for footprints, paper scraps and some debris on top of my floor shaders - this is far easier and cheaper than adding additional layers in the shader, as I use an alpha-cutout style blend

Here you can see my wireframe which shows how I use a decal strip for footprints, paper scraps and some debris on top of my floor shaders - this is far easier and cheaper than adding additional layers in the shader, as I use an alpha-cutout style blend

This admin area actually changed a little in the final release, with the blinds inside the office area being removed - early version would let you crash through them, but the lack of visible sight-lines meant they had to go to improve the play experience

This admin area actually changed a little in the final release, with the blinds inside the office area being removed - early version would let you crash through them, but the lack of visible sight-lines meant they had to go to improve the play experience

This small area with the West Wing sign was our 'testing ground'. Todd and I completely arted this small section to show our vision for a new and improved Firefly Lab, with more modern styling. This is a great way to prototype an idea on a smaller scale

This small area with the West Wing sign was our 'testing ground'. Todd and I completely arted this small section to show our vision for a new and improved Firefly Lab, with more modern styling. This is a great way to prototype an idea on a smaller scale

After the hallway battle there's a brief respite. This area was hard to work on in a way, as I knew the player would spend only seconds here before progressing upstairs. Yet it's a large space that needed a lot of detail....

After the hallway battle there's a brief respite. This area was hard to work on in a way, as I knew the player would spend only seconds here before progressing upstairs. Yet it's a large space that needed a lot of detail....

Hoping to encourage more exploration, I added a small area of Easter Eggs. Some familiar characters and a real drawing my little sister did about 20 years ago showing her, my Mum and our two cats. She's a big fan of the games needless to say!

Hoping to encourage more exploration, I added a small area of Easter Eggs. Some familiar characters and a real drawing my little sister did about 20 years ago showing her, my Mum and our two cats. She's a big fan of the games needless to say!

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