Building a world to explore
Cornerstone — island prototype
A 4 km² open-world island prototype developed at ZOAN around Nordic landscapes, exploration and real-time cinematics.
- Role
- Lead Technical Artist — environment, lighting & cinematics
- Studio
- ZOAN
- Year
- 2022
- Output
- Playable open-world prototype · cinematics
- Tools
- Unreal Engine 4 / 5 · Sequencer · Blueprints
The context
Building a world to explore
Develop a large island environment that supports real-time exploration while also providing a strong visual foundation for cinematic and promotional work.
My contribution
As Lead Technical Artist, I led environment construction, visual direction, lighting, terrain and foliage composition, cinematic work and a scalable environment-production workflow. A later stage included gameplay logic, character interaction and optimization.
The approach
The island had to work at two scales: as a broad landscape and as a place to move through. I developed terrain, composition and lighting together so the world remained readable both in exploration and in composed shots.
Selected images
Project views.
Landscape, terrain, atmosphere and environment studies from the island prototype.
In motion
Cinematic sequences.
Selected video from this work.
Outcome
Delivered work.
A playable open-world prototype, promotional imagery and cinematic sequences, supported by an environment workflow designed for real-time exploration.
Created at ZOAN. Alfonso Escalona — environment construction, lighting, cinematic sequences and prototype implementation.
Vegetation-covered limestone formations rising from the sea
Tropical limestone islands and coastal vegetation — view 2
Aerial view of a rugged island
Rocky coastal landscape with standing stones
Stone ruins on an open hillside
Sunlit water between forested islands
Sailboat silhouetted against a warm sunset
Palm-covered sandbank in turquoise water