Guardians of Middle-Earth began as a small mini-game for a larger title that we were working on. As often happens during the development cycle, there were many changes to the size and scope of the game. Keeping up with these shifting fluctuations was one of the biggest challenges on the project.

For the first few months of development there was only a single Technical Artist supporting all the needs of the art team on Guardians. Once the scope for the game (which now included multiple game modes, levels, champions and minions) solidified, two more Technical artist were brought on board with myself included. We had three main challenges to contend with...

• Character Artist: enforcing certain conventions for consistency
• Animators: providing fully rigged and skinned models quickly
• Gameplay Desingers: liaison between desingers and artist

In the final months of development it became clear that the game needed to be scaled back if we were going to meet our ship date. This radical change created a host of new challenges...

• Database Incongruities: duplicate entries and missing art assets
• Redesigns: merging of several characters into one
• Modifications: several champions were changed and needed to be reworked

This and much more needed to be accomplished quickly. We were able to make all of the changes and finish the title on time without having to have any crunch.

Guardians of Middle-Earth was released to glowing reviews from critics and fans alike. It was an exciting project to be a part of and gave me valuable experience as a Technical Artist.