Level Design &
World Building
A collection of works focused on players' gameplay experience through space.
New World
World BuildingNumerous Points of Interest and expeditions throughout the island of Aeternum
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Multiplayer Level DesignSunken Ruins, Rooftops, Auction House, & Madagascar City Multiplayer Maps
The Last of Us
Multiplayer Level DesignBill's Town, The Dam, University, High School, Downtown, Checkpoint, Lakeside, & Bookstore Multiplayer Maps
Environment Art
& 3D Modeling
A collection of 3D Environment Art Works.
Demo Reel
Level Design & Environment Art Demo Reel.
About
David
Video Game Developer
He/Him
New World
2019-2021A new 3rd person action MMO RPG set in the age of exploration on the mysterious island of Vitae Aeternum. Contributions include level design, world building, environment art, set dressing, dungeon art, lighting, and more.
Empyrean VR Experience
2020An emergent virtual reality experience at the heart of the 2020 virtual Burning Man event. The Empyrean VR experience was created for expression, reflection and healing of attendees during the tragic COVID-19 pandemic.
RooBound
2018A VR game by Triumphant Games. Players take the role of a young boy and his roboticized kangaroo friend as they jetpack through the atmosphere to stop aliens from stealing Australia, and restore the continent to normal.
The Pathless
2017-2018The Pathless is the mythic adventure of an archer and an eagle in a vast forest where players forge their own path through an open world. Contributions include Level Designs, Puzzle Designs, and Game Mechanics Designs.
Along Together
2016Developed by Turbo Button, Along Together is a VR game where players are a child's imaginary friend and invisible helping hand on their quest to find their missing dog. Contributions include visual and tech art development.
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
2012-2014 & 2015-2016The final chapter of Nathan Drake's saga where players trek the globe in search of Henry Avery's storied treasure. Contributions include visual research and development, multiplayer maps level design and environment art.
Unannounced AAA Title: Ubisoft San Francisco
2014-2015Unannounced AAA title at Ubisoft San Francisco. Contributions include managment, team hiring, construction and leadership, visual art style research and development, and next-gen envrionment art pipeline development.
The Last of Us
2012-2013An award winning action adventure game set in a post-apocalyptic United States. Play as Joel and Ellie on a hopeful and dangerous journey across the country. Contributions include Factions multiplayer level design and art.
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
2010-2011The 3rd installment of the Nathan Drake saga, players discover Nate's past while searching for Sir Francis Drake's long hidden secrets. Contributions include multiplayer level design and art, and single player environment art.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
2009-2010The multi-Game-of-the-Year award winning title. Nathan Drake searches for the fabled city of Shangri-la on an action-packed, globe trotting adventure. Contributions include environment art in singleplayer and multiplayer.
Section 8
2007-2008Play as Section 8, the infantry taking on near-suicidal missions across the galaxy, where players "burn-in" to battlefields from orbiting dropships. Contributions include pre-producion, animatics, 3D art, and environment art.
Experience
World Builder - Amazon Game Studios January 2019 – PresentDesign and edit open-world level layouts, visually develop expedition dungeon levels, edit world terrain, create modular and set-piece environments. Established the World Art “point of interest” quality bar for New World MMO. Responsible for lighting and VFX placement. Contribute to engine and software tools R&D.
Environment Artist - Triumphant Games June 2018 - October 2018
Explored art direction, production modeling and texture art development, kit building, and procedural tech art on Oculus VR platform. Sculpted high poly assets in ZBrush, authored low poly assets in Maya, and created materials in Substance Designer.
Game Designer – Giant Squid Studios November 2017 – May 2018
Designed levels, dungeons and ruins, game beat flow charts, puzzles, and narrative beats. Built level mockups in Maya and compiled puzzle, enemy and traversal elements in Unreal Engine 4.
Artist – Turbo Button June 2016 – August 2016
Developed environment art pipeline for mobile VR title. Created environments supporting VR gameplay and established 3D art style. Worked with various external developers to help determine art direction.
Multiplayer Level Layout Artist - Naughty Dog, Inc. May 2015 – March 2016
Designed and edited original and pre-existing multiplayer level layouts utilizing blockmesh and existing art assets. Created 3D environments, both organic and architectural, from design to final product. Evaluated focus and play tests for iteration and improvement.
Sr. Environment Artist - Ubisoft Studio San Francisco
September 2014 – April 2015 Lead the environment team on a next-gen AAA title. Developed PBR environment art pipeline. R&D on new engine technologies. Responsible for hiring, structuring and managing the art team. Created proof of concept environments for gameplay prototypes.
Environment Artist - Naughty Dog, Inc.
February 2009 – August 2014 Designed level layouts for multiplayer maps utilizing blockmesh and existing art assets. Created 3D environments, both organic and architectural, from concept to final product. Collaborated with Outsourcing. Managed level memory, vertex count, and frame rate.
3D Artist – TimeGate Studios
April 2007 – June 2008 Conceptualized and created style sheets for environmental, character, vehicle, and weapon assets for both internal and outsource integration. Developed 3D proxy art and animatics for proof of concept. Sculpted high poly assets in Zbrush, created textures and materials in UE3.
Education
The Art Institute of Houston 2007Bachelors of Fine Arts with a Major in Media Arts and Animation
Student Government President, SIGGRAPH Club Vice President, Student Ambassador
CGMA Winter 2020
Level Design for Games
Teaching Workshops
Laguna College of Art & Design 2012Guest lecturer and demonstrator teaching 3D video game environment art theory and techniques.
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80 Level: The Last of Us Multiplayer Level Design Process
2018An inside look at the development procss behind the multiplayer maps of The Last of Us. From 3rd person action multiplayer theory, to building a complete and shippable level, this is the definitive look at The Last of Us multiplayer map development process.
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IGN: The Last of Us Multiplayer Behind the Scenes
2013A behind the scenes in-depth look into the multiplayer maps of The Last of Us, and their creation. Interviews take the viewers on a journey through the maps' development and design philosophies, easter eggs, gameplay tips, and never-before-seen footage.
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Vertex Magazine: Environment Art Pipeline
2012The industry-leading Vertex magazine of 2012 was a collection of theory, knowledge, techniques and application by various industry-veteran artists and designers. Contributed article covered a wide overview of video game environment art modeling pipeline.
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PlayStation Blog Podcast: 84
2013Following the release of the critically-acclaimed The Last of Us' multiplayer mode, Factions, the PlayStation Blog interviewed David Ballard and Robert Ryan on the development of the 'Game of the Year' award winning title's multiplayer portion of the game.
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IGN Podcast Beyond: Episode 211
2012Just before the unprecedented release of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, David Ballard and Kurt Margenau joined IGN Podcast Beyond to discuss the upcoming game's development, diving deep into the technology used by the developers to create the game.
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IGN: Up at Noon Interview
2014After the critical and commercial success of The Last of Us, IGN Up at Noon's then host, Greg Miller, interviewed David Ballard on how to break into the Video Game Industry in 2014. Topics discussed include formal education, online-communities, and more.
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Got Game Interview
2011At an Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception theater preview event in San Francisco's iconic Metreon theater, Got Game interviewed David Ballard on the upcoming game's development. Discussed are the challenges developers often face to ship games to players.
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Who is David Ballard?
Some dudeDavid is a professional American video game developer from Texas with a background in design and art, and a passion for creating engaging video game experiences for people around the world.
He is a hobbyist video and table-top gamer, film and entertainment enthusiast, book reader, marathon runner, and triathlete.
Currently, he resides in Santa Monica, California.
Contact
Ballard
Please feel free to contact via LinkedIn, ArtStation, Twitter, or Email.