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Killzone Mercenary - M02

This was the first mission of Killzone Mercenary. It was internally referred to as 02 because the initial mini tutorial building was initially a separate level before it got rolled into the start of this level. The most challenging aspect of this level was creating enough of a city to do a fully in game dramatic flythrough, that took quite a few attempts to overcome the technical hurdles.

Lighting wise I was the lighting artist for the level, I would say visually it's the level in KZ:M that I am the least satisfied with in hindsight. We had a lot of different ideas for visuals and colour schemes here but I don't really feel I completely succeeded with the overall feel for the level. In particular I would definitely have changed sky and sunlight colours to try and give a more natural feel to the light. I would also like to have done a lot more with natural bounce light

This is a view of the first playable arena in the game. We wanted to make natural light a big part of this to keep it readable. However we found had to turn a lot of other lights on to highlight all the right areas.

This is a view of the first playable arena in the game. We wanted to make natural light a big part of this to keep it readable. However we found had to turn a lot of other lights on to highlight all the right areas.

This is a view of midway through the flight sequence. The city was a challenge to crate with an acceptable level of fidelity while still keeping in memory and performance budgets. A lot of the extreme background city is a matte painting.

This is a view of midway through the flight sequence. The city was a challenge to crate with an acceptable level of fidelity while still keeping in memory and performance budgets. A lot of the extreme background city is a matte painting.

This is a view from the top floor of the Halls of Justice. We wanted this area to feel largely intact and more a less like a artfully constructed modern office complex.

This is a view from the top floor of the Halls of Justice. We wanted this area to feel largely intact and more a less like a artfully constructed modern office complex.

Here is the outer courtroom area. The lattice work was I believe inspired by the newly rebuilt Kings Cross main hall.

Here is the outer courtroom area. The lattice work was I believe inspired by the newly rebuilt Kings Cross main hall.

This is the inner coutroom. Originally we wanted to use natural light for this but the sun angles didn't line up with the rest of the level. We then added an intensely bright ceiling structure to highlight the middle of the room.

This is the inner coutroom. Originally we wanted to use natural light for this but the sun angles didn't line up with the rest of the level. We then added an intensely bright ceiling structure to highlight the middle of the room.

This is the ground floor which was probably the most destroyed area of the level. This meant it was almost exclusively lit by natural light.

This is the ground floor which was probably the most destroyed area of the level. This meant it was almost exclusively lit by natural light.

Where possible we added screen space reflections to Vektan materials to give a more expensive finish. We also got a lot of use from glass debris decal sheets on the floor.

Where possible we added screen space reflections to Vektan materials to give a more expensive finish. We also got a lot of use from glass debris decal sheets on the floor.

Killzone Mercenary - Walkthrough "Justice For All"

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