Erik Viking
Contract 3D Environment Artist
Biography
Get to know Erik
My name is Erik Viking, and I am a 24 year old Technical Artist in the entertainment industry. My professional work ranges from scripting to technical problem solving in and outside of game engines.
“Why I became a technical artist: I grew up with Halo 2 on the original XBOX before seeing a documentary about the creation of Halo with Bungie. That documentary pushed me to start learning 3D so that I could one day join them in their pizza nights at the studio. I just love the studio culture!”
Erik’s QA
What's the first video game you remember playing, and how did it shape your love for gaming?
”The first video game I remember playing was Burnout 3 on the original XBOX. As a young kid, I used to just boot up the game and probably incorrectly sing along with the music that was playing. For the time, the environments in the game itself were incredible. The destruction of the cars rivalled that of the grand theft auto games of the time, all in the palm of my young kid hands. Growing up with the game, I found myself looking back to the fun times I had, wanting to join the people who made Burnout 3, of course, not knowing as a kid that the studio eventually had to shut down. The game just had that feeling that I always longed for. Even as an adult, I would drive out to my mothers summer cottage to boot up the XBOX and listen to the main menu song and graphics without playing the game.
Just sort of remembering the good times I had as a kid before the monotonous adulting kicked in. I do wish I could have properly appreciated what I had at the time and not have taken those experiences and feelings of happiness and joy for granted. Of course, I don't blame my kid self for not stopping and appreciating what I had. If I could experience those same feelings as I did booting up the likes of Burnout 3, Star Wars: Battlefront & Halo 2, I would take the opportunity without a moment of hesitation.”
Imagine you have the ability to bring any fictional cityscape to life in a 3D model.
Which one would you choose and how would you design it?
“If I could bring any fictional city to life in a 3D environment within the likes of unreal engine 5 or any other modern equivalent, it would be a very tight choice between be the cloud city from star wars on the Bespin planet, or Theed, the thriving and lush city on the planet Naboo. I would probably say cloud city. It is a tough choice because they're my two favourite environments of which the cloud city has been remade in the modern version of Star Wars Battlefront from 2017. I just love the aesthetics. I have worked with advanced cloud rendering on previous commercial projects and it is just way to much fun. The lighting and feel of the environment is just so sci-fi, yet home like. It is just a city but in the sky. Magical if you ask me.”