Pinoy student's Overwatch-inspired map impresses Blizzard

Thanks to his impressive level design skills, a self-taught Filipino artist has gained the attention of game industry giant Blizzard Entertainment.

Joshua Llorente, inspired by Blizzard’s massively popular shooter, created his own “Overwatch” tribute level: the Cairo map. Though obviously fan work, the level perfectly captures “Overwatch’s” cartoon aesthetics, from the soft colors and beautifully painted textures, to the eye-catching architecture that fluidly combines futuristic and historical elements.

It's already a triumph in itself but in a surprising turn of events, Llorente’s Cairo map caught the eye of Blizzard vice president and “Overwatch” lead designer Jeff Kaplan, who left Llorente a message on the “Overwatch” subreddit:

“Amazing work! We’ll be in touch.”

Kaplan wasn’t the only one who noticed. The outpouring of support from Llorente’s fellow Redditors has been extraordinary, as well.

“This map is undeniably beautiful,” said one Redditor. “I would love to see this added into the game.”

“Looks like a genuine ‘Overwatch’ map,” said another. “All the more impressive that it was made by one person, versus an entire team. You have a bright future in 3D environment design!”

Llorente is understandably ecstatic. He is, after all, an avid Blizzard and “Overwatch” fan; one with dreams of working for Blizzard one day. “It feels like all my hard work has paid off,” he said.

From inspiration to creation

Like most people, Llorente fell in love with “Overwatch’s” visual style. He was particularly impressed with the design of the game’s maps.

“I really like how they are able to blend modern and old architecture into their game, specifically the Temple of Anubis map,” said Llorente. “Since I’m new to 3D modelling and environment design, I tried to create my own version of the Egypt map using ‘Overwatch’s’ art style.”

While Llorente is responsible for the creation of numerous “Overwatch”-inspired levels, the Cairo Map is his largest and most polished. Because of its size and complexity, its development was no easy task.

“The biggest challenge that I encountered creating the Cairo map was the production of the architectural assets,” he explained. “Since there is an urban part in the map, I needed to create several buildings, roads, bridges, towers, and I needed to consider the scaling of each model to be able to fit them all together in the map seamlessly.”

Because Llorente was also busy with his thesis, he couldn’t devote all his time and energy to his project. Nevertheless, he managed to finish the Cairo Map within two months.

Crafting worlds

Llorente takes several factors into consideration when designing a level.

He begins by deciding on the story and theme of the map, as “this element will determine the overall look for the environment, providing unity across all assets.”

He then determines the suitable color composition for the map.

“Since my art style is very stylized, the colors are some of the most important things that I work on,” he explained.

For Llorente, scaling is the most challenging part of level design "because I’m not used to working with measurements and proportions,” he admitted.

Llorente isn’t just a level designer, of course. To develop an entire level by yourself, you need to possess a high degree of competency in various artistic fields.

Self-taught master

Llorente has no formal education in 3D modelling, level design, and the numerous disciplines related to his craft. He is completely self-taught. 

“My only source of tutorials are YouTube and Google,” he said. “Also, we have a limited and slow internet connection so this makes it even harder for me to browse different tutorials online. Sometimes I just experiment with the software itself without actually following a tutorial, just a trial-and-error approach.”

Of course, none of these obstacles stopped Llorente from becoming proficient with 3ds Max, Maya, Substance Painter, Z-Brush, and the Unreal Engine – among a host of other digital tools.

Creating levels helps him hone his skills.

“I think this practice helps me to improve my overall skill in the field of 3D modelling and game art,” he stated.

Llorente is currently a Fine Arts student at the University of Santo Tomas. When he isn’t busy working on his thesis or personal projects, he enjoys playing “Overwatch.” He’s a Symmetra main, and counts Mei, D.Va, and Torbjorn among his favorite characters.

“I’m doing everything including 3D models, textures, foliage, lighting, and the environment itself.” — LA, GMA News

For high-res images of Llorente’s Cairo map, visit this link. To see his other “Overwatch”-inspired levels, visit his ArtStation page.