Fil-Am digital artist worked on the environment of ‘Diablo III: Reaper of Souls’

Filipino-American Richie Marella was part of the team that brought to life the world of Reaper of Souls, role-playing game Diablo 3's latest expansion pack launched on Tuesday.
 

The Blizzard Entertainment Senior Digital Artist helped bring to life the human world of Sanctuary, including the gothic streets of Westmarch, the center of power in the human world of the Diablo 3 universe, and the halls of Pandemonium, a historical place where the Eternal Conflict between demons and angels took place.

"I was really proud to push for a certain look to the Westmarch hub that does give it a lot of character," Marella said in an email interview with GMA News Online.

Marella also worked on Leoric’s Manor, Khasim Outpost, Westmarch Overlook, Pandemonium Outlands, and Westmarch Hub.

Marella was educated in the Art Institute of California in Orange County where he got a degree in Media Arts and Animation, and is a self-professed "Blizzard fan boy". However, his transition to being a Senior Artist in Blizzard entertainment wasn't a walk in the park.

"I did a lot of odd jobs before I got in the business, and it makes you appreciate being able to work at what you love for a living."

His advice to artists who aspire to become part of the game development industry is fairly simple: "Get your work out in the open so the industry can see it," he said.

"A lot of recruiters keep their eyes on the online art community: 3D or 2D, whatever your work might be, get your stuff out there. Make a blog, build your own website, or create a gallery in any of the popular art/gaming sites. Through those sites you can meet people who can turn out to provide good networking opportunities."

A good network, however, only gets an artist to the door. From there, whether or not an artist gets hired entirely depends on the work that he or she has done.

Reaper of Souls (ROS), the latest expansion pack of the popular role-playing game Diablo III, was officially launched on Tuesday in Shaw Theaters Lido in Singapore. It features a new class, the crusader, a healing melee class with mid-range attacks (kind of like the Paladin, but not really) and a new villain to defeat—the Angel of Death, Malthael.

"We laid the groundwork (of Reaper of Souls) at the end of Diablo 3. We sort of knew where we wanted to go a little bit," said Michael Chu, Senior Game Developer of ROS in a separate interview with GMA News Online on Tuesday in the expansion pack's launch.

Having done dozens of stories on demons, the ROS team felt like exploring the concept of angels while still maintaining the dark and gothic experience of Diablo.

"Just thinking about those core tenants took us on the track. Like, okay: dark and gothic—Westmarch. Angel of Death—Crusader. All these things came out of the idea that we had," Chu added. — VC, GMA News