The Mexico level in Tomb Raider: Underworld was our test bed scenario. In preproduction, we built a medium sized area that was to include dense jungle and overgrown ruins, next gen material and lighting techniques, combat, motorcycle gameplay and of course, Lara’s fluid movement over a variety of surfaces.
The pre production exercise was good and we proved out much of our production technique however, as the environment art lead, I quickly realized that to reconstruct the Mayan ruins themselves, we would have to travel to Mexico and do extensive reference photography.
My purpose was twofold; first I wanted the player to feel like they were really in Southern Mexico, exploring a believable “lost Mayan temple”. To achieve this, attention to architectural accuracy was key. The Mayan world has become somewhat iconic and we have all seen countless images of their civilization in the media. I felt that if we did not represent the Mayan world accurately, our audience could feel cheated.
Second, I wanted to provide the artists with a vast array of digital photographs that they could manipulate in photoshop to create textures for the game. We shot in two styles. The first was wide angle, establishing shots. The second was up close detail of the Mayan stonework and carvings. All told, we returned with 10,000 hi resolution images from the Yucatan Peninsula. The actual game level takes place further south but the condition of the ruins in the Yucatan is much better. Our strategy was to build the ruins fairly clean and then decay them through next gen material techniques. This way, the realism of the architecture could always be recognized under the layers of dirt, moss and vegetation.
So, I and fellow artist, Scott Anderson, flew down to Mexico for 12 days. We arrived in Merida and then headed south in a little rented car. I expected a nice, Toyota Landcruiser but it seems that the production department felt that we should go more economically. I immediately felt cheated but now I realize that they were just looking out for us. Had I had the Landcruiser, I would have tried to take it to the most remote, extreme areas of the Yucatan. In fact, I still dream of doing this some day. I really fell in love with this part of the world, especially the remote interior. There is a certain old world simplicity and charm that immediately seduces you.
In any case, our first site was Uxmal (pronounced, ooshmal). I highly recommend visiting this ancient city. Some fantastic pyramids and courtyards will provide a great day of leisure exploration.
We tried to enter the site with our tripods but were immediately stopped by guards. Turns out we needed a tripod permit for about $3,000. Sheesh! So for the remainder of the trip, we shot at a high f-stop and bumped up the “ISO” value when needed. The pictures turned out just fine. When playing Mexico, look for the large temple with the broken “windows” facade. This temple is based specifically on architecture found at Uxmal.
We spent about 4 days exploring the ruins around Uxmal and on the 4th day, we decided to become adventurous. A remote ruin shown on the map deep in the heart of the Yucatan piqued our interest. It was about 100 miles distant and the map showed roads leading to it so what the heck, off we went.
The trip began fairly well but every time we arrived at a little village, we became lost and stress levels climbed because it was extremely difficult to find your way back on to the main road. You would figure that a main street would just flow through the town but not a chance. I must have looked like the ultimate gringo tourist. Twice I drove down a street and I did not need to speak Spanish to clearly understand what was being shouted at me, “YOU’RE DRIVING THE WRONG WAY!”
The stress levels immediately dropped once we were back in the countryside. The lush greens and warm humid air gave us courage for the next village. At last we arrived at the remote ruins, high in the hill country of the Yucatan. Not a soul around, not even a caretaker! But clearly a sign stated, “No entrance past 5” and it was 5:30 and still plenty of daylight. Although I had visions of Federales hauling us off for “looting”, we just could not help ourselves. To have the entire site to ourselves was just too good to pass up so in we went.
The site provided some excellent images of unrestored Mayan architecture. The late afternoon sun made some of the shots almost magical. We poked around a bit and then we noticed on a jungled hillside nearby, a Mayan Temple poking out. It looked so exotic, as if discovered for the first time. Both of us were enthralled. We had to make it up there. A really rough dirt road seemed to lead in that direction and throwing reason aside, we climbed into the Ford Escort and began the ascent.
Within minutes, I became stuck and now my priority was getting the car the hell out before a park official would bust us. And then we heard it. A motorcycle was approaching! You could just imagine the scenarios I was painting in my mind (Midnight Express, Papillion, to name a few).
Around the bend rode a man. Scott yelled “GUN!” and I whispered, “Holy shit”. This guy had a huge rifle strapped to his back. He approached on the bike, looked at us briefly and continued on down the road, his son riding on the back.
Scott and I laughed, got the car unstuck and drove back. On the way down, we noticed many men hiking towards the hills with rifles on their backs. We both agreed; it was awesome that there were still places in the world where men would go hunting in the evening to feed their families. The rest of the Mexico trip went without a hitch but nothing was really as memorable as this day.
Patrick
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