David's Mighty Men
Realistic hack and slash with army-scale encounters and crowd combat. Active development in UE 5.6. Focus on environmental art and world building.
Environmental Artist
Creating immersive, performance-optimized environments that bring game worlds to life.
Featured Work
Selected projects showcasing my environmental art expertise
Zombie Slayer Idle
Isometric 2D roguelite AFK idle game where the player is stationary and shoots enemies, levels up, and upgrades passes. Pixelated art style.
Specializations
Core areas of expertise in environmental art
Modular Building
Creating reusable modular asset kits that enable efficient level construction through strategic piece design and seamless integration.
Trim Sheets
Designing optimized texture atlases that maximize material variety while maintaining performance through efficient UV mapping and texture reuse.
Landscapes
Crafting expansive terrain systems using heightmaps, material blending, and sculpting techniques to create believable natural environments.
Foliage Systems
Building performance-optimized vegetation systems with proper LODs, wind simulation, and instancing for dense natural environments.
Lighting
Establishing mood and atmosphere through dynamic and baked lighting setups, balancing visual quality with performance requirements.
Weather Systems
Implementing atmospheric effects including fog, rain, snow, and particle systems that enhance environmental storytelling and immersion.
At a Glance
Portfolio overview and achievements
4
Projects Completed
1
Years Experience
9
Software Tools
80
+
Assets
Created
Created
My Process
How I approach environmental art projects
01
Research & Reference
Gathering visual references, studying historical context, and analyzing real-world materials to inform authentic environmental design.
02
Design & Planning
Creating modular kits, trim sheets, and asset hierarchies that enable efficient production while maintaining visual consistency.
03
Build & Create
Modeling assets, authoring materials in Substance Designer, and constructing environments with attention to scale and composition.
04
Optimize & Polish
Refining performance through LODs, texture optimization, and lighting passes to achieve the target visual quality within technical constraints.
About
I'm Ashkan Kian, an aspiring environmental artist driven by a fascination with how game worlds are built. What started as curiosity about the environments I explored in games led me to start creating my own—beginning with modding games like Conan Exiles, where I built dungeons and received encouraging feedback that confirmed this was the path for me.
As a student, I'm committed to mastering environmental art, dedicating 60 to 80 hours weekly to developing my skills in modular building, material authoring, trim sheets, and environment design. Currently, I'm leading environmental art on David's Mighty Men, creating modular kits and materials inspired by ancient Jerusalem—a project that combines my love for historical research with technical execution.
My aim is to join a game studio where I can contribute to creating immersive, performance-optimized environments that tell stories through their design.
Software Proficiency
- Unreal Engine
- Maya
- Substance Designer
- Substance Painter
- Substance Sampler
- Photoshop
- ZBrush
- Adobe Premiere
- After Effects