What makes the textures and environments in our games pop? Alongside traditional artistry, we are also using the latest photoscanning techniques, and in today's "Meet the Team" we can catch a glimpse of some of these processes. We are introducing Miklós who is the member of the team responsible for photoscanned assets. How does it all work? Let's hear it from him!

Can you tell us about your job at NeocoreGames?

I’m working with the photoscan team which means my job is to capture environments or items with drones or handheld cameras. Then I can process and refine the models and textures. When there is no captured data to work with, I give a helping hand to the modelling crew working on assets big and small like tiny rocks, rags or trees, sometimes on buildings. You can say I’m quite new in this area, but I learn something new every single day and I’m always excited about the tasks. I’m also eager to see where this path leads me.

What are some of the recurring challenges in your division?

One of the recurring challenges is working with different software. While most of the team is using Maya, I’m a Blender guy. Of course, there are some mishaps when trying to bridge the differences. In the end, though, it usually works out all right. Except when it doesn’t :)

The other thing I can mention is the captured data itself. Any error we made on the field cannot be seen right away, only when we are back at the table, so you have to make all the corrections by hand which can be quite exhausting.

Do you have any interesting stories about development?

Not too many (yet), but I have a funny one. Kind of.

I’m also teaching Blender at a local university and one time I had the opportunity to take my class to the office and show them around a bit, introducing my colleagues and the teams, showing them a bit about their area of work. While the teams working on something they usually give temporary names to their projects. So, there I am, showing the work of my colleague – the Tent of Courtesans. But on the screen the title was something… unsuitable for the event.

This was the day I learned the importance of naming project files from the beginning to the end.

What did you do before NeocoreGames?

I worked in the government sector for eight years as a specialized engineer in flood protection, focusing mainly on the mechanical engineering parts. Ships, maintenance of machinery, pumps and the logistics of those and the country-wide inventory of items. It was a stressful, cross-country job – I started 3D modelling as a hobby to get away from that suffocating and toxic environment. After a few weeks it became clear that this is what I really want to do. I spent almost all my free time studying for one and a half years. On New Year’s Eve (by superstition) I tried my luck and sent my CV to the company I really wanted to work for. Well, here I am now.

What are some of your favourite things you'd like to mention?

There are too many to mention. I’ve been into sci-fi and fantasy since I got my first PC (which was an i486 in the mid or late 90’s, as far as I remember, for Christmas). It was an old, beaten-up warrior – I remember popping in Fallout 2 for the first time and the CD drive got stuck. I guess I was too afraid to tell my parents – so I kept playing it for months and it became one of my absolute favourites, establishing my undying love for all that’s RPG’s. My other all-time favourite is Bloodborne, The Binding of Isaac and probably Frostpunk. One of my most recent play was Disco Elysium – which will certainly need time to settle in.

Tell us something cool about yourself!

Many hobbies come and go for me, but tabletop RPGs and anything related to them is constant. I’ve been playing tabletop roleplaying games since I was fourteen (mostly Dungeons & Dragons) and finally started DM-ing for a lovely group roughly 5 years ago in my homebrew campaign – and it’s still going on. This year started DM-ing in Neocore too – so that’s two campaigns going on strong. My wife and I 3D print minis and paint them ourselves. I’m not that great at it, but really enthusiastic.