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Ben Adman

@benadman.com

🌐 benadman.com Technical Artist @inXile, prev @Sledgehammer Procedural workflows, destruction, env art, VFX Email: contact@benadman.com

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Ben Adman @benadman.com · 12/07/2025

Manhattan shapes 01

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Ben Adman @benadman.com · 23/03/2025

isometric TF2 using camortho

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Ben Adman @benadman.com · 17/03/2025

Light blockout

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Ben Adman @benadman.com · 15/03/2025

Photo texturing with the happy science building in tribeca

3D model textured with a photo of the happy science building in tribeca

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Ben Adman @benadman.com · 14/03/2025

Big inspiration from Playdead's Inside. What a game

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Ben Adman @benadman.com · 14/03/2025

More vent sketches in blender from a scrapped direction

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Ben Adman @benadman.com · 13/03/2025

Finally, here's the fab assets I used. The rest are megascan assets. www.fab.com/listings/394... www.fab.com/listings/515... www.fab.com/listings/9bd...

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Ben Adman @benadman.com · 13/03/2025

The background buildings are put together from modular megascan assets and packed into PLIs.

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Ben Adman @benadman.com · 13/03/2025

To add detail and hide texture repetition I used a lot of decals. I was surprised how many decals are used in some of the Quixel UE5 environments, obviously decals are an essential component but they really go crazy with them.

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Ben Adman @benadman.com · 13/03/2025

For the lighting, I made some basic light BPs with static mesh + spotlights. I also made heavy use of emissive planes to fill in areas.

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Ben Adman @benadman.com · 13/03/2025

The HDAs I made are pretty basic spline tools. Pipe tool, stiff cable tool, soft cable tool. The soft cables are really basic. I tried a version that physically drapes cables, only to return to manually drawn splines because it’s simpler to art direct and bezier curves convey weight easily.

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Ben Adman @benadman.com · 13/03/2025

The shell was a challenge to model, because it has such a strange structure which is what makes the facade compelling. Initially I made a simpler version, but then I realized the specific forms are what drew me to the building. The “medieval bauhaus” look is pretty unique.

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Ben Adman @benadman.com · 13/03/2025

The first pass in Unreal was pretty mid. The whole thing was stuck on 90 degree angles and frankly uninspired. I made the mistake of pushing it into set dressing and lighting early before realizing it was a fundamentally bad layout. So afterwards I downloaded Scythe and redid all the level geo.

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Ben Adman @benadman.com · 13/03/2025

I did some initial blender sketches while developing the overall feeling and direction, particularly the "normal building hiding portal to underworld" theme

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Ben Adman @benadman.com · 13/03/2025

The real building was constructed in 1927 and designed by the architect Erling Owre, a Norwegian architect combining Romanesque and Gothic elements with Bauhaus and Constructivist ideas. The result is a spooky, minimalist castle. Ref from the Library of Congress entry: www.loc.gov/item/ny1516/

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Ben Adman @benadman.com · 13/03/2025

The main tools I used are Unreal Engine 5.5, Scythe (@kronok.bsky.social), Houdini HDAs, and Megascan/Fab assets. Here's the graybox vs final using Scythe to block out the level.

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Ben Adman @benadman.com · 13/03/2025

My latest project, Grayworld I is a level design/environment art study of the Holland Tunnel land ventilation building, turned into a segment of a game level in UE5. Walkthrough and breakdown below.

Holland Tunnel Land Ventilation Building: exterior

Holland Tunnel Land Ventilation Building: interior

Holland Tunnel Land Ventilation Building: upper vent

Holland Tunnel Land Ventilation Building: lower vent

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