The Crush House
Released on Steam on the 9th of August 2024
Film and produce 1999’s hottest reality TV show: The Crush House! Select a crush-worthy cast, satisfy voracious audiences and keep the show on air to uncover the sinister secrets behind this darkly comic thirst-person shooter.
Role: Art director and Lead 3d artist
Contribution:
– Mood exploration & concept arts
– Character design
– Art team management
– 3D prototyping & pipelines
– 3D environments
– Level art & Lighting
– Visual consistency across production
Visual pillars
- Saturated, colorful Y2K-inspired style
- Iconic house with strong visual landmarks
- TV-archetype contestants with bold, readable silhouettes
- Glamorous aesthetic revealing darker undertones
y2k mood exploration
The House
The Crush House villa is treated as a character itself. Inspired by modernist architecture (notably Koenig’s Stahl House), it features open layouts and clear sightlines, ideal for dynamic camera framing and gameplay readability. Over time, the visual direction shifted to a brighter, more exaggerated “Barbie-like” look, blending glamour with subtle unease.
Alongside the concept phase, I developed extensive 3D prototyping and render target explorations to define the final in-game look and establish the production pipeline.
Later in development, I also contributed directly to environment production, including environment modeling, level art and in-game lighting, helping carry the original visual direction through to the final playable experience.
Characters
The game’s 12 contestants embody strong reality-TV archetypes, each with an immediately recognizable silhouette. Early design explorations began with loose 2D sketches and costume studies, evolving into refined color palettes and 3D prototypes to validate style, charm, and readability in-game. The main challenge was balancing absurd humor with genuine appeal.
Priscilla became a core character during development: her multiple design iterations helped define the cast’s visual language and served as a reference point before final production.
Art team
As Art Director, I coordinated the art team and ensured visual consistency across all aspects of production. I also presented the project’s art direction and production process at ADDON 2025 (FR only).
Credits:
3D Props & 2D Art — Helen O’Dell
Tech Art — Alain Puget
3D Character Artist — Kathy Diaz
3D Animation — Peggy Lecouvey
Key Art — Diva
Cutscenes — Pierre Vincent Cabourg
Logo — Düne Sonoa
More screenshots
