Screenshot Aurora Lighthouse from Forza Horizon 4

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Former student wins BAFTA for Best British Game

Adan Currey is part of the team that won Best British Game for their work developing Forza Horizon 4, at the annual BAFTA Awards.
<p>Former student <a href="https://www.artstation.com/cui2i2ey">Adan Currey</a> is part of the team that won Best British Game for their work developing Forza Horizon 4, at the annual British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards.</p> <p>The open-world racing game from <a href="https://www.playground-games.com/">Playground Games</a> beat out competition from internationally-acclaimed games including Red Dead Redemption 2 for the BAFTA, having previously won at The Game Awards 2018 and Best Racing Game at the 2019 D.I.C.E Awards.<br /></p>
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Forza Horizon 4

<p>Adan joined Playground Games to work on Forza Horizon 4 in 2017, three years after leaving the college. He was hired by the company initially as a Digital Compositor and later promoted to the position of Lighting Artist.</p> <p>From 2012 to 2014 Adan studied one of our Pre-Degree creative A-Level equivalent courses, completing what was then an Extended Diploma in Graphic Design and Illustration and is now taught as the <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/pre-degree/ual-level-3-extended-diploma-in-art-design-giga">UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma in Art &amp; Design (Graphics, Illustration &amp; Game Arts)</a>. At the end of the course, he received a triple Distinction Star for his work, equivalent to 3 A stars at A-Level.<br /></p>
Adan Currey with the BAFTA for Forza Horizon 4

Adan Currey, Pre-degree graduate

My time at Plymouth College of Art taught me to think outside the box and step away from the computer sometimes to take a more realistic and hands-on approach to my work.
Adan Currey, Lighting Artist at Playground Games
<p>Adan, who is originally from Looe, Cornwall, said: “This is my first professional role since graduating from university and as a team we’ve won a BAFTA for our work. What an amazing experience!</p> <p>“Initially as a Digital Compositor we would have someone go out and capture high-resolution time-lapse images of the sky. I would then composite that footage to bring it into the lighting engine used in Forza Horizon 4. Now as a Lighting Artist my role is broader, working on weather and lighting setups for an in-game 24-hour cycle, making sure that the weather matches the sky in a dynamic way.<br /></p>
Screenshot 1 from Forza Horizon 4

Adan Currey

<p>“My time at Plymouth College of Art taught me to think outside the box and step away from the computer sometimes to take a more realistic and hands-on approach to my work. Learning programmes like Photoshop, Illustrator and Adobe Muse was invaluable, of course, but I think it can be easy when you have an interest in digital design to forget about the importance of working in the real world to help solve problems.”</p> <p>“I’ve learned so much during my time at Playground Games and am excited as we begin concepts and pre-production for future projects together. In the long term I’m interested in looking for ways to translate my skills into CGI for the film industry, but for now I’m enjoying myself so much that I can’t wait for whatever we work on next at Playground Games.”</p>