Meet Jeremy, our Lead Car Artist!

Today, we invite you to discover a little more about the heroines of our game: the cars. For this, we welcome Jérémy, Lead Car Artist at Eden Games, who will share some of his secrets with us.

Hi Jérémy, first of all, could you briefly explain what your job at Eden Games entails?

Jérémy – “My job? To be everywhere cars are being talked about! I’m the automotive expert at Eden Games. First, in the 3D modeling of the car, since I’m the one in charge of recreating it virtually. But also in the relationship with all the other professionals who will be using my work: programmers, game designers, UI artists, and sound designers. I have to make sure that all these people respect the constraints that the manufacturers may set. Porsche, Nissan, or Ford—some manufacturers have specific requirements, and I’m responsible for the accuracy and quality of their models in our game. Their brand image is in my hands. And for that, my passion for cars is very useful; I pay attention to every detail that might go unnoticed by some.”

One of the cornerstones of a racing game like Gear.Club Unlimited 3 is its lineup of cars that players can drive, upgrade, and customize. How were the cars featured in GCU3 chosen?

Jérémy – “Creating the car list is a real headache, going far beyond simply including the ones we like. We have to find cars that will appeal to the widest possible audience, across different brands and eras. There's also the legal aspect, meaning negotiating rights with manufacturers sometimes located on the other side of the world. It's a giant puzzle that takes months to put together. Sometimes brands are absent from certain games for image reasons, or because they've signed an exclusivity contract with another game; this last point is mainly true for specific models rather than entire brands. That's why, for example, brands like Porsche were absent from many AAA racing games in the early 2000s. Regarding Gear.Club Unlimited 3, with the arrival of a new setting, Japan, we obviously expanded our list of Japanese cars. Iconic Japanese brands were still missing from the license. That's why we decided to add brands like Subaru and Honda, and expand on some existing ones with legendary cars like the Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 and the Fairlady Z. These are also cars just begging to be customized, an important element of the franchise. Europe hasn't been forgotten, as the game also takes place in France, so we chose to add some new models from European manufacturers as well."

Once the car list was finalized, I suppose it was the start of a long modelling process. Can you explain how that works?

Jérémy – “Absolutely, we first need to gather reference material. We start by collecting data from the manufacturers. So we're lucky enough to be able to work with the same files used to build the real cars. This helps us reproduce them in our 3D software as faithfully as possible. However, for older cars, such precise data doesn't exist. It's the beginning of an archaeological or detective-like process, scouring the internet for photos, videos, and all the elements that will allow us to reproduce the car in minute detail. For example, this was the case with the Porsche 930, but since it's an iconic model, many enthusiasts share photos or videos on forums or vlogs, for example, as part of a restoration project. Modelling a vehicle is quite a lengthy process, taking weeks. Then, once finished, it has to