But it's his later work that most science fiction fans have seen. In 1995, Doug took over the Art Department and became Design Director for Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. He held the same job for the recently released Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones.

About the time he finished his work on Episode II, Doug was contacted by Westwood to see if he would be interested in helping out with Earth & Beyond. Doug liked what he saw with the project and agreed to design the ships, but he soon learned that creating designs for a game was much different than creating movie designs.

"I struggled at times, because spaceships are really hard for me even though I enjoy designing them," Doug said. "So I read all the information about the game, and got a good understanding from that research. Then I tried to find imagesthat relate to the various archetypes of characters. After that, I just sat down and started drawing.

"I tried to come up with shapes that were appealing to me, and that were within the rules of the Earth & Beyond world. I came up with roughly 150 designs.

"I can often find inspiration from common objects around the house. For example, I want the Progen ships to have a lot of angles and look aggressive. So I might try to find something like that, an old automotive joint for example, then look at it in different ways, like turning it upside-down. In my studio, I have a lot of reference material, odd objects found from junkyards. This material and books from the library are the best sources of inspiration."

The toughest part, Doug said, was creating ship designs that not only looked great, but were functional within the game as well. In making designs for movies, he explained, the artist may have the luxury of creating something that looks impressive, in which all the parts don't necessarily have to function. However, in a game like Earth & Beyond, with players spending most of their time piloting their ships, the various parts of the ship design need to actually work. For example, with the Progen Fighter ship, Doug had to not only design the wings, but also consider how they would look and feel while folding into the open and closed positions.

"It was definitely difficult for me, because game designs have to be more thought-out. You have to be able to actually configure and analyze a design. The ship has to actually work, so you have to be more thorough."

While this added complexity to the ship designs, Doug said the end results are rewarding. In a recent visit to Westwood, he got to watch while a roomful of new players created and configured their ships for the first time.

"This is a great day, just seeing what the Westwood team has done with the designs to include them in the game. They've improved upon the designs by giving them life and textures. And I'm fascinated because the players are combining things in ways that I didn't think of.

"The appeal for me is that each player will take a ship and grow with it. I can't wait to see the different configurations they come up with."

So which ships are his personal favorites?

"I really like the Progen Warrior. It was one of the first designs that really just appealed to me. I also like the Terran Tradesman. It's a different take on Earth technology, and I also like the different configurations that are available with it."