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<\/a><\/p>\nBut the problem with this approach is that it\u2019s sort of at odds with one of our prime directives from Jonathan: \u00a0to build a game world without unnecessary visual clutter. \u00a0\u201cNoise\u201d was our enemy. \u00a0But that\u2019s kind of an interesting riddle, since most game engines and art techniques are so often all about adding extra levels of noise, grime, texture, detail, (realism!), etc.<\/p>\n
So we began an exploration of different techniques we could use to achieve a sort of stylized realism. \u00a0We needed to be able to capture the \u201cessence\u201d of our reference imagery while not being quite so literal. \u00a0It also had to be free of gratuitous visual noise, plus appealing to look at and explore. \u00a0So what follows is an early effort to break down and re-think that art process in a different sort of way.<\/p>\n
In this case, my objective was to figure out how to attack a medium-sized cliff face while avoiding an overwhelming amount of noise\/detail. \u00a0First off, reference. \u00a0Starting with some photo reference, I wanted to isolate the primary features, and not worry at all about the small, noisy stuff:<\/p>\n
Then, an attempt to stylistically sculpt those simplified shapes:<\/p>\n \u00a0And finally, breaking those forms down into modularized, reusable meshes that could be combined to form a cliff:<\/p>\n One of the biggest lessons we learned from this experiment was that if we give the engine nice clean, simplified geometry (not worry as much about the texturing - just keep it understated and focus more on the overall color and balance), the lighting results we get are gorgeous. \u00a0In a way this is extremely freeing, as it lets us concentrate on the overall form of objects, rather than obsess over details like perfect seamless, UV mapping, limited texture resolution, normal mapping issues, etc. \u00a0We also learned very quickly that hard edges are not evil.... \u00a0In the absence of heavy texture detail, the faceting had become a powerful tool to help define the form in a clean, almost graphic style, with minimal noise, but lots of subtlety.<\/p>\n That process of \u201canalyze, deconstruct, simplify\u201d became our new way of approaching complex surfaces. \u00a0And so, as we built out more areas of the island, this visual language began to take shape,and you can now see it deployed across most of the rock forms in the game...<\/p>\n Take note that foliage has a different language [see Orsi\u2019s previous post on trees], as does rolling terrain, and hard architectural surfaces. \u00a0But this style contrast is extremely useful from a game design perspective, as it helps inform the player as to what materials the surfaces they are looking at are likely made from, without having to resort to overtly photoreal textures.<\/p>\n Even older areas of the game (that were suddenly \u201cout of style\u201d) were able to be refreshed using this new lens, and brought in-line alongside the cleaner, less-noisy artwork:<\/p>\n And here\u2019s some additional rock shots from around the island, just because...<\/p>\n Luis\u2019 awesome sculpted sandstone cliffs:<\/p>\n Orsi\u2019s awesome lakeside steppes:<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n