Jump to content

MMT demo update


photo

Recommended Posts

we used billboards for leaves from late 2008, even before engine claimed official support for these:

It was own SpeedTree-like implementation, acceptable for top-down view and simplified shading.

 

But with each year technologies evolve and now in 2012 to have realistic looking billboard trees (like in SpeedTree v6) we need lot more: density maps, pre-baked ambient occlusion, normal maps for leaves, lod alpha-fading, distance billboards, etc. Unfortunatelly Unigine lacks support of such features and modifying shaders is a dead way. That's why we are completelly switching to geometrical trees - leaves and branches are either geometry or non-billboard planes with transparency. Great shading, no parallax effect, low fillrate overhead, precise x-shape billboards - that is what we got with that technology.

Link to comment

One thing I can tell you for sure - if the gameplay in your game will be "meh", no super realistic visuals will save it. So you should probably get the game done with "ugly" trees and have a focus-group play-test it. When they confirm that the game is fun, then you can make life-like trees. Otherwise you spend a lifetime making realistic and awesome visuals, but the game won't sell well cos the gameplay isn't there.

Link to comment
  • 1 month later...



P.S. We a going to make a short pause at this stage - it is barely possible to make a game without funding and now we have acceptable picture quality to try involving investors to the project.
Link to comment
×
×
  • Create New...