Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

Infusion Dev Log #6: New Environment Renderer

Styg

Stygian Software
Developer
Joined
Aug 18, 2010
Messages
742
Location
Serbia
Hi guys,

We're finally ready to give you a sneak peak in the new and improved Infusion environment visuals. We've done extensive work on the 2D rendering engine, and while there are still things to improve, we're quite pleased how it looks now. Keep in mind, though, that all the scenes you'll see below were made for demo purposes only and do not reflect how the actual game levels will look.

1.png
2.png


First thing we did is increasing the asset resolution significantly. We increased the size of the base tile from 96x48 to 160x80, which resulted in the asset size change you can see below.

96vs160.png


Next, for all our prerendered graphics we're also exporting normal and height maps, which allows us to have smoother lighting, but, more importantly, it enables objects to clip through each other. This solves so many problems with sprite ordering and also allows us to easily combine items into interesting environmental compositions.

HowWeShade_BigFile.png


Another important thing that we introduced is actual tile height and sloping, so we no longer have to simulate it with assets that are otherwise logically flat - which used to result in weird discovery and lighting artifacts. This will allow us create more interesting maps, as well as have gameplay mechanics that relate to height (such as falling down, climbing, in-area elevators, etc). We're also going to have to adjust many existing mechanics to take elevation into account, but that's a story for another dev log.

3.png
4.png


We've also improved how shroud and fog of war works. It's now much smoother and will no longer leave weird gaps in the map while it's partially discovered as often happens in the old game.

There's still much work to be done with the rendering engine - fluids, decals, creature shadows, post-processing effects, and also many minor tweaks, so stay tuned for more updates. Once we get a bit more assets done, we're going to make a video to show you how the engine looks in motion. In the meantime, let us know how you like the new visuals.

Cheers.
 

Stavrophore

Most trustworthy slavic man
Patron
Vatnik
Joined
Aug 17, 2016
Messages
12,605
Location
don't identify with EU-NPC land
Strap Yourselves In
There's still much work to be done with the rendering engine - fluids, decals, creature shadows, post-processing effects, and also many minor tweaks, so stay tuned for more updates. Once we get a bit more assets done, we're going to make a video to show you how the engine looks in motion. In the meantime, let us know how you like the new visuals.

Dont skip explosions and giblets!
 

lukaszek

the determinator
Patron
Joined
Jan 15, 2015
Messages
12,618
We're also going to have to adjust many existing mechanics to take elevation into account, but that's a story for another dev log.
give us sneak peek, does it include high ground/cover bonuses?
 

Styg

Stygian Software
Developer
Joined
Aug 18, 2010
Messages
742
Location
Serbia
We're also going to have to adjust many existing mechanics to take elevation into account, but that's a story for another dev log.
give us sneak peek, does it include high ground/cover bonuses?
I'd first have to go through the existing mechanics to make sure they work well with the height differential, and I have a lot of higher priority gameplay stuff to do first.
 

Styg

Stygian Software
Developer
Joined
Aug 18, 2010
Messages
742
Location
Serbia
There's still much work to be done with the rendering engine - fluids, decals, creature shadows, post-processing effects, and also many minor tweaks, so stay tuned for more updates. Once we get a bit more assets done, we're going to make a video to show you how the engine looks in motion. In the meantime, let us know how you like the new visuals.

Dont skip explosions and giblets!
We already have a working particle system. We just need to produce more particle sprites now.
 

ItsChon

Resident Zoomer
Patron
Joined
Jul 1, 2018
Messages
5,381
Location
Երևան
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Wow it actually looks fantastic, and you were right, the new models look quite good on the new backgrounds. How will this effect zone size? I don't know if there were any limitations before, but assuming there were, will making the maps with different elevations effect it? Did you ever have to make zones smaller than was desired in Underrail, and will you be able to make them bigger in Infusion?

Also, while tile height was added, does that mean there is tile depth? For example, in the third photo you posted it looks as if the railing/balcony on the top doesn't extend all the way out to where the man is standing. Would an enemy on top be able to fire down at the character, and vice versa? Also, any plans to deal with walls/barriers that are see through or look destructible? Previously a fence or window could not be shot through. While an argument could be made that the windows are bullet proof, kiting enemies around a fence with holes in it is harder to explain away.

Styg
 

Mac_Orion

Stygian Software
Developer
Joined
Jun 10, 2015
Messages
113
Location
Styg's garret
Wow it actually looks fantastic, and you were right, the new models look quite good on the new backgrounds. How will this effect zone size? I don't know if there were any limitations before, but assuming there were, will making the maps with different elevations effect it? Did you ever have to make zones smaller than was desired in Underrail, and will you be able to make them bigger in Infusion?
zones will have a similar size, but we changed a lot of the underlying data structure so now its quite fast to load a zone, almost instant.
 

Abu Antar

Turn-based Poster
Patron
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
Messages
13,512
Enjoy the Revolution! Another revolution around the sun that is. Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Can we still expect a lot of respawning monsters?

Which of the two experience modes did you guys prefer for the first Underrail, and what have you learned from it? Will you keep the choice for players? Oddities was fun, even if you level up a bit slower.

I think that oddities should be the way to go, with less respawning enemies, even if some would feel that the world would feel a bit more "lifeless".
 

ItsChon

Resident Zoomer
Patron
Joined
Jul 1, 2018
Messages
5,381
Location
Երևան
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Can we still expect a lot of respawning monsters?
This was barely an issue in Underrail, and the way it was implemented was perfectly fine and added to the logical integrity of the world. Oddity of course is amazing and is the way to go.
 

Abu Antar

Turn-based Poster
Patron
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
Messages
13,512
Enjoy the Revolution! Another revolution around the sun that is. Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Can we still expect a lot of respawning monsters?
This was barely an issue in Underrail, and the way it was implemented was perfectly fine and added to the logical integrity of the world. Oddity of course is amazing and is the way to go.
You could avoid most enemies, yes, but they could maybe slow down the respawn rate.
 

notpl

Arbiter
Joined
Dec 6, 2021
Messages
1,374
I've beaten underrail four times and genuinely didn't even realize monsters respawned. I thought it was just one or two plot-gated spawns - like the way it worked in the Gothic games - because areas I cleared midgame onward always remained empty.
 

Major_Blackhart

Codexia Lord Sodom
Patron
Joined
Dec 5, 2002
Messages
18,300
Location
Jersey for now
Really impressed with this game and how it's come along.

Especially from its start, the earliest demos Styg made available here as Timelapse Vertigo.

Well done team. I really look forward to the future of this series. Fucking nuts
 

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom