It’s insanely cold here in Chicago, something like -14°F with wind chills of -45°F. Pretty much everywhere is closed and everyone is staying indoors.
I’ve been experimenting with the game’s art direction, trying out a few different things, such as:
- Different variations of the grid pattern that’s placed throughout the world, adjusting the darkness of the lines and also the size of the grid
- Using some decals to add patterns to the wall and give the space some character. I quite like the effect, so I think the pattern itself still needs some work.
- Edge-detection
- Varying levels of ambient occlusion
Anyway, I’ll let the screenshots do the talking. Each image below is listed with what combination of elements I have on or off, or which version of the pattern I’m using. They are: ambient occlusion (AO), grid, and edge-detection (ED).
I will start with the default look I’ve been using up until now:
AO: Yes | Grid: Pattern 1 | ED: No
AO: No | Grid: None | ED: No
AO: Yes | Grid: None | ED: No
AO: Yes | Grid: None | ED: Yes
AO: Yes | Grid: Pattern 1 | ED: Yes
AO: Yes | Grid: Pattern 2 | ED: No
AO: Yes | Grid: Pattern 2 | ED: Yes
My thoughts on the different elements at the moment:
Ambient Occlusion:
Ambient occlusion is definitely good. Since most of the world is grayscale, AO really helps to define the edges and the corners of the world. Without AO, everything just looks too flat, and it becomes hard to see which planes are closer to you and which are farther away. When not using a grid, however, I do think the AO needs to be turned out a little bit, as it makes the textures look kind of dirty.
Grid Pattern
I think having a grid pattern is definitely better than not having one. It helps define the space a bit better, and more importantly, it serves a practical purpose, helping the player guage distance when working with the gravity blocks to solve puzzles.
I’ve been working with pattern 1 pretty much for the past 8 months, so I’m feeling a little biased to that out of habit. However, I think pattern 2 is a little more clean.
Edge-Detection
I’m still on fence about edge-detection. Basically, I really like the way it looks, especially how it clearly defines the different sections of the architecture and separates the grey colors, but then it adds a bit of a cartooney feel to everything.
Also, I think it looks a little bit too much like Antichamber. I mean, Antichamber isn’t the first game to use edge-detection, but it does so very effectively, and since Relativity is also an Escher-esque FPS puzzle game, comparisons between the two games will be inevitable.
I think I’m just going to not worry to much about that for now, and run with what I’ve got. It’s still very much a work-in-progress, so I’m sure that it will continue to evolve and develop into its own distinct style. I had the problem of the game looking too much like Portal about 7, 8 months ago, and I think that’s no longer the case.
Looking at the images right now, my inclination is to go with: ambient occlusion, grid pattern 2, and edge-detection.